Breadmakers

[MyLitespeed]

My husband has decided that he wants to buy a bread maker. I don't really want one since I don't eat that much bread. He is saying it would be really nice to have fresh bread all the time. I use to make it by hand many years ago, several loaves at time.

He is aware that I'm not keen on the idea since I would probably end up the one actually having to measure all the ingredients and put it in. Yes it would be a whole lot simpler then making by hand but still one more thing I would have to do.

I have tried talking (gently) him out of it, but he is determined to get one. He knows I don't want one.

My question is do I just let the silly thing sit there and hope he will make it (or try to) himself or wait until he ask me. If he asks me to make it (I don't want to) what do I say to him.

[tulip]

Um, just say no? Sounds like there's more to the story, but I'm not going to go there. If he gets the breadmaker, he will make the bread or he will go without fresh bread.

What part of that does he not understand?

[sgtiger]

"It's your machine, honey, help yourself. Here's a bread machine recipe booklet I picked up for you."

If it's something you're not into, then why should you be the one doing the work? He's the one who wants it, let him figure out how to use.

ETA: I guess I'm lucky. My husband wouldn't ask me to do something that he knows I disdain. Even though I'm a SAHM, he does most of his own laundry, ironing, etc. He occasionally cooks for us too. Only if he's really pressed for time would he ask me to iron something for him. He's better at the ironing anyway.

[Aint Doody]

It's not too hard to run one. If he really wants one let him make the bread. I have a friend whose husband got really into it. He made little loaves for friends which was really nice.

My dh keeps saying he wants a Jack LaLane Juicer. I keep telling him we have a blender that will do the same thing. So far we don't have the juicer.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

FWIW, here's a 2006 short TE thread about bread machines:
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...815#post152815

[shootingstar]

If a neighbour has a breadmaker for you to borrow for 1-2 days..and give him some easy recipes to select and try himself.

My partner does cook, there's no clear-cut division of time how we split it among ourselves. We each have our cooking areas of expertise that we symbiotically complement each other.....he's great on making all sorts of pureed soups from root veggies that he makes up from his head, whereas I enjoy making whatever focaccia from scratch that we might want, he's the better, creative salad maker, I'm the more decent stir-fry dish creator, etc. We'll will cook across our areas of weakness but "weakness" often means need to consult a recipe/other person (if person is around), or an end result that is not as dynamic.

If you should do the breadmaking, hopefully he can complement with another existing cooking expertise..

I agree too much bread...ain't necessarily good as one grows older ..all those carbs if not burnt off from cycling...

Best of luck.

[Irulan]

"It's your machine, honey, help yourself. Here's a bread machine recipe booklet I picked up for you."

If it's something you're not into, then why should you be the one doing the work? He's the one who wants it, let him figure out how to use.

ETA: I guess I'm lucky. My husband wouldn't ask me to do something that he knows I disdain. Even though I'm a SAHM, he does most of his own laundry, ironing, etc. He occasionally cooks for us too. Only if he's really pressed for time would he ask me to iron something for him. He's better at the ironing anyway.

Where's our "I'm with stupid" smiley?
Totally, his project, his gig... I mean, it's just another power tool...for the kitchen! Why should you feel obligated at all?

[shootingstar]

... I mean, it's just another power tool...for the kitchen

Well, maybe that's the way for some people to consider to get motivated to use it...that the breadmaker..is like the barbecue grill....another power tool to show off products from its application

[Tuckervill]

Forget the bread machine. Get him the book "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day". Make dough every two weeks and have bread fresh out of the oven every day at dinner!

But if he wants it, he has to make it, no matter which way you go!

Karen

[tulip]

Forget the bread machine. Get him the book "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day". Make dough every two weeks and have bread fresh out of the oven every day at dinner!

But if he wants it, he has to make it, no matter which way you go!

Karen

Great recommendation--and great bread!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Forget the bread machine. Get him the book "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day". Make dough every two weeks and have bread fresh out of the oven every day at dinner!

But if he wants it, he has to make it, no matter which way you go!

Karen

Thanks Karen, I've been hearing about this book for a while now. I just looked at some preview pages on Amazon which described the whole technique pretty well, and decided to buy the book used there. I look forward to my first batch!
You can read the beginning of the book here in the preview pages:
Artisan bread in 5 minutes book
It all makes perfect sense to me, and I used to bake a lot of bread from scratch back in the day, but have not all the spare time now. This looks like less work than even a bread machine!

[smilingcat]

After reading this thread, got a hunkering for fresh baked bread. Total time to finished bread cooling on the rack < 2 hours. I have a mixer with a dough hook I don't own a proofing box. I'm just very careful with my convection oven to proof my dough.

Baking bread doesn't have to be an all day affair while making a mess in kitchen. The two hours include cleaning of equipment.

Whole wheat yummo!! qumquat marmalade YUMMO!!

If hubby really wants it but you don't want to make it. He is a big boy learn to make his own especially if he is using a bread machine.

This cook goes on a strike fairly often.

[lph]

We used to have a bread machine and loved it. I did the organizing and lined up all the ingredients plus the necessary measuring stuff in the cupboard directly over the machine, plus taped the recipe to the inside of the door. It took me or dh max 5 min to measure and fill every evening.

But.

No way would I be doing this if I didn't want to, just for dh. Not on a regular basis at least. As for buying it - just say "go ahead, sweetie, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it, I've heard it's easy".

And then
Stay
Away
From
It!

[GLC1968]

If anyone is interested in the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day - check out my blog. I LOVE that book and use it all the time. I did a photo essay of sorts on one of my batches as an illustration about a month ago. Good stuff and sooo easy!

I can't tell you how many failed loaves I had prior to using this method. A house at 55F is just not conducive to raising bread dough - even my bread machine had issues with it!

Oh, and I'm definitely a fan of the bread machine for simplicity. Dump in the ingredients and walk away. It doesn't get much easier than that. I don't like the shape of the loaf that my machine makes, so I use the dough recipe most times and bake it myself in the oven. While I know that making bread by hand is simple enough, when one can barely find 30 minutes to make a home cooked meal, 2 - 3 hours spent on making bread is a true luxury. A bread machine is a great timesaver (and home made bread costs pennies and is so much healthier than store bought stuff).

Just my .02

[sgtiger]

GLC1968, I just check out your blog the other day, and the pictures of bread were mouth-watering.

BTW a few Qs about the seed starting picture where you used a rubbermaid lid as a tray..... Do the little hand-rolled containers have bottoms? What kind of paper did you use? Can the containers themselves be planted too?