Breadmakers- For or Against?

[btatro]

Taking a vote here... how do you make your bread? Are bread makers worth it?? I have heard great reviews as well as terrible reviews (most commonly that the bread is too hard/tough).

So. What do you prefer?

 

[Susie R.]

Well, I picked mine up used for a pittance, so it was definitely worth the money. That said, it does give a very thick crust and a weird shape, so I'm not wild about it for special occasions. It's good for quicky bread to go with dinner though.

 

[Jezebella]

I voted no, but not because I don't like breadmakers. I just don't think they're the best. I like them because they are so easy. They're also really fun to do with kids because they can sit up and watch the bread being mixed and baked after they pour in the ingredients. A breadmaker is a great way to bake bread with kids, and some of the recipes are delicious. I think making the bread the old fashioned way stil tastes best though.

 

[Happyflowerlady]

I am a dreadful baker, and I just love my bread machine because I can just dump everything in there, turn it on, and go do something else for a couple of hours, have my dinner cooking on the crockpot, and when the bread is finished, it is all ready to eat, and not a great effort to make it.

 

[ACSAPA]

I like to make bread by hand and I don't think it's that difficult to do that it justifies an additional kitchen appliance. I like the feeling of accomplishment when bread or rolls that I made by hand comes out of the oven.

 

[Soliloquy]

I don't have a breadmaker, but that's because I don't have room for another kitchen gadget, not because I have something against them.

 

[Shellyann36]

I have had two breadmakers. The first one was a gem and worked so well. I could put the ingredients in before going to work and have a great loaf of bread to eat with supper when I got home. I used it until it keeled over. A few years ago my Mama got me another one for Christmas and it was just not up to par with my first one. It did not work as well and it would just stop working in the middle of a cycle. I finally just said the heck with it and started making it by hand.

 

[cefmac]

My dad always used to make bread in a breadmaker when I was a kid and it was always lovely, but I now prefer the dense quality of bread made by hand. I also find making bread really relaxing, so a breadmaker would take that away from me. Making bread by hand is way quicker and easier, in my opinion!

 

[lynnfromflorida]

I have the Zojirushi bread maker and I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with it. I mostly love it because I only have a hand mixer right now, so the bread maker takes most of the work out of baking bread for me. I love that it does all the kneading for me especially. The hate part of the relationship comes in when it doesn't brown the top of the bread very well. I usually have to put the bread in a pan and pop it into the oven for 5-10 minutes to make the top match the sides and bottom of the bread.

 

[Samantha Hill]

I like the process of kneading the dough, as I find it very therapeutic. I know breadmakers make life easier because you can just chuck it all in the night before and wake up to fresh bread but I think it can take the fun out of it. Especially if you are baking with kids. They like to get their hands dirty

 

[Dragonfiremule]

I love my bread maker! Its very nice to just dump the ingredients in and go when I'm busy. If I have time, however, making bead by hand is very enjoyable. Something about kneading it is very relaxing, and the bread is chewier and more dense, which is something I always like. Bread makes are just so convenient though, they're hard to pass up.

 

[jodiann12]

I like the process of kneading the dough, as I find it very therapeutic. I know breadmakers make life easier because you can just chuck it all in the night before and wake up to fresh bread but I think it can take the fun out of it. Especially if you are baking with kids. They like to get their hands dirty

I'm also not a big fan of breadmakers. I prefer to use my hands and I agree that it's very therapeutic to do so. Most persons had trouble with breadmakers, so I have decided to get any.

 

[Helen Holland]

I most definitely prefer home made but unfortunately we do land up using the breadmaker occasionally, if I'm feeling particularly lazy or up to my neck in work.

The bread from the breadmaker never seems to be that big and most of the time it lands up cooking around the handle, so it's a right fiasco trying to get it out of the tin.

 

[fibromama]

My sister has a breadmaker but honestly there is nothing better than her sourdough bread that she makes from scratch!

 

[anguissettemara]

I have fond memories of making bread in our breadmaker when I was growing up, so I was really excited when I found one on sale recently. I'm not exactly the best baker, so I thought this would be an easier, quicker, cheaper way to make bread rather than buy it all the time. Imagine my surprise to see how expensive yeast is around here... it's the same price as a loaf of bread! So really, I've only used my breadmaker twice so far, but it's made some delicious bread! Last night I experimented with a cinnamon raisin loaf. It turned out pretty good, but I'm not sure how to get the swirl or marble effect with the cinnamon... that may only be possible by hand making it, I think.

 

[Loopyloo]

We used to have a breadmaker and decided that we could live without it. The bread comes out in an odd shape that is hard for making lunch sandwiches out of. There is also this small hole where the kneader blade sits. It was fine for warm bread to go along with a meal though. It kept things easy but if you make bread a few times its easy after that. If I had a huge house with lots of extra storage space then I might get another bread make just for the simple quick loaf with no extra work needed.

 

[zlemune]

Had one, it would fail to cook properly about 50 percent of the time, and the bread was too spongy for my tastes anyway. I think you have much more control with handmade.

That said, I've only ever done lil' biscuity things by hand. Sort of terrified of making anything bigger yet

 

[mj512]

Not really a fan. I ended up selling mine. I didn't like the strange square/cube shape and the hole the mixer left in the bottom of the bread. I now have a kitchen aid mixture and knead my bread with that. I love it!

 

[OhioTom76]

I've bought two of them and ended up returning them both because I didn't like the quality of the bread I was getting from them. It always seemed to be more like a dense biscuit that had been undercooked. Plus they would make the bread in really odd shaped loaves that didn't lend themselves well to making sandwiches. The machines seemed kind of fickle too - if you didn't put the ingredients in properly, the mixing bars would fail to properly incorporate everything. I even tried using them just to mix and knead the dough, and I wasn't pleased with the results.

 

[RomanAnthonysMama]

I am for them. I would rather do it the old-fashioned way, but anything that makes baking easier, I am definitely not against. I do think there can be a difference in the results of fluffiness and texture, but still if someone wants to use them, more power to them!