I have had the same breadmaker for 5 years.  It was my mom's before that so I don't know how old it is.  I discovered that if I go against the advice of the breadmaker handbook (add ingredients in order suggested which is wet, then dry, then form a well and put yeast in it) Instead I add warm fluid, yeast, sugar and wait 10 min then add the ingredients on top of that, I get a much lighter loaf.

That aside, I use my breadmaker ALL the time.  I make breads but my main use of it is as a dough mixer, since it is a handy place for rising the dough.  I make rolls, pepperoni rolls, cinammon rolls, pizza dough etc.

The last time I used it and it was functioning properly was Christmas.

This past weekend I made my pepperoni rolls.  I always use the same brand of yeast, which is labeled that it can be used in bread makers.  I noticed when I took the dough out of the breadmaker It didn't seem as fluffy as it should.  I thought maybe I messed it up by using bread flour instead of all purpose which is what the recipe called for.  So I set the dough aside and started again.  This time I used all purpose flour but only 2/3 since I ran out, the final 1/3 was bread flour.  Again it came out heavy and not as fluffy as normal.  At this point I took the first batch and tested a few balls in the oven to see if it would come out ok.  It seemed to bake alright, a bit heavy but it tasted all right.  So I made the pepperoni rolls despite the dough not being right.  The dough was not stretchy like normal, it was almost like sugar cookie dough but I could manipulate it anough to form a roll so I baked them.  Everyone raved about them but my husband and I knew they were off. 

So tonight I made a recipe for a loaf bread and it turned out very heavy.  It was a disappointment as well.  The top was sagging instead of being puffy like a normal loaf.

Two things were amiss that I can think of, when I looked in at the water years mixture before adding the flour I noticed that although the yeast was puffy looking I could still see the separate little pieces of yeast floating on top of the water.  The other thing to note was after the timer went off, I removed the loaf pan.  We ate dinner and when we were cleaning my husband noticed the machine was still hot.  He said the coil was red, when I looked it was a little red and black but still felt warm.  I unplugged it.  I have never looked before to know if this is normal or not. 

The yeast that I use is redstar active dry yeast.  The rolls were made from two different 3 packs.  Both labeled with a Sept 2013 expiration date.

The flour I use is always on the fresh side since I go through it quickly.

Any thoughts????????

Hello,

I have just purchased a West Bend High-Rise Horizontal breadmaker through Amazon.  I bought it because of the many good reviews.  A few of the reviews said that one should run the breadmaker through a whole cycle while the pan is empty, prior to baking any bread!  Has anyone heard of this practice?  It is not mentioned in the manual.

Thank you!

I've been using my Breadman Ultimate for a number of months to make almost all my bread.  I am now experimenting with sourdough.  It doesn't really rise fast enough for the breadmaker, so I have tried adding extra yeast, but that's a bit hit & miss - I had one loaf that sank, and I think it must have risen too much.

So I am now experimenting with overnight fermentation.  I had quite a successful first attempt.  The Breadman won't allow you to program any phase for more than 100 minutes, so I did the following:

• Set it on Dough

When the dough is made, reset the machine run a program as follows:

• 30 mins preheat to get it back up to temperature
• 15 s knock back
• 2 hours prove (by using both the Rise 2 and Rise 3 phases with no "shape" in between)
• bake

It was a loaf made with approx 1lb of flour (including sourdough starter) of which 2oz was wholemeal and the rest strong white, and would have risen for about 9 hours before the second program kicked in.

It was pretty successful - the crust wasn't dark enough so I will add a couple of minutes to the program.  tasted nice, with more sourdough flavour than a quicker fermented loaf, and a slightly chewy (but well risen) texture.

So - I just wanted to ask - am I doing it sort of right, or is there anything else I should be doing?  I'm in the UK and don't have the heating on overnight, so it gets reasonably cool.

And before anyone suggests I make the dough in the machine and do the rest by hand, I want to utilise the convenience of the machine and be able to get up to freshly baked bread.

Cheers,

Phil

Hey everyone, 

First time in this forum...pretty excited :) 

I got my boyfriend the a breadmaker (Sunbeam 5891, 2-pound capacity) for Christmas as well as a recipe book, but I'm thinking of including a couple bags of bread mixes so he can make them right away. 

Does anyone know where I can buy some good bread mixes in the Los Angeles area? Any recommendations on which kind to get? 

Thanks for all your suggestions and help!