the Bread machine

Three weeks ago we went off to to Kitchen Etc. to get a new electric frying pan because the coating inside was cracked. We didn't like what they had, but they had a

Bread Machine on sale for $49. After a bit of dithering between

rsc and me for this huge investment we bought it.

Since then we've made a loaf of bread just about every day (we eat lots of bread). In addition to the recipe book that came with the machine, I borrowed one from the library: More Recipes for your Bread Machine Bakery. Almost every loaf has been a different recipe and they've all been pretty good. It is so easy - 5 minutes of preparation and then either one hour with the quick cycle or 3 hours and a bit with the white cycle. They aren't all perfectly formed and the 1 hour resulted in a couple of slightly underdone centers (easily fixed in the toaster).

We've had beer bread, light rye, garlic pumpernickel, Wheatena® bread, 7 grain, whole wheat, spiced apple granola, light onion rye, whole wheat zucchini, cinnamon raisin, Anadama and perhaps a couple of others.

4 comments — :

( 4 comments — Leave a comment )

vaneramos

2004-04-12 06:22 am (UTC)

The bread machine is a wonderful invention.

keyne

2004-04-12 10:18 am (UTC)

Tim and I highly recommend the bread-machine cookbook we use: The All-New Ultimate Bread Machine Cookbook: 101 brand-new, irresistible, foolproof recipes for family and friends, by Tom Lacalamita. Despite the hype of the title, it's an excellent collection, and the layout is spare and very readable. I think I picked it up in the cookbook aisle at Stop & Shop, so it shouldn't be hard to find. :-)

They aren't all perfectly formed...

After a lot of experimentation, we realized we were happier using our bread machine to do the kneading and rising, and then plopping the dough into bread pans or muffin tins or onto a baking sheet and baking it in the oven. I especially like doing cloverleaf rolls that way.