Breadmaker- Yay or nay

sky

Mon, Jan 27 2014, 10:53 am

I love mine. I posted a similar question probably about 3 years ago before I got mine.

I use it to bake break - though not as often as I would like.

I use to make my challah dough every week - love it!

I use it to make my pizza dough at least 3 times a month - love it!

Use it make different yeast cake doughs for shabbos and dough for rolls during the week or melava malka.

I probably use it more as a mixer then a bread machine.

I keep it on my counter and whenever I have to mix up a dough I throw it in and forget it - or bake bread in it.

Its probably one of my most used kitchen gadget. I just wish I actually baked bread in there more often.

chavs

Mon, Jan 27 2014, 11:10 am

We use our every day to make bread. It takes about 1 minute to put all the ingredients in and is cheaper and more delicious and healthier then bakery bough bread. One loaf lasts about 2 days (2 adults and 2 children). We also use it for pizza dough and challa dough.
I love it!

yalimommy

Mon, Jan 27 2014, 11:12 am

I absolutely love my breadmaker!

I also use it to make my challah dough every week. It's fantastic- even though it doesn't make a large quantity of dough at a time (3 medium challot), it's SO easy! You just put in the ingredients, press a button, and presto! An hour and a half later, my challah dough is ready for braiding. I don't have to "babysit" the dough the way I have to when I make the dough in my mixer- put in water with yeast and sugar, mix, wait 10 minutes, add in eggs and oil, mix, stop, add flour, mix, stop, add more flour, knead a while, stop, check if it's enough flour, add more, knead again, stop, etc.... well, you get the picture. I'm even more than willing to use the bread machine twice in a row if I have to make a lot of challot.

And there's nothing like putting the ingredients in the breadmaker right before going to sleep at night, (it takes about 2 minutes), pressing the button for the time-bake cycle, and waking up in the morning to the smell of hot, freshly baked bread.

I do admit that the machine is quite bulky, and unless you leave it out on the counter, it's a little bit of a pain in the neck to take it in and out of a cabinet.

Worth it? Definitely!!

Ms.MaryMack(inblack)

Mon, Jan 27 2014, 11:43 am

You miss out on making the bracha on challah if you only have one bread machine. Also, you need a bread machine recipe. I have one, and I rarely, if ever use it. My challah didnt come out good when I used it, and Im not such a baker.

sky

Mon, Jan 27 2014, 11:48 am

Amelia Bedelia wrote:

Don't mean to hijack post, but does anyone have good recipes? Cinnamon raisin bread, or other flavored breads?

I saved this from the Bina but only made it once:

Cinnamon nut bread
1 cup warm water
2 tsp softened marg (I used oil)
3 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp dry yeast
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Use 'sweet setting' (I don't have one) 1.5 lb loaf, light crust.

I don't use raisins because mine doesn't have a separate fruit\nut container and its a pain to remember to put in the fruit mid-cycle (mine will beep when it should be added)

etky

Mon, Jan 27 2014, 11:56 am

Amelia Bedelia wrote:

Don't mean to hijack post, but does anyone have good recipes? Cinnamon raisin bread, or other flavored breads?

How big is your machine? I have an excellent cinnamon raisin bread recipe but it is for a relatively large machine (around 3 lb.)
I also love my bread maker. I just got a new one because I worked the old one to death.
I use it for challah dough, pizza dough, dough for rolls and I also bake all kinds of breads in it.
I would love if someone could post a tried and true recipe for yeast cake dough.

mommyshani

Mon, Jan 27 2014, 12:21 pm

Ruchel wrote:

In the beginning it was used often, then it declined... lol

Same problem - received it as a wedding present, and used it several times a week. (We finished a loaf almost every day!) Then, as time went on, stopped using it so much. I still use it occasionally for a loaf, as well as making my Challah dough.

Raisin

Mon, Jan 27 2014, 12:30 pm

teawithlemon wrote:

I made the best challa in mine! I would refrigerate the dough so I could take challa on 2 or 3 batches at once.

if you don't have a mixer its a good investment. You can make enough challa for a small family every week easily. And its great for pizza dough and so on.

musicmom

Mon, Jan 27 2014, 12:58 pm

We got the Cuisinart and love it. We make bread every day and challah for Shabbos. I don't love our challah recipe though. Could you guys post recipes? Yum, can't wait to try the cinnamon one already posted... Also, do you have any good breadmaker recipes for pizza dough? We love the breadmaker, saves us time and money! We just have to get a better breadknife :-)

imasinger

Mon, Jan 27 2014, 12:59 pm

teawithlemon wrote:

I have a way to use a bread machine and take challah with a bracha. PM me if anyone is interested and doesn't know how.

Dolly Welsh

Mon, Jan 27 2014, 1:03 pm

Tell, Imasinger. Don't you need 17 cups, or almost five pounds, or 1200 grams of flour before you can say the bracha? My bread machine only holds four cups or one pound, one ounce, of flour.

I love my bread machine. It came with a booklet of tested recipes and they work.

Success10

Mon, Jan 27 2014, 1:17 pm

I love the taste of my bread machine bread, but I find that the cycle doesn't give the dough enough time to rise, to make a really fluffy bread, so it comes out a bit dense, still very yummy. How do I adjust the cycle without making it BAKE for too long? It's a Morphy Richards.

sky

Mon, Jan 27 2014, 1:29 pm

musicmom wrote:

My challah dough recipe is from Kosher By design' bread machine challah. I use the silicone challah pans and my challah baking is really easy, quick and mess free.

My Pizza dough is from the joy of cooking. It can be done with whole wheat or half whole wheat. the more whole wheat added the heavier the dough and more difficult to work with. I normally make 1 1/2 times the recipe.

bread machine Pizza dough
3 3/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
3 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups water

Process on pizza dough mode and then use as you would pizza dough.

I have a Panasonic bread machine and I don't like that they cycles cannot be programmed. I think it would be worth it to pay extra for that. When I want the machine to just mix the dough and not worry about rising time or the temperature of the ingredients I just put it on pizza mode which starts immediately.

Dolly Welsh

Mon, Jan 27 2014, 8:08 pm

It is useful even if you have a mixer, if you are ever super busy and don't have time to form and bake. The bread machine is 'set it and forget it'. For just one loaf, four hours later.

It will rise you oven-ready dough, just not a whole lot.

The 'sweet bread' recipe, which uses baking powder in stead of yeast, will pass for a pound cake. Not the fanciest thing you ever made, but something. That takes an hour.

They are not hard to clean.