oksewglad

Good to know as I've been looking for a different one before the one I have dies. Thanks for the info.

Macybaby

For me, the best thing about the bread maker is that DH was able to master it rather quickly!

I'm another big fan of the Zo machines. I have one and we are on our second pan and paddle set (at least you can get them). DH makes 2-3 loaves of bread a week. He keeps his on the counter but we rarely have it around long enough to spoil. DH is a major bread eater!

I think this is my fourth machine (others were not Zo brand) - it's been going strong for 5-6 years, and if it goes out I'll be ordering another from Amazon in a heart beat.

I'm more likely to make dough for assorted items, dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, stuffed Pizza.

I prefer to use my stand mixer for making bread, but will use the machine for dough as it's eaier (I don't have to be there).

mercer63

there are several face book forums for bread machine enthusiast. I know because my husband is on them and he makes bread for us weekly we haven't bought bread in over a year! He also bought his machine at a thrift store and had to find a manual online and has many recipes that everyone on there can help you out with any question you have.

Onebyone

I will get a Zojirushi bread machine when this Toastmaster I have fails. Because I don't care if it fails it probably won't. LOL The Zojirushi is the best one on the market right now and under $400. It is one awesome appliance.

BettyM

I have a Zojirushi bread machine that I bought in 2006! I have no clue how many loaves of bread it has made in those 13 years! We don't buy bread, it is all made in the Zojirushi. I have replaced the pan once, I think, and the mixing paddles quite a few times, but the machine itself is still going strong.

Battle Axe

Mine is scheduled to arrive today. I need fresh yeast, dry milk, and King Arthur flour. That kind of flour doesn't have Azod in it which is a dough conditioner and causes problems with my digestion. Got mine from Amazon.

lindaschipper

There is a bread machine here at the house....must have belonged to one of my husbands previous wives. I've never used it and it needs to go to a thrift store instead of taking up space.

Stitchnripper

I have never had a bread machine because freshly baked bread it my downfall. I told anyone who would think of getting me one - not to - because I would bake and eat, bake and eat until I became an episode of My 600 pound life and the wall would have to be removed to get me out!! All the recipes sound so yummy

Macybaby

Alyce - I understand where you are coming from! Before I got back into sewing I was doing a lot of specialty baking as a hobby. Things like danish pastry and fancy cakes and creative deserts. And even though I'd take a lot to share at work, it was causing the weight to creep up.

So I had to stop that hobby and that is when I got back into sewing and then decided to get into quilting. I tell people I have quilting as a hobby because I'm not tempted to eat my mistakes!

I still love doing creative baking, but I really limit it now. I limit by bread intake to about a half slice 5 days a week. DH has always been a super bread lover, and will eat bread as a snack. Lucky for him it doesn't make him put on a lot of extra weight.

We are able to purchase Dakota Maid bread flour from Sam's Club in 25lb bags. We keep it in the freezer and fill up a smaller container that stays in the kitchen as needed. DH orders yeast from Amazon and keeps that in the freezer and refills a small container that stays in the kitchen.

I use to buy wheat berries and grind my own. That does not keep very long once ground as it's got all the oils and stuff still there. Though the berries keep a very long time in the freezer.

There is a neat Blueprint class on the science behind break making. It covers a lot of the "why" behind what is happening and the roles the different ingredients play - like sugar and salt, as they do way more than affect the flavor.

DH has gotten quite good over the years to know if he needs to modify the recipe due to the weather. That is the one big drawback with bread machines, you can't easily gauge if you should add a bit more or less flour as the dough is being worked. So even if you use the same recipe, you may occasionally end up with not so nice loaves.

Onebyone

I open mine when it's kneading and either by look or feel, add flour or water as needed.

I never paid attention of chemicals in food until I read an article about chemicals in commercial made foods given to me from the hospital nutritionist when I had my first child.

King Arthur all purpose or bread flour is one of the better choices and available in most grocery stores. I like Arrowhead Unbleached Organic all purpose flour. Before better flour became available in stores I had to order my flour in large bags from a feed store. The feed store could get better flour then available in grocery stores and cheaper. Read the ingredients. Should be nothing in the flour but whole wheat unbleached flour and non organic will have the 3Bvitamins added,
Niacin, reduced iron, Thiamine mono-nitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid. If more ingredients then it's mostly a little flour added to the chemicals.