Bread Machine Recommendations

[worm@work]

Hi,

I'm a newbie to the world of baking .. being prone to "improvising" when it comes to the kitchen, I always thought of baking as too precise an art for me to be able to handle! However, I adore good bread and am always very envious when I go to peoples houses and see them serving bread they made in their own kitchen.

I would really like to learn to make my own bread. I am planning to get one of the books on making bread for the home baker (I saw some really nce threads about this elsewhere on egullet). However, I have sme other questions I would like answered. Apologize if any of them are too silly but I really truly hve never ventured in this direction and practically know nothing about making bread.

1. Do I need a bread machine to be able to make my own bread ? If yes, can I get some recommendations on brand and make. I am really looking for something affordable and yet decent.

2. Any other tips on what kind of bread to start with?

thanks a bunch in advance,

worm@work

[WolfChef]

I have heard many good things about Zojirushi bread machine. Don't have one myself, but sorta want one. I do have their fuzzy logic rice cooker, and am glad I spent the $$ on it. Perfect rice every time. Well designed, and quite easy to clean.

[Anna N]

You most definitely DON'T need a bread machine to make good bread. BUT, I love mine and use it to mix the dough and then bake the finished loaves in the oven. I make four small loaves of multigrain bread each week - two bakings - and that keeps my daughter and family in bread for a week and they love it. But I also make bread without the machine for me and hubby. Bread machines, used once or twice, can be found for a song at garage sales.

[vengroff]

1. Do I need a bread machine to be able to make my own bread ? If yes, can I get some recommendations on brand and make. I am really looking for something affordable and yet decent.

You don't need one. If you have a stand mixer with a dough hook that's plenty good enough, plus it has a lot of other uses.

2. Any other tips on what kind of bread to start with?

Start with a basic lean dough (flour, water, yeast and salt) following a formula from from either a thread here or a good book like Bread Baker's Apprentice, and then work your way up from there.

[aidensnd2]

You don't need a bread machine to learn to make bread nor would I recommend that you get one. If you just want to bang out some bread to eat as opposed to buying it at the store you might do alright with a machine, but if you want to really learn to make bread, are passionate about bread, and can tell the difference between good and bad bread then a mchine will do you no good. Bread making is something that is so dependent on feel and touch and using a machine will rob you of those experiences.

I would recommend finding a simple recipe and just start baking off some loaves. Try to develop a relationship between how the dough feels/acts before baking and how the loaves bake off. Getting a sense of when the dough has been worked properly, when it has proofed for the correct amount of time, etc... can only really be done when making it by hand, and these are the things that will make or break you bread.

[worm@work]

Thanks for all the great advice. I definitely want to "learn" at this juncture and am convinced from reading all these posts that the thing to do is to start with some recipes and start baking using em good old two hands and an oven as opposed to using a machine.

I really like good bread and rarely manage to find bread at the grocery that pleases me. I like my crust to be well, crusty and the inside to be soft and yet not moist and invariably I find that the bread I buy fails me on at least one of these attributes.

I will try and post my experiences with bread-making as I intend to get started very soon :).

Thanks,

worm@work

[sabg]

i really want to start making my own bread and everyone i talk to says i gotta have a brea=d machine...they seem to vary drastically on which one and how much i need to spend..due to economic downturn..any inexpensive ideas??

[Tri2Cook]

..any inexpensive ideas??

←

Idea #1: Don't worry about the bread machine, just use the oven you already have!

[Hard H2O]

I have and use a bread machine. I have been through a couple of them.

I prefer the horizontal type.

I use mine for breads as well as dough.

They make great pizza dough.

It is nice on the holidays to be able to have bread baking freeing up the oven for roasting other things.

The timers are great. Load ingredients in the morning and have bread or dough ready when you get home from work.

I have even brought one in to work with a couple of batches of ingredients and made a few loaves.

I am sorry but I do not have a brand reccomendation for you.

[chiantiglace]

d-o-n-t b-u-y a b-r-e-a-d m-a-c-h-i-n-e!

thats like buying a machine that pumps water out of the ground when you already have a hose attached to your house.

[Hard H2O]

d-o-n-t b-u-y a b-r-e-a-d m-a-c-h-i-n-e!

thats like buying a machine that pumps water out of the ground when you already have a hose attached to your house.

←

We are talking about a machine that mixes, kneads, raises and bakes bread while you go about other tasks. What is wrong with one of them?

I personally have no desire to take on the task of baking bread. A bread mchine is a nice way to have fresh bread without the work.

I have never understood the problem some foodies have with them.

I like good food. I like to cook. I do not like to bake. I do not like to spend a lot of time in the kitchen.

A bread machine is one kitchen gadget that I can thoroughly recommend.

It is not a uni-tasker. It bakes bread as well as turns out dough.

If my holiday tables are any indication the bread that we produce is very good.

The pizza that we make always seems to disappear so it seems like the dough is acceptable.

[andiesenji]

I agree with Hard H2O.

I was a professional baker (graduate of Dunwoody, Minneapolis) and I own several bread machines.

I bought the first one that Zojirushi sold in the U.S. and still have it. I have a Breadman Ultimate and another Breadman. A double one made by American Harvest and an inexpensive small one made by Oster.

I use them for mixing dough, sometimes multiple batches at the same time when I am doing small batches. (I have a dough mixer for large batches.)

I used to do much of my kneading by hand because I like to do it until I developed arthritis in my hands which made that activity impossibly painful.

Unlike most mixers, one can start the machine, go off and leave it to do its thing through the second (in some cases the third) kneading cycle and then shape and pan it for the final rise and it can do all the interim stuff without attention.

One doesn't have to find a separate container or a special place to allow the dough to rise.

The machines are compact and can be used for other purposes - cooking jam, also without attention - for one instance.

There are a couple of bread machine cookbooks that have extensive instructions on various other things to do with the appliance.

I have friends who use if for fully baking the bread - they yank the dough out of the pan after the final knead and remove the beater prior to the final rise and bake cycle, which makes it much easier and neater to remove the baked loaf.

Edited July 6, 2009 by andiesenji (log)

[baroness]

I am a skilled baker, and have made yeast breads and rolls without a bread maker for many years.

Last fall, I bought a Zojirushi (large size with horizontal loaf) bread maker, mainly due to the glowing reviews from the bakers at King Arthur Flour. Thirty-some batches later of everything from breadsticks to pannetone, I still like the machine. The Zo mixes and kneads beautifully and provides a compact, even-temperatured rising chamber. It will also make items such as jam and biga/sponge/starter.

As far as baking is concerned, better results are obtained in a 'real' oven -- but using the light crust setting and checking for doneness (removing if thermopen reads 204F or higher) 10-15 minutes early provide a very good loaf of bread...without heating up the oven and the house.

I have no experience with the cheaper brands. I have heard that bread machines are sometimes sold at yard sales and in thrift shops, though I haven't encountered any. Manuals for most old machines can be found online.

Edited to add: You WILL get better results from a BM if you have had some previous experience with yeast dough. It's very important to monitor the dough during the kneading time to check the texture and hydration--most BM recipes have too much flour in my experience.

Edited July 6, 2009 by baroness (log)

[Tri2Cook]

I didn't say there was anything wrong with having a bread machine, I own two (although both were gifts and the better of the two has never been used). The OP asked for inexpensive options and using the oven you already have is the most inexpensive option there is. If convenience and minimal involvement is a factor then by all means grab a machine. They make a decent enough loaf of bread, definitely better than the commercial stuff. The only factor mentioned in the original post was money. If they're willing to mix and knead the dough then not buying a bread machine is less expensive than even the cheapest machine.

[Heartsurgeon]

i make boules by hand and love em...

but i also use a Panasonic bread machine to make a multi-grain/whole wheat sandwich bread that is great ...

different breads altogether, each one I enjoy making and eating.

my advice..do both!

[chiantiglace]

how hard is it to mix bread in a kitchen aid for eight minutes. if you don't have a kitchen aid, I suggest saving up some money for one of those, they make life great.

with a kitchen aid and your simple oven, you can make any kind of bread, any shape any way you want. and the bread machine cant do really much else, you can do endless things with a kitchen aid, not to mention all of the attachments.

bread machines have always seemed like another unnecessary gimmick to me.

Edited July 7, 2009 by chiantiglace (log)

[Hard H2O]

I have no experience with the cheaper brands. I have heard that bread machines are sometimes sold at yard sales and in thrift shops, though I haven't encountered any. Manuals for most old machines can be found online.

Edited to add: You WILL get better results from a BM if you have had some previous experience with yeast dough. It's very important to monitor the dough during the kneading time to check the texture and hydration--most BM recipes have too much flour in my experience.

←

I think they are like most appliances. You either use them or they collect dust. They take up a fair amount of counter and/or storage space.

Don’t some vintages of Kitchen aids suffer from some sort of weak frame and plastic gear issue that can bring on a premature to their lives when kneading dough with them? I think there might be a recall or known problem.

I have used mainly the cheaper brands and I agree that you do need to monitor the dough when it is initially being mixed. I almost always feel the need to ad a bit more water however on the timer settings, when I am not around, the bread seems to turn out fine without my intervention. Maybe I should just let the machine do its job.

[jgm]

I won't address the bread machine issue; I have one and continue to have fantasies of finding recipes I like, to make a variety of breads.

However.

There are two threads you should take a look at:

Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day with Zoe Francois

and one about the "Minimalist No-Knead Bread technique"

(I can't figure out how to link to topics. Sorry.)

What I recommend, is to go to the word search at the very top of the page, click on it, search the Pastry & Baking forum for the word "bread", and look at the incredible amount of information you'll find.

Whether to buy a bread machine is a personal choice, but rest assured that you don't need one to turn out good bread. The two topics above will get you on the road to some very good, very easy homemade bread, but there are still many more options.

Jenny

[baroness]

how hard is it to mix bread in a kitchen aid for eight minutes.  if you don't have a kitchen aid, I suggest saving up some money for one of those, they make life great.

with a kitchen aid and your simple oven, you can make any kind of bread, any shape any way you want.  and the bread machine cant do really much else, you can do endless things with a kitchen aid, not to mention all of the attachments.

bread machines have always seemed like another unnecessary gimmick to me.

←

Even though I am quite fond of Kitchen Aid (mixers) -- I have 2 --, they are not well suited to yeast bread doughs. The mixers themselves are not a small investment; let alone the KA attachments (the ones I've tried haven't been worth their cost).

Perfectly good bread can be made with only human power, using a dough whisk or wooden spoon. Perfectly good bread can also be made in other ways, using a bread maker or other tools.

[CaliPoutine]

how hard is it to mix bread in a kitchen aid for eight minutes.  if you don't have a kitchen aid, I suggest saving up some money for one of those, they make life great.

with a kitchen aid and your simple oven, you can make any kind of bread, any shape any way you want.  and the bread machine cant do really much else, you can do endless things with a kitchen aid, not to mention all of the attachments.

bread machines have always seemed like another unnecessary gimmick to me.

←

Even though I am quite fond of Kitchen Aid (mixers) -- I have 2 --, they are not well suited to yeast bread doughs. The mixers themselves are not a small investment; let alone the KA attachments (the ones I've tried haven't been worth their cost).

Perfectly good bread can be made with only human power, using a dough whisk or wooden spoon. Perfectly good bread can also be made in other ways, using a bread maker or other tools.

←

Why arent your KA mixers suited to yeast doughs? Before I had a bread machine( which I use a lot in the summer), I did all my yeast dough in my KA. I still make my bagel dough a few times a month in the KA.

Unlike most mixers, one can start the machine, go off and leave it to do its thing through the second (in some cases the third) kneading cycle and then shape and pan it for the final rise and it can do all the interim stuff without attention.

I wouldnt agree with that. You still need to check the hydration, of most recipes ( unless you're using a mix).