The Best Bread Machine Bread

You're so excited....you just bought a bread machine! You have visions of baking fresh hot bread everyday. Your visions even go so far as to baking gifts for the holidays. Then you bake your first loaf. It sank. The crust was chewy. It was dense and dry or worse, had that yeasty tang taste. Keep the faith. With the following few simple tips you can bake the best bread ever!

Environment
Where you live and the time of year will effect your baking outcome. So, you may need to adjust your recipes to your environment.

Avoid Prepackaged Mixes
Packaged mixes are fiction, you don't actually save time. Why? As you would with any recipe, you still have to assemble ingredients. Also, baking with prepackaged mixes makes it difficult to adjust a recipe to your environment.

Perfect a French and Sweet Bread Recipe
You should have a basic French and sweet bread recipe perfected to your machine and environment. These two recipes will be basis for may other bread creations. For instance, foccacia, herb bread and cinnamon rolls etc...

Bread Flour
Believe it or not, this is important. Buy and use ONLY bread flour. The distinction between bread flour and all-purpose flour is that bread flour is made from wheat that was harvested and ground at a certain time of the year. Trust me, it will make a huge difference in your bread baking experiences. The price difference is nominal. One other tip: bread flour can be used in all your recipes that require all-purpose flour. That's right - bread flour is not just for baking bread.

Baking Stones Invest in a good quality baking stone. Baking stones are basically a ceramic cookie sheet. Baking on clay dates back thousands of years to ancient Egypt where breads were baked on rocks in the sun. Today, fine pizzerias and bakeries throughout the world still bake in brick-lined ovens.

Baking stones duplicate the effects of these ovens, by evenly distributing heat and absorbing moisture to produce baked goods with superior crispy crusts right in your own kitchen.You can bake anything on a baking stone and if you have an oven that heats unevenly, try using a baking stone to create evenly baked goods.

Consistency
Use the same measuring cup and spoons every time you assemble your bread ingredients. This will contribute to a consistent loaf of bread.

Water Temperature
Luke warm means mildly warm and tepid. This is important to effective yeast activation.

Rolling Dough
Oh the frustration of rolling out dough and having it spring back to where you started. I call this “Dough Drama.” Here's the solution: with your fist, punch down your dough. Next, do a few quick kneads. Let it rest for about 5-10 minutes. You'll find your dough is more cooperative.

Avoid Rubbery Crust
In some countries, it is considered cruel and unusual punishment to eat rubbery crusted bread. To avoid this punishment, don't let your bread sit in your bread machine once the baking cycle has completed. The remaining heat and condensation creates a chewy, rubbery crust. Some bread machines have a one hour warming cycle - beware bread baker - this does not always prevent the rubbery chewy crust.

Now you've got the basics. Go out and be a bread baking fiend!

Bread Machine Recipes

By Bev Brock-Alexander