Nothing is more delicious than fresh-baked bread, but the traditional process of getting the dough just right is long and may be intimidating for some modern bakers. Fortunately, bread machines are readily available for purchase at most online and off-line retailers. These kitchen devices make the entire process much more user-friendly for those with busy lifestyles who still want to serve their families delicious, fresh bread.
These five tips will help you find the top 5 bread machines that are right for you, teach you how to properly prepare the machine for use, and bake the most delicious spread possible in the shortest amount of time.
Choose the Best Out of the Top 5 Bread Machines
Before you buy any kitchen gadget or appliance, do enough research to be confident that you are spending your money on the best option. Read independent reviews and understand all the features before you purchase one. Different bakers have different needs, so explore how large a loaf you can bake, safety features, and energy ratings. This will allow you to select one of the best bread machines for you.
Careful Preparation Yields Better Bread
Picking recipes, watching dough rise, and eating the finished results may be the most exciting parts of baking bread, but none of this should happen before you prepare the machine itself. Make sure all the parts are perfectly clean and in proper working condition every time you bake.
Prevent a Mess With These 3 Secrets
Baking can be a messy process, but the right use of your bread machine can negate many of these problems. First, always remove the basket before adding ingredients. This prevents spills inside the machine that can be nearly impossible to get out. Second, carefully measure all ingredients so the bread does not overflow the basket while baking. Third, never add ingredients that are not suggested by normal bread recipes, especially ones that could melt, burn, or pop easily.
Stick With the Recipes and Experiment Safely
Although most bakers experiment at one point or another, you really should stick with tried and true recipes until you get a firm grasp on how your particular bread machine reacts to different ingredients. Substitutions should be done carefully or not at all if you want to bread to bake properly. Of course, changing chopped walnuts to chopped almonds or dried apple chunks instead of raisins will not cause problems, so feel free to try new flavors of favorite recipes.
Remember the “Mix Dough” Setting
All of the top 5 bread machines have a dough mixing setting that can prepare the rolled dough for many different baked creations and do some other surprising things. Besides making dough for pizza, dinner rolls, and homemade pretzels, the bread machine can also mix cookie dough, homemade Play-Doh, and even applesauce and fruit butter.
Anyone interested in soft, warm bread for breakfast, lunch, and dinner should consider a top-quality bread machine. This excellent kitchen counter-top appliance cuts out the time and headache of baking traditional bread and so much more.
