Random question.

[rivka]

Do you have a bread machine? If so, what do you think of it?

It's that time of year again: my parents want to know what we would like for Christmas. I was thinking that a bread machine might be a good thing to have. We frequently buy artisanal-type bread from the grocery store, but (a) it's expensive, and (b) it goes stale so quickly. bosssio brought us a loaf of homemade bread after Colin was born, I think made in a bread machine, and it was delicious and stayed fresh for several days.

So is good bread-machine bread easy to make? Are there lots of different kinds? I've seen bread-machine mixes, but presumably you can also make bread in a machine from scratch, right? Any brand recommendations?

Comments

[shandra.livejournal.com]

I love mine, but you do have to be flexible on certain things like shape and crust (my machine has crust settings, but sometimes the bread rises a bit too much and therefore doesn't get crispy on top).

The paddles (mine has two) do end up in the bread sometimes. I just pull them out and it doesn't bother me. Breadmaker bread does go stale faster but this is a reason to make bread pudding or french onion soup.

I played around with our breadmaker's official recipes to develop my own and that took a bit.

Now I can put a bean soup in the crockpot and set up the breadmaker and go to work and come home to fresh bread and soup. It's like having a personal chef. ;)

[shandra.livejournal.com]

Oh and this is mine: http://www.zojirushi.com/ourproducts/breadmakers/bbcc_x20.html - it's a great machine but I'm not sure I'd recommend throwing the money at it if you're not sure you like bread machines /at all/; I'd look to borrow one or find one second hand and see if you like the concept.