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Originally Posted by Stitchawl
I have to translate the instruction manual first, and I'll make a couple of loaves this week. Let's see if they really have improved...
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Well... first impression is that they certainly have improved! I made a French bread as it's first test.
Results: surprisingly good crust on all but the top side of the loaf, and mediocre crumb. Taste was perfect. Rise was good.
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Originally Posted by kindlekitten
one of the main reasons I have used the bread machines is that my house is rarely warm enough to get bread to raise except in the summer, and I don't want to make bread then!
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I had the same problem here before I added a DeLonghi heater to the equation. The kitchen and living room (our basic living spaces) stay at a constant 24 degrees (75F) year round. And when I wanted to insure a good yeast rise, I'd put the bowl in a large stock pot of warm water just to be sure.
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Originally Posted by 5thWiggle
Bread baked in the machine doesn't have the same crumb as it does when baked in the oven, even for the exact same recipe. Machine baked bread has a more coarse crumb, probably due to the fact it doesn't get the extra kneading and final rise that oven baked bread gets when you shape the loaf.
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That's odd... I find the crumb too fine! The instruction booklet says that you can adjust this, as it's a result of the moisture content of the flour used, but you have to check the dough frequently during the mixing process. My problem is that I buy flour in one kilo bags... Not even enough for two loaves. No way for me to really know how to compensate for the moisture. I have this same moisture problem with our rice, but we get that from my sister-in-law's paddy in 25k bags, so we know; 'this' bag came from this year's harvest and needs a bit less water than the last bag of older rice, etc.
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All that aside, I love my bread machine even though I mainly use it as a "dough" machine.
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That was how I treated the machine I had 20 years ago. But that machine gave absolutely no crust at all! I used it just to make dough. It DID make a wonderful pizza dough, and I wish I could find that recipe again! It was the best pizza dough I ever had... I seem to remember that it had instant mashed potato powder in the mix...
Stitchawl