Anyone use a bread machine to bake their own bread?

[icebear]

i'm experimenting with bread recipes again- trying new ones that i have never heard of before...


i found one for "salt rising bread" and it instructs you to ferment milk and cornmeal overnight in a crock pot waterbath, they did mention a distinctive aroma that would result...

aroma is too nice a word!

i can smell it in the next room, it immediately conjures memories of digging sippycups out from under the car's seats in the middle of summer....

i was teasing my daughter that the smell brings back memories of her toddlerhood :aha



i'm not so sure i want to bake anything using this concoction... i'm not usually very squeamish when it comes to all things fermented, but the stench coming off this batch of starter is not inspiring me to bake, i don't really even want breakfast this morning!

:fear

[icebear]

uggh.... i made the mistake of stirring the mass and it appears to have mutated.






if i could get outside i'd dump it out there at the edge of the property...

i have to find some way of disposing it without causing the stench to bloom.

i think something went wrong,



very wrong.


this is supposed to be some sort of traditional southern bread (at least thats the impression i got from the recipe) , judging from the ghastly fumes, something is amiss. i can't imagine any self-respecting southerner would ever use something like this in the production of a foodstuff....


thats just not right!

[wife]

uggh.... i made the mistake of stirring the mass and it appears to have mutated.






if i could get outside i'd dump it out there at the edge of the property...

i have to find some way of disposing it without causing the stench to bloom.

i think something went wrong,



very wrong.


this is supposed to be some sort of traditional southern bread (at least thats the impression i got from the recipe) , judging from the ghastly fumes, something is amiss. i can't imagine any self-respecting southerner would ever use something like this in the production of a foodstuff....


thats just not right!


Are you still here???

I remember the sippy cups under the seat...yuck

[icebear]

:aha

i got rid of it!

it went down the sink with a massive dose of vinegar and baking soda.


incense is helping to force the rest of it out of the air....

:twitch


it smelled like 50 nastified sippycups


i won't try it again untill i find out what went wrong:shocked

[Jubilee21]

I personally love my bread machine...it was picked up at a flea market for under $5.00 and has been a huge help in cutting back cost's for me specifically because I love the specialty breads..the healthy ones as well as the 'naughty' ones..

Apart from ones preference for the shape of the loaf..it is far less expensive to run the machine than heat a large oven..and I ran a cost breakdown on the ingredients and found by and large the loaves run between 30 cents to 50 cents to make, depending if I add things in terms of more expensive ingedients..like nuts..

It was trial and error for the most part, becoming familiar with wheat gluten and dough enhancer to get the quality of the texture mastered, or "tweeked" as they say..but there is no limit to the varieties you can make and have a lot of fun.

This is a neat thing to try of you haven't if you love bread but hate the cost..homemade tortilla's from mesa harina flour..

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/corn-tortillas/detail.aspx

[icebear]

I personally love my bread machine...it was picked up at a flea market for under $5.00 and has been a huge help in cutting back cost's for me

it is far less expensive to run the machine than heat a large oven..




ohhh, you got a good deal!




This is a neat thing to try of you haven't if you love bread but hate the cost..homemade tortilla's from mesa harina flour..

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/corn-tortillas/detail.aspx


looks good! i need to get a tortilla press, i almost bought one (i think it was a yard sale or antique place, maybe even goodwill) for almost nothing, and didn't... i kick myself for not getting it every time i think of it.

[Lynn]

Sounds like the Kitchenaid with the dough hook is the way to go for me. I'm loving all of the tips! I learn something new everyday!

Here's another tip that may prove useful as well. Be sure to buy a Kitchen Aid that has a head that lifts up. Kitchen Aid also makes a 'bowl lift' version of their mixer, and I didn't know that this kind of stand mixer existed :shocked until I got it home and started using it. I kept trying to get the head to 'lift' :hehee and it just wouldn't. Needless, to say, I took it back to the store and exchanged it for one of the 'tilt head' models. Mine is an Artisan model with 5 Qt. stainless steel bowl and love it. If I'm making anything at all that has to be stirred for over 5 min., it just about always goes into the mixer bowl. In addition to the bowl, these mixers come with three attachments: dough hook (:yeah), wire whisk, and flat mixing paddle. I don't normally get too excited about 'things' but this mixer is saving me a lot of standing time because it does everything so much more quickly than I can on my own. I hope that you can find a good buy on one.

[denny272]

uggh.... i made the mistake of stirring the mass and it appears to have mutated.






if i could get outside i'd dump it out there at the edge of the property...

i have to find some way of disposing it without causing the stench to bloom.

i think something went wrong,



very wrong.


this is supposed to be some sort of traditional southern bread (at least thats the impression i got from the recipe) , judging from the ghastly fumes, something is amiss. i can't imagine any self-respecting southerner would ever use something like this in the production of a foodstuff....


thats just not right!

Careful there, it might grow friends.........:lol2

[lisa]

Sounds like the Kitchenaid with the dough hook is the way to go for me. I'm loving all of the tips! I learn something new everyday!

I'm thinking the same thing as I lurk through this thread. :spy

Keep it coming ladies!

[icebear]

i tried using whole grain rye flour today in place of whole wheat, and i like the taste much better. wheat has a bitter sharp taste to me, i have never liked the taste of any whole wheat bread i have made before, no matter the recipe, it always had that bitterness.


the whole grain rye has a nuttiness that i like and the slightly coarse texture i like with just a teeny hint of a crunch to it. i would never have thought to use it without the caraway seeds except i didn't have any, and i was bored, and i needed to use up more sourdough starter today...


anyone else use rye instead of wheat for whole grain type breads?