How to Make Bread in a Machine

Bread machines have become popular kitchen appliances. Instead of the mess of making homemade bread and kneading by hand, you can simply place the ingredients into the machine, set the timer and select the cycle. Three to four hours later, you have a one to two pound loaf of bread ready to eat. With today's bread machines, you do not have to stop with simple white bread. You can make pizza bread, cheese bread, English muffin bread, or sour dough bread. The possibilities are endless with a little imagination.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Bread machine
• Bread flour
• Active dry yeast
• Sugar
• Salt
• Butter or oil
• Whole milk or dry milk

1. Gather all your ingredients. Most recipes will require bread flour, milk, sugar, salt, butter, and active dry yeast as your basic ingredients.

2. Open the bread machine and make sure the bucket is locked into place. Add the liquids to the bucket. After you add the liquids, add the dry ingredients. Level the ingredients.

3. Slice the butter. If you are using butter, instead of oil, slice the butter and place it in the corners of the bucket. If your recipe calls for oil, add the oil with the liquids.

4. Make a dry well. Because the yeast will react quickly, it is important to make a well in the center of the dry mixture and pour in the yeast. This will keep the yeast dry in case you want to set the timer for the bread to cook later.

5. Close the lid and set the machine for a selected bread cycle. Most machines have different cycles for different types of bread. Push the start button and the machine will begin to mix the ingredients.

6. Remove the baked bread. When the bread is done, be careful removing it from the machine. Use potholders to lift out the bucket. Tap the bucket a few times with a spoon and the bread will come out easily.

Tips & Warnings

• If you don't have liquid milk, try dry milk and water. Add cinnamon and raisins to a basic white bread recipe.
• Don't set the bread machine near the end of the counter. When the dough is mixing, it could fall.

Resources

• Basic White Bread Recipe

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[trailingspouse]

on 8/21/2009 Actually, my favorite recipes don't use milk. I'd removed the first "slice the butter" from step 3 to make it clearer that you don't HAVE to use butter. Don't you have any tips for removing the paddle from the baked bread?