How to Make Bread in a Black & Decker Bread Maker

Make sure you measure all ingredients exactly to ensure perfect bread.

The Black and Decker model B1561 All-In-One Bread Maker makes 1.5-pound loaves of bread and has five settings, including a setting for pasta. The "Super Rapid Bake" setting produces a white bread variation in a little more than an hour. The bread maker produces dinner rolls, long loaves, pretzels, pizza and bread braids. The machine automatically mixes, kneads and bakes.

Instructions

Ready the Machine

1. Open the lid of the bread maker and turn the baking pan to the left, which is the "unlock position." Turn the pan by holding the wire handle with both hands. Once the baking pan is unlocked, remove it by pulling straight up on the handle.

2. Once the baking pan is removed from the unit, fill it with bread ingredients according to the recipe you are using. This keeps ingredients from accidentally tumbling into the oven chamber.

3. Fasten the mixing paddle to the the shaft inside the baking pan. Line the flat side of the paddle with the flat side of the shaft and gently push the paddle on the shaft.

4. Place the baking pan in the oven chamber, making sure a notched side is facing you. Rotate the pan clockwise using both hands.

5. Close the lid and plug the bread machine into a 120-volt outlet. Two arrows in the display window will indicate "Basic Bread Type" and "Regular Crust." Also, "12:00 a.m." will flash in the display window. Set the clock if you plan to use the timer.

6. Select a basic loaf with a regular crust by pressing the "Start/Reset" button. Choose a different setting by pressing the "Bread Type" button, which scrolls through baking options. Choose a crust color by pressing the "Crust Color" button.

Activate the Machine

1. Start baking by pressing the "Start/Reset" button until it beeps. The "On" indicator light will glow red.

2. The machine will beep several times when the bread is done, and the red "On" light will flash.

3. The "Keep Warm" function automatically switches on when baking is complete. At the end of an hour, the red light will glow steadily to indicate that the unit is still on.

Tips & Warnings

• Always add the ingredients for bread or pasta in the order they're listed and measure carefully. Getting a measurement even slightly wrong can throw off results.

• Yeast should always be the last ingredient. Also make sure that it does not come in contact with the shortening, salt or any liquid ingredients.

• Remove the bread shortly after it's done baking to keep it from getting soggy.

• Be careful not to touch hot surfaces. Do not immerse any part of the bread maker in water, except for the mixing paddle, which can be immersed when it's removed from the baking pan.

• Place the bread maker at least 2 inches away from walls or under cabinets so that steam can escape.

References

• Black and Decker: All-In-One Automatic Breadmaker manual, pp. 7-8