Suggestions / Advice About Bread Machine
 

So I finally got a bread machine and I'm so excited to be able to make my own bread. Here is a link to what I got:

http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx/v...e-w-8-Settings

Anyone who has a bread machine......can you give me any advice or tips? I've never baked bread - even the old fashioned way - so this is a new experiment for me.

Have you had better success with a certain brand of flour? Yeast?

Thanks for your suggestions! :grouphug:

Yeasts and fkours do differ so looking at them and YOUR reaction to results important. Bread flours contain more gluetin, which does make a difference.

OMG! yummy fresh baked bread! I use my oven, and not a machine, so I cant help you there, but I am soooo jealous!

I don't have a sensitivity to gluten (that I know of) but I do plan to use organic ingredients. I have the car today so I'm going to go pickup some supplies this afternoon after my Neuro appointment.

Dej, I really didn't intend to buy a bread machine when I did but I turned on QVC and they had this one at a great price plus I could break it down into four (I think....maybe it's five) payments of about $15. That makes it easier on my budget. It just seemed like a great deal plus they delivered it right to my door. I love that! It sold out soon after I ordered it.

I think my first loaf will be whole wheat but I'm going to try cinnamon raisin, too.

I use my bread machines almost daily.

Most machines want you to put the wet ingredients in first. Just make sure the water is tepid, not cold. Keep that in mind when adding eggs from the refrigerator. When it blends with the yeast, warm water will make the yeast grow. Yeast and water are the key to how your bread rises.

I like the yeast that comes in a jar, not the packages. Packages seem to have crushed the yeast to death.

After about 3 minutes, look inside and if there is flour on the sides, use a rubber scraper. Your bread should be forming a ball. If the dough looks dry, add a teaspoon or so of water. If it is wet and sticky, add flour. The ball should be churning with the paddle.

If you use too much water, your bread will rise and stick to the top of the machine. It will taste fine, it is just a pain to clean the top. If you use too little water, your bread will be more dense.

Start with a basic bread - white to start. Not good for you but it will give you a good idea of how dough works.

The key is really the water, it temperature and how much it form a good looking dough ball in the first stage. That is a trial and error.

DH got me a bread cookbook Best Little Bread Book Ever. Ironically, I have made very few breads from it! But the white, wheat, cinnamon raisin and Challah are good.

Good luck!

We have"Beard on Bread"and once made lots of bread manually. DH makes Pizza every week, uses a special Pizza yeast and bread flour and his crusts are delicious. Now that kids are off to college, we only need one pie but have dough for two. DH makes rolls with extra dough.

My SIL makes a cheese bread in her machine and it's very good.

I like to use the dough cycle the most.
Then I shape into small loves , rolls, or long french style loaf

I use a basic recipe and adjust it as it is mixing, due to how weather/humidity affects the flour.

My machines all say to start with liquids first

1 cup warm water - to touch/ luke warm
--or split it up water/milk 50/50 {warm also}
- less if egg will be added {egg= 1/4 c liquid approx}

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon +/- salt
pinch of sugar or more if sweeter dough is wanted

then the yeast packet or equal measured amount per jar directions.

Turn it on and let it go for awhile, then I peek in and see if liquid/flour needs any adjusting - it's fine to do this - I usually err to the wet and add flour to firm it up - messier but easier to get it right.

This recipe works fine in the regular cycle too, but some machine will bake with a hot spot or sometime make a thicker crust that you really want.
That's why I like to shape and bake in the oven

And don't let it sit in the machine too long or it might get kind of soggy - I take mine out and cool it on a rack right away.


Whole wheat, Rye I know will change the liquids ratio -seems like they absorb more, so more liquid will need to be added.

For starting out a basic white might be best - til you get the hang of it.

A dough ready for rising will be fairly smooth and not sticky to the touch - the old time bread bakers used to say smooth like a baby's bottom...

Many times I totally turn off the machine - if I need to make a big adjustment and restart - dough is very forgiving so if it isn't looking right feel free to start it over again.

If your booklet has a smaller loaf recipe start with that and practice

- but the main thing is the weather does affect the moisture content in flour so the measurements aren't a hard and fast rule
- small adjustments might need to be made

Okay.....there is a loaf baking right now in my little machine! I just made the basic white bread recipe. It had me start with the liquid ingredients, then the flour then the yeast. I had to add about 1/2 tsp more water during the kneading cycle because it was not as "tacky" as the recipe said it should be.

It's got about 1 1/2 hours to go according to the timer. I started out with the 1 lb. loaf. If it turns out good I'm going to do whole wheat next.

I got all my supplies.....flour, yeast, oil, etc. I purchased all organic......pretty ridiculously expensive but I won't have to buy this stuff again for a while. I even bought a little thermometer so I can make sure the water is exactly 80 degrees F.

I'll let ya'll know if it turned out as soon as it's done. If my camera will behave I'll post a picture of it.

Thanks for all the ideas, advice and suggestions! :)

OOooo, I can smell it baking. I can't wait! Pass the ICBIN butter, please.:p

Success!!!

It came out great. The crust was a little harder than I'd like it to be but I can adjust the setting on the next one. I sliced it once it cooled and tried a piece.....it was so good! I can't wait to try out some of the recipes in the manual. I can't believe how easy it was.

I would post a pic but for some reason my digital camera won't display my pics on the computer. :confused: I'll have to wait till DS gets home on Sunday and see if he can figure out what's wrong. It certainly couldn't be operator error.......:rolleyes: :o

Oh you have to share it please!!!!

Let me know when ya'll will be driving through North Georgia and I'll have a loaf ready and waiting for you! Really! :)

Kitty, I make bread all the time due to allergies. What I make all the time is dinner rolls. Use the setting for DOUGH only. Take out the dough when done, and make little balls the size of a golf ball and put on a greased cookie pan.

Let rise for one hour on table room temp, and then put in oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Light brown when looking in at them.

I freeze them in plastic containers with one paper towel on the bottom. One layer no overlapping. I use many containers and they freeze beautiful.

When you want one just take it out and wrap a new paper towel around it and put in micro for ten seconds. Comes nice a fresh again. Or leave at room temp in a zippy bag for a few hours.

They last in freezer even without preservatives for a good month or so. Use heavy duty, plastic, tight containers, like rubbermaid. Not the disposable ones.

Make lots of bread and store in the same way. It's great to do on a rainy day or bad weather snow days. Make lots to have ready to eat. A loaf can go in the oven to heat or toaster oven after you put in micro wave to defrost the inside.

Dinner rolls too. You can use the DOUGH only to make any shape you want, just let it rise at room temp. Have fun, it's so easy.:hug:

Use only bread flour, it's on the label.

Made pizza dough this afternoon and homemade pizza sauce! It turned out so good. I just made a cheese pizza because I didn't have any other ingredients except veggies and DS won't eat veggie pizza. Since I'll only eat a small sliver and he'll eat the rest I needed to make something he'd eat. It was fun and I loved watching it bake! And it smelled incredible. I was a little worried about the sauce since I'd never made it before but it turned out good, too. I think next time I'm going to brush the crust with butter and garlic before adding the toppings and baking it. :)

Drooooooooooling here..:p:p:p:p

North Georgia, October 3rd!!!! But you would just have to throw it out the door. My husband is not one to make any stops to some one he doesn't know. And there are 7 of us hungry souls. So you just eat some for me!!!