Bread Machine- Worthwhile, or Dust Collector

Honestly? I'd take the $ you'd spend on a bread machine, and get a kitchenaid mixer with a dough hook.

I've used bread machines - and the bread I've made with my Kitchenaid is much tastier, and it doesn't take any longer than a bread machine would. Plus the Kitchenaid is much more versatile.

Mine is sitting under the cabinet, behind the trash can, and probably needs a good cleaning. I guess that tells you how much I use it, if I'm willing to store it behind the trash can!! ;)

If I was home I would make more. We are now doing Gluten Free, and with the pricyness of most GF foods, it does save a litlle per loaf. But My son is getting to the point that he does not really eat too much bread anymore.

As a fan of Alton Brown, i dislike kitchen unitaskers. A kitchenaid mixer will create a good dough. It will also create other dishes, get a few attachments and grind meat , use other attachments to make a beautiful angelfood cake, paddle to make playdough, or wisk to make unchemicaled flavored mayo, and amazing sauces and dressings all with ingredients you know, mold and nourish the body. Mine doesn't leave the counter.

For us? Dust collector.

We had one ten years or so ago when they were all the rage. Yeah, it made nice yummy warm bread. Fresh from home. Set it and forget it. But, it wasn't the kind of bread you could easily slice into sandwich bread. It was more the kind you serve along with dinner. And it didn't keep very well... so once baked, you ate it, and then essentially the rest that wasn't eaten was wasted.

We made a lot of it for awhile... but it quickly lost its newness and started collecting dust.

We used it a few times and it made great bread but the bread only lasted a day and would be stale by the next day no matter how well we wrapped it. We ended up donating ours. For over a year now we have been doing a low carb diet. If I am going to eat carbs it will be because I have a piece of cake not because I am eating bread:)

I use mine about twice a week. My sons love fresh bread and it makes my house smell good. Here's a recipe that I tweeked and we love:

2-3/4 cups of bread flour (I use either Pillsbury or Gold Medal)
1 pkg. of active dry yeast
2-1/2 tablespoons of sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/3 cup of vegetable oil (has to be vegetable oil--not olive or canola)
1 cup of lukewarm water

Follow ingredients exactly:

Put yeast in bread machine. Add in the water and the sugar. Let is sit for 10 minutes until it gets foamy.

Next: Add in the oil, then the bread flour, and lastly the salt.

Run the machine to make a large white loaf. The bread maker must be run for at least 3 hours - 3 hours 15 minutes to get a delicious loaf.

My mom gave me hers because she never used it, and ... I never use it either!

I do know people who use them, though, so it may just be me, or my family bread machine may just be cursed.

And store bread, yeah. It's pretty much preservatives with a little wheat and yeast thrown in. I get organic sandwich bread for the kid, and occasionally a loaf of whole grain sourdough or something for the rest of us. Which has the blessing and the curse of going stale and moldy almost instantly.

When I got married, we received three bread makers as gifts. Something told me to keep all three and not to exchange any of them even though we had registered for just one.

They each had a two year warranty. I used them (individually) so often that at exactly the two year mark, they died. I used them for bread, pizza dough, banana breads, whatever you can make in them. When the last one died, I was really disappointed but never replaced it. I keep thinking about getting a new one, until I got my stand mixer with the bread dough attachment.

So I would do some research into different types of bread machines. I honestly use my stand mixer to do the same job that my bread machines used to do except for the "rising the dough" part, and with that I just put dough in a slightly warm oven.

Before my nice stand mixer, it was used all the time. Yes, dough and breads of all kinds can be made in them. Get one that makes larger loafs. After ours broke I meant to replace it. In the meantime, I got a nice stand mixer. Haven't missed the breadmaker since then.

I know one person who used one. She was older and she would bake small loafs of bread and give them as gifts for Christmas. She did this after she retired and came back to visit once a year.

Otherwise, that is one of the items I see most in the thrift stores.

I bought one hoping to achieve soft 'squishy' bread like you buy at the grocery store. Nope never could figure it out. I would end up with a hard crust and so so middle.

Plus the loaves were oddly shaped so it wasn't like I could slice it down and use it for sandwich bread. (If I tried I'm sure it would be far more than the 100 calories per slice from the grocery store.) So mine sits on a shelf taking up space and collecting dust.

We use ours quite a bit. You might want to try getting one from Craigslist, freecycle or a friend who doesn't use theirs first. Then if you like it but want a better/different model then you'll be assured you'll use it. They are pretty basic though so that may not be a concern.

With ours I can make bread and leave it on the timer unless it is sourdough. Since it depends on the consistency of the starter, I have to watch to make sure more flour or more water isn't needed. Love it for mixing the pizza dough!

Both...

I used it for a good while after I bought it. I tried various recipes, but I will tell you that you must go EXACTLY by the recipe or it will fail. (My husband didn't believe it - he tried and found out that I was right...) It was time consuming and yes, rather expensive.

I got tired of it and stopped using it, and it did become a dust catcher. I finally gave it to Goodwill.

My husband can make bread without a bread machine, (he uses the Kitchenaide mixer with the bread hook) so when he gets the hankering for it, he just puts a loaf together, but not the same shape as a bread machine loaf.

Dawn

I have one. It was totally worthwhile for a little bit. Made SUCH good bread, Mmmm! Now, sadly, it's a dust collector...I guess I kinda forgot about it?

If your into it, then check them out...and look for one that is versatile like you want and go for it!

Do any of you have, and make frequent use of your bread machine? Yes, I have a Rival.

Is it as idiotproof as "set it and forget it?" Sort of. You can't let the "dry" ingredients hit the liquid too soon and sometimes you need to check on it to make sure the dough isn't too wet or dry while it's mixing. There shouldn't be a problem if you mak a "well" in the center of the flour and pour your yeast and dry ingredients in that. If the dough looks a little too dry, make sure you only add 1 teaspoon of water at a time or it could become too wet and you will need to add flour. There's a lot of helpful websites, blogs, and bread machine communities on the web. Here a great link to get started with: http://www.breadmachinedigest.com/ It includes how to choose a bread machine.

Is it costly to own, use, operate, maintain? No, very easy. It has a little bin/pan you lift out to clean. All you have to do is dump the ingredients in and press a button and it will do the rest. You can have it just make dough for you, which is really nice since the machine will do all the kneading and rising. (You don't have to hunt for a warm room for the dough to rise in.
:)) The only think I'm a little disapointed in mine is that it eventually got a brown patina inside from the heat.

Is it versatile? Yes! You can make pizza, fried dough, white bread, wheat bread, zucchini bread, banana bread, sweet rolls, dinner rolls, etc. You can even use your own recipes, just remember to put the liquid in first, then the flour, make a well and put the dry ingredients in the well and you're in business. The pizza's great and fresh.

Other thoughts? My son loved it when he was a toddler/young child. Later on he wanted the store bread, because his lunch looked different than the other kids. Now he's a teenager and I can't get him to touch a sandwich to save his life! Thanks for reminding me I have it. Can't wait for the summer when the onions and chives are up....I'll be able to make fried pizza dough with green onion/chives. (It's a Chinese thing.) Maybe I should make some steamed pork buns while I'm at it. It Makes the best dough for that!

If you do not eat much bread, I would not buy one. I received one from my Grandma and finally got rid of it just because of the space it takes up. Do you have a standing mixer? I think making bread is just as easy using a standing mixer. Throw the yeast in some warm water, add in I the rest of the ingredients per recipe, let the mixer knead it, cover and let rise, throw into some bread pans or onto a cookie sheet and bake.
If you do not have a standing mixer (or even if you do) I would recommend a cookbook "artisan bread in 5 minutes a day". I have tried just about all the recipes in it, let me tell you they are foolproof, taste wonderful and really do take just minutes to prepare the dough with no fancy tools. The cookpook has plenty of recipes for sandwich bread, pita, naan, pizza dough etc. If you are looking to make your own so you can control the ingredients, that is the route I would go. Then you are only out $15 for the book and it takes up very little space :)

We use ours sometimes--I have a great recipe for a whole wheat bread with some banana that is a perfect way to use an over-ripe banana. Sometimes our other bread recipes don't rise well, however that's probably due to the yeast sitting too long in the fridge and expiring. My kids haven't really taken to these breads, though probably because they're used to the commercial varieties.

No cost to use/maintain/operate, though you do need to buy the flour and gluten flour to make whole-grain breads, as well as some of the other less common grains can be expensive.

Overall, it's sometimes been a dust collector, sometimes quite useful to us. We eat a good deal of bread and it's nice to make something which doesn't have tons of chemicals. I'd say you should look carefully at the functions which a particular machine offers and see if it will work for you.

I go in stages. I like to set the machine to bake the bread while we're sleeping so it's ready for breakfast when we wake up. It's not totally idiot-proof, you have to get to know your machine and your recipes and follow them EXACTLY.

I'll use mine for a while, then it's back to being a dust collector. Then I'll use it again for a while, then it's back to being a dust collector. I think if you plan on making a lot of bread then it's worth the investment. However, we tend to just buy the organic bread from Trader Joes. It's a lot less effort for me to throw a loaf in the cart than to bake my own!

I also got a book on eating organic and she has some great breadmaking recipes. Her bread supposidly doesn't take much to make. It's probably a better option than the breadmaker! Mine is huge and it scares the cats. Luckily it was a gift!

It depends on you. I have three daughters that use theirs all the time. The seldom if ever buy bread from the store. I have two daughters that don't use theirs at all except around holidays or special events.

Its like the gym. Some people go religiously and their figures show it.

Its up to you.

Good luck to you and yours.

Dust collector, despite my best intentions.

I like to let the bread machine do the work of mixing and rising. I use the dough setting. After 1.5 hours, it beeps and I dump the dough onto the floured counter. I knead it and put it in a greased bread pan to rise again. Bake it when it's ready. Delicious home made bread and super easy. I never liked the texture or crust when I baked it in the machine, but the dough setting works great!

I am on my THIRD bread machine. I have burned out two of them in 20 years. My current one does baguettes in addition to a traditional loaf, plus gluten free bread, jam, pizza dough, and pasta dough (although I haven't tried the jam or the pasta dough yet...). I like that I can make the size loaf I need for that day (or two), and don't have to worry about it going moldy. We don't use it for sandwiches, though, as I have not yet managed to slice it thin enough for my liking for sandwiches.

I didn't use mine often and finally gave it away. I prefer to make country style bread, the big round loaves, and bake them on a pizza stone. But the breadmaker is certainly easy. When I did use it, I made whole wheat raisin bread and the house smelled heavenly.

Mine is idiotproof, and not a high end model.

I don't know about "versatile," in that it only makes one thing (bread), but you can make bread or bread dough for any yeast-based recipe. So, if you want to make dough for cinnamon rolls, or homemade rolls to go with supper, or dough for pizza crust, etc. you can do it w/ the bread machine.

I love my bread machine. I used to use it 2 or 3 times per week, for making fresh bread of all kinds (oilve oil & rosemary, herb and cheese, for pizza crusts, homemade whole wheat bread, etc.).... Sadly our dog became phobic to the noise it makes when mixing, so it is unused now.... Love my dog, but don't love her noise phobias.... (she's also scared of the crock pot and the dishwasher....).

I did find that it was very economical. Cheaper than using the oven (but if you want "normal" shaped loaves, you'll either need to buy an expensive model or mix the dough in the BM and bake it in a bread pan in the oven). We made whole wheat bread for pennies a loaf (like maybe $0.25) and it used about $0.10 in electricity). We did buy the flour in bulk, but even if you don't you can still expect savings.

Bread machines are very fool proof, if and only if, you follow the measurements exactly.

I only make yeast breads in mine...but we have moved soooo many times, that it does now collect dust. When I was using it, at 2x week the bread was awesome. The varieties you can make at home are amazing. We love sourdough, and I even made my own sour dough starter.

I would never and have never made quick breads in a bread machine, i.e. banana bread, zucchini bread. Those are so easy to mix together in a bowl and bake.

I'm a big peeker, so I gave my last bread maker away to a Pre-K teacher and have another, yet to be used. But we moved again, and I'm not feeling set up to start it up yet.

Also, shape is important to me. So I did not like the first machine which was round. I now have a square with rounded corners :)

And home made breads / rolls make a great gift for sick friends, busy teachers, etc.

I stopped using mine to bake and only used it to prepare the dough. When I baked in it, the thing in the middle left a big hole in the loaf that I didn't like. But now that half the family is gluten free, I don't use it at all any more. But it used to be very useful.

I had one back when they first came into fashion (mid-90s?) and used it a lot. Then the mixer paddle was accidentally tossed out and I eventually had to trash the machine because I couldn't get a replacement.

I bought a new machine last year, finally. It sat until a couple months ago, when I decided to start utilizing it - similar reasons as you - cost and concerns about the chemicals in store-bought breads.

It's pretty easy to use - I just have to remember to get the ingredients to room temperature before putting them in the machine. I also have to remember that it takes 3 hours to make a loaf of bread, so I have to make sure I get it going around 3:00. Otherwise, the bread would come out at midnight, with my procrastination!

I will say, the smell and taste of fresh-baked bread can't be beat! My son really enjoys it. And the bread keeps for about a week if I store it in a breadbox. Not bad.

I have yet to find a good pizza dough recipe for the breadmaker. The one that came with the unit was terrible! Too yeasty. I have found a couple recipes online, but not a really good one yet.

p.s. my sister used to make the best french baguette dough ever using her bread machine. I have to try that one of these days.

I adore bread, but I don't like the texture of bread machine bread. I like crusty artisan bread that can only be baked properly on stone. My Kitchen Aid mixer with dough hook does a fine job on mixing, but I prefer to do the rest myself. Pizza dough is so easy...you don't need a machine for it. And zucchini bread and coffee cakes are quickbreads....I would just do them in one bowl.

I LOVE my breadmaker! It sat around for a.while, but then I got in a groove and often bake, slice, and freeze fresh bread once a week. Its soooo much healthier than store bought!

If you have a good stand mixer like a kitchenaid, I would invest in a dough hook rather than a bread machine.
I have had mine for almost 10 years and take it out about once a year for a short burst (when I am motivated) and then it collects dust the rest of the time. It is bulky and a unitasker.... and honestly I don't like the way it bakes the bread.

BUT, it is really good at making yeast dough. I do not have a stand mixer and I am not going to knead the dough for a half an hour, so I usually use it just to knead and rise the dough. I then form the dough and bake it in the oven.

One day I will toss in favor of a Kitchenaid...