What's a good bread making machine?

[techs]

I was thinking of getting a bread maker for occasional use. I don't want to spend much more than 100 dollars.
So far I have heard the Oster 5838 is good, but I really have no idea where to begin.
Any ideas?

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: techs
I was thinking of getting a bread maker for occasional use. I don't want to spend much more than 100 dollars.

Any ideas?

Marry a rural Italian or French girl. Have a small BYO wedding ceremony in your back yard. Use her occasionally.

 

[acheron]

I use my stand mixer for bread. It's more than $100, but you may already have one.

 

[Squisher]

I hate to be a thread crapper, but sometimes when the Master Baker (my wife) isn't around I'll make some bread myself and I don't see how you can just throw together measured amounts of ingredients and get good bread. It seems like every time I make bread I have to add more liquids or more flour depending on humidity, quality of the flour, etc. to get the consistency I'm looking for.

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: Squisher
It seems like every time I make bread I have to add more liquids or more flour depending on humidity, quality of the flour, etc. to get the consistency I'm looking for.

Yup. Ovens are notoriously inaccurate and vary wildly as well.

 

[MotF Bane]

Originally posted by: Perknose

Originally posted by: techs
I was thinking of getting a bread maker for occasional use. I don't want to spend much more than 100 dollars.

Any ideas?

Marry a rural Italian or French girl. Have a small BYO wedding ceremony in your back yard. Use her occasionally.

:laugh:

 

[TonyG]

I have a Morning Ware brand bread maker that I use on occasion, err, well occasion as in maybe once a year...Hey, I think it is actually around that time again!
Seriously though, the few times I have used it, it has worked great, and one has to love the timer feature so you can wake up in the morning to the smell of a fresh loaf of bread.

 

[acheron]

Originally posted by: Squisher
I hate to be a thread crapper, but sometimes when the Master Baker (my wife) isn't around I'll make some bread myself and I don't see how you can just throw together measured amounts of ingredients and get good bread. It seems like every time I make bread I have to add more liquids or more flour depending on humidity, quality of the flour, etc. to get the consistency I'm looking for.

1, if you buy good flour, it shouldn't vary much. (king arthur flour = awesome).

2, weighing the ingredients (especially flour) is more accurate than measuring by volume, precisely because of humidity etc. this has made a huge difference for me when i started doing it. if the recipe wasn't written with weights though sometimes you have to experiment to figure out what the right weights are.

3, but in the end, yeah, sometimes you have to make small adjustments anyway. i've been baking bread regularly for a couple years, and on good recipes and/or ones i make all the time i can almost always get it down just by measuring, but sometimes it's not exactly right and i end up having to add a little of something.

 

[nageov3t]

2 hands and an oven?

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Squisher
I hate to be a thread crapper, but sometimes when the Master Baker (my wife) isn't around I'll make some bread myself and I don't see how you can just throw together measured amounts of ingredients and get good bread. It seems like every time I make bread I have to add more liquids or more flour depending on humidity, quality of the flour, etc. to get the consistency I'm looking for.

I don't know, I've always gotten good bread from a bread machine.

 

[Born2bwire]

Originally posted by: acheron

Originally posted by: Squisher
I hate to be a thread crapper, but sometimes when the Master Baker (my wife) isn't around I'll make some bread myself and I don't see how you can just throw together measured amounts of ingredients and get good bread. It seems like every time I make bread I have to add more liquids or more flour depending on humidity, quality of the flour, etc. to get the consistency I'm looking for.

1, if you buy good flour, it shouldn't vary much. (king arthur flour = awesome).

2, weighing the ingredients (especially flour) is more accurate than measuring by volume, precisely because of humidity etc. this has made a huge difference for me when i started doing it. if the recipe wasn't written with weights though sometimes you have to experiment to figure out what the right weights are.

3, but in the end, yeah, sometimes you have to make small adjustments anyway. i've been baking bread regularly for a couple years, and on good recipes and/or ones i make all the time i can almost always get it down just by measuring, but sometimes it's not exactly right and i end up having to add a little of something.

I agree with all of this. I found that the bread I made was much more consistent and needed less adjustment when I bought a scale and used weights. The most variations I had after that was in rising the dough. My flat's living room and kitchen were together and the windows faced west (great) so the temperature in the late afternoon just climbed when that sun hit. I also liked King Arthur flour but man they were expensive. I also bought a stand mixer and that really helped things. It does all the mixing and kneading so that also helps take the guess-work out of trying to figure out if your bread has been kneaded properly (I could never get that window pane).

 

[Gothgar]

Originally posted by: Perknose

Originally posted by: techs
I was thinking of getting a bread maker for occasional use. I don't want to spend much more than 100 dollars.

Any ideas?

Marry a rural Italian or French girl. Have a small BYO wedding ceremony in your back yard. Use her occasionally.

:camera:'s