Recommend bread machine?

[Offthegrid]

Making my own bread? Me? The girl who a month ago had never made meatloaf?

Well, I'm going to have to get a bread machine to deal with not eating gluten. Went to Wegmans today, and I'm sure there are cheaper places to get the stuff, but some of the rice or tapioca loaves were over $5 for only 8-10 slices. And I'm guessing homemade would have to taste better than a loaf that comes with a packet of preservatives.

In any case, who here has a bread machine? Which brand do you like? I'm kinda thinking the Zojirushi BBCC-V20 because the Web site proclaims all you have to do is throw in the ingredients and that's it.

[Deborajen]

I have a Black and Decker but it's at least 8 years old now so I couldn't recommend a particular model. Unless they've changed a lot - and I don't think they have - most (if not all) bread machines just need the ingredients put in (yeast goes on top), push a few buttons, and the rest is automatic. Some recipes do require ingredients to be added part way through the cycle (raisins are added part way through if you're making raisin bread, etc.).

The main recommendation I can make is if you're only making bread for yourself, a smaller machine is o.k. Otherwise, get a machine with a 2-lb. loaf capacity. Take a look at the loaf pan and keep in mind the bread won't rise out of the pan.

I used to use my bread machine a lot (a few times a month), but now I only use it a few times a year at most. It's very easy to use, and nothing beats the taste (and smell!) of homebaked bread. The only complaint in my house was that the crust was tough - it is a little hard to cut, but a bread knife does the trick.

As far as gluten-free - Bread machines specify using bread flour - ? If you haven't checked already, make sure that gluten-free will work in a bread machine.

Deb

[uk elephant]

I am my own bread machine. Free, including exercise....I love making bread and it's not difficult. Throw a bunch of stuff in a bowl and start kneading. Leave to sit while you go off and do something else. Then take a break and knead again for a few minutes and put in bread pans. Leave for a while and do something else. Then stop by the kitchen briefly to throw the bread in the oven. Return in half an hour to a house that smells of fresh warm bread. And you get the bread exactly the way you want it....

I've had so many friends complain about bread machine bread....nobody has complained about home made bread....

[bambu101]

I have the Breadman Ultimate from Salton, and I love it! It will make all kinds of yeast bread, quick breads, cakes, and jams. I have made bread by hand for years, but a bread machine is very convenient. You just don't always have 2 to 3 hours for kneading, rising, rising again, etc. Even when I am home, I will put the ingredients in it, and then set the timer so the bread is ready at dinnertime. I have used bread mixes, and those also work well. It also makes great pizza dough in about 55 minutes.

I love to cook, and think that kneading bread by hand is a therapeutic thing, but my bread machine is one kitchen "gadget" that I will definitely hang on to.

I would be glad to send you some recipes from my 300+ page bread cookbook. I'm sure there is a section on wheat and gluten-free bread bakng.

Wendy

[doc]

I have a cuisinart but it has some major downsides. It has many different settings which is great. I can make a bread that needs only a short rise or breads that need a bunch of long rises. But, and this is a biggie, it is terrible at baking. So I always have to take the dough out and bake it myself. This is no big deal to me but I was very annoyed at first. It can't even properly bake quick rise stuff (like banana bread).

I suggest looking at consumer reports before buying. I wish I had!

[7rider]

I also have the Breadman Ultimate. It's great and idiot-proof, yet still allows for some creativity.

[tattiefritter]

I have a Panasonic SD253 (I think). We bought it because it got the most glowing reviews here in the UK for reliability and loaf turnout. It also has an automatic dispenser for adding seeds/fruit etc to a loaf mix as well as settings for all sorts of things (but not jam making). I'm not sure if the exact model I have is available in the US as an ex-pat friend of mine living in Dallas,TX couldn't find it, however this one on Amazon is similar:

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-SD-YD250-Automatic-Bread-Maker/dp/B00005QFL0/sr=8-5/qid=1166188798/ref=pd_bbs_sr_5/002-1935883-3142418?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden

Try to get one with a timer (I think most of them do) so you can say put the ingredients in at night and wake up to fresh bread.

I love my bread machine and in the rare event I have to buy bread it is always a let down. I've never had a bad loaf out of it (aprat from the time when I forgot to put the yeast in !), it does 100% wholemeal ok but I prefer 70% as its lighter but I'm sure with some experimentation I could get the 100% right. All the loaf types I've made in it make the most fantastic toast - I've never had shop bought come close to it.

[bike4ever]

We used to have a bread machine. We actually used it all of the time. We were remodeling our kitchen, and I needed to pull everything off of the countertops for the work. I put our bread machine in our oven. The oven wasn't used much since it was so ancient. Well. . . I needed to preheat the oven, turned it on, the house started smelling of melting plastic. My husband grabbed the bread machine with pot holders and threw it out into the snow. (We were in Pittsburgh at the time). We haven't gotten one since.:cool:

[Offthegrid]

I definitely plan to get a bread machine. Although I'm sure handmade bread cannot compare, I am not a good cook. And I just don't have time to make bread by hand every week.

Does the Breadman Ultimate have one paddle or two? Apparently gluten-free dough is "heavier."

You can buy gluten-free bread mixes or substitute rice or tapioca flour in recipes.

[Blueberry]

http://www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/rec/bmselect.html

Seems the Zojirushi is the recommended one, but none are optimal for the characteristics of gluten free bread dough.

CA

[bambu101]

My bread machine cookbook has a section on gluten-free bread baking, and they specifically mention the Wellbilt brand as having a special setting for gluten-free breads.

The Breadman Ultimate has one paddle, but it seems pretty heavy-duty. I used it this mornng to make banana bread with walnuts, and it had no problem with the thick, heavy batter.

[Bikingmomof3]

OTG,
I like to make bread from scratch. But, before I learned how easy it was, I owned a bread machine. I cannot recall, possibly a sunbeam. It would not have been an expensive model. My friend's was very pricey. Both did the same things, took the same time to make, etc. Cheaper is not necessarily bad in a bread machine, unless they have drastically changed in the past few years.