Hello

[Dakender]

You can call me Dakender.  Da is like "Da Bears!" or "Da Yoopers" (if you like music that is funny).  Kender are a fictional race in a role playing game I used to play, that I found very amusing.  Just in case you were wondering where the heck the name came from.

 

On to why I am here.  I recently bought a new bread machine - my dad used an older one and we enjoyed pumpkin bread, zucchini bread, banana bread and so on, even if it was a round, tall shape rather than a traditional loaf.  The new machine has a bread pan that has a ceramic coating rather than Teflon, so it should be safer, can produce traditional loaves of different sizes, has other neat features to learn how to use and so on.  After opening the recipe book and reading the manual, though, I found that I have more learning to do than I thought.  Everything is in metric units, and most of the recipes I find are not, for one. 🙄  Still, a machine is a machine.  If I can learn how to put the right ingredients in with the right amounts for the right size, I should be good.  The machine will just do what I tell it to do.

I'm also finding that there is more to this than I realized.  Different kinds of flour, real science behind what works and what does not and so on.  That, and being able to show up for the holidays (when this pandemic is over and we can do that again) with something no one else can offer: fresh, homemade bread, whether it is pumpkin bread for thanksgiving, cinnamon and raisin bread (for any occasion, really), banana bread...the possibilities are endless.  So I'm excited about the opportunity to learn and be able to bring something to the table (literally) that others cannot or will not.  I do need help with that, so that is why I am here.  Please be patient with me if I make mistakes like starting a topic that was addressed a year ago and I was unaware of it.

[Alex]

Welcome, Dakender. You can start your quest here.

[TdeV]

Howdy @Dakender,

 

Many American recipes use cups which complicates (rather than simplifies) what one needs to do. I convert all these recipes to grams!

You'll need a kitchen scale – most are switchable from grams to ounces; however, grams are smaller than ounces, so they're simpler to count.

 

The single most helpful piece of advice? Investigate how to measure using the Tare function.

 

The folks here on eGullet are wonderful. Welcome.

 

 

[Kim Shook]

Welcome to eGullet, Dakender!  I share your bread machine frustration.  Mine is due not to measurements, but to a really badly translated manual.  So, I feel your pain.  There are some truly excellent bakers here - scientist/artist hybrids and I know that you will get lots of help!