Got A Bread Making Machine

[Pete_C]

I had to go to the mall out by the airport on Monday; so I stopped in and checked out the JC Penny Outlet store.

They have Breadman Breadmakers automatic bread making machines normally $79 on sale for $29 so I went and bought one.

I made a loaf or onion bread and it was so good I do not think I will ever buy bread again.

The thing is remarkably simple to use, just pour in the ingredients, starting with liquids, followed by flour, topped with yeast; then you select the bread type (basic, quick , french.....), the size of loaf (1lb , 1.5 or 2 Lb loaf) based on the recipe you are using, whether you want a light , medium or dark crust and press the start button . (you can also set a delay timer so it starts up in the middle of the night and makes fresh bread for breakfast or starts up while you are at work so it will be done just as you get home).

Counting the mixing, kneading, resting and rising and repeat and baking it takes about three hours for a one pound loaf and four for a two pounder.

It sure beats trying to mix , knead, let rise, punch down , knead again and let rise and .... all by hand. That is just to messy and to much effort for doing on a regular basis.

My first attempt was the basic onion bread; pretty much just white bread with lipton onion soup mix added. The texture was perfect as was the size (for two people who like good bread anyhow). I think I will double the amount of soup mix or add some fried onions next time but other than that it was so good it was gone by bedtime the same day.

It went especially good with salami, garlic bologna, onions , lettuce , mustard, and cheese.

I bought some fennel seed, caraway seed, and dill seed and plan on trying a seeded rye tomorrow (Yes I have rye flour , and bread flour , and whole wheat). Gotta decide whether to toast the seeds first and maybe crack some of them to bring out the flavor.

Others on the horizon?

I have sundried tomatoes , and fresh rosemary and basil .

I have plenty of garlic.

I have jalapenos and cheddar cheese.

Lets see; I have dried apricots, dried cranberries, dates, raisins, walnuts, pecans ....

Just so many things to try .

Yep, I think it will be a while before I buy a loaf of bread.

[isteve]

I had a bread machine quite a few years ago. It starts with your basic onion bread and soon becomes things like pepperoni bread.

[irregularjoe]

That sounds great.

I had to take a baking class one semester as a requirement for culinary school.

I consider myself a very good cook, but bread baking is definantely NOT my forte. I baked a lot of boat anchors in my time.

Is this machine able to produce those wonderful airy holes that make French and Italian bread so good?

Question about setting the timer to start later: Is the liquid and flour in contact with each other while it's waiting? What about the yeast? I would think that would kill the activation of the yeast, no?

[JDoors]

... [the bread] was so good it was gone by bedtime the same day. ...

Please post a warning when you're gonna talk about food: Get a drool napkin ready!

EVERY SINGLE STYLE of bread you talked about sounds SO good. And fresh? Compared to store-bought? Cripes.

Ooo, how about a nice, rich, dense bread with nuts? Can you do that?

[TheTerrorist_75]

I still enjoy the hands on baking of bread. I loved watching and helping my grandmother and mother when it was baking time. I find it therapeutic.

[Pete_C]

Joe I know just what you are talking about. I consider myself a good cook, but when it comes to baking I too have turned out more boat anchors (or dog biscuits) than good bread over the years. Maybe it is just getting the kneading wrong (to much or to little) or water temp incorrect or rise time wrong ; who knows.

The nice thing about this is you just put in room temp water, room temp oil (softened butter for a crisper crust, but they warn against margarine or shortening as they can lead to tough breads) flour, seasonings and top it with the yeast. Press the on button and walk away. It will beep at the appropriate time (before the second kneading and rise) to add things like raisins or nuts.

Yes it does make airy breads with big holes , It makes several different styles ; they have a chart in the manual.

You start by selecting the "program" from a set of eight choices

1.Basic is for regular breads with fine holes

2. Fast is for breads in under an hour (using special recipes)

3. French for a thick crisp crust and coarse chewy interior

4. Whole grain for breads made with whole grain flours as opposed to refined bread flour with extra gluten and hence different kneading and rising requirements

5. Sweet for breads high in fat, sugar, or eggs

6. Quick for breads using chemical leaveners (baking powder) instead of yeast

7. Cake (self explanatory)

8. Dough only (for making rolls , or donuts , it mixes and kneads and rises and beeps when it is ready for you to proceed)

Then you select the size (1 lb, 1.5 lb , 2 lb ) and it confirms that the weight is within range ( move arrow on top and if arrow on bottom matches up you are right and it goes beep)

Then select the crust type (soft and light, medium, dark and hard)

you can then set the delay timer to start it going up to twelve hours later (or leave it at 0 for immediate processing)

Then press the start button , it calculates everything, sets and displays the timing including a "time remaining"

Today experiment is seeded rye with caraway seed , fennel seed , and dill seed.

I would have gone for Jewish Rye, but I haven't made a sourdough starter yet. I guess that will be my next project. I have plenty of ball and mason jars to work with so I will probably try several approaches (rye flour, pineapple juice and yeast; rye , cultured buttermilk and yeast; Rye , yogurt , and yeast; Rye sour cream and yeast) and see which has the best flavor.

The manual suggests adding room temp live culture yogurt or cultured buttermilk to the mix for a quick sourdough so I may go that route since the OL is probably not going to like the idea of a bunch of jars of things growing and fermenting on the kitchen counter . Of course when I discovered a native strain of blue cheese mold and began making my own blue cheese from feta (freeze it and thaw and it gets all crumbly and the mold just goes wild ) once she tasted how good it is compared to store bought blue cheese she has no problem with my leaving a tub in the back of the fridge.

Made a loaf of garlic bread to go with pasta for supper.

[irregularjoe]

Thank you Pete!

This machine sounds too good to be true. Soooo.....I'm definately going to try it.

A few notes: my dog would NOT eat the boat anchors that I baked. I did usually freeze them after the 4 + hour prepping, mixing, rising, proofing, yada yada yada, baking, cleaning, etc. ordeal..... The pigeons and ducks and geese in the park thought they were great, but I'm not sure that qualifies me for any James Beard awards.

I love to make the sourdough starters that you mentioned. Growing up in NY and CT and then spending time in Boston and San Francisco I was exposed to a lot of that.

But for some reason the final bread product just never really worked too well. ....I've come to realize that bakers are just a different breed than cooks/ chefs.

Now, I'm still a purist, so I'm sure that I will be supplying a healthy wheat based bread diet to all the avian and waterfowl in my area. And I'm still going to try to hone my bread making skills. .....But in the meantime I am going to hedge my bets just a little and buy the bread machine that you suggested. .....Please don't tell my S.O . As you and I both know, cooks are just the tiniest bit vain.

Joe

[Pete_C]

Remember, while a chef is an artist and cooking an art where you learn techniques and use them to create your own interpretations with a lot of leeway; baking is a science and a baker is a chemist and the recipe must be followed . Just as in chemistry , in baking a slight variation can be the difference between success and failure manufacturing what you aim to or coming up with a bunch of slag.

That is why these bread making machines are so good; as long as you measure things and follow the recipe they come out as intended because the computer does the correct amount of kneading, resting, rising temp control etc.

Sure there is some room for additional ingredients etc; that is why there are so many different breads.

So far I have established that there is a definite difference in the final product between using all purpose flour and bread flour. Bread flour is worth the extra money.

The order in which ingredients are combined is often as important as accurate measurement.

I also decided that it is well worth taking the time to let ingredients reach room temp (like eggs ) if they are not and using my digital thermometer to measure water temp. I use filtered water, but if you do not have filtered, use bottled to make sure it does have chlorine levels or salt levels which will kill the yeast.

Speaking of salt, you need some. To little or to much can adversly affect yeast growth (letting it burn our or suppressing growth entirely). It is chemistry and accurate measurement, temperature control, order and timing of ingredients all matter as well as using the ingredients specified.

For now, I will stick to provided and proven recipes.

So far I am very pleased with the machine. I do not know how much I would have paid for it, but $29 is definitely a deal I could not refuse and it is well worth that. At what they charge for "artisan" breads at the grocery I will have paid for it in savings in a couple weeks.

Even at say a dollar a loaf it pays for itself in a month.

[JSKY]

I love those machines. They make some great bread!! Mmm!

[Pete_C]

Trying sourdough cheddar cheese with cracked black pepper and dill today.

Looks a bit thin after the second kneading; but will know in a couple hours how it comes out.

The dough sure tasted good.

[Pete_C]

Today I made Sundried Tomato bread with garlic, rosemary(fresh) , and basil.

I used V8 juice instead of water, I upped it to a cup from 3/4 and that was a bit of a mistake as it came out heavy and a bit to moist. But otherwise it is delicious.

[JDoors]

Just a hunch to use V8 instead of water? Was it too heavy because of the solids in the juice? Odd that, if that's it, the extra 1/4 cup of liquid would make it too wet ...

I think you should'a bought two bread machines 'cause you're gonna wear that one out quick!

[Pete_C]

Just a hunch to use V8 instead of water? Was it too heavy because of the solids in the juice? Odd that, if that's it, the extra 1/4 cup of liquid would make it too wet ...

I think you should'a bought two bread machines 'cause you're gonna wear that one out quick!

Yes, I had been thinking that. I may run out there tomorrow and buy a second if they still have any left.

My thought was that the solids would mean there was less water in the juice than in a corresponding volume of water. Maybe I overestimated the amount of solids in V8 juice.

I love to cook with V8 juice; I use it in soups as a "vegetable stock" as well as using it to simmer things like sweet potatoes and regular ones for that matter. Then use the leftover liquid to make "red gravy" . Red gravy on meatloaf and mashed potatoes is just to good.

[Pete_C]

Well I have tried seveal others.

Pumpkin bread with canned pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spices.

Turned out excellent , especially toasted and topped with a little butter and sugar with my coffee in the morning.

Sourdough using buttermilk for the liquid.

Today I am back to making Onion bread, with extra fried onions and buttermilk for the sourdough flavor. Should be done in a half hour and it is a real beauty.

[JDoors]

Oh. My. God. Toasted, buttered pumpkin bread.

[Pete_C]

Oh. My. God. Toasted, buttered pumpkin bread.

Yep, the OL said it was not sweet enough, but toasted with some butter, cinnamon and sugar spread on it it was fantastic with morning coffee.