I bought myself a bread machine.
It's a relatively inexpensive one from Amazon; not the cheapest one, but also not the $400 Zojirushi that King Arthur Baking is always trying to convince me that I need.
It's a "Kitchenarm" brand with the delightful catchphrase of "Your extra arm in kitchen". I wish that extra arm would also scrub the kitchen floor, but I digress.
It supposedly has 29 different settings, but I'll probably use it mainly to make dough that I shape and bake myself. I like that it tells me what it's doing (kneading here) and it did a really good job of that considering that this recipe has almost five cups of flour in it.
It also did a good job of providing a warm atmosphere for the dough to rise in. This is the result of rising for just about an hour.
All I had to do was remove the dough, roll it out, spread it with cinnamon sugar, roll it back up, and put it in the pan for a second rise. That took a lot longer than the initial rise because my kitchen is cold, but eventually it was ready to bake (and then eat)!
I'm happy with the bread machine so far and may even try some of the recipes that came with it. Dark rye, zucchini bread, and pizza dough all sound like interesting possibilities. I might even make bread more often now that I have help in the kitchen.
I hope you have some help in the kitchen and some good things to eat this week!
Looks like you're getting along well together! I don't have the counter space for a bread machine, but it certainly seems like a useful gadget to save you some time.
ReplyDeleteWell, this is some stellar news Bonny! That is one lovely loaf as well! (I keep contemplating getting one of those Roomba robot floor cleaner things... but it seems like a lot of expense for my small kitchen floor!) Happy Monday!
ReplyDeleteI do have a Zojirushi bread machine - have had it for years - and I really like it. It does a great job with white, rye, wheat breads and pizza dough. I'll admit, though, that I still like to make bread the old fashioned way - mixing and kneading by hand and then baking. But, the bread machine is a great thing to have when you are busy, or in the summer when it is too hot to stand and knead dough for 15 or more minutes!! Glad you found one you like and that loaf you made looks amazing!
ReplyDeleteI have a Zojirushi bread machine that I have had for many years. I admit that I do not often use all the bells and whistles, but I have really enjoyed having the help when I was making bread several times a week in the past. I know you are going to appreciate that the machine will do the kneading and rising for you. I recommend this website for great tips and explanations of how to get the most out of your machine. https://saladinajar.com/ I have found her advice to be valuable since the machine cannot take weather, variations in flours, and recipes into account. Have fun with your machine!
ReplyDeleteThat's a funny name for a kitchen gadget (and I'd also want one that scrubs the floor)! I had my Mom's Zojirushi bread machine for a while. (My stepdad gave it to her years ago with the promise that he'd made bread every day for a year -- and he did!) I never used it much, and eventually reclaimed that counter space for something else. The thing I noticed/love most about your loaf is the heart-shaped bit at the beginning of the swirl! <3
ReplyDeleteHow fun! I had a bread machine many years ago but I never liked the shape of the bread so I stopped using it. I never considered getting one for the mixing and rising and then shaping it myself - that's rather brilliant!
ReplyDeleteMy mom gave each of us three girls a bread machine one Christmas along with a giant jar of yeast. I got a lot of use out of it. It made the best bread. The only drawback was when it would start the kneading process it would always scare the stuffing out of my dog.
ReplyDeleteLuckily, I don't have a dog to scare! This bread machine is really quiet, so quiet in fact that I can't hear the beeping that tells me it's done from one room away.
DeleteThis is maybe the best commercial for a bread machine I've seen ... as in I had NO idea you could use them for just part of the process?! You clearly have the back-end well in control, and help with the front-end seemed to work out great! Just wait til summer when that second rise will need to be slowed down a bit to get good crumb :-)
ReplyDeleteThat loaf looks perfect! I never thought to use a machine for part of the process....
ReplyDeleteModern small appliances are amazing. Like Mary, I didn't know you could use a bread machine for just part of the process. Your bread always looks so good. Enjoy the kitchen help. If the machine figures out how to scrub the floor, tell it I'd like some help wiping down and oiling the kitchen cabinet fronts.
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