Breadmakers, breadmaking (ingredients, freezing, healthier, cooker)

[kelly237]

We are trying to save money and already have a breadmaker.
It seems the bread from it is stale after just a day or so.
I am wondering if anyone has any luck with freezing the
bread and not ending up with freezer taste in the bread.
Please share your secret!!!

[Beretta]

Originally Posted by kelly237

We are trying to save money and already have a breadmaker.
It seems the bread from it is stale after just a day or so.
I am wondering if anyone has any luck with freezing the
bread and not ending up with freezer taste in the bread.
Please share your secret!!!

I know what you mean about the bread. When my kids were smaller I would bake a loaf every 2 or 3 days. With the bread that was left I would make croutons, bread crumbs, etc. It felt less wasteful and it was cheaper and healthier for us than buying at the store. One other thing I did was to use the leftover bread for breakfast casseroles or french toast. If I didn't use it right away I would slice it and place it in vacuum sealer bags and use it later. There was absolutely no funny taste and it was perfect for that use!

[cb at sea]

Homemade bread just doesn't have the preservatives that bought bread has--and it doesn't last long!
I do LOVE toasted homemade bread--it just has so much more body!

Be sure you freeze the slices before you vacuum seal the bags--you will crush the bread if you don't freeze it first!!!!

[kelly237]

So if I freeze a loaf then vacuum seal it it will stay good??
Those bags are expensive.. I wonder if I wrap in foil and
a freezer ziplock if that would work.

[Beretta]

Originally Posted by kelly237

So if I freeze a loaf then vacuum seal it it will stay good??
Those bags are expensive.. I wonder if I wrap in foil and
a freezer ziplock if that would work.

I have never vacuum sealed a loaf, I have only sealed "scraps" to be used for other purposes. If you want to seal a loaf or half a loaf try what you suggested. That sounds like it would work.

[nomoresnow]

Originally Posted by cb at sea

Homemade bread just doesn't have the preservatives that bought bread has--and it doesn't last long!
I do LOVE toasted homemade bread--it just has so much more body!

Be sure you freeze the slices before you vacuum seal the bags--you will crush the bread if you don't freeze it first!!!!

I learned that lesson the hard way. Never thought to freeze it first!

[Ira500]

For whatever reason, when you make the bread add a teaspoon or two of oil to the dough. It doesn't go bad as quickly that way.

[RHB]

There is only two of us, what I do is use the dough function, and divide it into mini pans, and bake one and freeze the other. Take it out, let it thaw and bake.

[totallyfrazzled]

We have had a Just For Dinner breadmaker (by West Bend) for about a year. While it's cute and does a great job of easily and quickly (45 mins) making a small loaf, perfect size for 2 people at a meal, I'm not overly crazy about the type of bread it makes. It's okay BUT to me it's a little too "cake-like" in texture. The kind of bread I love is what I think some call European-style: It has a thin, not soft but not overly crunchy, crust and a light but very tasty interior with various sizes of 'holes'. One of my favorites has been the Nature's Promise 'Seven Grain Batard' but it has recently been discontinued.

I'm hopeless at 'real' cooking so the idea of baking bread from scratch (and I have tried... don't ask!!...) really is NOT an alternative. I also can't afford to keep spending almost $4/loaf at the bakery.

I was looking online at some of the "serious" bread machines such as the ones by Zojirushi (we have their Rice Cooker and LOOOOVE it!). They're pretty expensive and before deciding to get one I'd want to be sure it could make the kind of 'European style' bread that I like. There's no sense spending more money just to get a machine that makes a larger version of the rather dense cake-like texture bread that our little Just For Dinner breadmaker already makes.

So this question for those who use breadmakers: Does yours make different kinds (textures) of breads or is it just basically flavor variations on the same theme (like the J-for-D ones turns out)? Thanks in advance!

[DontH8Me]

The texture of your bread is going to rely more on the ingredients you use than the type of machine you bought. Have you tried looking for recipes for the type of crusty bread you described? The recipes included with the machine are usually for the "American ca-ca" bread as I like to refer to it.

Another alternative is to just have the machine finishe the dough, remove it, shape it and bake it yourself. The cumbersome part of bread making is the kneading - so let the machine do that. Here are some tips from a great site to get crusty bread:

Beware of bread recipes that call for more than 1 tablespoon of instant yeast per pound of flour: your bread will surely taste like yeast, not bread, with that much yeast. Less yeast and a longer, cooler rise result in tastier bread with much more character.
Use high-protein flour for chewier, crustier bread.
If the recipe calls for any fat (oil, butter, and so on), add it only after some of the liquid has already been added to the flour; otherwise the fat will coat the proteins and prevent gluten from forming as easily as it should.
Don't add hot liquid to the dough; anything above 115 degrees might kill the yeast.
Knead the dough vigorously and slap it onto the counter a few times during kneading to develop the gluten; the more gluten develops in the dough, the better the dough will rise and the airier the bread will be.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a moist towel as it rises; this prevents a fine skin from forming on its surface. The skin not only mars the final texture of the bread, it also inhibits rising.
Slash shaped loaves with a sharp razor blade immediately before baking; this prevents them from bursting at the seams as they expand dramatically in the oven. Make slashes about 1/4-inch deep on a diagonal with a swift, sure motion, not a sawing motion.
Bake bread directly on a heated baking stone for an extra-crisp crust and chewy texture. If you don't have a baking stone, heat 2 baking sheets in the oven for 30 minutes instead.
Spray the bread with water from a spray bottle 3 times during the first 10 minutes of baking; the steam prevents the crust from forming too early, which in turn would prevent the bread from rising to its full potential in the oven. As the bread bakes, the humidity from the steam will eventually make the crust crisper.
Cool bread on a rack to keep the crust nice and crisp; if the air doesn't circulate, the crust will become soggy.

Rustico Cooking - Bread