Bread machine recs?

[ChunkyNicksChunkyMom]

Is it really as simple as putting in the ingredients and programming the machine? Intriguing!

[hillview]

We have this one from Zojirushi
http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-BBCCX20-Bakery-Supreme-Machine/dp/B0000T6J3I/ref=sr_1_4?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1298907662&sr=1-4

This brand is well reviewed. Yes it is very easy. Sometimes I needed to add more water mid mixing -- when it beeps to add nuts or dried fruit (that is when I'd go look to make sure it wasn't to dry). The bread is yummy.

That said it has been sitting on my counter for several months unused. SIGH.
/hillary

[drako]

I have this one from Bed Bath and Beyond:

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=14564012

Very easy to use but you do have to put the ingredients in a certain order. Wet ingredients first than dry. You also have to make a little well in the flour to put the yeast in and make sure it doesn't hit the water (why, I don't know). Bread is very good at first but doesn't stay fresh very long since there are no preservatives but I just toast it after the day it is made. I like knowing we are getting fresh bread without all the yucky preservatives.

[Jo..]

Oh yes! I am shopping for a new (cheap) one after ours jumped off the counter yesterday (bread machine suicide). It was 10 years old anyway. CR says they are all good, so we plan on getting one in the $50 and under range.

On our old one, you didn't have to well the flour or do anything special. The only rule was this: add all wet ingredients AND salt first (you don't want the salt to touch the yeast in the beginning). Then add your dry ingredients, yeast last. TAH DAH. Perfect bread every time.

They also make jam, pizza dough, pretzel dough...to me, they are the biggest bang for the buck in appliances, hands down.

[rin]

We have this one from Zojirushi
http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-BBCCX20-Bakery-Supreme-Machine/dp/B0000T6J3I/ref=sr_1_4?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1298907662&sr=1-4

I've got the same one, except in black. My DH gave it to me for my birthday this past year, and I LOVE it! We haven't bought bread since. I've used it to make pizza dough, bagels, French bread, sourdough, regular sandwich bread, cinnamon rolls . . . It's awesome. For non-loaf shapes you just set it to make the dough, throw it in whatever shape pa you want & let it rise and then bake it.


On our old one, you didn't have to well the flour or do anything special. The only rule was this: add all wet ingredients AND salt first (you don't want the salt to touch the yeast in the beginning). Then add your dry ingredients, yeast last. TAH DAH. Perfect bread every time.

The manual for mine said that you had to follow a slightly different order, but I've always just done exactly the order Jo gave (wet + salt, then flour, then yeast) and it's always perfect. Like someone else mentioned, the first time you make a recipe you should check it while the knead cycle is going to see if you need to add more water, but after that you can just set it going and walk away.

Bread machines are awesome!!!!

[robinsmommy]

We have an older Zojo model as well. We use it strictly for dough - I don't like the extra thick crusts on bread baked in a bread machine, and I'm not too fond of nonstick for any sort of cooking.

I realize that the machine heats the pan for the dough as well (to help yeast rise), but I don't know of a bread machine with a pan that isn't nonstick.

We got our years ago at Costco, it was a great deal at that time. Do look around.

[cucaw30]

We have this one from Zojirushi
http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-BBCCX20-Bakery-Supreme-Machine/dp/B0000T6J3I/ref=sr_1_4?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1298907662&sr=1-4

This brand is well reviewed. Yes it is very easy. Sometimes I needed to add more water mid mixing -- when it beeps to add nuts or dried fruit (that is when I'd go look to make sure it wasn't to dry). The bread is yummy.

That said it has been sitting on my counter for several months unused. SIGH.
/hillary

We have the same one. It is amazing and worth every penny. We eat GF and it is practically impossible to find good tasting GF bread that doesn't cost $$$. And, it is so easy!

[ThreeofUs]

Love the zoji. Paid itself back in about 3 months from purchase. Is the only machine that you don't have to check all the time, and King Arthur Flour uses about 20 of these in their test kitchen. Total workhorse.

ETA: I bake bread at least 3 times a week. My guys go through it like crazy, and since we're whole-grain/organic inclined, this has saved us EASILY $4 per loaf of bread.

Kohls sometimes has them on sale, with a 30% off code this becomes a VERY good deal.

[Jo..]

Is the only machine that you don't have to check all the time

Huh?

I never ever checked mine or added more water or anything and it lasted 10 years and made perfect bread every time. It was a Breadman. Can you point to reviews, because I am also in the market for one and leaning toward the cheapest based on CR findings.

Cook's Illustrated has no reviews, sadly, and they are my go-to source for all things cooking.

[Elilly]

We have the same one. It is amazing and worth every penny. We eat GF and it is practically impossible to find good tasting GF bread that doesn't cost $$$. And, it is so easy!

Please share your GF bread recipe. I'm still on the search for a good recipe.

[Elilly]

Does the Zoji still make the holes in the bottom of the bread due to the mixing paddle? This is why I haven't invested in one yet.

[ThreeofUs]

Huh?

I never ever checked mine or added more water or anything and it lasted 10 years and made perfect bread every time. It was a Breadman. Can you point to reviews, because I am also in the market for one and leaning toward the cheapest based on CR findings.

Cook's Illustrated has no reviews, sadly, and they are my go-to source for all things cooking.


Glad to hear yours worked out so well. It's rare to find one that works consistently.

I read a ton of reviews, talked to a whole lot of people, and the Zoji was the only machine that people loved. The comment I heard from a lot of them was "I don't have to check it all the time, like I did with my X brand". As I tried other machines, I understood what they meant. The dough might not mix correctly; it might mix over the edge of the loaf pan; the mixer attachment might come off (esp with stiff wheat doughs), etc.

Reviews generally (not necessarily cooks):

http://www.bestbreadmachinereviews.com/zojirushi-bbccx20-home-bakery-supreme-bread-machine-review

http://www.breadmachinedigest.com/category/reviews/bread-machine-reviews

Reviews from breadmakers:

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/zojirushi-bbcc-x20-home-bakery-supreme-bread-machine-white

http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=205876

HTH, but if you're happy with Breadman, why not go back to them? Looks like their 2 lb machine gets decent reviews.

[rin]

Does the Zoji still make the holes in the bottom of the bread due to the mixing paddle? This is why I haven't invested in one yet.

Yeah, but I don't think there's a bread machine that doesn't. It's a bit annoying, but honestly we don't mind much. We still use the bread for PB&Js all the time, it's just a little indent, and if we ever really want the loaf to be fancy looking for say a dinner party or a potluck I just set it on the dough setting and bake it in the oven.

[Jo..]

Yup I am leaning toward another Breadman...that thing was a work horse. There's one on Amazon right now for $59, just waiting for it ot go lower. ;)

[JMS]

I love my Zoji also. I make bread almost every day (setting the timer before I go to bed). I set an alert on camel camel camel for $189 and when it dropped to that price, I jumped on it.

[ljackson]

We used to have one that I can't remember the brand of that was about $50 from Walmart. When I left it too close to the edge of the counter it jiggled it's way off and died and we replaced it with this Zojirushi:

http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-BBCCX20-Bakery-Supreme-Machine/dp/B0000T6J3I/ref=sr_1_21?ie=UTF8&qid=1298947777&sr=8-21

I was equally happy with both of them but it is really important to DH to have normal shaped bread (from the Zojirushi) rather than the tall bread that every other breadmaker we looked at makes.


Bread is very good at first but doesn't stay fresh very long since there are no preservatives but I just toast it after the day it is made.

We have this bread keeper and it keeps the bread fresh for a few days (on day 4 the bread is still good and it always gets eaten before day 5!).

[rin]

We have this bread keeper and it keeps the bread fresh for a few days (on day 4 the bread is still good and it always gets eaten before day 5!).

Ooh, what is this bread keeper? Do you have a link to it? We just use an old plastic grocery store bag, which works but just looks so messy.

[drako]

What is the bread keeper??? I keep my bread in a ziploc storage bag but it still isn't super fresh after day one. So I always lightly toast it after the day it's made. Would love to know what would keep it fresher longer!

[MamaKath]

We have the same one. It is amazing and worth every penny. We eat GF and it is practically impossible to find good tasting GF bread that doesn't cost $$$. And, it is so easy!

Please share recipes. We are wheat soy and corn allergic and need to find some yummy bread recomendations.

As for bread machines we no longer use ours. Dh found that he could make dough in the vitamix even faster so that is what we do now. Baking is in the regular oven. Slightly more involvement on our part but not by much.

[ljackson]

We have this bread keeper and it keeps the bread fresh for a few days (on day 4 the bread is still good and it always gets eaten before day 5!).

Sorry - forgot the actual link. http://www.amazon.com/Progressive-International-Adjustable-Bread-Keeper/dp/B001BB2LMM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298955530&sr=8-1

[ChunkyNicksChunkyMom]

Just wanted to say a quick thank you for the responses here!

[bigpassport]

If you do get a bread machine, don't be discouraged if you don't like your first loaf of bread. And don't blame it on the machine, a lot has to do with the recipe. I used the recipe that came with my bread machine and I didn't like it at all. Then I tried this recipe for basic white bread and loved the results...

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/white-bread-for-the-bread-machine/Detail.aspx

[ray7694]

I have been happy with this one:

http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/kitchendining/brandsforkitchen/foodnetwork/electrics/PRD~636495/Food+Network+Programmable+Breadmaker.jsp

[gobadgers]

Oh yes! I am shopping for a new (cheap) one after ours jumped off the counter yesterday (bread machine suicide).

I've been worried about mine making the leap recently too! I set it up on the floor if I'm setting the timer for overnight, lol.

Mine is Black and Decker, it bakes a horizontal loaf but the shape is still a little different than a normal loaf of bread. I've had it about 12-13 years and still going strong. I think it's my favorite appliance, after my new stick blender from Costco :)

[daisymommy]

ThreeofUs,
Can you share your favorite bread recipe? I would love to be at the point where I could stop buying bread!

[ThreeofUs]

ThreeofUs,
Can you share your favorite bread recipe? I would love to be at the point where I could stop buying bread!

Pm'd you. Would be happy to share with anyone who wants recipes, just pm me.