Y’all have been tempting me with your declious looking bread. I realize a bread machine is going to make simple loafs and not the stuff that’s usually posted here, but curious on thoughts if they’re worth it?
I’m low on time and lazy. I won’t make bread if I have to whip out my KitchenAid and dough hook. Tossing some ingredients in a machine I can do though, plus it could make the dough for more complex things too if I do occasionally have the energy.
Should I do it?
Yes, but just get whichever one you find at a thrift store. They’re usually <$30 US near me and in near mint condition. I think people get them as gifts and then get bored of them really often.
For best results with sticking to using it and not caving and buying bread, make pre-measured batches of dry ingredients you can easily toss in the machine and then you only have to measure the liquids.
Finding one with a timer function is a nice luxury as you can set it up the night before and wake up to fresh bread.
However, if you’re making it while awake, it’s worth taking the paddle out from under the loaf right before it starts the bake cycle so that the hole in the loaf bottom is minimized.
Oh good idea on the dry ingredients, thanks!
Just to add on this, I’ve had some very bad experiences with second hand bread makers. Many people use it a ton in the first year and then let it gather dust somewhere. The problem is that usually there is a rubber drive belt somewhere within, which might become brittle from the change from being moist to super dry. I’ve disassembled some, and this was a problem twice, completely disintegrated drive belt. Just fyi.
They’re great for making the dough as well. So you can do fancier bakes and still get the benefit
I have a pretty big kitchen, but I wouldn’t sacrifice the space.
High hydration, low yeast bread is absurdly easy to prepare. No kneeling, just a few minutes of work every half hour until the gluten forms. Throw it in the fridge or leave it on the counter for a while, and bake in the oven.
You really don’t need half the crap we enthusiasts use.
I never thought it was more convenient than just having a mixer. Same amount of countertop space, but only a single function. I never was a big fan of the loaves they made, either. Always kinda weird shaped and with that hole from the paddle.
My sister bought a bread maker and gave it to me after realizing it’s not her thing. I’ve been using it to make white bread for years now. Maybe about 100 loaves already over a five years.
If you’re not using it for that purpose, but instead prefer to make buns or French bread, id skip it.
First of all, you need to know that bread machine bread is nowhere as good as something actually kneaded.
Secondly, bread machine bread is very similar, regardless of which of the 32 variants on the machine, it will have mostly the same structure, and mostly the same crust. People who have baked bread often enjoy the variety, bread machines won’t help with that.
Thirdly, bread machine recipes are always bad, you will need to experiment. Even if the recipes are with products available at your local store, humidity and quality will differ enough that you’ll have to give it a few trials to get it right. Or at least find recipes for your machine from your area.
With that behind said, they’re very convenient, and you’ll be making a lot of bread as you’ll have no excuse not to eat it fresh. Within the limitations of the machine there’s still a lot to explore as well, with different types of flour, nuts/seeds, fruit, sweetener, leavening, etc.
Thirdly, bread machine recipes are always bad, you will need to experiment. Even if the recipes are with products available at your local store, humidity and quality will differ enough that you’ll have to give it a few trials to get it right.
Absolutely this!
I treated it like a science experiment and it took me about 10 attempts before I found the right mix.
Half the amount of sugar, one less cup of flour, switch up the order so the yeast eats the sugar earlier… It’s different for everyone
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How hard are they to clean? Seems easier to just use a stand mixer.
Simple. Mine has a non-stick pan, and the paddle is both trivially removable and also non-stick
Super ez for my model! There’s a basket where you drop your ingredients. Then it cooks everything.
The only thing that needs cleaning is the “spinners”. But in terms of effort, it’s very low, easier than a slow cooker.
It looks like this (but not this)
I use mine to mix doughs and they’re ideal for resting and rising.
I make loaves too but if you don’t want to hand mix a load of doughs or cake mixes and your house is too cold for rising then they can be more useful.
I’ve had mine two or three years and have bought bread only a couple of times since. It’s probably still someway off from paying for itself but the bread is much tastier!
If you buy one, I recommend one with a separate yeast dispenser.
If you know someone who has one you could borrow for a few weeks, that would be ideal. I mostly use mine to make dough and then bake in the oven. For regular sandwich loaves that’s because the bread machine pan makes loaves that are too wide for my taste.
For recipes, King Arthur Flour’s website is a good resource.
The shape of the bread is a big downside of bread machines if you ask me. And you get the donut slice. It is very convenient for making the dough though.
Yes it is extremely convenient. If you want even more convenience you can even buy full bread mix bags that have yeast / fat / seeds already added and you just add water. The bread that comes out using the mix is quite a bit better than regular and it’s an easy way to rid animal products from a large part of your diet (if you eat a lot of bread like me)
If you’re trying to be healthy you need to watch out for excessive starch intake like bread. Eating lots and lots of bread isn’t good for your blood sugar levels and will put extra strain on your liver. Just something to watch out for.
I mean I am not substituting meat with bread. Just the bread with milk in it from the store with the bread I bake at home.
Only if you are ok eating lots and lots of bread. Because they are pretty fun. Your mistakes are often still delicious.
I was given one and haven’t used it once. You can have mine. Not sure what I am supposed to do with it.
Bread machine is fantastic: just drop the ingredients and press go. I picked one up during pandemic (paid way too much since everyone else did too) and it became a game night thing with my kids: play video games until the bread machine beeps. I also used the scheduling function so I could awaken to fresh bread, although it limits the ingredients to things you can leave out
While the bread isn’t as good as scratch made bread, it is SOOOOOO much better than store bought. It was months before we got a loaf with any slices left for the next day. Actually I’m intentionally avoiding it now because it was so good that I found myself eating way too much bread.
I never found a recipe that was good for sandwich bread, plus the shape isn’t right, so it was never a practical choice, merely a treat. I did have a co-worker bring in a sandwich on bread machine bread everyday, so it can be practical too
It’s very easy to clean.
I never tried the dough function or the dessert/sweet bread function
I have never seen the point. I made some simple bread rolls tonight.
With the dough hook it took me 5 minutes to mix the dough.
The another 5 minutes to form it into rolls and they just came out of the oven.
Literally took 10 minutes of effort to make them. While I was drinking a glass of wine and playing on my phone.
I agree! If making bread rolls is a fun and quick activity, definitely not worth it!
But I have never been able to make rolls, and just basic white bread. As a lazy human being, and I’ll drop ingredients into a slow cooker and come back in five hours. Same with this, and have some tasty sandwich bread.
Rolls is when I want to be fancy, and it also takes me 3-4x longer than most human beings because im not very skilled.
