| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| sewgirlie |
Posted - Jan 01 2007 : 09:19:50 AM
Hi! I love to make bread and have been thinking about getting a bread machine (they seem to be fairly cheap at Walmart!) Is it worth having if we like fresh bread a few times a week (I work full-time as a teacher and then part time at a learning center). If I had the machine, maybe I would make it during the week too. What do you think? Do you use yours?
Thanks for helping me decide!!
XXOO Sheryl-lyn |
| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| sewgirlie |
Posted - Apr 06 2007 : 07:43:31 AM
Hi Kim!
I got it!! YAY! You are so nice to do that. I have a little homemade treat coming your way within a few days. What a great day!
Sheryl-lyn |
| Kim |
Posted - Apr 02 2007 : 3:41:08 PM
Sheyl-lyn
I shipped the bread machine today, via UPS. He said look for it around Wed.!
Blessed Be!
farmgirl@heart
"Go confidently in the directions of your dreams; live the life you've imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler." - Henry David Thoreau
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| sewgirlie |
Posted - Mar 31 2007 : 03:39:11 AM
Hi Grace: You have made me hungry. I am up early this morning and wish I had the smell of baking bread filling the house! How are you guys doing with weather over there?
XXOO Sheryl-lyn |
| grace gerber |
Posted - Mar 30 2007 : 09:23:17 AM
I just made the best potato bread yesturday and it is almost gone. I would never make bread if it was not for the machine. In high altitude it is such a blessing because or weather effects the bread so much and in the machine I do not have the same issues. I can also make a great pizza dough, quick breads, rolls, and I love that in the summer I am not getting the kitchen hot. In the winter also it leave room in the stove for the rest of what I am making. Good luck.
Grace Gerber
Larkspur Funny Farm and Fiber Art Studio
Where the spirits are high and the fiber is deep
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| sewgirlie |
Posted - Mar 29 2007 : 6:00:57 PM
Hi Lisa: Funny how so many people have serious opinions about their machines, huh? It's either love it or hate it!! Thanks for your input.
I am actually getting a sourdough starter in the mail soon :) and then I will make more handmade bread. I make that other no-knead bread a lot too. Thanks!! |
| lisamarie508 |
Posted - Mar 29 2007 : 12:40:27 PM
My husband bought a bread machine for me for Christmas a couple of years ago. He thought he was making my job easier for me. Well, I tried 3 different kinds of bread in it and they all came out really dry (yuck). So, I tried just making the dough in it and then just shaping the loaf and allowing to rise and bake it the normal way. Well, it comes out of the machine really gooey and you have to add a lot of flour before you can EVEN knead it and then it tastes "off". I like my own bread much better. So does my family. I didn't have the heart to tell my husband he chose poorly and wasted money until this year when I told him I was putting it in a yard sale. He looked diappointed but he handled it. Don't get one.
We come from Nature, we go back to Nature; health & happiness in between requires intimacy with Nature. |
| sewgirlie |
Posted - Feb 19 2007 : 8:18:42 PM
Kim:
I am in Punta Gorda now and the weather is a little cool. It did get to 70 today and we got to sit outside for a few hours. It is supposed to get warmer each day from now on, so you will have good times.
Venice is not too far from here if I remember correctly. Will ask momma tomorrow in the morning. |
| Kim |
Posted - Feb 19 2007 : 3:59:19 PM
Sheyl-lyn
We are leaving for Florida on Sunday to visit my dad and stepmom! They are in Venice. How's the weather down there??
Blessed Be!
farmgirl@heart
Be at peace with yourself and the rest will follow
http://chevy49girl.livejournal.com/
http://chevy49girl.deviantart.com/ |
| sewgirlie |
Posted - Feb 19 2007 : 1:09:01 PM
Hi Kim!
I am not worried about you forgetting me! I am in Florida visiting my parents right now anyway, so no cooking going on with me. My mom is spoiling me and my 16 year old niece (she drove with me) for a week. She won't even let us help her cook or clean up! We have to do stuff to help her "on the sly!"
Anyway, I will be looking forward to cooking when I get home.
Babs: I sent you an email. You are a doll to send me a mix! Thanks! |
| beckels |
Posted - Feb 18 2007 : 4:36:03 PM
Of course my breadmaker is in the garage packed away because my parents kitchen is to small - and it was cheap....free!! I would go to yard sales and clearance racks and try those first (or borrow a friends to see if u like it) b4 purchasing one
beckels |
| Kim |
Posted - Feb 18 2007 : 4:10:41 PM
Sheryl=lyn,
I haven't forgotten about you! I had a baby shower to attend this weekend in Indiana.
Blessed Be!
farmgirl@heart
Be at peace with yourself and the rest will follow
http://chevy49girl.livejournal.com/
http://chevy49girl.deviantart.com/ |
| sewgirlie |
Posted - Feb 18 2007 : 08:37:43 AM
This is so fun to read. You all have such great ideas for living a good life. |
| momtoeight |
Posted - Feb 18 2007 : 07:59:28 AM
I have a bread machine, and use it constantly. We bake all of our bread, and while we DO use the Kitchen Aid to make large batches, we also use the bread machine. We have a large family, and our machine bakes a 2 lb loaf - just enough to go around once.
But... I homeschool, and we operate a home business. We are frequently out all morning, and come home for a fast lunch. We cannot eat "quick fix" foods (Crohn's disease), so before we leave, we can start a soup in the crock pot, and a loaf of bread in the machine, and when we come home, lunch is waiting for us. We can eat, throw more bread ingredients into the machine, toss some more food into the crock, and come home to have dinner waiting. If we stay home in the afternoon, we can still start bread to be ready at dinner time.
I am SO busy, even when I am home, I just do not have the time to bake regularly. And we require fresh milled flour. So if we don't bake, we don't have bread! The bread machine just insures that we have one more tool to get healthy food on the table around a terribly busy schedule.
I have a cheap Wal-Mart one - even the cheap ones are better than the expensive ones were 5 years ago. We make 100% whole wheat bread in it - no special settings. We use hard white wheat flour plus some other whole grains in it.
The first three to five times you make bread in a machine, you have to adjust the water or yeast amounts - especially if you live at high altitude. Remember how you adjust them (write it into your book), and from then on, MEASURE CAREFULLY. Bread machines use small amounts of ingredients, and the machine cannot make adjustments as it goes, so you have to measure precisely once you work out a recipe that turns out perfect bread each time.
If you put the ingredients in at night, and set it on a delayed bake cycle, you can wake up to hot bread - or you can set it to be done at dinner time, etc. But when you do that, the bread usually will rise just a tad less than if you set it to bake immediately. The reason is, the water temperature - when you start with warm, it raises just a bit better. The solution is that you can add a pinch of extra yeast, OR, you can add an extra tablespoon of water (moister dough raises more easily), just when you set it on delayed bake.
It takes about 3 - 3 1/2 hours for bread to finish in a bread machine - the entire cycle is slower than it would be if you did it by hand. But it is also completely automatic, and once your recipe is worked out, it is a "set it and forget it" process. To me, it just ends up being a tool for multi-tasking. :)
Laura
Mom to Eight
Firelight Web Studio - http://www.firelightwebstudio.com - Small Business Website Services with a Difference - Personal, Flexible, and Friendly |
| babs |
Posted - Feb 15 2007 : 1:26:34 PM
Oh I'm so glad! I think you'll like it. I love mine for the same reasons Brenda does. Promise now (my youngest just turned 9) is very into making "her own" bread and likes to play with adding cinnamon or extra honey and making her own personal bread for the day. Usually she has a loaf going by the time the rest of us are up in the morning. I'm getting a second one now just so we don't have to share. ;)
Send me your addy Sheryl-lyn and I'll send you off a bread mix to help you celebrate your new machine! :)
Babs |
| sewgirlie |
Posted - Feb 07 2007 : 6:16:05 PM
I was reading the threads and saw your offer and thought, "wow, that is a nice thing for Kim to do. How lucky the recipient will be!" and then I realized it was my thread!! What a goofus I can be at times!!
I am touched by your generous offer and have emailed you already.
Thank you so much!
Love,
Sheryl-lyn |
| Kim |
Posted - Feb 07 2007 : 1:36:45 PM
You can have mineand just pay for shipping. I think I still have the instructions. It has one of those annoying paddles too. No bells or whistles! Just a plain jane bread machine. E-mail me off the board and I will give you all the details. I'll make sure I have the instructions though.
Blessed Be!
farmgirl@heart
Be at peace with yourself and the rest will follow
http://chevy49girl.livejournal.com/
http://chevy49girl.deviantart.com/ |
| cathy jane |
Posted - Feb 07 2007 : 12:49:28 PM
I haven't had a chance to "chat" with y'all for several days, so I am just catchin' up on my reading, and I'd like to respond to Melanie's inquiry about the cost of bread machine bread over storebought. Homemade is DEFINITELY cheaper for my family.
I roughly estimate that each batch of dough costs me $1.00 including electricity and using the high-end (not on sale) prices for the ingredients. Around here, that is cheaper than even the cheapest store-brand bread, and about 1/3 the cost of the good bread. And, each batch makes 2 loaves, or 1 loaf and rolls.
I, too, love the feel of the dough in my hands, and I get to enjoy that feeling as I divide the dough between the pans, or roll out the dinner rolls or cinnamon rolls. I, also, abhor the idea of selling out to the mechanized world, but I choose which machines to use, and how and why I use them. And, if I need to do so, I can always make my dough by hand. It would take me a while, given my bad shoulder, but I could do it, and because I use my bread machine almost daily, I would know the steps and how the dough should feel. A compromise that suits my lifestyle.
I've really enjoyed this thread. Thanks to all who have shared!
cathy jane
"Treat everyone you meet today as if they are wearing a sign that says MAKE ME FEEL SPECIAL!" Mary Kay Ash
contact me at www.marykay.com/cathyjrichie |
| sewgirlie |
Posted - Jan 31 2007 : 6:32:42 PM
I have decided that I will definitely get a bread machine when the funds allow for it. You have all given me much food for thought (pardon the pun!!) and since I work so much, I want to have fresh bread for dinner and breakfast whenever I can. At least this way I can control the ingredients I use. My mom and I talked about this and she said, "Sheryl, for Heaven's sake, not everything done the old way was better. Would you still use a rock to wash your clothes? Women back then flocked to the machines to save their backs, etc!" LOL
Anyway, I am careful to keep machines out of my life for the most part, but this will be a nice addition to my life..like the crock pot.
P.S. I do not even own a cell phone! My students think I am being untruthful when I say I do not have one, but I need my alone time once in a while. Would hate to feel like I have a tracking device on me at all times (which is what a cell phone is to me!) However, I do know that A LOT of people need them.
Thanks for the advice and all of the sharing! |
| brightmeadow |
Posted - Jan 29 2007 : 2:03:56 PM
I do like kneading my own bread... but I use the bread machine mostly. Why? Because the timing is more consistent. When I put my bread to rise on top of the refrigerator or in the oven, sometimes it rises in a few hours and sometimes it takes all day. And I am in and out all day long, (not usually predictable) I have had way too many bowls of dough rising too high, falling, and getting all yeasty/sour on me because I was gone for a few hours too long.
With the bread machine I can put the ingredients in, set it for how many hours in advance I want the bread to be done, and then go about my business and know that the bread will be, if not perfect, at least adequate!
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands - You shall be happy and it shall be well with you. -Psalm 128.2
Visit my blog at http://brightmeadowfarms.blogspot.com ,web site store at http://www.watkinsonline.com/fish or my homepage at http://home.earthlink.net/~brightmeadow |
| lamamama |
Posted - Jan 29 2007 : 11:21:16 AM
Hey, Mary Ann, good points! And I love that statement about children knowing about the attitude of the "bread machine operator." You are so right!
I guess I am very wary of the seductive power of all of those "machines" in our modern life. A very slippery slope, indeed. And easy to start sliding, no matter how strong your ideals are in the beginning. I think there is a real domino effect that happens in our culture.
And it also stems in part from my constant struglle with being a working Mom......was a SAHM for the first 7 years, then had to work due to divorce. As a SAHM, I was able to do all those hands-on things, & a lot of that had to fall behind. So when I think about bread machines, or whatever "machine," time-saver, etc. you want to consider, it is a double whammy for me. I've certainly learned how to compromise ideals, & maintain that control over the intrusions of modern society that you so well address. Or should I say, I'm always TRYING to maintain control?!? ;) The wondrous bread machine will probably be another one of those little issues. Knowing my boys, they would probably love a bread machine - LOL. Has that new toy aspect, & as I said, they are always hungy - & love good bread. I will just have to make certain that we get out the old bread bowl once in a while for some hands on kneading.
This certainly has been a great thread, hasn't it? :) |
| Horseyrider |
Posted - Jan 29 2007 : 04:56:34 AM
quote:
I have such mixed feelings about this whole thing....... I've always wanted my children to know life as those activities done with loving hands, not by a machine. Sometimes I really feel like I'm selling out - first the answering machine, then the cell phone, then the computer & cable TV. Now I'm thinking of a bread machine. Yikes.
Melanie, I share your concern. But I think the distinction lies in what is central in our lives. If the TV or bread machine or cell phone takes precedence over family life and family connections, then it's bad. But if it can be on the periphery of our lives, it's okay. Same with everything else. It's okay to turn off the TV, the cell phones, and put the answering machine volume on zero, and just concentrate on family time and peace. I think the problem with these machines comes when we allow them to distract us from the quality of our lives.
I'm a tactile type too, but if I had to choose between store bought and bread machine, I'd pick a bread machine. That way I can get good fresh bread of any kind when *I* want it, not just when it's convenient because I'm out shopping. The cost difference wouldn't matter a whole lot to me.
Children will know things done with loving hands even with a bread machine, depending on the attitude of the bread machine operator.  |
| garliclady |
Posted - Jan 28 2007 : 9:00:00 PM
I got my bread machine FREE from freecycle. I just made my first loves this week. Sofar I have made several loaves and they are great. With 2 small kids I don't have time to knead and wait for it to rise . This way I can let it do the whole thing. Mine also has a cycle that prepares the bread to the point of baking so you can take it out and make your own loaf in the oven or use it for rolls, pizza crust etc.
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| Beach Girl |
Posted - Jan 25 2007 : 8:30:13 PM
Like so many of you, I love the whole kneading thing, but I LOVE my bread machine too. There is nothing like waking up in the morning to the smell of the coffee already brewing and the bread already baking. I usually make up honey butter to have with it.
Vanessa
Farmgirl-by-the-Sea |
| sewgirlie |
Posted - Jan 25 2007 : 5:41:13 PM
I agree that it is better to be able to make it all by hand and not give in to another machine in life. However, I also work A LOT outside of the home :( and enjoy the smell and taste of warm, fresh bread. My family is nuts about it and we would probably enjoy it anyway, even if it is less special then totally homemade, hand-kneaded bread.
The point about the dogs and hair is a good one. We have three dogs and two cats roaming around here and it is a constant job to keep us all from looking like werewolves ourselves, never mind a hair free surface anywhere!
In the end, it might be cheaper to purchase organic loaves, but it depends on how much your family eats bread.
Sheryl-lyn |
| walrissa |
Posted - Jan 25 2007 : 12:44:54 PM
I love mixing and kneading bread by hand too but here is the list of reasons I am using the machine to mix and knead for me:
1) tiny kitchen with little counter space
2) toddler
3) husband who works opposite schedule
4) work full-time
5) 1 HUGE dog and 2 cats make for lots of pet hair in dough no matter how clean I think the house is
If I didn't have the machine (ours was a gift) I would never make bread except for special occasions. Since I first read this thread I've been making about 4 loaves a week (2 batches) though last night the toddler ate half a loaf, sans crust. I can view the dough through the top window to add water/flour. I think it depends on what you are passionate about, your budget, your life, etc. I like having hot bread that's inexpensive and no preservatives but not at the expense of my sanity, and this bread machine keeps it sane and doable for me and my life with my family.
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