Should I get a bread maker?

[Imafitnessfreak]

We eat whole wheat bread like crazy around here! I eat 2 slices a day, DH has some and the kids eat it like crazy!

Is it worth it? How long does it take to throw everything in there...5 minutes or so and then the machine does the rest? I am thinking I want one to rid my body of the perservatives. I think it is making my skin break out!x( When I went a spell eating no bread at all, I didn't seem to ever get a zit!

I am just trying to find a way to still get me toast in the a.m. without the huge zit on my cheek!

 

[red_mct]

I have one, and it is literally 2 minutes' worth of work. You just dump the stuff in, select your setting, press Start, and off you go.

I almost never use mine, though. Perhaps I am just lazy! I am also afraid of having a lot of bread in the house, I think. I am a Carb Junkie. I cannot be trusted near bread OR potatoes!

Cheers,
Marie

 

[Timber99]

>I almost never use mine, though. Perhaps I am just lazy! I am
>also afraid of having a lot of bread in the house, I think. I
>am a Carb Junkie.

This is my issue too! My mom has one that I am about to "inherit" (when I go to NJ for the CAthe Road Trip!) and I decided to limit myself to make sure that I don't overdo it!

They are really easy to use and there are many differente mixes, etc. out there for some snazzy kinds of bread so I am looking forward to it!

Christine

 

[WD]

It is very quick and if you get one with a delay timer you could put it in at night and it will bake in the am. I don't make bread often because I love good bread to much. I tried to find whole wheat bread at the grocery store & I noticed they all had high fructose corn syrup and a lot of junk in them. I was trying to buy bread that would be good for my grandchildren. I used to make it for my family all of the time and that was w/o a bread machine. I used to be able to get Ezekial Bread in a grocery store here but it has went out of business. They do have it in a healthfood store, but I am not going that much out of my way for it.

Diane Sue
http://wd.1ww.us

 

[kathryn]

If you eat a lot of bread, then I say it's worth it. A friend of mine used to make fresh bread almost every day in her bread maker. You can even set it to start at a certain time, and have fresh-baked bread in the morning.

I, on the other hand, am not much of a bread eater, except for the sprouted grain bread and buns from Food For Life that I buy. I had a breadmaker, but didn't get a lot of use out of it.

The great advantage, aside from freshness, is that you know exactly what's going in it, and you can make up your own bread accoding to what you want to eat and not (ie: increase protein by adding soy flour, using differen whole grains, different sweetener). And no strange "dough conditioners" like in many store-bought brands. Also, fresh bread is a nice touch when guest come over to eat, and also as a gift.

One bread I liked when I did use my breadmaker (since donated to Goodwill!) was a chocolate/cherry christmas bread. There are lots of great recipes out there. Just check in a bookstore and page through some bread maker recipe books and see how many recipes sound good to you.

I've recently thought of making some bread again, but it would be the old-fashioned way: kneeding and gettiing some exercise in the process!

 

[ElaineP]

I got a breadmaker about 8 years ago. I started to make my own bread because of my son's food allergies. Now I love to make it for the healthy aspect. My DH hates store bought bread now. My kids love Pumpernickel. My bread maker came with a healthy recipe book. The recipes use honey as a sweetener(sp?) most of the time.

I use mine a few times a week.

Elaine

 

[Katerchen]

I have a Zojirushi bread machine and love it. It's actually my second one, I wore my old one out.

But, I mainly make sourdough breads (rye, wheat) and I love the look of bread risen in a bread basket, therefore I use my bread machine mainly for the 'dough cycle'.

I was about two months without a bread machine and I hardly made any bread - it was too time consuming (you have to knead sourdough breads about 20 minutes by hand and yes, it makes a big difference) and messy.

I have made a few breads from a mix, like the King Arthur Flour mixes and they turned out really good in the machine.

I couldn't live without it. Hearty bread, dipped in dipping spices, slathered with butter or garlic paste is my passion.

 

[truton]

What a timely question. I posted not long ago about the same thing. At this moment I have a loaf of bread baking in my new breadmaker and oh does it smell good in here right now! For the same reason as you, I like to eat a little bread but didn't want to eat all the added junk that they put in commercial brands.

I used to make bread the old-fashioned way but it is quite a long, and in my case, messy process. Making it in the breadmaker requires only a few minutes to put the ingredients into the machine and the machine does all the rest of the work. Honestly I can't tell the difference between the breadmaker and the old-fashioned way except for the shape of the loaf. But if you don't like the shape of the loaf you can always do the dough only cycle and bake in a conventional pan.

A few people answered my post here and suggested that I get one with a delay timer. I think that's my favorite feature right now. Since it does take from about 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours or more to cycle, you can set the timer for it to finish when you know you'll be there to pull out the loaf (if you let the baked bread stay in the breadmaker too long after it's done the crust can get soggy). I find that really convenient, so I set it to be done when I get up in the morning.

 

[lrhollid]

My husband wanted to buy me one for my birthday last week, but we can't find them except through internet stores. Can anyone recommend a good brand or a place that carries a variety?

Thanks,
L