My oldest daughter, the non-baker, has decided that she wants to bake bread in a bread machine for her family.  Forget the fact that she lives around the corner from us and I could teach her how to bake bread from scratch, forget that I have a 5 year old sourdough starter to share, forget that I could show her how to make designs with a sharp razor, etc. etc.  I am just happy she shows an interest.

I've spent hours reading about bread machines. I called Breville USA, waited on the phone line for 45 minutes and hung up.  I called Zo, and based on what I learned, I was discouraged.

So, I wonder if I share my wishlist, someone might suggest a model:

1. low 80's dough rise temperature

2. pause button (to take dough out, shape if desired) (Zo customer care said I could lift the lid to take out the dough, but the paddle would still be spinning)

3. bake only button

4. no oil capability (Zo customer care said I HAD to use oil/butter/ or apple sauce)

5. 2.5 lb capacity

6. great for whole grain breads

Thanks,

Diane

Hi

I got an email from KAF today talking about the Z bread machine and how you can make risotto in the bread machine. I have a bread machine, its not Z, its either a kitchen aid or a cuisinart and only has one paddle. My questions are:

1) has anyone ever used their bread machine to make risotto and how did it come out. Is it worth it.

2) the recipe on KAF looks pretty good, do you have any recipes that you know are proven and would you be willing to share?

thanks

alex

Hi all. I've raised 5 children with a lot of help from a bread machine, and am always trying new things. Now I'm an empty nester with only one mouth to eat the results, so progress is a bit slower. My blog is at http://johnsankey.ca/bread.html with a new one on international breadmaker breads at http://johnsankey.ca/breadi.html . Right now I'm trying to figure out exactly why bananas and raw Canadian potatos are duds, so will be trying the ingredients forum to start.

Hi!

My question crosses topics, and I did search the forum best I could.  I want a 100% whole wheat bread machine recipe that is low sodium.  I was just given a bread machine(used), so I've never made bread in it.  I have baked bread once or twice manually in my life so have little experience.  These are my questions

Salt/Sodium -

The 2% salt content I've read about in this forum is too high for low sodium.   I read that salt is a yeast inhibitor so if you halve the salt, halve the yeast.  The King Arthur folks told me no, do not reduce the yeast and use at least 1/2 tsp salt per tblsp yeast.  I read that in a bread machine that will likely overproof(a technical bread term!).  Many folks on this forum comment about the taste with less salt.  I am used to low sodium so a less salty taste will not bother me.  I don't want to use a salt substitute unless that is what it takes to improve the gluten, inhibit the yeast, make the texture better, prevent overproofing or whatever else can go wrong that I don't know about.

Flour -

I bought King Arthur White Whole Wheat(i like brown but thought my family might like a change).  I couldn't find whole wheat bread flour, white or brown in Atlanta.  The bread machine mavens emphasized using bread flour, so I looked up the difference and found, so far, that it is higher protein content, and maybe some barley and ascorbic acid.  Called the King Arthur folks and they said their White Whole Wheat is the same as bread flour because it has high protein, but no barley and no ascorbic acid.  Do I need to add some dough enhancers(another tech term, I'm learning!) to get this flour to act like bread flour in the bread machine?

Sugar -

All the whole wheat recipes I read use a fair amount of honey, mollasses and/or brown sugar.  Is all this sugar needed for the yeast?  I don't restrict sugar like I do sodium, but I certainly don't want to add more than needed.  I don't have a particular sweet tooth so the minimum amount of sugar needed is fine, I don't want sweet tasting bread for everyday.

Wheat Gluten -

I bought Hodson Mill Vital Wheat gluten with vitamin c(there's the ascorbic acid!) to add to the flour at their suggested rate of 4 tsp per loaf.  Is this needed?  If it will make a better loaf I am happy to add it. Is 4 tsp for 1 lb or 1.5 lb loaf?

My Nirvana would be a recipe that covers my bases of 100% whole wheat, low sodium, less sugar and good texture, shape for everyday sandwich/toast bread.

Thanks for all your help from a newbie baker!

Couldn't resist sharing a link to David Lebovitz's post:

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2011/02/the-french-bread-machine/

and how about Sanyo's GoPan!  This rice bread machine was released in November and has been a hit in Japan with sales beyond their projections. In Japanese cooked rice is called 'gohan' and bread is called 'pan' so they've come up with a cute name for the machine  combining the kanji for rice and kana for bread  and assigning the pronunciation GoPan （米ぱん）

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20101229a2.html

Take a look at some photos: 

http://jp.sanyo.com/gopan/recipe/komepan/index.html

The first recipe is for white rice, the ingredients  are is as follows:

50g gluten

3g dry yeast

420g rice plus water (wash 220g white rice grains, drain and add water to total 420g)

16g sugar

4g salt

10g shortening (unsalted butter)

There is also a gluten free recipe and for brown rice etc.

The original breadmakers were made by adapting the machines which had been developed in Japan for making mochi (rice cake/dough). In these sticky rice was first cooked and then the machine kneaded the cooked rice until a soft dough formed. This is a further adaptation.

There's a video explaining how to use the machine,  turns out it 'mills' the rice, kneads etc etc. 

http://direct.jp.sanyo.com/eclub/pages/gopan.aspx#howto

I bought a Food Network bread machine and the bread is not coming out right. I have searched for a way to contact some form of support, but they don't seem to offer it.

My bread machine basic setting defaults to 3 hours, which seems to me to be too short.

Even using recipe from the manual, and also using other bread machine recipes, the bread does not rise properly and a 2 lb loaf comes out about the size of a 1 lb loaf, and too dense. I have tried 5 loaves and only one of them came out sort of OK.

Any advice or pointers to where I should look for info?

Thanks much

I have the Zojirushi BBCC x20

I would like to make bagel dough in it, but I'm worried that with such a stiff dough I might damage my machine.

I've seen several postings where people talk about making bagel dough in their machines but sadly no actual recipes or bagel-specific info.

Would anyone be willing to share their experiences with making bagels in their bread machines?

I have these recipe links that have bread machine instructions:

1. Bagels in Bread Machine recipe - Bagel Recipes
2. Bagels: King Arthur Flour
3. Bread Machine Digest » 50/50 Bagels
4. Bread Machine Bagels Recipe - Allrecipes.com

Thanks.

I just read the following blog on the KA website.

http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2010/08/25/curious-about-yeast-bread-old-traditions-meet-new-techniques/

Near the end there is a photo that shows two slices of bread, one kneaded in a bread machine, one by hand and points out the machine kneaded one is much lighter and airier. It doesn't say why!

Since I knead by hand and would like my sandwich bread to look more like the one from the machine, I hope someone can tell me how one might modify their hand kneading technique to create the lighter airier loaf.

thanks

wayne

Picture is at this link, their comment is quoted below:

http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/files/2010/06/IMG_35291.jpg

"On the left, bread whose dough was kneaded in a bread machine. On the right, bread from dough kneaded by hand.

If you prefer a lighter, airier bread, and have a bread machine, use the machine to knead your dough before baking in the oven. For a denser loaf, knead by hand."

Sorry I havent posted in a while but there is a great Banana Coconut Recipe that's really easy to make in the best bread machine which is my Zojirushi BBCCX20. I havent  tried this recipe in any other bread machines but I am sure it will turn out just fine. Anyways, here goes..

Banana Coconut Nut Bread for bread machine

-------- ------------ --------------------------------

3/4 cup Banana -- mashed
3/4 cup Buttermilk
1 1/2 Eggs
3 tablespoons Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/3 cup Coconut
1 1/2 tablespoons Vital gluten -- to 3 tbls
3 2/3 cups Whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons Yeast
1/2 cup Nuts - chopped

Add ingredients according to manufacturer's directions. Medium color setting.
Makes 1-1/2 lb loaf. Add nuts at the beep.

Make sure to to come back and share your resuts and feedback.

Regards,

Tee

This machine has been rated as being the best home bread-making machine you can buy, while also being a mixer and food processor (with available accessories.) It has gotten light use in our house and now that we inherited a restaurant 20-qt mixer, I need to make some room and clear it out. The powerful 450 watt motor and rotating bowl and roller knead dough much like a baker, producing light, flavorful breads with a professional texture. Includes mixer, bowl, roller, scraper, bowl cover, extra plastic bowl, and whisks as well as a manual/cookbook. This machine is solidly built and should last a lifetime.  It is in very good condition.

Asking $399.   The machine is located in Mountain View, California 94040

Call 650-279-2115 or write to enovikoff(at)yahoo.com