naturesownpath

My Bread Machine and learning to use it.


This is what a loaf of Oatmeal bread should look like...but, when one uses online bread machine recipes, well, it's maker beware. There are a lot of things they can't predict for you, like, that your yeast may suddenly expand too fast, and blow dough all over kingdom come (aka the inside lid of your bread maker) or that there could be a cavern within your loaf so deep and wide you could send Jules Vern on a another expidition...into the depths of the bread.
There are a lot of instructional videos, and blogs about bread making, so it's not hard to arm yourself with info if you have inherited one, and want a good idea of what you need to know.
I've inhereted two bread machines in the last year, the first of which I promptly regifted. Duh.
The second one, I held onto, and researched. There was of course, no manual, I'm the only one who seems to keep those, so there was some research to be done.
I found that each bread machine has different instructions, right down to how to load the ingredients into the bread bucket, AND the order is key, apparently. Haha. Don't I know it.

I have managed to find an oatmeal recipe that works well enough, but I have come to the conclusion, that if I want consistent, beautiful bread, it is coming out of the bread machine to bake. Simple.

I just add my ingredients. In my experience, it is a bad idea to put yeast on the bottom of a bread machine bucket. If you want to try it, please, take pictures. I need a laugh. (Mine...well, it took lots of scraping and two days of worrying if the baking soda would get the smell out...), so I caution you because it isn't fun. I don't know if all bread machines would experience this, but I have to assume that yeast is yeast, and anything expanding too fast in an enclosed space will eventually escape that space.

Other than that, I would say that the bread machine bread is soft, dense and sweet, so no complaints. More often than not, I'm cleaning the kitchen while the bread machine is finishing it's work, and I'm enjoying the aroma of yeasty goodness while I do. It's also nice that I don't have to run into my carpal tunnel as often as I used to. <3