Bread machines

[Roxanne 21]

Just curious---do they really work?? I haven't had the opportunity to see one of these appliances, never mind use one. What difference, if any, is there with the final product versus hand/mixer method?

[Mare749]

Roxanne, it's one of those expensive appliances that you use like crazy at first because it's such a novelty and so easy for people like me who rarely bake bread. But, sadly, that quickly wears off and it gets put in storage along with all the other non-essentials.

I think the reason that the novelty wears off, is because the bread always looks the same, even though you use different recipes. It's more appealing to pick out a "beautiful looking" loaf from the bakery.

One final note on this subject. A family friend moved to northern Alaska to teach school for about 5 years. Regular old white bread cost about $5.00 at the time and this was quite a few years ago now. The first thing that he requested from home was a bread machine and used it faithfully the entire time he was there. (I guess flour was cheaper for some reason)

Maryann

[bjcotton]

I agree with Mare. I bought a bread machine and used it for a while, gave it to a sister and she used it, gave it to a brother and he used it, gave it to my younger sister and she uses it on occasion. I made the bread and we ate on it for the day, put it in a bread sack and the next day it was hard and stale...good for croutons maybe or stuffing mix.

[pjcooks]

I'm a faithful fan of bread machines. That being said, I never bake in them. I just let them do the hard work (I use the dough cycle), then remove the dough and knead in extras, if any, by hand, then shape and rise, and bake off. And I find them indispensable for rolls. When I get home from work, I can throw a batch in the machine, and in 1-1.5 hrs, I have dough ready for shaping and a quick rise, depending on my recipe size, I can have fresh rolls in 2-2 3/4 hrs.

I've had 2. The first was a DAK (Welbilt) round monster, back in the late 80's, which one day walked off the counter and fell to the floor, breaking in many pieces, however, it kept on kneading! My fault, I moved it to another (unlevel) counter while I painting, in 2001. I replaced it with a Breadman Ultimate ($99) from King Arthur which works great and is still going strong.

I couldn't be without one!

HTH

PJ

[Mare749]

PJ makes a great point. I have never used mine for just making dough and I don't know why. I'll have to try that.

Roxanne, if you are anything like me, when you get it into your head that you want something new for the kitchen, it's hard to give up. Do you know anyone who owns a bread machine that would be willing to loan it to you for a couple of weeks? That would be long enough to know if you really would use it.

Maryann

[Roxanne 21]

HMMMM---mixed opinions here. I find that most people I know DO NOT cook here. They love to eat out and we are the definite oddball Americans.

I ask about the machine because it is not available here---that is something I MAY look into if/when we return to the States. Looks like one of those gadgets that you either love or don't really care about. Looks handy, though. Lots of thinking to do on that one--I would miss the work and fun involved with the hand process but who knows!!

Thanks for the input!!!!

[vannin]

Like Mare and others we had one we used a lot, I don't know where it is now.

[davidwb]

My wife thought a bread machine would be just the right birthday gift for her cooking husband and for about three months we used it at least once a week. I made breakfast breads, dinner breads, and rolls. We put on a few pounds! But after a while the novelty ran out and I started using it about once a month, mostly just to make the dough for cinnamon rolls for a special weekend treat. It was just a bit more convenient than using my food processor - pour in the ingredients and let it go through the mixing, kneading, and first rising while we made dinner and ate. Then I could put the rolls together while others cleaned up behind me.

Then I was put on a salt restricted diet - 1500 mg a day. Since a serving of bread from the store runs about 250-400 mg of sodium and I can make a flavorful bread that has less sodium in the entire loaf, the bread machine is just once of many blessings in my week. I run it 2-3 times a week to make breakfast, sandwich bread, and rolls.

I've gone through quite a few bread makers in the last 13 years. I've had some good ones and some bad ones but about 5 years ago based on the recommendation of a fellow menieres patient, I bought a Zojirushi and it is still going strong. It is expensive but it has outlasted every other machine I've bought.

If I made a loaf of bread by hand and another kneaded by my machine but baked in the oven you'd not notice a difference. A loaf baked in the machine will have a hole (or two) where the paddles were. A small price to pay for the convenience.

[pjcooks]

Welcome, David!

My parents use their bread machine for the same reasons-they can control what goes into their breads.

PJ

[bjcotton]

Welcome David, glad you could join us.