You have been talking about bread machines and making bread. I am interested in doing this since I am home all the time and I love fresh bread.
I was at the Goodwill and saw many of them and they were kind of cheap, like 20.00 or less. I am dumb so help me out. Does the machine knead the dough and bake it and everything in the bread machine?
If I would purchase one at the Goodwill how would I know if it works or not?
I am interested. Please help me find a way in a new venture.
Signed,
First of all, thank you for your question! The Ask Frugal Momma column can’t happen without your questions, so please keep sending them my way. You can email any and all questions to amy@momadvice.com. We have had some fun topics and I am very excited to share with everyone!
Do any of you have bread machine gathering dust in your house? A lot of people buy these appliances and then end up donating them at their local thrift store because they never use them. I think of the bread machine as a modern day convenience, but in a culture where we want everything NOW, waiting for a loaf of bread can seem like an eternity. Why wait for a hot loaf of fresh bread when you can grab a loaf at your supermarket? And what exactly is the purpose of that appliance that is taking up space on your shelves?
On any given day in our house, you will find our bread machine happily humming along and whipping up fresh dough and bread for us. We use our bread machine almost daily, and spare ourselves the expense of fancy bakery breads. Not only that, but our bread machine has a regular performance in our house on Friday nights. This appliance makes our favorite pizza dough for our official “family night” together.
The purpose of a bread machine is to be able to make fresh bread when you want it. The reasons vary from person to person on why they choose to make their own bread. Many people have concerns about the additives and preservatives that are found in store-bought breads. Another reason that many people choose to make their own bread is because they just enjoy the taste of homemade bread. My reasoning for making our own bread is because I like to save our family money. Making your own bread costs so much less than purchasing a loaf of bread, and the rising grocery costs have only fueled my desire more to make it at home.
I am not a baker though and our days seem to be jam-packed with activities for our family. Taking the time to knead, rise, and bake bread…well, that hasn’t seemed to top the priority list at this point in my life. Lucky for me, there is an appliance that can do all the work for me and all I have to do is pull the finished loaf or ball of dough out.
To begin, all you have to do is put the ingredients in and select your setting. Some of the older machines have just a handful of simple settings. I find that the settings we use most on our machine are Basic and the Dough cycle, which can be found on every machine. The basic cycle is just the basic setting for making a loaf of bread. The Dough cycle just completes the kneading and rising of the dough. Once the dough cycle is complete, you can take the dough out and shape it into your loaf pan or do fancy braids or rolls out of the dough.
Inserting your ingredients into a bread machine is also very straightforward. If you are making the loaf right away, you can insert the ingredients in any way that you want. All of these ingredients will immediately be stirred together and so it will not matter what the order is. If you use a timer delay on your bread machine, delaying the start time of making your loaf, it is imperative that you put the ingredients in the right order or your loaf will not turn out right. The order of ingredients is liquid (liquids include water, oil, milk, eggs, or honey), flour, other dry ingredients (salt, sugar, baking powder, seasonings), and ending the ingredients with your yeast. The most important part of putting the yeast in is to make sure that you make a small indentation into the center of the flour so that the yeast does not react with the other ingredients.
Upon inserting your ingredients, your bread machine will take over the process from there. The machine will knead the ingredients together, give the bread its rising time, and then it will bake the bread. The bread machine will signal when the bread is ready and you can allow the bread to cool inside of the bread bucket.
There is no need to spend the money on convenience bread machine mixes; in fact, you can make your own convenient mixes handy for the week. I take plastic storage bags and make an assembly line of the dry ingredients and do my bags once a month. On the outside, just write what liquids you will need to add and you will only have a dirty kitchen once.
A quick glance at grocery store prices though and you will wonder how there could be any possible savings with making your bread at home. The key to making this the least expensive on your family is to purchase all of your ingredients at your local wholesale club. With proper storage, you can buy the ingredients in bulk and save your family loads of money. For example, our wholesale club has twenty-five pounds of bread & all-purpose flour for under $6 each. Two pounds of yeast will run you just under $4. What a difference compared to the prices in your regular supermarket!
For storage, flour can be stored for up to a year in an airtight container. With bulk storage, a large plastic bin that has been clearly labeled is ideal to keep your flour fresh. Yeast is the easiest ingredient to store and has a very long shelf life. I store my yeast in a clear jar in our refrigerator door. With both of these ingredients, writing an expiration date on the label will also remind you of when the item is going to expire.
If you do not have a bread machine and are looking for one, garage sales and thrift sales are a great place to hunt. I see these machines for $10 or less, and you will definitely get your money back from the savings of making your own bread. When you find one, ask if you can plug it in and make sure it is working. Just check that it actually powers up, that there is a bread bucket inside, and that there is a paddle in the bottom of the bread machine to stir the ingredients. Having a manual with it is handy, but usually can be found by searching online.
Good luck in your quest to find a bread machine and I hope it is a well-loved appliance in your home!
(photo credit: Koropop)
Related & Helpful Information:
Hillbilly Houswife’s Bread Machine Basics
My Favorite Pizza Dough (after much trial & error)
Storing Homemade Bread & Bread Ingredients
Adventures in Bread Making: Artisan Bread in 5
Adventures in Bread Making: Fiddlin’ With Temperatures
Let’s talk about it! Do you use a bread machine or do you make your bread the old school way? Feel free to share your bread machine recipes here!
I’ve read this post of your before, and it inspired me to go looking for a bread machine. I was fortunate that my mother-in-law had one that she didn’t want, so she gave it to me. The only problem is that it seems to have run it’s course. I may be looking for another one in the near future.
I really like having homemade bread, rolls, bread sticks, pizza dough, and I’ve even made strawberry jam with it! I really enjoy it and I’ll probably just cry when it stops working!
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Great post! Thanks Amy!
As you know I’ve been wanting to get a bread machine. I will have to check out Goodwill at their next 50% off Saturday.
~Liz
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I use my machine almost every day! In fact we rarely buy any bread products from the store. I love the smell and taste of homemade bread. I am sure if I didn’t have my machine I would buy more and make less. I use my machine to knead and rise and usually bake in the oven. Just today I posted a pita bread recipe for the machine.
Great post!
Toni
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I use mine almost every week, at least for making the pizza dough, or a loaf of bread. I have trouble kneading dough because of carpal tunnel and even though I have a Kitchen Aid I like using the ABM much better. The loaf rises so much nicer in the enclosed enviroment. I don’t often bake in the machine though, just use it to knead and do the first rising. About the only time I do bake in the machine is in the summer when I it’s hot and humid even in the morning or evening and the last thing you want to do is turn on the oven. It’s nice to still have a nice loaf of bread at least. I was able to buy pizza tiles that I can use in the toaster oven so I make individual pizzas in there (the grill is on the back porch which gets all day sun and is the last place I want to stand sometimes).
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I use mine almost every week, at least for making the pizza dough, or a loaf of bread. I have trouble kneading dough because of carpal tunnel and even though I have a Kitchen Aid I like using the ABM much better. The loaf rises so much nicer in the enclosed enviroment. I don’t often bake in the machine though, just use it to knead and do the first rising. About the only time I do bake in the machine is in the summer when I it’s hot and humid even in the morning or evening and the last thing you want to do is turn on the oven. It’s nice to still have a nice loaf of bread at least. I was able to buy pizza tiles that I can use in the toaster oven so I make individual pizzas in there (the grill is on the back porch which gets all day sun and is the last place I want to stand sometimes).
[Reply]
I use mine almost every week, at least for making the pizza dough, or a loaf of bread. I have trouble kneading dough because of carpal tunnel and even though I have a Kitchen Aid I like using the ABM much better. The loaf rises so much nicer in the enclosed enviroment. I don’t often bake in the machine though, just use it to knead and do the first rising. About the only time I do bake in the machine is in the summer when I it’s hot and humid even in the morning or evening and the last thing you want to do is turn on the oven. It’s nice to still have a nice loaf of bread at least. I was able to buy pizza tiles that I can use in the toaster oven so I make individual pizzas in there (the grill is on the back porch which gets all day sun and is the last place I want to stand sometimes).
[Reply]
I use mine almost every week, at least for making the pizza dough, or a loaf of bread. I have trouble kneading dough because of carpal tunnel and even though I have a Kitchen Aid I like using the ABM much better. The loaf rises so much nicer in the enclosed enviroment. I don’t often bake in the machine though, just use it to knead and do the first rising. About the only time I do bake in the machine is in the summer when I it’s hot and humid even in the morning or evening and the last thing you want to do is turn on the oven. It’s nice to still have a nice loaf of bread at least. I was able to buy pizza tiles that I can use in the toaster oven so I make individual pizzas in there (the grill is on the back porch which gets all day sun and is the last place I want to stand sometimes).
[Reply]
I use mine almost every week, at least for making the pizza dough, or a loaf of bread. I have trouble kneading dough because of carpal tunnel and even though I have a Kitchen Aid I like using the ABM much better. The loaf rises so much nicer in the enclosed enviroment. I don’t often bake in the machine though, just use it to knead and do the first rising. About the only time I do bake in the machine is in the summer when I it’s hot and humid even in the morning or evening and the last thing you want to do is turn on the oven. It’s nice to still have a nice loaf of bread at least. I was able to buy pizza tiles that I can use in the toaster oven so I make individual pizzas in there (the grill is on the back porch which gets all day sun and is the last place I want to stand sometimes).
[Reply]
I use mine almost every week, at least for making the pizza dough, or a loaf of bread. I have trouble kneading dough because of carpal tunnel and even though I have a Kitchen Aid I like using the ABM much better. The loaf rises so much nicer in the enclosed enviroment. I don’t often bake in the machine though, just use it to knead and do the first rising. About the only time I do bake in the machine is in the summer when I it’s hot and humid even in the morning or evening and the last thing you want to do is turn on the oven. It’s nice to still have a nice loaf of bread at least. I was able to buy pizza tiles that I can use in the toaster oven so I make individual pizzas in there (the grill is on the back porch which gets all day sun and is the last place I want to stand sometimes).
[Reply]
I use mine almost every week, at least for making the pizza dough, or a loaf of bread. I have trouble kneading dough because of carpal tunnel and even though I have a Kitchen Aid I like using the ABM much better. The loaf rises so much nicer in the enclosed enviroment. I don’t often bake in the machine though, just use it to knead and do the first rising. About the only time I do bake in the machine is in the summer when I it’s hot and humid even in the morning or evening and the last thing you want to do is turn on the oven. It’s nice to still have a nice loaf of bread at least. I was able to buy pizza tiles that I can use in the toaster oven so I make individual pizzas in there (the grill is on the back porch which gets all day sun and is the last place I want to stand sometimes).
[Reply]
I use mine almost every week, at least for making the pizza dough, or a loaf of bread. I have trouble kneading dough because of carpal tunnel and even though I have a Kitchen Aid I like using the ABM much better. The loaf rises so much nicer in the enclosed enviroment. I don’t often bake in the machine though, just use it to knead and do the first rising. About the only time I do bake in the machine is in the summer when I it’s hot and humid even in the morning or evening and the last thing you want to do is turn on the oven. It’s nice to still have a nice loaf of bread at least. I was able to buy pizza tiles that I can use in the toaster oven so I make individual pizzas in there (the grill is on the back porch which gets all day sun and is the last place I want to stand sometimes).
[Reply]
I use mine almost every week, at least for making the pizza dough, or a loaf of bread. I have trouble kneading dough because of carpal tunnel and even though I have a Kitchen Aid I like using the ABM much better. The loaf rises so much nicer in the enclosed enviroment. I don’t often bake in the machine though, just use it to knead and do the first rising. About the only time I do bake in the machine is in the summer when I it’s hot and humid even in the morning or evening and the last thing you want to do is turn on the oven. It’s nice to still have a nice loaf of bread at least. I was able to buy pizza tiles that I can use in the toaster oven so I make individual pizzas in there (the grill is on the back porch which gets all day sun and is the last place I want to stand sometimes).
[Reply]
I use mine almost every week, at least for making the pizza dough, or a loaf of bread. I have trouble kneading dough because of carpal tunnel and even though I have a Kitchen Aid I like using the ABM much better. The loaf rises so much nicer in the enclosed enviroment. I don’t often bake in the machine though, just use it to knead and do the first rising. About the only time I do bake in the machine is in the summer when I it’s hot and humid even in the morning or evening and the last thing you want to do is turn on the oven. It’s nice to still have a nice loaf of bread at least. I was able to buy pizza tiles that I can use in the toaster oven so I make individual pizzas in there (the grill is on the back porch which gets all day sun and is the last place I want to stand sometimes).
[Reply]
I use mine almost every week, at least for making the pizza dough, or a loaf of bread. I have trouble kneading dough because of carpal tunnel and even though I have a Kitchen Aid I like using the ABM much better. The loaf rises so much nicer in the enclosed enviroment. I don’t often bake in the machine though, just use it to knead and do the first rising. About the only time I do bake in the machine is in the summer when I it’s hot and humid even in the morning or evening and the last thing you want to do is turn on the oven. It’s nice to still have a nice loaf of bread at least. I was able to buy pizza tiles that I can use in the toaster oven so I make individual pizzas in there (the grill is on the back porch which gets all day sun and is the last place I want to stand sometimes).
[Reply]
I use mine almost every week, at least for making the pizza dough, or a loaf of bread. I have trouble kneading dough because of carpal tunnel and even though I have a Kitchen Aid I like using the ABM much better. The loaf rises so much nicer in the enclosed enviroment. I don’t often bake in the machine though, just use it to knead and do the first rising. About the only time I do bake in the machine is in the summer when I it’s hot and humid even in the morning or evening and the last thing you want to do is turn on the oven. It’s nice to still have a nice loaf of bread at least. I was able to buy pizza tiles that I can use in the toaster oven so I make individual pizzas in there (the grill is on the back porch which gets all day sun and is the last place I want to stand sometimes).
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I have a Kitchen Aide mixer, so I don’t need a bread machine – the dough hook does the kneading when I don’t want to (although, hand-kneading dough is a really great workout and stress relief!). I’m not a fan of buying gadgets that are overly specific for one thing, especially since we don’t have much counter space. I’ve also found that baking once and freezing dinner rolls, hot dog/hamburger buns and bread is very convenient – with only 2 adults, we don’t need an entire pack of rolls at a time!
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I use my Welbuilt bread machine about once a month and have had it for about 15 years. I love it. I do want to recomment the book Bread Machine Magic by Linda Rehberg and Lois Conway. My book is copyrighted 1992 and I don’t know if there is a more recent edition. The recepies are wonderful and the authors have tested them on multiple different machines. They will tell you with such and such brand machine you need to increase your yeast or increase your water or flour etc. It is the book I go to every time and I’ve never made a flop in it yet with my bread machine. Good luck and enjoy baking bread this way.
Nancy
http://www.basketmasterweavings.blogspot.com
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I go through “seasons” with our bread machine. I’ll use it every day for a week and then go bread-less for a little while. No particular rhyme or reason…
But I do enjoy the taste and scent of just-baked bread. It’s such a delicious treat.
I think I’ll go start a loaf within the hour (thanks for the reminder…).
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Confession: I love mine so much, I bought 2 at the thrift store!
I needed to make a large quantity of dough at once for a cinnamon roll brunch, and there was a Zoji on the shelf for about $8…
As to price, I would keep looking until you can find one for under $10. There are so many, it is truly a buyer’s market!
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I have yet to get a bread machine, although it is on my list of small/ med. appliances to purchase as money allows. When I lived with my parents as a teenager, my mom used hers about twice a week, just because we all loved the smell and taste of homemade bread so much. I still go to her house for dinner fairly frequently, and my favorite request is fresh bread. I have never enjoyed it as well for sandwiches, however. For me, it’s best straight out of the machine/ oven, still hot, and covered in butter, sometimes with fruit preserves.
I’d like to be able to try making my own dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, and such, as well, but have not had much luck with making the dough from scratch. I did pretty good with it when mom’s bread machine did all the work.
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I found my bread machine at a rummage sale for $1!! And it works great.
And your pizza dough recipe really is the best. We make it every Friday!!!
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My manager at work gave me my bread machine
)
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Oh I’ve used a bread machine since 1995 and have worn out three different models, twice replacing the buckets as well. Pizza, scones, cinnamon rolls, regular rolls, fancy breads–they do it all.
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I let my machine need the breas then I take it out and shape it into the bread pans. I was looking for a way to make the bread stay fresh longer and I found that replacing one half a cup of flour for potatoe flour makes the bread stay fresh and moist for a week. Just thought I would pass this on.
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I let my machine kneed the bread then I take it out and shape it into the bread pans. I was looking for a way to make the bread stay fresh longer and I found that replacing one half a cup of flour for potatoe flour makes the bread stay fresh and moist for a week. Just thought I would pass this on.
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