Thinking about buying a bread machine… and looking for input from those

[Luminous Animal]

who have baked bread from scratch and those who have used one. I homemake bread regularly but my wrists, due to computer work aren't what they used to be.

Any suggestions or advice?

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. The last time I tried using one was decades ago.

So I'm sure they're a lot easier to use than back then. I'll follow this thread with interest too, though, to see if people give good reviews to any particular models.

[kentauros]

2. I wish I could help you.

I only know that Zojirushi is possibly the highest rated brand, and the only bread-machine brand that King Arthur Flour sells on their site. I don't know what Consumer Reports thinks of them, but would guess they have similar ratings.

I haven't used my Breadman bread machine in years, especially since I learned how to do no-knead bread making. I'm thinking of getting rid of it (it's about seventeen years old and still works great!)

Look up no-knead bread making and give that a try. The only working of the dough needed is to shape it into a loaf, and that's done in a few seconds. The gluten strands get stretched just in the extra-long proofing (2-3 hours or more) and thus why you don't knead it.

[flamin lib]

3. Shop at Goodwill and /or resale shops.

They routinely sell for $5. Slow cookers too. Give it a year or two and sous vide equipment will turn up there as well.

[Phentex]

4. Don't listen to this group! I regretted it!...

Go to a thrift store they said. Go to a garage sale they said.

Well what they DID NOT SAY was how easy it is to use. How delicious the bread is. How many different things you can make. How quickly you can make some of the loaves. How you will need to eat some immediately when it finishes just to make sure it's good!

Yeah, I still make my Italian bread by hand on occasion and we are trying to cut back on bread in general. But in the summer when I don't want to heat up the oven, the bread machine has been an excellent alternative.

If you don't want to take my advice, you could possibly find one at a thrift store unused and with a manual in the box. For a few bucks. You are on your own.

[SheilaT]

5. I started baking bread by hand a good forty years ago.

About the only drawback was the time it took, although I learned you could refrigerate the dough for the second rising overnight, if you wanted, and then bake at a more convenient time.

I bought a bread machine 20 years ago and just loved it. My favorite part was the delay cycle, which meant I could put in the ingredients the night before and wake up to freshly baked bread in the morning. The only drawback, such as it was, that the smell of baking bread woke me up, not my alarm. I finally wore out the first machine and bought a second one.

It's my opinion that you don't need the fanciest, most complicated one out there. You want one that has several basic cycles, the ability to delay the start, and that's probably it. The one trivial drawback is that you have no control over the shape of the loaf. It will be as perfectly square as the pan itself, and the rounded top will be at an end, rather than the top you're used to.

This is something I'd buy new, or as someone already suggested, in a never-opened box at a second hand store.

[Lars39]

6. There are bread makers that make horizontal loaves.

[SheilaT]

7. I didn't know that.

Somehow I didn't notice them when I was researching the bread machines. Thanks for the info!

[Lars39]

14. I have a Baker' Choice Plus by West Bend.

Takes a bit of storage room, but it's been really great.

[SheilaT]

15. For me storage room is an issue.

I have a pretty small kitchen, and among the reasons I don't own a blender or a food processor is that there's no place to store those critters.

[jtuck004]

8. No knead bread as mentioned above

http://breadtopia.com/basic-no-knead-method/
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html?_r=0

And while a bread machine is great, consider the Bosch dough mixer

http://boschmixers.com/index.php/bosch-mixers.html

Took a bread making class years ago, and she used this. When it was finished she just turned it out, we did a few folds, and it was ready to rise.

I saw the comment above about the Zojirushi. I have had one of their rice cookers for 10 years, still works like a champ.

[csziggy]

9. I bought an Oster bread machine at a thrift shop for $10 and loved it

I used to make bread by hand, no mixer at all but after various injuries I couldn't do it anymore and had stopped making bread. When I saw the Oster at the store, I picked it up. I didn't like the way the bread came out when cooked in the machine - the loaf was an odd shape, I had to dig the mixing blade out of the bottom, and it seemed steamed rather than baked.

So for years I used the machine to mix the dough and do the first rise then I'd take the dough out, shape it and put it in a pan for the second rise and to bake. That was great - I dug out my original recipe and modified it for the bread machine. In the middle of this period, I got both knees replaced and then carpal tunnel and ulnar nerve relocation surgery on both arms as well as arthroplasty on the left thumb. But I could still make bread, even if I had to teach my husband how to shape the loaves when my hands were in splints.

Then I found a KitchenAid mixer on Carigslist for $40 - even though had to buy the dough hook for it. I still let the machine do all the work so all I have to do is shape the loaves and let them rise. The bread machine has been in the cabinet for several years now - but I'm keeping it around just in case I need it in the future.

My process is to add the ingredients, then let the KitchenAid mix until the dough reaches the right consistency - the same stage you'd get to with hand kneading. At the very end, as it's still going I drizzle a little oil down the side of the bowl. Then I turn off the machine, turn the dough to coat with oil, cover and put in a warm place (usually my slightly heated oven) to rise. Then I turn it out, shape it, put into a pan, cover and put back in the oven to rise. Once it is ready, I remove the cover, turn the oven on and bake.

Using the bread machine is slightly easier - you just put the ingredients into the machine in the right order and start it. When it finishes the first rise, most machine now have a signal - mine doesn't so I set a kitchen timer and carry it with me while doing other stuff (same for when I make it with the KitchenAid). So it takes less hands on time with the bread machine - but I prefer watching my dough develop and like the versatility of the KitchenAid.

[eridani]

10. I use the kneading hook on my KitchenAid stand mixer

The other steps don't bother my hands.

[Luminous Animal]

11. Thanks everyone for the advice! I really appreciate it.

[winter is coming]

12. Get one used or on the cheap, if possible.

And consider using it only to knead/proof the dough, then shape the dough for a conventional pan for baking.

We bought our first bread machine over a decade ago, using a coupon on the after-Xmas sales. Used it regularly, then the pan needed to be replaced. Replacement pans represent a major fraction of the cost of a machine, so we upgraded to a better machine. When the bread pan on that one died the death, we bought a used Zojrushi on ebay. We've used the zojo for years and have bought one replacement pan for it during that time.

The zojo has a two-paddle bread pan and does a better job of kneading than the single-paddle Breadmans, but the Breadman's probably good enough. We got a 16x4x4 pan to bake the dough in a conventional oven, and have really enjoyed it.

[HappyMe]

13. I had an Oster one that was good.

Never had any problems with it at all. I passed it on to my son and it's still going strong.

[dem in texas]

16. Don't like Texture

When they first came out, years ago, I ate bread made in a bread machine and it did not have a good texture, it was too spongy, more like a batter bread. Bread needs to be kneaded. I haven't eaten any from a bread machine in years and they make better bread now.

Bread is so easy to make, I don't think I would give up any kitchen storage space for a bread machine, just get out the old mixing bow, flour, yeast and other ingredients and make some bread or rolls. Yum, yum; prune coffee kringle!