Zojirushi in the mail - Bread machine

Anyone have any secrets or favorites?
The one I got is Zojirushi Home Bakery Virtuoso BB-PAC20 Bread Machine.

http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/Ima...C20%20350o.jpg


It'll arrive just in time for the wife's Birthday. She'll still get a night out on the town too :wink:

She works a lot so she doesn't get much time to sit home baking, so she makes a lot of stuff from frozen dough. Flat breads, sausage wraps etc.. but not bread. We get our bread and pay ~4-5 bucks/loaf. Dave's killer bread or other higher end bread usually. I can't do the cheaper wonder bread stuff.

It's a long ways to town now and it's a 2 hour drive to the nearest Costco where I like their garlic loaf bread so I'm really hoping to do some stuff like that.

Also I intend to grind my own grains here pretty soon so hopefully if I get the right grinder I'll be able to use this machine with that.


So hopefully this'll turn into a recipe thread for bread machines, tips tricks etc.

just gathering some threads for later use

http://www.thetreeofliberty.com/vb/s...d.php?t=188797

http://www.thetreeofliberty.com/vb/s...=189923&page=2

I have one too and I love it!

Ours is about fifteen years old. The basic bread recipe in on the machine. It is ok but the Italian recipe in the book is better. Has olive oil, not butter and no evaporated milk. The Italian is similar the French bread.

Like OC said we have one. They can be tempermental and if you can learn the work arounds, ST has a thread here about the machines someplace, they are excellent machines!

Or hey I know I started that thread cause I was ready to run the damned thing over with the truck to prove a point, about how tempermental they can be. :twisted: ST chimed in there's a method of addding stuff to the machine in order to get the bread to come out right and you HAVE to use that exact method or you get a lump of bleh every single time.

There's a forum out on the net just for this machine btw.

K-

thanks *running off to google land*

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KFhunter

thanks *running off to google land*

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follow the instructions exactly as to the order to which to add the dry and wet goods and you can't go wrong. And when I mean follow them exactly I mean follow them exactly! ;-)

K-

I made the Onion Cheddar recipe off the Zoj website, added some chopped up Jalapeno's.



very good


http://www.zojirushi.com/recipes/che...n-onion-bread1

Ingredients (for 2-lb. breadmaker):



*For BB-PAC model, please use the recipe in the instruction manual.

• 1-1/4 cups water
• 4-1/4 cups bread flour
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2-1/2 Tbsp. butter
• 2 tsp. active dry yeast

When beeps sound, add:

• 1-1/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup chopped red onion
• 1 Tbsp. chopped jalapeno (KFhunter add-in)

• Ingredients (for 1-lb. breadmaker):
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups bread flour
• 1-1/2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1-1/2 Tbsp. dry milk
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 Tbsp. butter
• 1 tsp. active dry yeast

When beeps sound, add:

• 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 Tbsp. chopped red onion
• 1/2 Tbsp. chopped jalapeno (KFhunter add-in)

This recipe was developed for the Home Bakery Supreme® Breadmaker (BBCC-X20/BB-CEC20) and the Home Bakery Mini Breadmaker (BB-HAC10). Adjustments may be required for baking this bread in other models of the Home Bakery.

I have been using bread bakers for over 20 years now and my main advice is: use the bread baker to knead the bread but BAKE it in the oven.

You can break that rule sometimes in a hot Summer or when you want to use the timer function to feed a bunch of hungry folks at 4am before leaving on a long journey (add fruit and spices).

But in my experience NO breadbaker gets a texture the same as oven-baked bread; now for some families that's just fine but for many it is not and the machine ends up sitting neglected and gathering dust simply because people don't realize it isn't the recipe its the machine itself and the way it has to cook the bread that is the issue.

On the other hand, for someone like me who has a bad shoulder or someone who is very busy working a job and being a Mom at the same time for example; bread bakers are wonderful. Because in the first case you've got a kneading machine that does the hard work so your family gets home made bread and in the second bread-baker baked bread is still usually healthier than store bought and you know what went in it. Most children won't care that much about the texture and toasted the bread is not all that different from oven-baked bread.

Melodi's Magic Bread-Machine formula (picked up over the years from lots of placed)

2 pound loaf (more or less -large machine - standard in Europe)

5 to 6 cups flour (up to 1/2 whole grain)
2 cups liquid (water/milk/juice/eggs/combination)
1 tbsp yeast
1 tbsp to 1/4 cup sugar (for savory to sweet bread)
1 to 3 tbsp oil (butter/olive oil/corn oil/lard etc0
1 tsp to 1 1/2 tsp salt

Order of ingredients will depend on your machine - this is all really a liquid to solids ratio thing with 2 cups liquid to apx 6 cups of white flour working best.

5 cups flour to 1 3/4 cups liquid

4 cups flour to 1 1/2 liquid

2 cups flour (small machine) 1 cup liquid

Yeast and sugar amounts are all about the same for any sized loaf - you may add a bit extra for the very large and less for the very small.

If you want to make 100 percent whole grain bread getting a recipe on line is a good idea until you get the hang of it - it will need more liquid if more than 1/2 whole grain flour is used (that includes whole wheat, oats, rye etc) but that's going to vary with your climate and the time of year.

Usually I fine 2 1/4 cups liquid to 6 cups whole wheat works and/or 2 cups liquid plus 2 med sized eggs) but not always. When making whole grains I always stick close to the machine ready to add liquid or flour as needed.

When using regular milk, scalding is a good idea it will change the milk and make it blend into the bread easier or use buttermilk or instant milk because fermented milk is OK on its own, and instant milk is already heated.

Water makes a lovely fluffy loaf, and if you have chickens you can make a lovely egg bread using half or all your liquid as beaten eggs (but it will be dense and may cook better braided in the oven than in the machine if you use all eggs).

Juice works well in spice or fruit breads, and you can add up to 1/3 cup of sugar and still get good results - again sometimes better in the oven unless the machine has a sweet dough setting and some do.

Pizza dough requires less kneading, I'm using the pasta setting on my new machine that I got cheap at Lidles to tide me over until I can afford another Panasonic - some machines have short dough or pizza cycles just for this.

Oh and experiment; olive oil and water give a crusty and chewy loaf; butter and water give you another Southern European style bread (use up to 1/3 cup butter but very little sugar).

If you use HONEY - be sure to include it in the LIQUID or the bread will be too wet, same with mashed potatoes.

Hope this helps