Automatic Bread Making at Home
Nothing smells quite so wonderful as fresh baked bread.It fills the house with a warm, delicious,fragrance.Just one whiff brings back memories of my childhood.Helping Mom or Grandma put all the ingredients together,mixing and kneading the dough,waiting for it to raise and finally putting the dough in the oven to bake.Then when it was done and baked to a crispy,crunchy,perfection we would slice the bread and eat it while it was still hot.Great stuff!
If you are like me and just don’t have the time(who does these days) to drag out the bowls and pans,get out the ingredients,mix up a batch,knead it,etc.then an automatic bread maker may be just the thing that you are looking for.
I checked out what online stores had to offer.There was one machine which seemed to be fairly popular.The Panasonic SDYD250.The price was in the 130.00 range .This particular unit showed up at several online sights.
Panasonic SD-YD250 Automatic Bread Maker
With over 30 models of machines (and growing)from several manufacturers,you might want to take some time to familiarize yourself with the various features and accessories available.Obviously some machines will do more than others and you will have to determine for your self just what is the most important to you.
Here are a few other brands of automatic bread makers that I found online.
The CBK 200 made by Cuisinart has 16 preprogrammed menu options to allow you quite a bit of bread making abilities.It makes three sizes of loaves and has a healthy option so that you can bake low carb and gluten free bread.
Cuisinart CBK-200 2-Pound Convection Automatic Bread Maker
The Breadman TR520 has a 1 hour keep warm cycle,8 programs and a 13 hour timer cycle.
Breadman TR520 Programmable Bread Maker for 1-, 1-1/2-, and 2-Pound Loaves
Zojirushi’s BBCC X20 makes a two pound 
loaf of warming delicious bread.It has a two paddle mixing system and can handle whole wheat breads.
Zojirushi BBCCX20 Home Bakery Supreme Bread Machine
The 
Emeril Bread Maker bakes three loaf sizes 2 ,2.5 and 3 pounds.It features a removable non stick loaf pan,a 1 hour keep warm cycle and an automatic shutoff.
T-Fal OW5005001 Emerilware Bread-and-Baguette Maker
Bread making machines have been around commercially for quite some time.But home versions were invented in Japan in the mid eighties.At first they seemed to be a passing fad but soon they caught on in the UK and the US.Now with a minimum of fuss and bother those wonderful smells and memories can be had any day and any time that you want, not to mention all that warm delicious bread.Yum!
In the simplest terms a bread making machine works by taking ingredients that you load into it,mixes them right in the pan in which the bread will be baked.A mixing blade that is usually non stick does the heavy work of kneading the bread for you.Once the kneading is done and the bread has risen the machine then sets the temperature and time for baking the bread.All you need to do is wait until it is done and enjoy.
Bread machines are all fairly similar in shape and size,basically a rectangular or square metal box approximately 14 inches high by 14 inches wide by 10 inches deep.Yes they are bigger than a toaster,more on par with a microwave and will take up counter space so you may want to take this into consideration.
One thing to consider is the size of loaf that you want.This is usually listed as 1,1.5 or2 pounds although this not always the case.Sometimes the sizes may be listed as small medium or large.The weights generally refer to the finished baked weight of the loaf of bread ,of course there are variables depending on the ingredients used.Many if not most machines will produce 3 basic sizes of loaves.Depending on the machine most loaves won’t come out in the typical store shaped loaf.Most will be tall with a rounded top or perhaps round.
Clean up is a very important part of any home appliance and these types of machines are no exception.A removable bread pan and mixing paddle should be a top consideration both for filling the unit and for clean up later when the bread is done.You might even want to consider designs that have a slide out tray that can catch spills and crumbs.
The bread making cycle is also a very important consideration.What is a cycle you ask?Good question.A making cycle is simply preprogrammed instructions for mixing,kneading and baking that the machine follows depending on the type of bread that you may want to make.For instance most bread machines have a basic cycle for making white or rye breads.But you may want to have a cycle for whole grain breads like wheat that will have different kneading requirements.
Other cycles that you may find useful and may want to consider are a rapid rise cycle for use with rapid rise yeasts.A sweet bread cycle that will indicate when the proper time is to add fruit or nuts to your dough mix so that the fruit isn’t crushed while kneading.A dough cycle is great if you want to say make your own pizza dough.Just put in the ingredients and let the machine do all the work.When it is done mixing you can then take the dough and roll it out to make a pizza crust.
A quick bread cycle would be good if you prefer not to use yeast to leaven your bread and want to use other chemicals instead.Another cycle allows you to determine how crispy and what color that you want the crust to be.A keep warm cycle could come in really handy if you don’t happen to be there when the bread is done baking.
Some other features that might be important to you and that you may want to consider would be some sort of self programmable cycle that would allow you to experiment with different recipes and types of breads that don’t quite fit the norm.
One feature that I really find attractive is the delay start timer.This is usually where you load the ingredients for your bread into the machine up to 12 to 13 hours ahead of the time that you want fresh bread,say the night before for that nice warm,delicious breakfast bread.Just be aware that you wouldn’t want to load any ingredients that would spoil while waiting on the timer to start the process.
As with any appliance or piece of equipment always read the owners manual,follow the safety and cleaning instructions and your automatic bread maker should last you a long time with many more happy and delicious memories.