The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Breadmaker smell & tastes weird

July 10, 2022 - 7:52am
Yuvalr8899's picture
Yuvalr8899

Breadmaker smell & tastes weird

Hello! 
I have been making breads in a breadmaker I recently purchsed. The breads turned out great as I was following instructions and recipes to the gram very carefully, but I noticed the breads tend to have loke a "machiney" smell And tastes to them, very hard to explain but very unpleasent. Kind of like baking in a new oven/machine and it smells like.. plastic.. kind of?, more like -  somethings a bit "off". How can I avoid this problem? Thank you in advance! 

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Abe's picture
Abe
Jul 10 2022 - 3:57pm

How many breads have you made? 

troglodyte's picture
troglodyte
Jul 10 2022 - 6:48pm

I have been using bread machines for 30 years. I view them as a convenience tool. I have never encountered the problem you are describing. Please forgive my intrusive and embarrassing troubleshooting questions:

  • Which bread machine model did you buy? 
  • Did you thoroughly wash the inside of the bread pan and paddle(s) before using it?
  • Did you clean and wipe the inside compartment, lid, and the outside of the bread pan before using it?
  • Do you see or smell anything unusual on the bottom of the bread pan, such as machine grease, oil, or anything else that should not be there?
  • How many loaves have you made in it?
  • Is the "machiney smell" fading with each loaf, or is it consistent?
  • Have you tried using the bread machine's dough cycle to prepare the dough, then bake it in the oven? How does that turn out?
    • This can help you determine whether the problem is happening in the bake cycle or somewhere else. 
  • Could there be an issue with your ingredients? 
    • Flour can go rancid, especially whole grain flours like whole wheat.
    • So can oils like olive oil.
    • Could it be something like that?
  • Have you tried contacting the manufacturer to ask for their assistance? 
mariana's picture
mariana
Jul 11 2022 - 12:00pm

Try a bag of fresh flour if your flour is not so fresh, especially if you use whole grain flours in baking, they will taste off if rancid/old. And make sure that your bread machine is away from other items on the counter, so there is ventilation and no overheating of its walls. 

Otherwise there is nothing else that you can do, except to continue baking (maybe baking banana breads in your bread machine will help? they are easy and have their own strong aromas) and hoping that it will be gone with time. 

I only bake in Zojirushi bread machines and I had four of them, new, never had the smell issue. Bread machine per se will not affect the taste of bread, only rancid/old flour or rancid oil/butter would. 

 

dcdc's picture
dcdc
Dec 19 2022 - 1:56am

I’m having the same issue. Bread looks great, but odd machine taste. 
Did your issue eventually go away? If not, I’ll return mine & get a different brand. If so, I’ll hang onto it.