I have a Russell Hobbs 23620 bread maker. All the bread I have made is fantastic - but I hate the hole the paddle makes! Does anyone know what time the bake starts - so I can remove the paddle and bake without it?
P.s. I used honey instead of sugar and the bread is really delicious.
Hi Max
Yup. that hole is a pain.
I don't know that particular machine. Does it have a dough only cycle?
I often use my bread machine to knock the dough up and then I finish it by hand and bake it in the oven.
This allows me to:
Use loads of steam to get a seriously crackly crust.
Bake freeform shapes.
use different finishes like glazes and seeds.
And, of course, to place the dough in an ordinary bread tin (you call them pans?) to bake without a hole.
The trick is not to completely knock the bread back when its removed from the bread machine, but to shape it gently retaining most of the gas. Remember, it has already proofed once. Also it can take anything from 30 min to an hour to [roof the second time.
I do hope this is helpful. I find the extra work really very much worth it.
