How to make bread machines work for you - includes recipe

Sunset, Oct, 1993 by Betsy Reynolds Bateson

"I fell in love at first bite."

Linda J. Wilson, Grants Pass, Oregon

I HAVE TO CONFESS I'M NOT A charter member of the new generation of breadmakers, a group that makes bread by machine. I only joined (and rather hesitantly) when the Sunset test kitchen began getting calls about the machine. The calls convinced me that we needed to investigate this latest kitchen gadget.

My research began with a query in Sunset asking readers for their opinions about the machines. More than 200 letters brought words of praise, recipes, and questions on how to fix problem loaves. Armed with these questions, and lots of advice from readers and bread machine converts, I began to bake bread in four machines that I felt were representative of the dozen or so available models: the 1-pound-capacity Panasonic Bread Bakery and Welbilt Bread Oven; and the 1 1/2-pound-capacity Zojirushi Home Bakery and DAK Turbo Baker IV. Four months later, here's what I found.

WHAT BREAD MACHINES OFFER

You get fresh, good-tasting bread by convenience--a no-mess, no-fuss proposition--anytime you want from ingredients you choose. The machine mixes ingredients, warms the dough so it will rise, kneads it, then bakes the bread. You never touch the dough; all you do is measure the ingredients into the machine's bread pan, pick a baking cycle, and push the start button. The bread will be ready in 2 1/2 to 4 hours, depending on the cycle and the particular machine.

The downside? Funny-looking loaves by traditional standards, reduced counter space, and the cost of the machine. The price can range from as little as $99 (for a basic 1-pound capacity) to $400 (top of the line, 1 1/2-pound capacity). Many readers didn't let cost, space, or loaf shape considerations affect their view of the machine.

Says Tom Walton, of Seattle, "It's the next best thing since--you guessed it--sliced bread! I haven't bought bread at the store since I got it."

SOME THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE YOU BUY

Machine size and bread shape. Choices include machines with 1-, 1 1/2-, and 2-pound loaf capacities (determine how much bread you eat in one to two days). Loaf shapes may be round, square, or rectangular.

Cycle options. Consider a 100 percent whole-wheat cycle (loaves may rise higher than with a regular cycle); a dough cycle, good for making dough for pizza and rolls you intend to shape and bake in a conventional oven; a delayed cycle (a timer sees to it that you have fresh-baked bread when you wake or return from work); or a programmable cycle (you can develop your own program for recipes, good for heavier and nonwheat bread recipes).

Other features. A window allows easy viewing for checking dough consistency (you can lift the lid of windowless machines to check dough, but only quickly and occasionally, to avoid heat loss). A yeast dispenser keeps yeast away from liquid--especially important in delayed cycles (however, carefully layering ingredients avoids this problem). Consider cleaning: most machines are easy to clean, but those with removable bread pans keep spills out of the machine. And check noise level before you choose a machine. Some are louder than others; if your kitchen is near the bedroom and you want to use the delayed cycle for overnight bread, you'll want a quieter machine.

WHAT WE LEARNED IN OUR TEST KITCHEN

Do your initial baking with manufacturers' recipes. Recipes that come with your bread machine have been developed specifically for its programmed cycles, so they tend to work best. If you wish to use other recipe sources--or adapt regular bread recipes--you'll need to be ready for some trial-and-error loaves. Recipes from general bread machine cookbooks are not usually developed for a particular machine, and may work better in some machines than others. In our test kitchen, no single recipe performed the same way in all machines. However, almost all loaves were edible, and most were delicious.

For a good start, follow directions. All manufacturers recommend using bread flour (which has more gluten--a tough, elastic protein--and provides a stronger framework than all-purpose flour). And, most manufacturers suggest using room-temperature ingredients--some, liquids heated to between 75 |degrees~ and 110 |degrees~--to maximize the yeast's leavening potential. (If you use cold ingredients, the loaf is likely to be dense with less height.) A few machines have a heat-up period before ingredients are mixed together, so you needn't worry about temperature.

Once ingredients are in the pan, you choose a cycle. Each recipe states which cycle to use. Cycles vary in rise time and baking heat (important for sweet doughs--they need lower heat). You can choose rapid or turbo cycles to reduce cycle time by about an hour, but loaves will be lower.

Check dough consistency. Ideally, once the machine is loaded and the cycle is in progress, you can walk away; however, until you have a failproof recipe and know your machine, you'll need to check the dough's consistency--which determines the success or failure of a loaf--before you go about other business.