Do you make your own bread? Maybe from bread machine?
Whats your recipe? Which flour you use?
I started with a bread maker and then moved on to free-form and sourdough.
If you have never baked bread before, I would recommend getting some used bread maker and trying it out, any home-made bread is better than what you normally get in a store.
I see people mentioning sourdough, that is more difficult and finnicky to master, and I wouldn’t start with that, my recommendation would be an overnight bread that requires no kneading and is minimal involvement on your part: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/11376-no-knead-bread
Oh yes!!!! I highly highly recommend making your own sourdough starter. It sounds difficult but it’s not. And it makes the best bread!! I would make one loaf a week for my husband and I. My husband struggles with stomach issues and I truly believe eating home made sourdough helped him with this. When I stop making it, his stomach acts up.
This is my favorite recipe, and it’s so easy! On warm days, I could start it on the morning and it would be ready to bake by the evening. And you don’t need a bread machine.
There’s also quite easy recipes without sourdough for a round loaf.
https://www.lionsbread.com/everyday-artisan-bread/
This one is very easy, only 4 ingredients.
My Panasonic bread machine finally died….I actually used and loved the darn thing.
I agree with the comment to go thrift store shopping for a machine. Because yes, a lot of people buy them and rarely use them, so you’ll likely find one really cheap and in excellent condition.
There are great bread subs to get into: r/breadit , r/BreadMachines
I’m now getting into more hands-on baking. My focus is on making sprouted grain breads (e.g. Ezekiel). I just invested in a small flour mill to grind the dried, sprouted grains.
Bread maker. 5 min of prep is all that’s needed. 1.5 cups milk. I warm this on the stovetop before putting in the machine. 4 cups flour. 1 tbs sugar. 1 tsp salt. 4 tbs butter, put as 1 tbs in each corner of bread maker. 1.5 tsp bread maker yeast put in the center of mixture and make a small hole for it. That’s it! 2.5 hours later you have delicious bread. If the bread is too fluffy experiment with exchanging some milk with water.
Mostly Whole wheat. I have a bread machine that I use to make the dough but I cook it in the oven using a cast iron pan.
2c whole wheat1c bread flour1.5c water2tsp instant yeast1tsp olive oil
Experiment with the hydration % (more water, less water) and fold your dough a couple of times to get some nice bubbles.
Fast easy rewarding healthy
I LOVE to make bread, i use this easy no knead recipe i found online a few years back. It works great for flatbreads, pizzas, cinnamon rolls, etc if you make minor tweaks to the recipe
(makes two loaves)
• 6 cups (750 g) all purpose flour• 2-3 tsp (11-17 g) salt• 1 tsp (3g) active dry yeast• 3.5 (828 ml) cups lukewarm water
• step one: add flour to bowl, then mix in salt and yeast seperate. Then add water and mix until it forms a sticky dough
•step two: let sit overnight
• step three: line an an oven safe pot with parchment paper and a thin layer of flour so it doesn’t stick, then add 1/2 of your dough to the pot, cover with lid and put into a COLD oven, then turn on the oven at 450 fahrenheit or 232 celsius, cook for 30 minutes covered and then 30 minutes uncovered
to make other flavors you can add mix ins, my favorites are:
Herbs and garlic: 1 tbsp oregano, 1 tbsp rosemary 3 tbsp, minced garlic
Walnut cranberry: 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, 1 tbsp cinnamon, 1/2 cup dried cranberries
cinnamon bread: 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tbsp cinnamon (i like to have this flavor with icing or honey 😋 its so good)
I do make my own bread (not always.) I don’t have a bread machine because its very unnecessary. Bread is about 10 min of actual work, and 3 hours of waiting around. If you really want a machine, make bread a few times first before deciding. Many people buy a machine and it just sits there
I’ve been playing around with using whole wheat flour but I’ve discovered the wheat pieces rip the gluten, so it needs less kneading. And more water as it seems to be drier than normal flour. Sometimes I mix whole wheat and all purpose, seems to have a good result
I have several “sandwich loaf” bread recipes I rotate through, but since my bread products (? i mean, like english muffins, pitas, flatbread, etc.) have no added sugar, I try to compromise between white bread fluffiness and whole grain complexity and nutrition. And, I think it’s Harvard’s Plate that recommends half of all grains to be whole. So, I aim for half. My pitas are whole, tortillas are white, my sandwich loafs rotate between 1/3, 1/2, and completely whole. The 1/3 potato bread is the superior one, but I can’t get it to accept anymore whole wheat flour (tried various dough conditioners, vital wheat gluten, playing with yeast/rise times, etc.). I’m also a huge fan of what sourdough does to the texture of breads: that glossy crumb is so good.
My pain du champagne/sourdough boule/artisan bread (there’s like 50 names for this style of no-kead, dutch oven bread) is my favourite. This formula is from “Flour, Salt, Water, Yeast”, which I highly recommend as an entry bread book. I’ve upped the whole wheat and added the gluten to compensate. It’s very forgiving and, even overproofed, has a good shape and texture.
1/4 of one of the loaves (which is one absolutely titanic sandwich or 4 slices toast) is: 437 calories, 18g protein, 7g fiber. Per serving, 218 calories, 9g protein, 3.5g fiber.
https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2020/04/easy-sourdough-sandwich-bread/ I use the modification of 150g starter/250g water (i like the sourdough taste) and it doesn’t take a full overnight to bulk ferment, I mix the dough in the morning and shape it whenever it’s doubled (depends on the temp of the house/starter, etc)) then the second rise is like 1 hour then bake. It’s a nice sourdough with the texture of white sandwich bread.
It’s very simple once you fully get it. Yeast and water (perhaps sweeter or mix if wanted), wait a while, then add salt and flour. Can add toppings like seeds if wanted. Mix and knead dough for a while until u can poke it and it can bounce back up. At this point my mom doesn’t even need measurements to make this type of bread. And ofc, leave it to prove (rise) for at least one hour. Then shape it, and let it rise again for at least 30min (preferably 1hr) and for good looks you can add egg wash to the top before you bake it so it comes out golden.
I have a 1lb mini zojirushi bread maker. Used it for 7 years and I love it! Perfect for my family of 3.
I experiment all the time, and use different ratios of Wheat flour, bread flour flax seed, oats, wheat germ and oat bran Not all in the same bread, and usually its 75% flours and 25%seeds/germs/bran. To get around using flours with less protein, I always add 1 Tbsp of Vital Wheat gluten to maintain elasticity and 1Tbsp or Powdered milk for softness.
Regular milk will work too, but it has a delayed time setting.
I also add pumpkin seeds, walnuts, almonds, or seeds: dill, fennel or carroway. Not all of them, but varying week to week.
I also get recipes from all over, but king arthur has lots of good bread machine recipes!
Happy baking!
This is the recipe I use with the exception that we buy our own wheat kernel, grind it and use 2 cups of it in the bread plus 1 cup stoneground white bread flour (=3 cups of this recipe). Easy, delicious and healthy. 😊 https://simplyceecee.co/simple-overnight-bread/