Love my new bread making machine!

[spooky3]

I’ve wanted one for a long time and finally bought one and tried it out. I was a little worried because the instructions were so strict about measuring, etc. But the first loaf (just plain white bread, no eggs) turned out perfectly and it is soooo much easier than doing it all by hand.

In these challenging times, it really gives me a little boost! Can’t wait to try out some more exotic recipes. I love brioche and wonder how it will do with that.

[MuseRider]

1. They are SO nice.

I love baking bread by hand but when I have a lot to do I use the machine. Some breads are beyond my skills so I use the machine. I have had one for a very long time and usually it gets its biggest workout when Christmas comes along making tons of bread for stuffing.

Have fun, congratulations and enjoy it.

[spooky3]

2. Thanks! I can see how it would be great for stuffing. Nt

[lillypaddle]

3. How fun

and delicious. Can't beat that combination.

[NJCher]

5. Brioche

Please post back on your experience.

[spooky3]

15. Unfortunately, I've tried 3 recipes and 2 types of flour but still no success on texture.

The flavor has been fine. The texture is that of ordinary white bread - not the pull apart, rich cotton candy-like texture of good brioche.

[NJCher]

17. hey thanks for posting this info

now I won't bother trying. But it doesn't matter since I have to kick the white bread habit anyway to keep my doc happy over the blood sugar stuff.

[spooky3]

18. You're welcome. I wish I didn't like carbs so much, too. Nt

[IcyPeas]

6. My neighbor would sometimes share some warm homemade bread with me...

He convinced me to buy some of that expensive butter. He swore it was so much better. I did try it and I honestly couldn't tell the difference.

Ooooh but bread is so good.

[Lunabell]

7. I love bread makers!

Especially the dough setting. You can make sweet rolls, pizza dough or Italian or French loaves! And parker house rolls!!!! Mmmmm

[Warpy]

8. I have a Danish whisk and a bowl

because I will have no room for my Kitchen Aid where I'm moving, it's back to an urban sized kitchen for me.

I gave the mixer and food processor and a lot of other kitchen stuff to the neighbors who took care of me while I waited for the ambulance to turn up last fall. I have great neighbors and it was nice to see my stuff going to people who will use it.

The Danish whisk is a nice gadget, it not only mixes bread dough but it also does a great job on ground meat for meatballs and meatloaf, keeps it from getting too compacted.

I'll probably get a hand mixer when I get moved, got my eye on the Breville.

[ReluctanceTango]

9. Baking is always more challenging

Because precision of ingredient measurements is essential.

I used to stress out about every milligram of flour or sugar or whatever. To then have to do the kneading, resting, kneading, resting, cooking--I was all knackered by the time a loaf finally came out of the oven.

The bread machine ended the hardest work of baking, so the precision of the ingredients became less stressful.

[spooky3]

16. I found it hard to manage the temperatures during rising. If it was too warm, the yeast would be

killed; not warm enough, and the dough wouldn't rise enough. The bread machine controls that perfectly.

[CrispyQ]

10. Are you using bread machine yeast or regular dry active yeast?

I brought my bread machine up from the basement where it's been almost since I bought it. When my favorite grocery store bread reached $5 a loaf I brought it upstairs. Last week I made a recipe I found online but I substituted regular dry active yeast for bread machine yeast since that's all I had & the crust was super thick & crispy, & when you cut it crumbs flew everywhere. Since then, I read up on the difference between the two yeasts & I selected a different bake mode for my machine & my second loaf was perfection, even with the wrong yeast.

It's white bread, so in the future I'll play around with subbing some rye flour & whole wheat flour, but it's a lovely loaf with perfectly golden crust & a light, fluffy middle. One of the suggestions I read was to add 1/2 teaspoon onion powder & 2 tablespoons of chopped up caramelized onions for onion bread, so I'm going to try that next.

I have a friend who is majorly into baking cakes & convinced me that I should weigh my flour instead of measuring it, so I'm doing that as well.

Glad you're enjoying your new machine! Happy baking!

Here's the recipe if anyone is curious.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/17215/best-bread-machine-bread/

[spooky3]

12. I use bread machine yeast. The white bread recipe turns out great every time.

Whole wheat was fine also--I just find the flavor of whole wheat a bit overpowering, so I probably won't make it again, or will change the recipe.

The challenge is brioche. I've tried 3 bread machine recipes for brioche. All had good flavor but the texture just isn't what real brioche has. I suspect it must be kneaded by hand and maybe other changes are needed (or should I say kneaded?).

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

11. I bought a bread machine in 1994 and absolutely loved it.

I'd set it up to bake bread so it was ready first thing in the morning, for breakfast. Unfortunately, the aroma of baking bread woke me up early.

I used it a lot, and wore it out eventually. I bought another one, but it just never made bread properly and so I eventually handed it off to Goodwill.

What is the brand of yours? I wouldn't mind having another bread machine that actually works for me.

[spooky3]

13. What a great idea!

I bought a Zojirushi. It is more forgiving than the instructions and recipes suggest. I haven't tried most of the many different recipes it came with yet.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

14. Thank you.

I will look it up.