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
expatriate Californian living in rural Ireland with husband, dogs, horses. garden and many, many cats