Dust off your old bread machine...


 
Bob Correll said:
Trade you a half loaf of mine for a slice of yours!

Kerrygold butter on the counter getting soft for when mine's done.
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Kerrygold is good stuff we use it on our breads and Barb fried up some eggs with it and all I can say is yum.

You should try the Cooks almost no knead bread Bob it's super easy to make. Uses instant or rapid rise yeast, flour, salt, water, lager and white vinegar. We also add two TBS. of honey. I can't keep starter going in winter so this is real close to the same texture and crust just doesn't have that sourdough taste. But with the beer and vinegar it's real close.

https://breadtopia.com/cooks-illustrated-almost-no-knead/

Just out of the oven
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[/url]100_2668 by Richard Dahl, on Flickr[/IMG]
 
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I think that the old Regal machine still works. Probably need a cleanup before I try Bobs bread.
 
We gave up on bread machine(s) gave them away (as nearly all our single purpose counter top appliances) except for food processor, standing mixer. Found MUCH better results by making bread dough in the KitchenAid (I now have one of the larger ones but it was even better with the smaller tilt heads) making a good dough and we have very heavy black steel french bread pans and the bread that we get is nothing short of miraculous!
Compared to bread machine bread which was always kinda limp and never had the chew, crunch and wonderful flavor of a well made loaf
 
I agree there is a big difference between bread machine bread and bread kneaded by hand or a big old KA. I cook most all my breads in a Dutch oven at 450 - 475 lid on for about 30 min. then lid off for 15-20 min. The DO gives it that nice crusty outside and wonderful chewy crumb.
I also understand that lots of people don't have the time or just don't want to spend the time to take 18 -20 hours to make a loaf of bread.
Also even bread machine bread is light years better than store bought, so it's not a bad compromise for sure and it takes a lot less effort and time.
 
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Rich Dahl said:
I also understand that lots of people don't have the time or just don't want to spend the time to take 18 -20 hours to make a loaf of bread.
Also even bread machine bread is light years better than store bought, so it's not a bad compromise for sure and it takes a lot less effort and time.
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Thanks for having my back Rich! :)
 
Honestly there is not much more work tough yeah it is a pretty easy thing with a machine. Throw in ingredients, turn it on, walk away couple hours later a loaf of bread and yes it is better than what comes out of a plastic bag at the market, however the thing that made me walk away from the machine (wife too) is there are now such excellent packaged breads out there i.e. La Brea bakery for example (outstanding products), there are others also. So they very well fill the gap of making a great loaf (loaves) using tools like the KA and heavy black steel loaf pans (or the dutch oven). On those special occasions or times when time is not at premium nothing beats good old hand made bread.
The bad news I am not supposed to eat it :( as it sends my blood sugar soaring)
 
But again, the trouble with store bought bread are the chemical preservatives in it. I'll take pure homemade 10x out of 10.
 
Have you tried the LaBrea product(s). No chemicals, (they even have organic product(s) if tha's your thing) and overall they're as good (maybe better) than anything I have ever had come out of a bread machine. It's one of the reasons I gave up on the bread machine. Yeah it's THAT good. They're expensive though but than that's reflected by looking at their ingredient list. Not a bad thing to be seen. Flour, salt, yeast, water. Check them out https://www.labreabakery.com/
Sadly my bread consumption has been reduced to only an occasional piece due to Type II diabetes but believe me I could sit down to about ANY of their products or my wife's with a tub of Kerry Gold or some nice EVOO and look like a stuffed goose
 
Len Dennis said:
But again, the trouble with store bought bread are the chemical preservatives in it. I'll take pure homemade 10x out of 10.
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Exactly! That's why I make my own bread, bacon, sausage and cook with fresh ingredients as much as I can so I know what's in what I'm eating.
I looked at a loaf of bread at the Wal Mart bakery and there was 27 ingredients listed about 50% of which I couldn't even pronounce. Bet that loaf had a 200 year shelf life.
 
Rich Dahl said:
Exactly! That's why I make my own bread, bacon, sausage and cook with fresh ingredients as much as I can so I know what's in what I'm eating.
I looked at a loaf of bread at the Wal Mart bakery and there was 27 ingredients listed about 50% of which I couldn't even pronounce. Bet that loaf had a 200 year shelf life.
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Again check out the link I gave you. And yeah buying food at Walmart just don't cut it for me either.
 
LMichaels said:
Again check out the link I gave you. And yeah buying food at Walmart just don't cut it for me either.
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I'm quite familiar with La Brea Bakery their products are available in both Fry's and Safeway here in town. I've tried a few and they were okay, but I still prefer making my own breads.
As far as Walmart goes we just get canned goods and dry goods and booze from them as their prices are lower than the chain stores for those items unless the chain stores have a sale going. What's nice is that Fry's, Walmart and Safeway are all within a quarter mile of one another so we don't have to drive all over town.
 
Ahh you're lucky. We have to chase around all over the darn place. I don't have a "go to" store that carries products I want (even if I have to pay a little more). I have to run to Aldi's, and Sam's, chain called Schnuk's and a northern IL only chain called Valli's and sometimes the local meat cutter shop so there are times I have to spend hours trying to get what I need for a couple days worth. In Chicago area there is a Kroger owned chain called Mariano's which if I had one here could serve as that "one stop" shop for 90% of my needs
 
Barb and I really like fry's (Kroger) it's a huge store and if I'm looking for something out of the ordinary I go there first and their meat department is always well stocked and it's as close to a butcher shop that we have around here. I can get special cuts or roasts ground. Always a couple of butchers to get what you need.
It's funny you mention Sam's, they closed down the one we had here a month or so ago, now you can't find a parking spot at Costco because all the Sam's members are going there now.
 
Oh yeah. They've closed a bunch of them here in IL. It seems just about anywhere there is a Costco Sam's is shutting down. I do have to say also if we had a Costco and my Sam's shut down I would not shed a tear. Though I have noticed in my last visit at my local Sam's they seem to be moving more "upscale" in the way they're making the store look. But I truly wish we had a Costco here (or at the least a truly good grocery store)
 
When we moved back here from Laughlin Nev. which only had a Sam's club I was so glad to get back to Costco. Did not care for Sam's at all.

The problem now is that Costco is overwhelmed now that Sam's closed and the three other stores Wally's, Fry's and Safeway are super busy all the time. Wally's is hit or miss in their grocery department if they will have in stock what you need, lots of vacant shelf's. Lots of people constantly restocking
On top of that besides Phoenix we are the fastest growing town in AZ. In the next couple of years their building 3500 new homes near us and the other city which is Prescott that is right next to us has plans for 6000 more homes. They built 45 new homes in our little development and all were sold before they were even finished.
That's about 30,000 more people.
 
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