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bread makers love them or hate them?

post #1 of 34
2/11/10 at 5:48am
Thread Starter 
hello ive just been set a project and it is to improve or redesign a bread maker. i was wondering if anyone had ever had any problems with their bread makers or knows of anything that you think could improve them. any info would be appreciated thanks
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post #2 of 34
2/11/10 at 6:15am
I love my breadmaker. She loves to bake. :D
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post #3 of 34
2/11/10 at 6:17am
I've heard sometimes Italian bread makers drink a little too much wine late in the day, and French bread makers can be a little rude. I believe that is part of their charm, however, and wouldn't presume to suggest changes.

Kevin
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post #4 of 34
2/11/10 at 7:48am
I only wish my bread maker can cook proper bread. :( I used it once for baking Italian bread. I don't know what nationality it turned out to but I wasn't happy. Now I mostly use it to mix my ingredients and mix my dough. Then get the dough out and rise it in the laundry (it is warmer there during winter).

My best bread bakes better in the oven than in the breadmaker. :chef:
Bill and Izzie: Proud parents of a soldier.
Looking back on all the mistakes I've made in my life, all I can say is I've gotten a lot of miles out of stupid.
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post #5 of 34
2/11/10 at 8:37am
well the last time i played with a bread maker i was unimpressed by several factors. Cooked unevenly, small loaf size, couldn't get the blasted thing out of its cook tub and in the end it really looked more like a log of bread then a loaf. I know they have probably made some adjustments to some of those issues but thats my two cents.
"In those days spirits were brave, the stakes were high, men were real men, women were real women, and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri. "
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post #6 of 34
2/11/10 at 9:25am
I bought a bread maker when they first came out thinking they would be a time saver.At first I thought they were good but I found the bread to be unevenly cooked ,as was mentioned before,and the bread just not up to standard.So I gave it to my mother-in-law and she loved it. Everything she made turned out great,she made bread and rice pudding and a lot of things.So I guess in the right hands they are a good thing!
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post #7 of 34
2/12/10 at 4:55am
the best thing about my breadmaker is the glutenfree cycle. i never used a breadmaker until i had to. with the glutenfree cycle at least the bread doesn't deflate and squish down.
kathee
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post #8 of 34
2/12/10 at 5:01am
I "loved" mine so much that I gave it to a friend to put in their yardsale. The first year, it was great. Then, every loaf I tried to bake would collapse in the middle and it would vibrate horribly no matter what I did. I used it for kneading and rising pizza dough a few times but then decided I'd rather just get my hands dirty and do it myself.
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post #9 of 34
2/12/10 at 7:49am
They should be outlawed! They take all the fun out of baking bread :)
At weddings, my Aunts would poke me in the ribs and cackle "You're next!". They stopped when I started doing the same to them at funerals.
www.kyleskitchen.net
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post #10 of 34
2/12/10 at 12:30pm
I have a 15 year-old Panasonic and it is great for kneading dough and provides a warm environment for rising. It also bakes well, but the pan is not long enough and too tall. Therefore, the loaves are very tall, and it's very awkward to use them for sandwiches. I've looked at other breadmakers, but they all seem to have the same problem. Some even make round loaves. (Huh?) Therefore, I use the breadmaker for making the dough, but bake it in the oven. If I were going to design a breadmaker, I'd make sure it the pan produced a usefully-shaped loaf.
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post #11 of 34
2/12/10 at 12:54pm
We have a Zojirushi that we love. We don't let it actually bake the bread but use it to mix and knead the dough. We form and perform the final rise manually prior to baking in the oven.

When shopping for the original, I kept seeing reviews that used the Zojirushi as the yardstick. So I bought the yardstick.

Our King Arthur flour cookbook presented the opinion that the bread machine does a better job of mixing and kneading than a stand mixer or by hand. True? Maybe, but we still find it convenient.

Rich
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post #12 of 34
2/12/10 at 2:36pm
Got one - don't like it. I'm not a natural baker, so I thought it may help.

Bread always seems way too heavy/dense (no idea what I'm doing wrong). The brand name starts with "B" and end with "reville". Loaves are too short also. And I keep losing the stirring part in the end of the loaf, which I toss out after a couple of days after forgetting to take it out, so its off to the store - again! - to get a replacement.
It shakes and shimmies and makes a lot of noise.

It's gathering dust in a cupboard. I buy my bread always now.
Must admit the couple of times I've made it by hand I got a good result, just really haven't got the time to do it.
 Don't handicap your children by making their lives easy.
Robert A. Heinlein
 
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post #13 of 34
2/12/10 at 2:48pm
The product is ugly. Besides, making bread is easy ... just do it by hand.
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post #14 of 34
2/12/10 at 3:22pm
Goodness. I didn't know they allowed such personal questions in the public forums! Just joking. However, I think the breadmaker is just one of those things you either love or hate. If I had to make bread the "traditional" way, I would seldom make bread at all. Been there, done that, don't like it --neither the process nor the result -- (spare me the "what-I'm doing-wrong-advice"; my mind is set). Furthermore, my family is just not impressed by things done the old fashioned way. They just dig in and eat.

Before I got the one I now use, I had a smaller, simpler model (purchased at a yard sale, by the way) that was passed on to our daughter. That was back in 1998, and she still uses it regularly. I'm thinking she really needs a much larger, more sophisticated model now that her family has three growing boys. She covets mine, but I'm not giving it up.
"The pressure's on...let's cook something!"
 
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post #15 of 34
2/12/10 at 5:09pm
My oven is my breadmaker lol.
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post #16 of 34
2/13/10 at 8:19am
I've used two different models within the past year. One at my SIL's, used her maker's cook booklet recipe....except used bread flour (only thing in their house).....turned out super. I liked not having to mess with it while cooking multiple meals.

The other is an older model that a client has....the metal blade bakes into the bottom crust and it's a pain to tear open the loaf to remove it.

I used to make yeast bread on a regular basis by hand or cuisinart.....destroyed many a kitchenaid with doughs....making it on a slow day when not alot was happening, so the experience was pleasant....

Bread machines are a means to an end, like taking a short cut.
cooking with all your senses.....
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post #17 of 34
2/13/10 at 9:35am
Mines a Regal that's about 15 years old and I use it at least 3 times a week to knead and sometimes do the first rise.

We eat a lot of rolls or buns and pizza here and it's a huge time saver for me.

Occassionally, I forget the dough and it cooks into a tasty but odd mushroom topped loaf, which we cut across instead of down like a regular loaf.

I love my breadmaker and would never be without one.

I would like to see a removeable tray under the elements that can be pulled out and cleaned like a toaster over has.
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post #18 of 34
2/13/10 at 10:02am
I turn my breadmaker on the side, on a kitchen towel, and brush the crumbs out onto the towel with a long handled basting brush. Then I shake the crumbs outside for the wild birds.
"The pressure's on...let's cook something!"
 
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post #19 of 34
2/13/10 at 10:03am
I'm sensing a theme here...the breadmaker works well for mixing and kneading but not baking. Seems like a fruitful area to direct one's efforts at improvement.
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post #20 of 34
2/13/10 at 11:03am
Breadmakers do a very nice job with baking, however the shape of your finished loaf is limited to that of the baking pan that come with it. Even those with options for making 2 or 3 different size loafs still produce only one shape. Some of the pans are tall and thin, others more mimic a sandwich loaf. My daughter's breadmaker has a cylindrical pan.

So if you want to make rolls, sweet buns, artisan breads or other creatively shaped loaves (braids, twists, etc), the breadmaker will knead and rise for you, but you then have to shape your bread yourself and finish it in your regular oven.
"The pressure's on...let's cook something!"
 
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post #21 of 34
2/13/10 at 12:39pm
Never used one but seems like something handy if you want fresh bread in the morning .

Do you just dump everything in and it mixes, kneads, ferment, proof, and bake according to your own settings? and also controlling temperature for fermenting and proofing?
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post #22 of 34
2/13/10 at 12:51pm
I can't speak for all but ours allows one to use pre-programmed settings or set custom instructions. I believe there is the option of storing up to two sets of custom instructions for one button recall.

Other things to consider would include orientation (ours is horizontal and others are vertical), as well as number of paddles for mixing and kneading. This particular model will alert us at the proper time to add fruits or nuts.

Rich
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post #23 of 34
2/13/10 at 2:38pm
Mine lets you have a light, medium or dark crust; depending on how you like it. You can leave it overnight to start at what time you need it for the morning with this model, but you need to check the cookbook that comes with it for recipes that can be put in the night before and won't "go off".

I bought mine second hand at thrift store, but was able to download the cookbook on line. Total cost = $8. With all this chat I might drag it out again......
 Don't handicap your children by making their lives easy.
Robert A. Heinlein
 
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post #24 of 34
2/14/10 at 10:31am
all I can say is that its worth it. it depends on how you use it though :)
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post #25 of 34
2/14/10 at 6:44pm
I experimented with a bread maker for a year with new recipes each month and disliked everything I made. I felt like it didn’t do a good enough job kneading the dough- I could taste milk, flour, yeast- not bread. I gave it away and found a large bowl and wooden spoon did a better job at kneading.

Like others have mentioned I was frustrated with odd loaf shape that was challenging to be useful and with the paddle creating a hole in the bottom of the loaf.

My favorite is now to mix and knead with a Bosch mixer, then bake in the oven.
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post #26 of 34
2/15/10 at 11:51pm
We have one. Basically we got it because my wife's older sister is married to a fellow who has some fairly strict dietary restrictions and the only way they could really be sure of what was in the bread was to make it themselves, and they used a breadmaker on almost a daily basis.

All I use it for these days is pizza dough and rolls, which are formed and baked outside of the machine, it just does the mixing.

mjb.
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post #27 of 34
3/19/10 at 4:09pm
Love my bread maker. I got it as a gift 14 plus years ago from a relative. I wasn't strong enough to properly knead dough anymore and they knew how much I loved to bake my own bread. I was skeptical. Made one loaf in the machine and never used it to bake the bread again. Like many of you I simply let it do the kneading and mixing and first rise and do the rest myself. I love the "dough" cycle. Its a chef master machine. It walked off the counter the first time I used it. Huge dent in the front. It's been loyally making dough every week ever since.
If I want it bad enough, I'll learn to make it myself!  I'm not afraid to fail, I'm afraid of going without!
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post #28 of 34
3/21/10 at 6:36pm
Build me a bread machine that will automatically maintain a sourdough starter and turn it into bread when it grows too big.
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post #29 of 34
3/22/10 at 6:02am
I have two breadmachines and I love them both!  One is an older model that makes the round loaves, so that one I use only for dough and not for making actual bread that we will eat.  The other is a new one that I picked up at a yard sale for $15 and I'm happy with it.  I use it at least once a week for bread making and if we have pizza I have two breadmakers going at the same time making dough.
OK ... where am I going?.. and WHY am I in this handbasket??
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post #30 of 34
12/8/10 at 10:35pm

How a beautiful life it is ! and you are a excellent chef of bread, arn't you ! 

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