Bread Maker?

crabu2

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I went to make a sandwich today and all I had left was the heal... Gave it to the birds. That got me thinking about getting a bread maker.

Anyone have one? If so, what make/model and how do you like it?

After a bit of googling, if I get one, I'm thinking the Hamilton Beach model for like $50. It's basic but has good reviews, which probably makes it a good starter. What are your thoughts?

BTW, I've always wanted to make fresh dough pizza at home, so this might be the ticket!
 
Panasonic make by far the best,for both bread and pizza. Not much point getting a cheap one, it won't get much use and still won't last long, my Panasonic is about 20 years old and gets used maybe 3 times a week.
 
I have 2 manual bread makers with 5 accessories on each, one on my left & one on my right. (y) (y). Add the ingredients to a bowl & mix or also use a food processor (big stand mixer not even needed & way to high in cost for me anyway) to help with the basic mixing & then knead by hand for 5-10 mins. 1st rise or proof 2-4 hours, then punch down & divide into 2 loaves & then proof again 2-4 hours or overnight in the fridge, then bake in my counter top, tall, $130 CDN, Oster brand toaster oven (tallest lowest cost oven I could find & produces excellent results. Some Cuisinart or Brevelle small ovens, while highly rated as "ovens" were just far too expensive for me & were especially, just too short & so burnt the tops of normally risen loaves. Dedicated bread ovens are extremely expensive.)

My results are EASY, customizable and make very very good whole wheat multi grain flax bread. Quite heavy (or whatever weight & type one prefers, as it custom made). Seriously, the manual hand made process is SO incredibly easy to do. I only wish I had started 40+ years ago. And to think that the neither the recipe nor ingredients has changed for 40+ years!!! Machine bread makers overall, are not really time savers either. More hype than reality.

Like you, after running out of bread one day & with my living 30 kms from the nearest store, I looked at the idea of a bread maker, but could not justify the cost & how that translated to the cost per loaf & with pay back over such a long period of time. Instead I started reading & watching YouTube videos about hand making breads, first no kneads, which I did not do well nor like (yet) or find a good recipe, then learned that kneading yeast bread dough is so incredibly easy, short & gets easier with practice that over a few practice loaves & different recipes, I found a favourite, EASY, very healthy, very low cost, recipe & method that had me shaking my head at the idea of a) why I ever bought bread from a store when it is SO EASY to make by hand & b) the bad idea (for me) of even thinking that a machine bread maker would be a good & cost efficient idea. Machines have quite high costs, high energy costs, & importantly, recipe limits & bread compromises. Bread machines (for me) didn't appear to save much time either, in making, baking or clean up & simply CANNOT match the quality nor variety of hand making bread. Bread machines are also limited to bread loaf sizes & were too small for me.

I had wrongly thought that bread making ingredients & method was just far more complicated that it actually is. I suggest you forget the machine to start with & learn to do it by hand. You will soon learn tricks, efficiencies & ingredients that will make the process simple & elegant. Also, then you will have a better idea of what you want from a machine as they are not all equal. My 2 hand made loaves from the other day were a couple of my best yet & clean up was as well. Cost per loaf of whole wheat multi grain with ground flax, including energy, was about $.75 cents per loaf (CDN).

I take this a step further & as a game, now try to hand make more & more food, meals, condiments, recipes & other items that I can vs. buying manufactured or restaurant foods. The cost savings are usually enormous, the time required is surprisingly minimal & the tools required are also few. Mind boggling how easy & quick it is to make many many things that one can pay a lot of money for to someone else. Also there are many online recipes out there to make many manufactured foods or tastes.

Pizza dough is even easier than bread dough & home made pizzas are so incredibly easy & quick, that it boggles my mind why one would pay so much to have someone else make it & deliver it or to eat out. The web has so many easy excellent quality pizza dough recipes out there, as does YouTube. No way does one need a machine to make pizza dough, when your hands can do it in a few minutes with very few ingredients. Keep the money in your bank account!!!!

Fun game I find. I only wish I had started it 40+ years ago
 
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To my mind the benefits of making your own are not about cost but all about quality, the convenience that we pay for has higher costs to health than it does to your wallet, there's so much crap in processed foods that we'd all be better off without
 
"Quick" Pizza Dough Recipe from New York Times Food Section. I don't agree that "home made pizza is usually a "pain"." It's not rocket science & most people over think it. It's just a simple flat bread with cheese & tomato sauce. Even "the best" pizzas, worldwide are no more complicated than a few basic ingredients & nearly all the same methods. Home pizza though in a normal oven can't be baked as hot & so quick as a dedicated pizza oven or fire, that's about the only difference. One doesn't even need bread or 00 pizza flour, which I won't pay extra for & so I only ever use inexpensive All Purpose Flour or even Whole Wheat Flour or a mix of both. Again, there is no one or perfect way to do pizza or even pizza sauce. Most of the manufactured or restaurant pizza info out there (as with bread) is hype.

From the New York Times. (my comments in the ingredients are in brackets)

"The trouble with most homemade pizza dough recipes is that they’re sort of a pain. You have to plan ahead. Knead the dough. Let it rise. Clean up after it. This might be the pizza dough recipe that finally persuades you it’s worth the effort — what little effort is required. With the help of two allies in the kitchen — your food processor and your freezer — now homemade pizza dough is nearly as simple as taking a chicken breast out of the freezer to thaw on your way out the door in the morning.


INGREDIENTS

2 ¾ cups/390 grams bread flour (or just use All Purpose Flour, it isn't a contest for "the best")
2 ½ teaspoons/7 grams active dry yeast (1 packet)
2 teaspoons sea salt (any salt will be just fine)
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil (any oil will be just fine)
1 cup warm water
2 or 3 tablespoons medium or coarse cornmeal (I never use this)

PREPARATION

MAKE THE DOUGH:

Put the flour, yeast and salt in a food processor. With the machine running, pour the oil through the feed tube, then add the water in a slow, steady stream. Continue to process for 2 to 3 minutes (the dough should form a rough ball and ride around in the processor). The finished dough should be soft, slightly sticky and elastic. If too dry, add a bit more water; if too wet, a tablespoon or so more flour.

Lay a 12-inch-long piece of plastic wrap on a clean work surface. Work the dough into a rectangle on the plastic, about 8 inches long and 6 inches wide. Press your fingers into the top of the dough all over, making indentations as though it were a focaccia. Fold the left third of the dough over (as you would a letter) and repeat the indentations. Fold the right third over and make the indentations again. Cover the folded dough with plastic wrap and let rise for 20 minutes.

Cut the dough in half, form each piece into a neat ball, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and transfer to the freezer. The morning before you want to make pizza, transfer the dough to the refrigerator to thaw.

MAKE THE PIZZA:

Bring the dough to room temperature, 15 to 20 minutes. Put a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 550 degrees. (If you don’t have a stone, oil a rimmed baking sheet and set aside.) Dust a peel or the greased baking sheet generously with cornmeal. Working with the dough in your hands (not flat on a work surface), gently begin to stretch the dough into a circular shape, pressing your fist into the center of the dough and pulling at the edges with your other hand. With both hands, stretch the dough, being careful not to tear it. Working in a circular motion, pull the thicker edges of the dough outward, letting gravity help you. Continue to stretch the dough until it’s relatively even in thickness (the edges will be thicker) and you have the size you want. Carefully lay it on the peel or baking sheet.

Top the pizza as desired and either slide it off the peel and onto your heated stone, or place the baking sheet into the oven. Cook the pizza for 6 to 10 minutes or until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbling.
 
I agree with you Jokiin about the quality & health (both personal interests & goals of mine anyway) but in my financial situation, I also MUST be aware of the financial costs of nearly every single thing in my life, every trip, every thing that I do or wish to do or to have or to eat. It sucks & often times its very limiting, but that's where I've ended up & living simply isn't as onerous as one thinks when one is forced to do so. Otherwise to not be financially strict & cost efficient, I'd risk losing my minimal cabin or worse my health, if I didn't squeeze the pennies for maximum ingredient value & health output.
 
Hamilton Beach was have a sale on their artisan bread maker. It should be here by Tuesday.

As much as I would love to make it by hand, I ordered the bread maker because I like the idea of set it, then forget it.

I can't wait to make some bread with my son... He's 8, so I think he'll enjoy adding the ingredients and pressing start.. to have a finished loaf after a few hours.

BTW, has anyone tried this 2 ingredient pizza dough? It's greek yogurt and self rising flour. I might give that a try tomorrow.
 
To my mind the benefits of making your own are not about cost but all about quality, the convenience that we pay for has higher costs to health than it does to your wallet, there's so much crap in processed foods that we'd all be better off without
For me, making my own is convenient - means I need to go to the shops a quarter as often since bread is the thing that keeps for the least time, also reducing the number of shopping trips saves fuel cost making home made bread cheaper than shop bought. Not sure how bad the various fungicides that are added to commercial bread are for us, but we are obviously not designed to eat them and neither are the bacteria that live inside us and keep us healthy, so I'd rather not eat them when there is a good alternative. There is also a lack of variation in shop bread, it gets boring after a while.
 
Make your own bread and it lasts a few days, buy bread and it lasts two weeks, sign enough of how much crap they put in it
My home made bread doesn't last a few days, it gets eaten by me before that, but your right about the shop bread, that lasts much longer, sign enough of ...
 
My home made bread doesn't last a few days, it gets eaten by me before that, but your right about the shop bread, that lasts much longer, sign enough of ...

Is homemade bread really that much better tasting? Would you mind sharing a recipe?
 
Indeed still warm white bread, and just some good Danish lurpak butter on it, and maybe a cup of coffee.
I just don't have the time for it :unsure::rolleyes: and not least while i do love bread then i cant eat it fast enough alone for me to not have to throw half of it out as it have gone bad.
So i have to make do with "laser" bread

PS: Calling something Laser is a thing i have developed over the years for foods with extra long shelf life, it started when i was sailing and the "Milk" the cook made every day from powder in a iron cow.
I have now switched to organic 24H ( time since milk was in cow ) milk,,,,,, but i cant get that unpasteurized it seem,,,,, but still damn good stuff, the milk cartons have also changed to recycled paper within the past few weeks.
 
Make your own bread and it lasts a few days, buy bread and it lasts two weeks, sign enough of how much crap they put in it

My home made bread doesn't last a few days, it gets eaten by me before that, but your right about the shop bread, that lasts much longer, sign enough of ...

Nigel beat me to the punch. Home made bread can easily see an entire loaf disappear before it has cooled off. Just make sure you have a serrated bread knife to cut it with and real butter to melt on it.

When I made white bread I made 6 loaves at a time. I used a bread bucket where you pour the ingredients in and then rotate a handle using your arm. Then after the bread rises you put the dough on a floured board. Cut the dough into 6 equal size pieces and put them in 6 bread pans. Cover the bread pans with a towel, after the bread rises enough place it in the oven. half way through cooking rotate the bread or you will probably have very brown outside loaf sides and not so much on the other loaves although all of them will be cooked.

Although it has been years since I made homemade bread there is no comparison between homemade white yeast bread and bread you buy in a store. On the other hand, store bought bought bread is consistent in its thickness and always has straight slices.

The following link shows you what a bread bucket is. You can still buy one. Some are stronger than others. I have 2. One had a 3 leg part on top and it flexes The other is larger and has a round metal cover that seriously strengthens the bucket. It is the one I used to use when I did make 6 loaves of bread at once. One thing they do not tell you is to hold back 1/3 cup or so of water. After you get the dough spinning you will have dry flour at the bottom sides of the bucket. Pick the hook up to see the unused flour on the sides of the bucket, pour the last liquid in, and that flour will also turn into dough.


You can make bread by hand just using flour and the other ingredients on a big cutting board. It just takes a lot more work.

Below are 2 recipes for white bread that are almost identical.



If you wanted a recipe for 6 loaves I could probably find and post it directly from a cookbook I have that is probably from the 1960's or 1970's.
 
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My bread still come from a baker, and they are often larger and i guess you could call it a factory.
But still some way from them to the biggest bread factories here which have like 80 bakers going / manning the machines / production lines.
But it is true the little crafts bakers are slowly dying, i have lived in this town short of 10 years now, and i am on my #4 baker now, and they don't really sell their own bread but are more of a outlet for a larger baker.
This is really sad indeed, and the little baker stores are pretty much gone from town now.

And the old saying " people don't know a good thing before they have lost it" well i don't think that's in function any more.

Also just read ( OT here ) for decades people entering the Danish armed forced have undergone a intelligence test, and looking at the results of those scientists now conclude young people are more stupid than they use to be. ( which don't really surprise me but never the less nice to get some scientific validation for my assumptions )

In the great perspective modern society and technology are making people more stupid. :sneaky:
 
I'm no baker but I love sourdough bread :love: There's miles of difference between what you get in the store (even when you just saw them stock fresh loaves) and fresh baked. With sourdough bread, it improves with the age of the batch if you don't stretch the starter to far, which means that what you can get from one batch limits what you can bake from it because that starter has to age a day or two before it matures correctly. Commercial bakeries rush and stretch the process so they can bake enough to met their sales needs and while it's still sourdough bread, it's not as good as it could and should be.

I was once privileged to enjoy some with an interesting history. With sourdough bread, you save half of each batch which is mixed with fresh ingredients to make the next batch and that keeps the yeast culture alive. Since the culture only lives a few days unless it's renewed, you have to keep the process going by baking bread every few days or you lose it. It's a living process that develops characteristic flavors over time much as we all have characteristics from our own predecessors. The batch I speak of was started somewhere in the mid 1800's in San Francisco and was sold through the family bakery. When the 1906 earthquake and fire destroyed the bakery, the owners saved the batch mix and kept it going by 'borrowing' ovens at people's homes as they traveled on foot to stay with family members to the south. The starter batch was one of the few things those folks saved during the disaster. The bakery was never re-opened but the various women in the family would take some of the starter with them when they got married, and by that way the batch was kept alive. By the time I came onto the scene around 1985, the tradition was dying and only two women in the family were still baking bread anymore. Sadly the lady who baked what I ate has long passed away and I don't know anyone else from that family. There's every chance the batch could be gone now and that would be a shame because that bread was better than eating cake- it was pure heaven when still warm from the oven and even when old and hard it was better than anything you can buy at the local store. It's kind of like comparing a classic Rolls Royce to a Yugo- both are cars but that's the limit of what they have in common.

The lady who baked what I enjoyed offered to send some starter with me but I knew I'd probably not keep the batch going- I was still young and wild then- but the offer was left open anytime I wanted to try. It's one of the very few regrets I have in live that I let such a unique and wonderful chance slip through my fingers :cry:

Phil
 
Is homemade bread really that much better tasting? Would you mind sharing a recipe?
The result of any recipe will depend a lot on the bread maker, every one is different, they may beat the bread for longer or for more times, or let it rest for longer or use different temperatures for the various stages. So start off by following the instructions that came with your breadmaker and find out what it is designed to do. Then start varying your own recipes so that you understand the effect of each ingredient. Different brands of bread flours also behave very differently even if they appear to be the same thing so even following the instructions may not result in what it was designed to do - you need to experiment and find out what you like, and what works with your machine and your flour. I always mix my flours to get the bread texture I want, if I change brand then I need to work out a new mixture.

You can make perfectly good bread just from flour, water and yeast. Most bread flour doesn't have enough natural sugar so normally you need to add some sugar, but of course there are many different types of sugar to try. Malted bread flour (very nice) may have enough sugar. It is also normal to add some oil, often in the form of butter, or margarine, or I normally use olive oil. Try different ingredients and find out what you like.

Then there is a huge range of things to add from sunflower/pumpkin/sesame/poppy seeds to dried fruit/sundried tomatoes/carrots/potatoes.

And then there are many different ways to bake the bread, leaving it in the machine to bake is just one way, but you will almost certainly get a better result if you set the machine on dough and then transfer it to your oven where you can choose the shape of the tin, split it into smaller pieces, small buns, whatever size and shape you like, then you can also choose your heat, slow/fast bake, traditional stone bread oven, outdoors on a flat stone over charcoal etc.

Then you have a choice of what to put on it before you eat it...

No need to ever get bored with your bread!
 
Expounding a bit on what Nigel said, I did once enter into making biscuits from scratch (the American use of 'biscuit' which I don't know what they are called in the UK), and I discovered that I had to alter the ingredient proportions slightly to compensate for atmospheric humidity and air pressure to get the results I wanted. And each oven is a law unto itself so when I tried what worked for me at home in someone else's kitchen they came out differently. I don't know if this matters as much with other breads but it did with mine. I found that both challenging and intriguing which led me to better understand more exactly what each ingredient does and how they interact. Good baking is definitely an art ;)

Phil
 
(the American use of 'biscuit' which I don't know what they are called in the UK)
We have a few names for different types, but generally the word "scone" will do.

I think you have it wrong, the "bi" in "biscuit" is the same as the bi in bicycle, it should only be used for a flour based food item that is cooked twice. I don't think you cook your biscuits twice?

Agree about the weather, this time of year I will warm my water before use - tap water is too cold.
 
:) The Danish word for biscuit are "Kiks" pronounce sort of like kicks just go easy on the c :rolleyes:
 
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