I knew an elderly man who used his bread machine every single day & gave all the bread away. When he passed, he was using his 17th machine. He bought yeast in bulk & ordered his flour in 50# bags from North Dakota. He’d call people & ask them to stop by for a loaf of bread.

I have a Black and Decker and make bread quite often...I just stopped and put on a batch! Recipe:

In this order put in mixing pan

1 large egg
1/4 c water (can measure in glass measure with milk)
3/4 c milk
3/4 t salt
3 c bread flour (King Arthur works well but have also used Winona flour I can get in 50# bags from Amish store)
2 T butter
2 T sugar
1 t yeast (Red Star dry yeast is what I use...buy in the big foil packet, put some in a pint jar and refrigerate. Freeze the rest until I need it.)

Takes 3 hr 50 min cycle. If I want raisin bread, at the 3:15 mark, machine beeps and I add 1/2 - 2/3 c raisins and 1/2 c walnuts. When raisins are soft, they get blended in. Didn't find this out until I used up some older harder raisins (LOL) We will have fresh raisin bread for breakfast! Now I'm salivating waiting for warm bread on this chilly wet fall day in NE Iowa! I also have access to farm fresh eggs and milk (unpastuerized).

I have had fails...yeast gone bad mostly. One really needs to use bread flour. It has a higher protein content and really think King Arthur is best.

Our daily bread...lovely story.

When our NC Grands were visiting for a week this summer, the 8 yo and I had a daily ritual of making bread. He and his siblings love G'ma Cow's fresh bread.

I do not have space for a single use appliance in my kitchen. However I have a Kitchen Aid stand mixer and it is great for mixing and kneading dough. We use it weekly to make Pizza dough. My son has the dough recipes down to a science now.

Yes, the mixer take sup lots of space, but I can use it for bread, cookies, cakes, whipping cream or egg whites. I have pasta rollers, meat grinder and other attachments for it. It gets used at least twice a week.

My step Mum used to use a bread maker as she could not longer manage kneading the dough. She baked in her machine too. It sits unused for 5 years now. Maybe one day I will try it out at the cottage, but I would not bring it home.

My grandmother taught me to bake bread using a Cash and Mason bowl, a wooden spoon and everything was measured by feel. I learnt to test the temp of the water on my wrist, to get a feel for how much flour to add, when stirring or kneading the dough. Her best bread had oatmeal and molasses in it. I loved that bread, toasted, then with sharp cheddar broiled on top. Yum a childhood treat.

Actually the best treat was the heel of the bread as soon as it was cool enough to slice, slathered with butter.

I have used a Zo bread machine for as long as I can remember. Over 25 yrs)I have baked the loaves off in the machine but probably more often have done the final shaping & rise for the regular oven. King Arthur flour is an outsdtanding resource for recipes & most ingredients. Amish stores & bulk grocery stores as well as restaurant supply stores are also good . There are many bread baking forums & groups with wonderful recipes for almost any type of bread you might want. Check out 2 books- Bread Machine Magic & More Bread Machine Magic both by Lois Rehberg & Lois Conway. P Back through Barnes & Noble. Outstanding for the beginner as well as experienced bread baker
Let us know how you make out
sewverybusy1

I'm enjoying reading this thread. I am on my second bread machine and use it more in winter than in summer. h I have tried many of the recipes that came with it, but some have not turned out that well. I need to watch carefully during the initial kneading stage to make sure that there is enough flour or enough liquid to make it form a nice ball. I also try to catch it after the first rise so that I can shape, rise, and bake it in the oven. I'm not a fan of the little hole the paddle makes and the squarish shaped loaves. So it's a lot more work than simply "fill, turn on, voila." I also add some gluten (1-2 T.) to whole grain flour to make the bread a little lighter. Will give your recipe a try, oksewglad! Thanks!

I use a lot of yeast. I buy it at Sam's Club in the bulk packages. I freeze it and use it right out of the freezer. I am using yeast that I found in the freezer for over two years and it is still good. Did you know the more you bake yeast bread the more good spores will be in the air making homemade starter thrive. I keep a starter of sourdough going, this last batch is over three years old, survived two house moves. My grandmother told me her grandmother would soak a piece of muslin in starter and let dry. Then she would revive if she lost her starter or give it to those that needed a starter. You can buy starter now that is good.

I did a lot of researching on You Tube about bread making before I found a recipe that I use now. It's not in a bread machine, but by hand. It's Grandma and Grandpa Griffith's (I believe that's it) on You Tube. I also like the Easy Peazy Amish bread recipe, but it's a little too sweet for me, might try to cut the sugar down. I love the process of kneading the dough and watching it rise and the smell is soooooo awesome. I just thawed out my last loaf so almost time to make again. I also double wrap my loaves in plastic wrap before I put them in bags to freeze; seems to stay fresher when unthawed.

I have a Zojirushi bread machine and absolutely love it. It is pricey but the results make it worth it. It is totally programmable to be able to adjust to your own favorite recipes. The built in settings result in beautiful loaves of bread. They have a great website and have other Zojirushi products also. Worth looking into. In all - love my Zo.

So at what stage do you freeze your dough? How long can you keep it frozen?