Bread machine - anyone have? Recommendation?

[irul&ublo]

If you want some enamelware, try overstock.com and similar sites. I bought a couple of Lodge Dutch ovens, very heavy, at steep discounts and similar pieces always seem to be available.

[iceman]

wait, isn't wheat poison now?

[chatton18]

We have one that very rarely gets used. It makes decent bread but I find it a little fiddly. And if I'm going to fiddle anyway then I'd rather just use the oven and turn out a higher quality product.

On a related note we use the hell out of our Kitchenaid stand mixer. If the misses is interested in baking bread then you ought to try to steer her in that direction instead (if you don't already have one). It's just such a versatile tool to have in the kitchen, particularly when you start accessorizing it with different attachments.

I've been looking into stand mixers a bit for the GF as she's getting into breadmaking, a hobby I wholeheartedly endorse. General consensus is that ALL of the kitchenaid stand mixers currently made suck for breadmaking, unless you're doing small batch white bread. A lot of people have issues with heavier doughs as they strip the plastic gears, burn out the motor which is a piece of junk etc. The best for breadmaking are hobarts but they cost a fortune ($2k new). While still expensive, but slightly more affordable, most are very happy with the electrolux DLX ($700) . The bosch kitchen machine also gets good reviews and comes in around 300-400, although the plastic bowl seems kind of messy to me. I think the best deal going is probably the breville stand mixer, which might not hold up to multiple loaves of wheat/large batches of pizza tough, but its $300 and just bring in a 20% off coupon to bed bath and beyond and its $240. Only other downside is it does not have an attachment port like some other brands.

I will second getting a dutch oven to make the bread in as it helps keep the moisture up and the temperature consistent, providing a crispy outside crust and soft center. Also look into the gluten content of the flour you are using as this makes a huge difference in the consistency of the bread. That being said make bread by hand will likely be harder than a machine.

[radam]

[QUOTE=MarcusBrody;3834620]The only issue I have with home baked bread is that it goes stale reasonably quickly with no preservatives so it's great when it comes out of the machine, ok the next morning, toast only by a day after that.

/QUOTE]

There's a few different ways to help preserve bread without commercial preservatives.

One of the easier ones is to use honey in place of sugar if your recipe calls for any. I know some people will argue one of the reasons to move away from supermarket bread is to get something not loaded with sugar, but a tablespoon or two of honey in a 1.5 lb loaf of bread shouldn't be too much trouble for non-diabetics. Honey is hygroscopic so it absorbs water... how much this trait is affected by the baking process I don't know, but honey also makes things taste nice so it's not like you're doing your loaf a disservice here.

Another trick is to add a bit of Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid) to the dough, making sure to mix it with your dry ingredients. You don't need much, maybe an 1/8 to a 1/4 teaspoon. Any more and you'll start tasting it and it'll be noticeably sour.

Along the same lines as Vitamin C, if you have access to a sourdough starter you could incorporate that into the dough, but that's a little trickier because sourdough recipes usually require more proofing time than a bread machine's standard schedule allows.

The other important thing is to NOT put your bread in the fridge. I feel like most people don't, but some people do. In the fridge you can go a lot longer without mold growth, but breads stale most quickly in the climate of a refrigerator. Freezing, on the hand, is a great way to make your bread last longer. Slice it up after you bake it and toss it in a freezer bag and then pull it out as needed. Maybe that goes against the fun of having fresh bread, but if you freeze it shortly after it's baked (allowing time for it to cool first) the quality is pretty high later on.

That's my two cents, anyways.

[climberevan]

Also the no-knead bread will keep a lot longer. It's such a wet dough that it comes out a bit more moist. I have experimented a lot, and the best storage method I've come up with is a sloppily closed plastic grocery bag with the bread on the counter. I replace the bag every loaf to eliminate mold potential (once it gets into your storage container, you have to sterilize it).

Sometimes I make more elaborate styles of bread, including ones with poolish and other pre-ferments. For this I use the big KA mixer and it works pretty well, but can't handle big whole wheat loaves.

[bklyn]

At your local Costco or similar club store, buy a 25lb or larger bag of flour and a bulk package of active dry yeast. On amazon, buy that artisan bread in 5 min book and a big lodge Dutch oven.

Wrap it all up nice and purty.

If she inquires about the missing bread maker after all the presents are open... tell her she already has one... it's called an oven.

[Eldo]

wait, isn't wheat poison now?

Yeah, the Paleo thread folks are gonna have a cow when they see this thread.

OP, plenty of hardly used and super cheap bread machines at pawn shops, for reasons that are obvious from this thread.

Maybe not appropriate as a Christmas gift, but good way to see if you would use it much.

[mishka_4]

we had several different breadmaking machines before got one from Panasonic. It rated one of the best and it actually best breadmaking machine. New expensive.
One we have older model: Panasonic Bread Maker Machine Model SD-BT56P
making bread with it every other day for about 10 months

[El Chupacabra]

Got this one last night -- ebay deal of the day (and continuing today, apparently):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Zojirushi-BB...99&PID=1225267

Zojirushi BB-PAC20, gets great reviews everywhere, and does gluten-free (the reason Mrs. C. wants one). Apparently some bread makers don't do gluten-free; I don't know what the difference is in the baking process.

[jamesp]

I'd get her the Kenwood Chef based on this old ad.
Attachment 127360

my folks were given one of these for a wedding present. 30yrs later its still going strong. Do they still make them? You used to be able to get attachments (mincers etc) to go on the front.