bread machine question

- H
- Hillary Israeli
  
  Contact options for registered users
posted
20 years ago

Fri, Dec 12, 2003 4:14 PM

Hi. I have a Zojirushi BBCC-V20 that I hardly ever use and I find it quite hit or miss, frankly. Yesterday I made a really good oatmeal bread; today I am TRYING to make an oatmeal maple bread but I'm having a problem. The recipe (from a cookbook called Bread Machine Baking or something like that) says that I should put the ingredients in in the right order and blah blah, and then use the machine's "basic cycle, medium crust" setting. OK, so, I did that and then I left the machine for a while; I returned to check on it and found it allegedly in the middle of the first rise - but the dough was not ready - I could see through the window it was all crumbly. So, I took it out and added a little water until it became cohesive, and kneaded it a little bit just to make it stick together and shoved it back into the machine, and started over on basic cycle again. My question is - what would have been the best thing to do? The machine has a homemade bread cycle option, I could have said "preheat x minutes, knead y minutes, rise z minutes, knead a minutes, rise b minutes, knead c minutes, rise d minutes, bake w minutes -- but I have no idea what would have been apppropriate to fill in for those variables. So, will restarting the basic cycle over be ok, given that it obviously still DOES need all that kneading and rising? Or what? and in the future, how can I figure out how many minutes to set this sucker for?

Thanks for any tips from a bread machine loser, h.

- D
- Dee Randall
  
  Contact options for registered users
Vote on answer
posted
20 years ago

Fri, Dec 12, 2003 6:32 PM

then I left the machine for a while; I returned to check on it and found it allegedly in the middle of the first rise - but the dough was not ready

This is what I've learned about breadmaker machines. I don't walk away from them in the mixing stage. I take the time to do a few things in the kitchen while I'm watching it to see if it needs scraping down on the sides, if I need to add water, if I need to add flour. Sometimes if I have a heavy loaf (oats, rye flakes, wheat flakes, seeds, stone ground wheat flour), I will wait for it to finish the kneading, unplug it and set it again to start all over, because I've found probably that it hasn't been kneaded enough.

In the beginning with this machine that seems that you can set it to do "everything," I'd stick to the basic recipe setting such as "wheat bread" "basic bread" "french bread," whatever you have, until you get comfortable with how your bread should look when it begins to rise.

I think that most people when they get a bread machine, if they have no prior experience with how a bread should look (approximately) when it begins to rise, then they will have a little trouble. Bread making in any contraption is a joy! Love it, you've got a great machine.

Dee

- V
- Vox Humana
  
  Contact options for registered users
Vote on answer
posted
20 years ago

Sat, Dec 13, 2003 12:39 AM

Honestly, once you have all the ingredients measured, you may as well make the dough by hand, in the food processor, or in a stand mixer. That way you can adjust it as you go. I gave my ABM away because it was a PIA to deal with and gave so-so results. The only redeeming quality is the "set it and forget it" ability that might or might not result in bread in a few hours. You can make dough in a matter of minutes in a food processor is you only need a single loaf. It can be set aside to rise and then bake or you can refrigerate the dough and use it later. Unless you are completely clueless about baking (which doesn't appear to be the case) or simply have to have freshly baked bread upon waking, then I don't think that ABMs have much to offer. I know that some people swear by them.