How to Use Your Breadmaker to Get the Best Results
If you're one of the many people who've recently bought a bread machine, congratulations! You're about to enter a whole new world of freshly baked, yeasty goodness. Fresh-baked bread is so much better than the shelf-stable, store-bought kind that it's almost unbelievable.
There's a certain joy that comes from taking your still-warm loaf, slicing off a piece, spreading a little butter on it, and just munching on it right at the counter. (Bonus points for making homemade butter to go with it!) But good fresh bread is also fantastic for making summer sandwiches for lunch and dinner, for dipping into healthy soup recipes, or even dusted with a little garlic salt and butter as an accompaniment to healthy pasta recipes.
If you've just removed your bread machine from its box, you may be wondering how it works, or what to do with it. Not to worry! We've got you covered with some of the more basic, frequently asked questions. Of course, every bread machine is slightly different, and you should always read the manual before using any appliance. But, that said, it can be helpful to have a few extra pointers. Here are the most important things to know about your bread machine, and some of your most basic questions answered.
Is a bread machine worth it?
This depends on a number of factors, including how much bread you eat, how much time you want to spend making bread, and what kind of bread you're looking to get.
If you're looking for a good crusty loaf of rustic-style bread—something thick and hearty—a bread machine may not be your best bet. Countertop machines won't get as hot as your oven will, so most machines tend to make something closer to your standard sandwich bread.
However, if you find yourself buying several loaves a week from the store, and would love to spend less money, or have fresher bread without the hassle and time involved in baking, a bread machine, even a relatively nice one, can end up paying for itself in a short time.
How do you make bread in a bread maker?
Although you ingredients vary depending on different types of bread, basic bread only needs four things: water, flour, yeast, and salt. Some recipes will advise adding sugar, which, in addition to making the bread taste a little sweet, helps the yeast to rise better. Others also suggest adding some oil, such as olive or vegetable oil. This helps the dough form, preventing it from sticking to the sides of the pan, and makes the bread more tender. However, you can make good bread without either.
As noted above, it's important to start by reading the instructions. One of the most important things to remember is that you shouldn't overfill the machine. Bread makers come in several different sizes and are typically distinguished by the weight of the loaf they can handle, from 1 pound to 1.5 pounds to 2 pounds or larger.
Your machine's instructions will give you the proportions for a basic loaf. When you start, it's important to be as accurate as possible. Too much water, and your dough will fail to rise—or will rise and then collapse, creating a crater. Too little water, and the bread will be tough. It's also important to use water that's the proper temperature: It has to be warm enough that the yeast start to "activate" and cause the dough to rise, but not so hot that the water kills the yeast off.
After you get comfortable with basic dough, you can start experimenting! Try using different kinds of flours to make whole wheat or rye bread. Add nuts or dried fruit or even olives.
How do you use the dough setting on a bread maker?
Though the bread is undoubtedly tasty, if you're looking for an Instagram-worthy loaf of bread, your bread maker is generally not the place to find it. There are two main reasons for this. The first, as mentioned above, is that a bread machine just doesn't get hot enough to give a loaf that kind of delicious, crackly crust. The second is that many bread machines have odd shapes, and all of them, after mixing the dough, inevitably have to bake the bread with the paddle still inserted, leaving a big hole in the bottom of the loaf.
This is where the dough setting comes in. If you want to capture the better crust and prettier looking loaf of an oven-baked bread and are willing to do a little of the work yourself, many machines can do the mixing and proofing, and then stop. At that point, you'd just need to open the machine, take out the dough, put it into a pan or a tray, and bake it yourself. You can have the best of both worlds!
What order do you put ingredients in a bread machine?
Some instructions tell you to put wet ingredients in first, followed by dry ingredients. Others suggest you put the flour in, followed by salt and sugar, then wet ingredients, and finally the yeast. Almost all recipes will suggest you add the yeast last, otherwise, the dough won't rise quite as well.
Can you use regular flour in a bread machine?
You can actually use lots of different kinds of flours in a bread machine! Bread flours tend to have more gluten—the stuff that makes flour stick together—so breads made with it will rise better and be chewier. All-purpose flour works fine, although you'll need to adjust your ratios slightly (King Arthur Flour recommends 2 1/2 to 3 cups flour to 1 1/4 cups liquid if you're using all-purpose). Whole grain flours like whole wheat or rye will be smaller and denser, so you'll need more flour and more yeast to make similar-sized loaves.
One flour you'll want to avoid is cake flour, unless you're actually making cake. It has much less gluten than most other flours, and a bread made with it will be cakey, of course, and crumble apart.
I made bread, but it is dense and heavy, why?
There are several things that may have happened! If your bread started to rise, but then collapsed, then you likely used too much liquid. Try cutting back a little at a time and see if you can find a better ratio. One good rule of thumb: Once it's all mixed together, raw dough should resemble a shaggy ball, not a liquid soup. (As long as you open it before it starts cooking, it shouldn't be a problem to look into the machine while it's mixing.)
If your bread didn't rise at all, there might be something wrong with the yeast. Either the yeast you used was past its expiration date, or you used too much salt, or the water you used had too much chlorine. Either of those last two can kill yeast. Double check the salt amount, and try using filtered water.
If it rose but was just very dense, you may either want to try a higher-protein flour, such as bread flour, which will hold the gas from the yeast better, or you may want to try adding a little more yeast.
Once you get the hang of it, you'll be on your way to a kitchen full of delicious smells, and warm loaves of bread at the ready whenever you need them. Enjoy!
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