Bread Machines – Pros and Cons
I have been the owner of a bread maker for 5 months, and now I think it’s time for me to write about my own experiences about the pros and cons, in my opinion, when you bake bread with a bread maker.
Firstly, it has meant that I have started baking my own bread, rather than buying it from the local baker. It’s incredibly easy to get started, especially when you choose to bake a type of bread that has been baked several times before, so it only takes 1-2 minutes to put the bread maker into the baking process.
First a bit about the cons I’ve experienced:
- It’s loud. The kneading process is quite noisy and takes 30-40 minutes in total. It may not be possible to avoid all the noise from the bread maker, but if you live in an apartment or small house, you can’t put it in a place where the noise won’t bother you. This means that you will most likely be woken up by the noise if it starts to knead the dough 3 hours before you have to get up in the morning to the wonderful freshly baked bread.
- Holes in the bottom of the bread. At first I had just gotten used to there being a hole in my bread, but I’ve gotten used to it now, so I won’t even call it a downside as it’s very minimal. If people have had to throw away their bread because of this, they must have done something wrong.
- Unbaked top. Obviously the top doesn’t bake as much as the sides and bottom, but it does bake enough. You can’t make bread with the golden crust on top, but it does bake.
- Shape. The bread baked in a bread machine is square and not like the bread we know from the bakery or supermarket. It has taken me and my family a bit of getting used to.
- bread size If you are a large family, you should be aware that the standard equipment on the market probably does not bake a large enough loaf. However, some machines are big enough and can cover most of the family needs, but unfortunately the price is usually higher as well.
advantages:
- Cleaning? Very easy: only the baking dish needs to be cleaned, but since the bread always comes loose easily, often there is no need to do anything other than remove the piece of bread, which is located on the axis of the dough hook. Most bread machines are equipped with Teflon coating and the parts can be easily removed and can usually be put in the dishwasher.
- Kneading. The bread maker can also be used to knead dough for other types of bread that you do not want to bake in the bread maker. I have successfully used it to knead dough on scones, cookies, and cakes.
- The smell of fresh bread. It is wonderful that with the timer you can be sure that there will always be freshly baked bread in the morning or in the evening with your cup of coffee. The smell of freshly baked bread from the baking machine makes it easier to get out of bed in the morning.
- Pastry Master. If you, like me, love to experiment with the creation of various new breads and invent new recipes, in order to feel like a true pastry champion, then a bread maker is an absolute hit. So far I have tried graham flour, cracked wheat berries, nuts, rye bread mix.
Other than the noise, I am very happy with my bread maker. It makes excellent bread. It’s easy to clean and, like I said, incredibly easy to set up. You’ll soon find your favorite recipes, but it’s also so much fun to experiment with ingredients and kneading/rising/baking times.
