The dough also rises…

One kitchen appliance that I can’t live without is my bread machine. I’d tried making bread the old-fashioned way, but my kitchen gets drafty, especially in the wintertime. Cold retards the growth of yeast, therefore, my dough never rose properly. Julia Child suggested that in a case like this, just put the bowl of dough in the oven with the pilot light on. Maybe this works, but I can’t test it out now because I’m stuck with an electric stove. I swear, when we buy a house. even if it comes with an electric stove, we’re ponying up the cash for a plumber and have a gas hookup installed.

I have owned three bread machines so far. The first one was one I bought at a yard sale for $15; it was some cheapy brand, the name of which I don’t remember. There used to be this really nice family who lived directly across the street from us. They were moving away (hmm, I wonder why, given how I complain about this neighborhood all the time) and they had a yard sale to get rid of some stuff they didn’t want to lug along. I saw it through the front window, and saw the bread machine there, as well as a tall bookcase that I liked. So I went across the street and bought both; the husband helped Mike carry the bookcase over while I carried the machine.

I went to a bookstore to look for a cookbook for bread machines. I picked one that had different measurements and instructions for different makes and models of machines; I thought I needed something like that, as I was clueless about bread machines back then. I figured I needed all of the help and hand-holding that I could get, especially since I bought the thing used, and they didn’t have an owner’s manual for it.

The machine didn’t work very well. At first, I thought I was doing something wrong, or that maybe the recipes in that book just sucked. But after several failed loaves, I gave up.

I got my second machine, a small Breadman model, when I got a Sears gift card for Christmas. I figured that maybe what I needed here was a brand-new machine. And it was on sale. After I got it home, I took the yard sale one and put it out on the curb with the trash. Somebody took it before the garbage truck came, they always do. That’s how I always get rid of old and broken stuff that I have no further use for.

I had much better luck with that machine. Still, a lot of the recipes in that book didn’t work well in it, so maybe it wasn’t just me or the old machine. So I bought more books, tried those recipes, and had much better luck.

My third and current machine is the Breadman Ultimate, also bought on sale at Sears with another gift card. Nothing wrong with this first Breadman; I just wanted a machine with more features. I gave the old Breadman away to make room for the new one. I’ve had this one for several years now, and I still use it several times a week.

You know what’s funny, though? I read someplace that the more you bake bread, the more yeast that gets in the air, and the easier it gets for dough to rise. After I’ve used bread machines for several years, I tried baking a loaf by hand just to test this out. Yeah, it rises slower because of the draftiness, but if I allow enough time, I can get a decent rise out of it.

A bread machine works like a proof box, which is used in professional bakeries. This is a big box which slots for trays of bread dough, which is temperature controlled to the optimum temperature for yeast happiness. A bread machine does the same thing during the rise cycles. That’s why it works in drafty kitchens. Of course, the bread machine also mixes, kneads and bakes the bread. Sometimes, if I want a loaf that is shaped other than the shape of the bread pan, I can take it out, shape it, and give it its final rise outside the machine, and bake it in the oven. The dough has enough residual warmth from the first rise cycle, so that the second rise outside the machine works.
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If you are considering buying a bread machine, a good place to start is a site like Wize.com. They have two pages of bread machines, different brands, with reviews and prices from various online merchants. It’s an excellent way to start seeing what’s out there, so you can choose the machine that best fits your needs and budget.

The best bread machine cookbooks: Any of the “Bread Machine Magic” books by Linda Rehberg and Lois Conway…and “The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook” by Beth Hensperger. You can find these on Amazon or at a local bookstore, I believe they are still in print and available for purchase.

Finally…please DON’T buy yeast in those little packets at the supermarket..highway ROBBERY! I used to buy yeast at stores like Whole Foods, but for some reason, they stopped carrying bulk yeast. Now I order online from bakerscatalogue.com…even factoring in the cost of shipping, this is still WAY cheaper than those little packets! Also, yeast freezes well, so you can stock up, and keep some in the fridge, some in the freezer.

Happy baking!