Friday, May 22, 2009

This is your big chance to tell me what to do...

Well, the store stopped selling the bread we like.

I love good bread. It is a food group to me. When Jesus says He is the bread of life, I totally get it. And the fact that I now have to pay close to $4 a loaf for something that just tastes like somewhere to put the peanut butter and jelly just feels...wrong.

So, I was talking to The Hubby and we want to buy a bread maker. But this is a big area of knowing nothing for me. I haven't got the first clue of what to look for, what to avoid, what brands are reliable, what features are the best, blah blah bread maker information blah.

So, I appeal to my friends who stop by here. If you have any knowledge on this, please feel free to comment and point me in the right direction. If you know someone who knows everything there is to know about breadmakers, ask them to stop by. I promise to, well, pretty much do whatever I'm told. Because thinking about researching and picking a bread maker right now just makes my head hurt.

Oh, and just to be clear...you can only tell me what to do about buying a bread maker. All the other things that you wish to change or improve about me will just have to wait for another day. Sorry.

11 comments:

Brittany said...

I don't have a bread maker in the sense of a machine that I can throw all the stuff in and have a baked loaf pop out, but I do love my Bosch mixer BIG TIME. It helps the bread maker at our house (his name is Matt) do his work, and occasionally I even turn out a delicious loaf or two. Good luck!

Beth said...

I second the Bosch. I have owned three other bread machines that you stuff the ingredients in but the Bosch is the bomb. We go through 6 loaves a week and with a Bosch you can make them all in less than two hours. Your actual time is 20 minutes of mixing and greasing your loaf pans.

~pollyanna said...

Another vote for a Bosch mixer... We are only essentially 2 in our house now and I mix once a week and freeze some of the dough to bake later... I gave the breadmaker I won years ago to Princess Bride when she got married to use as a dough mixer for pizza mostly... and she makes bread in it too... but it is not like MY bread...

Our current favorite bread is Ciabatta... you cannot make that in a bread "maker"...

Mean Mommy said...

Bosch here too. We're a lot of help, aren't we? ;)

talitha said...

For the love of PETE, people. We are buying parts to our dryer and installing them ourselves and you want me to spend $400 on a MIXER??

Mean Mommy said...

Just for you, I looked up breadmakers on Consumer Reports. After giving a big dissertation on what kinds are available, they suggest buying the cheapest one at a big store. Apparently, they're all pretty serviceable. They did say to buy new, since replacing parts costs almost as much as a new one to begin with.

~pollyanna said...

ok... I second the cheap recommendation... The one I gave PB is the same one here... http://www.target.com/Breadman-Stainless-Steel-Breadmaker/dp/B000FZZ0VE/qid=1243102153/ref=br_1_1/184-1678462-0403119?ie=UTF8&node=1041752&frombrowse=1&rh=&page=1

We used it for over 5 years here and there and PB is still using it. It works fine and here Target stands behind their products...

~pollyanna said...

Oh and once you have a bread maker it will be working all the time with a family as large as you have... so keep your eyes pealed for a Bosch... We got ours at an estate sale... 20 years ago... for about $100. You can also sometimes find them reconditioned... But my thinking is that what we have saved in bread costs would have paid for a new one.

You could also look at Kitchen Aid mixers... My mom had one for about 50 years, she made wedding cakes professionally when I was a kid... and I don't think she ever bought bread when we were all little...

sari said...

I have one that you can have. I never use it. I do ask that once in a while if Mike wants to borrow it, that he be allowed to. Seriously, you can have it. I got it free from a friend and I never use it. The recipe I use I use my Kitchen Aid.

Kara said...

Another vote for the Kitchen Aid. I grind my wheat AND mix my bread in it! :)

Kerri said...

Since no one else has *really* given bread machine details and I have one I love (but we are only a family of three) I have a Toastmaster bread machine. I never bake the bread in it. I mix the dough, then transfer to my own bread pans because I don't like the tubular loaves that come out of the machine. However, I'd probably bake in the machine if I had one with a normal "bread pan" shaped pan in it. I've had mine for at least 8 years, bake on average a loaf or two a week and it's been fine.