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2:25 pm
April 1, 2009
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Bread machines, either love them or store them away and dont use them'
I love my bread machine!!! I have been using one since they first starting making them, my first one looked like R2D2, it had and round pan and made nice tall round loaves. I used it for nearly 10 years, passed it on to a friend when I received a new one for Christmas, this on had a loaf shaped pan. I didnt use use it to acually bake the bread, this one had a dough only cycle which was wonderful. I used that one untill it could be used no more, I recently purchased my third one,— I cant remember the last time I purchased bread, rolls or buns of any kind, I make bread, rolls, buns and pastries of all sorts, these machine are so versatile now days, but for me the basic machine is best suited because I use only the dough cycle. I have worked a recipe that yeilds 2 very nice size loaves of bread.
I know many of the gals enjoy kneading the dough themselves, for for gals like me with hand and shoulder problems, or just the lack of time, the machine does the work and we can till enjoy beautiful, healthy, homemade bread-- be it baked in a pan or an artisian bread baked on a stone.
These machines can be purchased very reasonably at thrift stores, garage sales, any sort of resale shop--I purchased mine on ebay, it was new in the box it cost me $27 including shipping, I saved nearly $40 on my machine. We all know the price of a decent loaf of bread anywhere from $3.99 to $4.50 a loaf. If you live near a Sams club you can purchase bread flour in 25 pound bags for about $13 (last time I purchased)
There hundreds of recipes available on the web as well as Farm Bell, it takes me less than 5 minutes to fill my machine, if you have a machine and are still buying bread or buns, etc. please try making you own, not only will you get the enjoyment of baking but you get the added bonus of that wonderful aroma of homemade bread.
4:20 pm
October 17, 2010
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Yes, I use my bread machine to just make the dough too, but I can only get one loaf. Wish I had a bigger one. I've had this one for at least 20 years! What brand is your new one?
5:00 pm
April 1, 2009
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Hello brookdale, my machine is an Oster. I dont know what recipe you use for your machine, but the recipe I use calls for 5 cups of flour and 1 2/3 cups of liquid along with the other essentials and that makes enough dough for 2 8x5x3 glass bread pans.
6:01 pm
March 1, 2011
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I just bought my very 1st machine 
I would love it if someone could share a recipe for hoagie/sub rolls/buns that they really like. I've made the basic white recipe 3x in 2 weeks and we love it! My machine has the dough cycle & it also came w/ a recipe for jam & meatloaf!……I'm just gonna stick with breads for now.
6:08 pm
May 6, 2011
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When I started looking for a machine several years ago I knew that I wanted one that made the bread in a loaf style. It is a Breadman Plus. It has the jam, dough only & pizza dough feature as well several other bread freatures.
6:28 pm
April 1, 2009
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BeverlyC said:
I just bought my very 1st machine
Hi Beverly, I have made sub buns using my bread dough, since I dont know how big your bread pan is, this is what I do, when the dough cycle is complete, take the dough out and put it on a pastry board or even a big cookie sheet,— depending on how large you want the buns, cut off even pieces of dough and and shape them into the shape you want, place them on a greased cookie sheet etc, and cover with plastic wrap that you have spray with non stick pan spray and let them raise, it might take a time or to to get them the way you want, there is nothing better than frsh made buns, I also make out hotdog and hamburger buns (sandwich) buns. I hope this helps a bit.
7:49 pm
December 28, 2011
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Beverly, Joell is right that it's going to depend a bit on your bread machine, size, etc.
But in case it's helpful, for wheat french rolls, we use the following:
1 1/2 c water, 1 TBsp sugar, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 2 cups bread flour, 1 1/2 cups wheat flour, 2 tsp bread machine yeast
I actually don't put all the water in- I start with about a cup, and add water during the first mix cycle til it "looks right" for a rough dough ball, and the way our loaf pan is shaped, we have to pull flour out of the corners a bit with a plastic spatula as it's mixing- so I'm hovering for that first couple minutes as it mixes, if that makes sense.
Then just let it go on dough cycle. When it comes out, divide it into 12 parts, and make your french rolls, shape them about how you want them, put them on a greased pan and cover them with a towel and let them rise. When it's cold out, we actually put the oven on "warm" about 10 minutes before the end of the cycle, then turn it off again when we put the dough in to rise. But if your house is over 70 you shouldn't have any trouble. (we keep the heat down around here!)
Let it rise til doubled (about 35-45 minutes). Then we do the cool slashes in the dough with a very sharp knife and glaze it with a brush- with about 1/2-1 tsp salt and 2 TBsp water. (premix those til the salt dissolves) Then bake! Usually about 15-20 minutes for rolls. Very easy!
Enjoy your new bread machine- you'll find they are addictive and before you know it, you ARE making jam (we just *had* to try it, after all!
8:43 pm
March 1, 2011
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Thanks Joell & Mountainkat. I have a 1.5lb small batch/2lb large batch machine.
Thanks for the recipe! What if I don't have wheat flour on hand….just bread? Would the only change be to 3 1/2 C bread flour or does it change something else? I'm new to this and appreciate your help! I'm sure it'll be no time at all & I'll be makin' the jam too :)
12:48 am
June 6, 2010
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Joell,
Can you please post your entire bread recipe and instructions. I just bought an Oster breadmaker and have used it ONCE to make the bread from the instruction book. It was good but sooooooooo tall. Really wierd for sandwich making (it was a 2lb recipe). I let the breadmaker bake the bread. I think I would like to try it your way and finish it off in the oven only I am ignorant to the ways of breadmaking and need guidance!
Thanks!
8:42 am
April 1, 2009
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Hello Melinda, I know we are not supposed to post recipes except on Farm Bell, I would be happy to give you the recipe that I use. Bread making is a lot of fun and has great benefits for the baker and those that consume the bread. Give your self time to get geverything to where you are happy with your baked goods, practice makes perfect and these is no such thing as a loaf of bad bread. Toasted bread and butter and jam or jelly makes every thing good, stale bread can be used for croutons, bread crumbs or in pan dressing.
I dont follow the instructions that come with the machine, after so many years, "I do it my way".
I use bread flour, there are pros and cons, it is just my preference, but if you dont have it on hand, use regular flour, I also prefer not to any any enhancers, but again that is your choice, nothing wrong with that at all. I also dont use powdered milk, I can taste it in the bread, we use 1% milk so that is what goes into the bread—whatever you have is alright.
SET YOUR PROGRAM TO DOUGH CYCLE
1 2/3 CUPS MILK
1/4 CUP OIL OR BUTTER (I USE CANOLA OIL)
3 1/2 TABLESPOONS SUGAR
2 1/2 TEASPOONS SALT
5 CUPS FLOUR
1 TABLESPOON YEAST
Before you measure the flour from your container stir the flour with a wisk or fork, so it is not so compacted. I put the milk into a 2 cup pyrex measuring cup and place it in the microwave for about 1 1/2 mins. (if you dont have a microwave, use a small pan on your stove top) or until the mild is good and hot, then I add into the milk the sugar, salt stir well and then add the oil stir well again.
Put the warm (not real hot) liquid into the bread machine pan spoon in the flour and add the yeast. Start the machine. Grease your bread pans well and set aside.
After the cycle is complete, remove the dough and divide it in half.
Shape the dough into to loaves and place into the pans. Place the pans in a warm place and let rise until at least doubled in size. Time is different for everyone, so just watch it until it liiks right, remember the dough will rise up a bit when you put the pans into the oven.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 mins or until the loaf has a hollow sound when you knock on the top.
I use glass pans so you can see when it sides are golden brown.
Please remember, this is just how I make our bread, there are so many recipes available so keep going with your bread making.
I hope this has helped you just a bit. Have fun with your bread machine.
Joell
9:12 am
December 20, 2011
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Joell,
I got all enthused and went to check if I had the ingredients on hand. Bummer, I never read the label on the yeast jar, and I didn't refrigerate the yeast, plus it's dated Jun 21 2011! I guess I'll need to wait until the next grocery store trip to make bread. I was just there yesterday. 
9:37 am
April 1, 2009
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Hi Lajoda, that is a bummer, but next trip to the store! As I had said in my original post, if you live close to a store such as Sam Club, you can buy 25 pounds of bread flour and a huge double package of yeast all for less than $20 that will make a lot of baked goods. I divide my flour up into to big plastic containers that I purchased many years ago at the dollar store, it makes it easy to handle and store. I also keep my yeast in the freezer. You must let us know how your baking goes.
Tomorrow when I make bread, I will take one of the loaves and roll it out, brush it with soft butter and sprinkle it well with a combo of with and brown sugar and cinnamon, roll it back up and put it into the bread pan, that makes the best cinnamon bread. 
9:46 am
February 10, 2009
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Lajoda, proof some of that yeast before you toss it! Put a teaspoon or so in a little warm (approx 95 -110 degrees) and put it in a warm spot…. see what happens! if it foams up within 15 minutes or so, USE IT!
Depending on where it was, and conditions in your home, it may be fine. You may want to use a tiny bit more, not much more, don't double it or anything, that can give an off taste depending on the recipe, but an extra dash is ok.
9:54 am
December 20, 2011
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Thanks for the tips Joell and BEG,
I am going to see about the yeast! I doubt I will be buying 25 Lbs of flour anytime soon though. I'm just going to get my feet wet for now.
You two shall remain the Queens of the breadmaking for a while.
Laura
9:59 am
January 21, 2011
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I keep my bread machine yeast in the fridge, but had a friend that's dough was rising then falling before baking. We searched and found out she needed to cut back on the yeast. Just my 2 cents for you. 
10:11 am
September 12, 2011
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i had a note to add: if you go to Costco (or Sam's Club), go to the bakery and ask if they have any empty buckets they are willing to give you. We got 8 small food grade buckets for free (I had to wash them, which was fine with me!) and I used them for my 50 lb. bag of bread flour. The smaller size makes them great for me to handle when i am baking bread. Of course, storage is always an issue, but I'm not proud…i just have them against the wall in the kitchen. I have found that for us one bucket of flour will last about 1 month. i can see by the buckets how much i have left and don't ever run out.
i also buy my yeast at Costco and freeze it. i have printed off Suzanne's instructions for making sourdough starter and other yeast extenders and keep that on hand.
thanks to all of you who are committed to helping our community of cooks and wanna-be farmers to be prepared and self sufficent. you are appreciated! 
10:41 am
October 17, 2008
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I've had a bread machine for years, but didn't use it after the first couple times of using because I didn't like the shape of it and all of the recipes in the book called for more ingredients than I wanted to put in my bread. I still don't use it bake with, but use it once in a while to knead and rise if I'm too busy doing something else. I experimented quite a bit with it to recreate the Grandmother Bread in the Bread Machine for my brother, though. I've found that adding fat (lard, oil, butter) to it makes a better loaf in the bread machine. And mine has a "Butter" setting! It makes butter…put the cream in and let it go. Voila, butter!
For those having difficulty kneading dough by hand (or you just don't want to!), a breadmaker is just a cheaper form of a stand mixer if you only want to use it with the dough cycle! I see them all the time at the thrift stores for $5.
Any recipe can be used in the bread machine…as long as the total amount of dry ingredients don't go above 5 cups (2# capacity machine). If you find a good recipe that tells you to knead it, put it in the bread machine. The dough cycle kneads it and lets it do it's 1st rise…that's it. You don't need a "bread machine" recipe.
Since all areas of the country are different (and even in the same city in different kitchens) in humidity, I check the dough for "wetness" after the initial mix….make a fist and touch the dough with the backsides of your fingers. You want it to be like a sticky note. If it's too wet, add a tablespoon of flour at a time. If it's too dry, add a tablespoon of water (or whatever liquid you're using) at a time.
10:59 am
December 20, 2011
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Okay,
I am loving these pointers. The only way I have made bread (except for once YEARS ago) is in the machine so I have to ask this because I have never seen yeast bloom. Don't fall off your chairs. I have this little petri dish thing going on here to see if this outdated yeast is still any good. Buckeyegirl suggested I try it before I tossed it. I think it might be still be good. It like rose up in little bubbles from the bottom and looked like tiny mushroom clouds? It smells like fresh yeast. How long should it do that or does it matter. I only did a very small bowl and I'll say it was actively blooming for about 10 minutes? I just don't want to waste 5 cups of flour.
Thanks.
Laura
11:16 am
April 1, 2009
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Lajoda, when yeast blooms, it gets sort of bubbly or foamy, you can see some activity-- if it just sits there and does nothing, it is kaput!
Buckeyegirl gave you a good tip.
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