Is A Bread Machine Worth It?

[Palanan]

For years I've toyed with the idea of getting a bread machine, since I'm not impressed with grocery-store bread and I don't have a real bakery anywhere near me. But I have virtually zero talent as a cook, and I don't know how much hassle a bread machine would be.

Is a bread machine fairly clean and easy, or does it become its own vortex of mess and complications? And are there decent mixes which are more affordable than the hoity-toity "artisan recipes" I'm seeing on Amazon?

[Razade]

Do you make a lot of bread? Like a loaf a week? Do you eat a lot of bread? More than a loaf a week? If the answer is no to either of these you might consider not getting one. They're pretty simple to operate all in all though.

[Bulldog Psion]

I had one years ago, as a frequent consumer of bread. They're pretty easy to use, in my experience. The bread produced was usually pretty delicious -- fluffier than the store bread with a fresher, more delicate flavor.

My bulldog also liked standing and thoughtfully sniffing the steam coming out of the vents.

One big plus to the machine, IMO, is that the entire house smells wonderful for an hour or two after using it.

[Dodom]

Razade's question is good. Would you want homemade breat often enough for the machine to be worth it? Not only its money cost, but also maintenance time and storage space.
Remember, it can be made by hand, there is an art to the technique and a noob's bread isn't going to be the best at first, but the machine can be done without if you're not sure you need it.

[Razade]

Making decent bread isn't hard to do by hand. It's yeast, flour, water and some sugar if you want to go super basic with it. Even someone who can't cook can easily make bread. The machine is just good to save on time.

[Aedilred]

Yeah, it ultimately comes down to how often you're going to use it. Not just the initial period when you make bread every day for two weeks because it's fun but on an ongoing basis thereafter.

If you eat a lot of bread and would make it at home were it not for the mess it makes and the time it takes, a breadmaker is probably for you. If you like good bread but don't eat a lot of it and have good bakeries nearby you're happy to buy from, it's likely not worth the cost or the cupboard space.

If you buy in bulk you can circumvent a lot of the apparent expense as far as ingredients go - and after all the ingredients for basic bread are pretty straightforward. You can also set up a sourdough mixture to keep on an ongoing basis if you're into that. But, again, that's only a saving if you're going to eat enough bread to justify it.

[Rockphed]

Depends on how cheap you can get a bread machine. We got ours used at a thrift store for 8 bucks. After about 10 loaves, it pretty much paid for itself.

The hardest part of cleaning a bread machine is getting the paddle out. Typically it comes out if we let the pan soak overnight. Then we either clean the paddle and pan by hand or stick them in the dishwasher.

I think the most expensive ingredient for bread is the yeast. I think it was $5 for a 4 oz bottle the last time I bought some. The other ingredients (flour, water, sugar or honey, oil, and salt) are all really cheap.

If you get one, here is the bread machine recipe we have used often:

3 cups flour (about 13 oz/.36 kg, I think)
3 1/3 cups water (warm to the touch works best, about 100 degrees F or 38 degrees C)
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
3 Tablespoons sugar or honey
3 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 3/4 teaspoons yeast

Pour it in the machine's pan.
Put the pan in the machine.
Turn the machine on the "standard" cycle.
Walk away for 3 hours.

[cobaltstarfire]

Can't some bread machines be programmed as well? That could be handy.

My dad had a bread machine when I was little, he usually ran it overnight. It always smelled really good. I think it could also do cake?

They are rather large appliances though, so storage can be tricky.

[enderlord99]

That's a really funny thing to call it. The word is "oven."

[Aedilred]

Can't some bread machines be programmed as well? That could be handy.

My dad had a bread machine when I was little, he usually ran it overnight. It always smelled really good. I think it could also do cake?

They are rather large appliances though, so storage can be tricky.

I think they usually can be programmed, yes, so you can set it for, say, half an hour before you get up, and have fresh warm bread waiting for you when you want breakfast.

I'm not sure about cake, but some bread machines can probably do it. Cake is much easier to make so I imagine it's perfectly possible to make a machine that does both.

[GrayGriffin]

Bread machines can also be adjusted to just mix the dough, so you can use it to make dough for pizza or rolls of different shapes. At least, that's what my grandmother's bread machine could do. It's also nice to just dump everything in and go do your own thing while you wait for the bread to finish. When I was doing community service at my school library, one of our group leaders would often prepare a bread machine to finish making bread once we were done with our work.

[Rockphed]

That's a really funny thing to call it. The word is "oven."

Ovens are just a hot box, possibly with programmable on and off time. A bread machine is a hot-box that will mix your dough for you.

And I have never seen a bread machine that wouldn't just do dough. Not saying they don't exist, but I have never seen one.

[OldTrees1]

I have been disappointed by how poorly bread machines knead the dough. While a bread machine is cheaper than a mixer with a dough hook (kitchenaid is the cheapest at ~$200-$300) and has a build in oven (although you should already have an oven) it is rather limited in the kinds of bread it can make/help make.

So what kind of bread do you want to make?
Block shaped loafs with various ingredients and tastes
Pizza
or something more like this?


As for cleanup/ease:
Both will involve soaking and scrubbing. However one would be surprised how nicely dough cleans up with water. However a mixer will have a learning curve since you are controlling when it stops kneading.

As for recipes:
My favorite breads are those 3rd kind. Some of those recipes are as simple as Flour + Yeast + Water + Oil + some kind of sweet syrup(Honey, Malt, Molasses, many different substitutions here).


I don't know you and thus cannot know which of the 3 options (nothing, bread machine, mixer) is right for you.

[freezingfox]

yes they make awesome freaking bread get one if you want fresh bread all the time

[warty goblin]

I've never really seen the point. Making bread by hand is easy, requires very little time - mostly it just sits and has hot yeast sex - and is generally quite enjoyable work. It's hard to feel bad while kneading bread.

[LaZodiac]

"Should I buy a magical box that makes an entire loaf of bread at the push of the button whenever I want?"

That's you. The answer is yes.

[Spacewolf]

I've never really seen the point. Making bread by hand is easy, requires very little time - mostly it just sits and has hot yeast sex - and is generally quite enjoyable work. It's hard to feel bad while kneading bread.

I've always had trouble with the bread I make being to sugary to the point I don't put any in at this point. Since you seem to enjoy making bread is this something you've had issues with?

[warty goblin]

I've always had trouble with the bread I make being to sugary to the point I don't put any in at this point. Since you seem to enjoy making bread is this something you've had issues with?

Can't say as I ever have. I just use 2 tablespoons for something like 4 cups of flour. I figure after two or three hours of rising (depending on the temperature), that sugar is pretty much all turned into yeast chow. The only thing I can think of that would make a difference is the sort of yeast one uses. I use Active Dry Yeast for baking, on the principle that it's always worked for me, and it's what my Mom's always used. I have noticed some fluctuation between different brands/sources. I currently buy a store-bagged bulk yeast, but I've gotten the stuff from the individual foil packets too, and generally found it to behave less well.

[cobaltstarfire]

Can't say as I ever have. I just use 2 tablespoons for something like 4 cups of flour. I figure after two or three hours of rising (depending on the temperature), that sugar is pretty much all turned into yeast chow. The only thing I can think of that would make a difference is the sort of yeast one uses. I use Active Dry Yeast for baking, on the principle that it's always worked for me, and it's what my Mom's always used. I have noticed some fluctuation between different brands/sources. I currently buy a store-bagged bulk yeast, but I've gotten the stuff from the individual foil packets too, and generally found it to behave less well.

Could it be something like Spacewolfs dough isn't warm enough for the yeast to be active enough to consume the sugars?

(I haven't made much bread by hand, but when I have, I haven't had any problems with it being too sweet either...but the box emphasis to use warm water, and make sure the dough is allowed to be warm while letting it rise too)

[Spacewolf]

Hmm it could be a heat issue, I do live in quite a cold place and rarely use central heating. If I where to use an oven to keep it heated during the heating what would be the maximum temp you would use 30ish? (Degrees C to avoid any confusion here.)

Also do you have any recipes that you've found worked well for just normal bread or Tomato bread. (I did make some tomato bread recently that turned out really well, I didn't use any sugar so I think the Yeast must have eaten some of the excess sugar from the Tomato paste I used.) Just as something I can try out.

[warty goblin]

Hmm it could be a heat issue, I do live in quite a cold place and rarely use central heating. If I where to use an oven to keep it heated during the heating what would be the maximum temp you would use 30ish? (Degrees C to avoid any confusion here.)

Also do you have any recipes that you've found worked well for just normal bread or Tomato bread. (I did make some tomato bread recently that turned out really well, I didn't use any sugar so I think the Yeast must have eaten some of the excess sugar from the Tomato paste I used.) Just as something I can try out.

Yeah, the yeast works fastest when it's warm. 30 C would be plenty warm, that's way warmer than I keep my bread in the winter. Usually I find putting mine on top of the fridge is good enough; you can also use an electric heating pad.

Here's the bread recipe I use. All units are imperial, sorry!

• Take 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast, put in a large mixing bowl with 1/4 cup warm water, swirl around vigorously, and let sit for a couple of minutes until the yeast is dissolved.
• Add 3 cups flour. I use 2 cups whole wheat, 1 cup bread flour, but you can go all bread flour if you want a lighter, whiter loaf.
• Add 2 Tablespoons sugar, 1 Tablespoon salt, followed by 2 cups warm water. You can use pretty hot water here, since the yeast is buried under 3 cups of room temperature flour.
• Finally, add 1 Tablespoon melted butter.
• Stir everything together. At this point you should have a thick sort of batter. Stir in more bread flour until it is solid enough you can handle it.
• Sprinkle a counter top with more flour, dump the dough onto the counter top, sprinkle with more flour and start kneading. I usually knead for fifteen minutes or so, basically until the dough is getting pretty dry and it's difficult to work more flour into it.
• Form the dough into a ball by drawing the sides together at the bottom. Put about a Tablespoon of vegetable oil in the bottom of a large bowl, put the dough in the bowl and shake it around so both the inside of the bowl and the entire surface of the dough are lightly oiled. Make sure the seam side of the dough is on the bottom, then cover the bowl - a plastic grocery bag works well - and leave in a warm place until the dough has risen. If it's really warm this can be as little as two hours, when its colder it can be four or even five.
• Take the dough out of the bowl, cut it in half, flatten each half out, roll it up into a tube, making sure to tuck the ends in and pinch shut the seam, then put in an oiled french bread pan seam side down. If you want to add olives or something, sprinkle the flattened out dough with your adds before rolling it back up, reflattening, and loafing it up.
• I then usually cheat, and just cover the loaves with a cloth soaked in warm water, then put them on the oven while it heats. This basically makes the yeast speed-rise the bread. You can also just let it sit covered with a cloth until its risen again.
• Either way, heat the oven to 450 F, bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 and bake for another 30 minutes. Do not open the oven door until the second 30 minutes are up. The bread should be a golden brown on top, the exact color depends on the flours you've used. Mine is darker because I use more whole wheat. If you tap the loaf and it sounds hollow, it's done.

[Mr.Moron]

They work very well for what they are. They'll produce you loaf that's better than what you buy in most grocery stores for about the same price. Not as good as something from a bakery or that you're putting in the effort to make your self from scratch. However if you're lazy they work wonders. You can honestly just throw some water, yeast and salt in one and get something pretty passable.

[BLC]

I, frankly, dislike the texture of bread machine... bread.

There are plenty of no-knead bread recipes out there if you don't want to potentially deal with flour everywhere or working with a flour-cloth. I even prefer the no-knead far above bread machine made. And it has this cool rustic appearance. Like something you would find at an inn & tavern.

The hardest part for those with negative skill points in baking is the yeast. I'm pretty lucky though that if the yeast doesn't properly activate, I'm still more than content with the yeasty flavor. Because I grew up with hit-or-miss homemade bread like that and I enjoy beer.

[Flickerdart]

The hardest part for those with negative skill points in baking is the yeast. I'm pretty lucky though that if the yeast doesn't properly activate, I'm still more than content with the yeasty flavor. Because I grew up with hit-or-miss homemade bread like that and I enjoy beer.

Isn't yeast just "swirl a packet into a cup of warm water, and if ten minutes later it's risen, then put it in the bread"?

[BLC]

Isn't yeast just "swirl a packet into a cup of warm water, and if ten minutes later it's risen, then put it in the bread"?

Well, I've had yeast foam up in lackluster sort of way before (Old? Improperly stored?). And/or I was impatient and threw it in the flour a little early. I've made bread a lot. But probably not as much as anyone's grandma has.

[Rockphed]

They work very well for what they are. They'll produce you loaf that's better than what you buy in most grocery stores for about the same price. Not as good as something from a bakery or that you're putting in the effort to make your self from scratch. However if you're lazy they work wonders. You can honestly just throw some water, yeast and salt in one and get something pretty passable.

Bread costs between $1 and $4 around here for the bagged stuff. Making bread in a bread machine takes a few cups of flour which costs about $2 for a 5 lb bag. It takes negligible amounts of salt, sugar, and oil. It takes about 1 cup of water (5 cents per gallon from the tap, about $1 per pint in a bottle). And it takes about 1/20th of a jar of yeast which costs about $5. All told, it might cost $1 to make a loaf of bread in a bread machine. So I guess you can buy really fluffy bread for what it costs to make bread in a machine, but more likely you are going to be approximately making the $2 - $3 loaf.

[Knaight]

Isn't yeast just "swirl a packet into a cup of warm water, and if ten minutes later it's risen, then put it in the bread"?

Yeast packets tend to be a ripoff - there are usually ways to get bulk yeast, and bulk yeast is vastly cheaper. It also does help to have something for the yeast to eat, although bread can rise without adding sugar specifically.

On the main topic: Just use an oven, it tends to be faster.

[Scarlet Knight]

Scarlet Knight bread recipe:

Step 1) find an old Italian bakery
Step 2) swing by on the way home and make purchase
Step 3) continue home & eat bread
Step 4) read OOTS instead of cleaning bread machine

This works really well when you need a dozen loaves because the family is coming.

[Jay R]

A bread machine doesn't make bread happen. It enables you to make bread faster and more efficiently.

The key word in the above sentence is "you".

1. If you are making bread now, and want to do it more efficiently, get the machine.

2. If you are not making bread now, start making bread. If you then decide you want to do it a little more efficiently, get the machine.

3. If you are not currently baking bread, DO NOT GET A BREAD MACHINE.

[rooster707]

Scarlet Knight bread recipe:

Step 1) find an old Italian bakery
Step 2) swing by on the way home and make purchase
Step 3) continue home & eat bread
Step 4) read OOTS instead of cleaning bread machine

This works really well when you need a dozen loaves because the family is coming.

"It's an old family recipe."