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bread maker

post #1 of 10
12/1/06 at 11:14am
Thread Starter 
Hello everyone,

I am in the market for a bread maker. The kind of bread I am interested in baking is deep crusted whole wheat bread. I need to avoid refined ingredients, such as white flour, in my diet. From my online research so far I get the impression that not all bread makers, such as the highly recommended Zojirushi BBCCX20, are good for the type of bread I am interested in baking.
Can anyone offer any advice?

Thank you, S.
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post #2 of 10
12/1/06 at 12:09pm
If the crust is important to you, the may not be first on your list because consumer complaint for this model is the crust is cooked unevenly.

You might consider the Panasonic SD-YD250 Bread Maker which is less expensive and specifically for baking whole wheat bread. Aesthetically has a hole at the bottom which may or may not be ok with you but this does not affect the quality of the bread.

You can view plenty of consumer reviews on this model here.
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post #3 of 10
12/1/06 at 6:47pm
Is there aparticular reason you don't make it by hand? It's very satisfying and theraputic.

Jock
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post #4 of 10
12/1/06 at 8:00pm
Well, as it turns out, not everyone has expert ability in every facet of the culinary arts. When I make bread from scratch I get satisfactory results, but I don't get excellent results. :o
Therefore, when I find a device that can make bread as well as I can, I'm sold. My bread machine was a gift. It's a Regal Kitchen Pro Model K6747 and what I like most about it is that it makes very good bread while I'm busy preparing the rest of the meal. It's sold by Regalware and does an equally good job with white, french, whole wheat, and other breads.
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post #5 of 10
12/2/06 at 10:24am
Thread Starter 
mudbug,

Exactly the kind of lead I was looking for. :)

Jock,

Hmmm, good question! I do not know why. I guess I am intimidated by the idea of making my own bread, but there is no reason for that, is there? And now that you bring it up, I will try it the old fashioned way. Can you suggest a good bread making cookbook?

Culprit,

So it is not easy to make excellent bread by hand then? Now I am back to my original thinking. I also have a screwy oven that needs a thermostat
replaced.

Okay everybody. Many thanks for your input. I will get back to the forum after I have baked my first loaf, either by hand or machine.
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post #6 of 10
12/2/06 at 8:13pm
Making excellent bread by hand is accomplished routinely by many people. My grandmother made excellent bread, without a recipe, several times a day. She had a "feel" for it. Some of us got it; some don't. I am just one of those people who don't got as much of it as I'd like to have. You may have the talent to make excellent bread by hand and I encourage you to try it a number of times to determine how well you perform and how much you enjoy the process. Then, if you still want to try a bread machine, you can do that. You don't ever want to give up in a competition (even with yourself) before you've reached the starting line.
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post #7 of 10
12/2/06 at 9:22pm
Making bread is, as expressed above, theraputic and highly rewarding when it comes out as intended. The drawback is that it can be time consuming so a bread machine can definitely fill a niche in a kitchen where time is a luxury. Even if you do get a bread machine, you can always still make special artisanal breads by hand.

Look for bread baking books by Peter Reinhart.
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post #8 of 10
12/3/06 at 12:03am
I am told that bread machines make a pretty good loaf of bread although I have never tasted one. I know there are many people who have no real interest in making bread by hand but still want to enjoy home made bread. There is nothing wrong with bread machines I suppose but I have no use for them.

If anyone has never made bread by hand I would recommend they try it a couple of times before they spend money on a machine.

Spirulina, you can't go wrong with any book by Peter Reinhart. I also have book by Beth Hensperger called Baking Bread: Old and New Traditions. But there are lots of good bread books out there.

Jock
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post #9 of 10
12/3/06 at 12:35pm
Having never owned a bread machine, I wonder if it saves any more time than when I make dough in my stand mixer. It doesn't take long at all. I know, this isn't the question you asked, so here's one place I like to check to see ratings of gadgets:


http://www.epinions.com/pr-Zojirushi_BBCC-X20_Home_Bakery_Supreme_Bread_Machine/display_~reviews/sec_~opinion_list/pp_~1/pa_~1#list

Other models here:

http://www.epinions.com/Bread_Machines--~all
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post #10 of 10
12/3/06 at 1:30pm
In addition to Epinions, Cook's Illustrated, and Consumer Reports, Amazon also provides a number of consumer reviews.

OahuAmateurChef,
When posting a link, you can click on this icon in order to link text to the url without posting the url in the body.
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