Anyone here ever use a bread making machine?

[MissMillie]

Someone gave us one a while back. I didn't think I'd ever use it, but we're broke until pay day (Friday) and it turns out we had the ingredients to make oatmeal bread.

It's going to take 4 hours, and I didn't have bread flour, but AP flour instead. (I hope AP really means AP.)

If it does work, I know my dad has some flour in his larder and since my Mom is no longer home to do any baking (she hasn't been baking for a while, actually) I'm sure he'd be willing to part w/ the flour.

The machine came w/ a recipe book, and some of the stuff in there looks great. I'm particularly interested in the Cheddar Cheese Bread.

Any of you have any luck w/ these devices?

I suppose I'll find out what kind of luck I've got in 3 hr 45 min. LOL

[Sancho]

1. We used one for years, but it died and we didn't replace it...

at any rate, we followed the recipes in several bread machine books, and usually got good results. I think we usually used bread flour.

[mercuryblues]

2. I used to have one

and loved it. I don't know why I never replaced it when it stopped working.

[Layzeebeaver]

3. Follow the recipe and the device instructions

I've had several of them over the years. They are great. I hope you enjoy it.

However, you can also try doing it without the machine as well - adds a bit of love to the bread

[katmondoo]

9. I use the dough cycle and let it rise for 30 minutes in a baking pan after dough cycle is finished

then bake in the oven on 375 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Love it but now only use it on occasion, was too good, ate too much.

[hlthe2b]

4. Used one for years until I went low carb. I still break down once or twice a year

and make my favorite, a recipe I got from the locally famous "the Bunnery" restaurant in Jackson (Jackson Hole), Wy and modified to use in the bread maker. It is called OSM bread a very very hearty Oatmeal, Sunflower Seed and Millet whole grain bread that I can literally eat as a meal in the wintertime.

At any rate, recipes and flour types are important for breadmakers, but fresh yeast most of all.

Good luck. Sometimes my best results came by happenstance.

[Luciferous]

5. Yep, they're pretty easy to use. I mainly used mine to knead the dough and do

the first rise, then would take it out and shape it for the second rise. After it broke I just started using my stand mixer instead. I'm sure your bread will turn out fine

[Voltaire2]

6. Yes. Junked it.

It was ok but the bread it made wasn’t that great. It is very easy to make really good bread with very little work using a Dutch oven or any suitable sized lidded pot that is oven safe. Google no knead bread.

[dem in texas]

13. Bread making is easy and one less appliacne to clutter the kitchen counter.

I have been working with yeast breads for over 50 years, made just about every type of bread you can imagine. I learned to use yeast from a little recipe booklet put out by Fleischmanns' in the early 60's. Don't make anything fancy anymore. French bread, pizza dough and dinner rolls mostly. My daughter always asks me to make her prune kringle for her birthday.

I don't like rapid rise yeast, makes the crumb of the bread too airy. I always use regular yeast.

When we lived in Alaska, there were no donut shops like they are now. I made yeast doughnuts which were very popular and always in demand.

[Major Nikon]

7. I used one for a while

They work reasonably well provided you use the right type of yeast, which can be rapid rise, instant, or so-called bread machine yeast.

A/P flour can be substituted 1:1. The results will be acceptable.

If you use the overnight method described by Jim Lahey, et al it’s just as simple to make bread without a machine and the results are way better.

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/no-knead-bread-56389453

[Kali]

8. same here

regular flour worked fine, stopped using machine when I got comfortable with sourdough.

[defacto7]

10. When you get the hang of it, just doing it by hand can't be beat.

It's really very easy. A surprise to us, we had to get a new stove and it has a proofing setting. A perfect rise every time.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

11. I'm with you.

Plus, I take out my frustrations while kneading the bread.

[Major Nikon]

12. I haven't kneaded bread by hand in many years

If you use very small amounts of yeast, the incubation stage takes much longer and the dough effectively kneads itself. A slower rise also means more flavor development.

[Phentex]

14. I've had good luck with mine...

I also make bread by hand most of the time (NOT in this summer heat!) but a bread machine is great when you don't want to heat up the oven or when you want to dump and forget it. It makes the house smell great. My favorite is a simple french bread with a medium crust. As others have said, just follow the instructions to a T.

[MissMillie]

15. UPDATE: trying again

Last night's effort wasn't quite as successful as I had hoped. After several rounds of kneading and rising the machine just stopped--never went into "bake" mode.

Al pushed the "start" button and the process started all over again. This time it worked all the way through, however the dough was over-kneaded and came out a little dense. (I also noticed it was in need of more salt.)

Anyway, we're trying again tonight.

[Demsrule86]

19. just bake it in the oven...easier.

[trof]

16. Ours made a round loaf of bread.

It was OK for bread, but I didn't like that it was cylindrical.
I use loaf pans in the oven.

[TreasonousBastard]

17. I had a couple of them, and they made decent bread most of the time...

When they didn't, it was usually because I was experimenting. Or was in a hurry and missed a step.

Back in the 80s everyone had a bread machine. It was new, and made the "perfect" gift. After using it a few times, most of us realized that there was an awesome bakery in town that involved much less fuss.

Or even without an awesome bakery, the supermarket often had decent bread that didn't have a hole in the bottom.

I have no idea what happened to those millions of bread machines. Thrift shops stopped taking them.

[Demsrule86]

18. You can put it in the bread maker and bake it in the oven-use dough setting-no hole...less time.

AP flour is fine...there are recipes online using this flour...it should make a light loaf...put in an egg if you have it or powdered milk.