7+ Best Bread Machine Recipes Only On CraveTheGood.Com (2024)

FAQs

What is one drawback of using a bread machine? ›

One disadvantage of using a bread maker as opposed to your hands is that the paddles are typically fixed, meaning they remain in the dough when baking, often leaving a hole in the middle of the loaf. Whilst this is not the biggest hinderance, it can be an annoyance to those who aim for gold standard loaves.

Making bread from a machine is marginally cheaper than buying it, as long as you eat bread frequently enough to offset the cost of the appliance. Specifically, I see this as an investment that's smart for households that go through bread quickly, like large families or homes with multiple roommates.

Just be sure to use a flour with a high protein content. King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, with its high gluten, is an excellent flour for bread machines. Numerous people have told us that their recipes worked in the bread machine using King Arthur, when they didn't work with other all-purpose flours.

Yes! All-purpose flour has a 9% to 12% gluten content, while bread flour's gluten content falls in the 10% to 13% range. Even if your all-purpose flour lacks gluten, you can still use it in the bread machine. Again, the worst that will happen is that your bread will not rise as much as it would with bread flour.

Some attribute the demise of the bread machine to the fact that cooks were just disappointed by their results. Lara Pizzorno, the author of Bread Machine Baking, chalked it up to food snobs who regarded the machine as “the electric equivalent of The Bridges of Madison County” in a 1996 article in The New York Times.

So, as far as time saving goes, a breadmaker will free up the time you would usually spend kneading the dough (perhaps 15 minutes). But, from start to finish, you're not making big gains. A breadmaker may free up some time in terms of the attention you have to pay to it compared with cooking bread in an oven.

Johanna Hartzheim, co-founder and head of product at Wildgrain, a bread and pasta delivery service, recommends eating homemade bread within three days but says it will last up to a week. "The bread will start to dry up and become a bit harder over time, but it takes much longer until it becomes moldy," she says.

In two to three hours you will have freshly baked bread. But this countertop appliance can also make a lot more than just loaves of bread, from pizza dough, cinnamon rolls, hamburger and hot dog buns, and even doughnuts.

The Very Best: Instant Yeast

The yeast of choice in most restaurant kitchens and commercial bakeries, it's easy and convenient. Ever seen a bread recipe that asks you to mix the yeast with warm liquid and allow it to bubble first before using?

You add the ingredients, and the bread machine makes and bakes the bread in one handy appliance. Liquid ingredients are added first, then oils or fats, dry ingredients, and finally yeast (if your recipe calls for it). The machine will mix, knead, rise, and bake the dough to a beautifully soft bread with a crisp crust.

What flour do professional bakers use for bread? ›

While bread flour is more than adequate for everyday breads, some professional bakers use high-gluten flour with a 14% protein content to provide extra strength to dense, chewy doughs like bagels and pizza dough. High-gluten bread flour gives milk bread it's taut structure and compact (but tender) crumb.

The amount of protein found in bread flour is higher, in order to contain and produce more gluten and achieve the desired rise in bread. Because of this higher protein level, bread flour is able to absorb more liquid, allowing it to hold its shape and rise upward instead of outward.

Self-rising flour is a combination of salt, flour and a leavening agent. While not traditionally used in conjunction with bread machines, self-rising flour can be used as a substitute for bread flour.

Bread Flour Substitute

You can always substitute all-purpose flour for bread flour one for one in any recipe that calls for it. Your bread might not raise quite as high or have quite as much chew, if you are using all-purpose flour, but it will still be delicious and homemade and all the good things.

The beauty of a bread machine is that it will complete all the mixing, kneading, and proofing. It's far more than a countertop bread oven. It allows you to enjoy freshly baked bread even if you're no good at baking. And it'll give you consistent results every time, you don't even have to stay home while it works.

Too much yeast was added.

If you add more than the called for amount of yeast (i.e. because you wanted to try & make a fluffier bread), it can cause the bread to rise too much and then collapse.

A motor turns a paddle to mix and knead the dough just the right amount. A heating element provides the gentle warmth needed for rising and, when it's ready, the higher temperature needed for baking. You add the ingredients, and the bread machine makes and bakes the bread in one handy appliance.