The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

If you were to design a bread machine...

JustJoel's picture
JustJoel

If you were to design a bread machine...

I really love my bread machine. No, seriously! I whisper sweet nothings into its vent while it’s kneading my pain au lait. But I have noticed some shortcomings. Nothing big enough to toss the machine; I don’t have room in my kitchen for my stand mixer, arthritis keeps me from prolonged kneading, and the food processor just seems inelegant; I don’t want to kill the dough, just mix and knead it!

Here are the things I would include were I designing a bread machine:

  • An internal light. I have to keep a flashlight near the machine so I can check the dough without opening the lid
  • A larger, backlit display
  • A programmable dough cycle. Using the mix cycle and turning the machine on and off is a PITA
  • Bluetooth or WiFi, and an app, so I can program and control the machine remotely (as in - from my throne in the living room!)
  • Larger, less cryptic icons to display the progression of the cycle. I have no idea what a tiny little square with clouds coming out of it means!
  • A display that gives the remaining time for each step in the cycle, as well as one showing the remaining time for the entire cycle. 
  • A ”beep” in the dough cycle to indicate when to add extra ingredient. All the other cycles on my machine have it, why not the dough cycle?

How would you design a bread machine?

BobBoule's picture
BobBoule

you're including an app, I would Internet enable the app so that I could download various recipes directly from The Internet so all I have to do is to dump in the ingredients, select the recipe and click the Start Button.

While you're at it, how about a built in slicer, butterer and toaster functions?

JustJoel's picture
JustJoel

The slicer would be nice, but I’d prefer to toast and butter the bread on my own!

AndyPanda's picture
AndyPanda

My frustration with bread machines has always been about the way it has a fixed time to do the various cycles.  And I find that my dough rises faster and slower or seems wetter/drier on different days depending on whether it's a cold, rainy day or a hot, dry day -- or more/less whole wheat in my recipe.   So I always wanted to be able to over-ride the timer and tell it not to start baking yet if the dough hadn't risen enough or tell it to start baking now if the dough is rising faster than expected.

If there could be a sensor that could detect the surface of the dough rising and kick the heater on at the perfect point.

Bread rat.'s picture
Bread rat.

Remember the Jetson's? I would have a robot that would do it all by hand. Cook it perfectly. Then still be able to clean up after me. Because i'm a mess. : ) A true multi purpose machine.