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It is important that you go through the manual of the bread machine you have and follow the instructions to the letter. However, in case you can’t find your manual or was gifted a used bread machine, you’d find the general information below quite helpful:
Understand Your Machine
There are several types of bread maker machines to choose from. But one thing that’ll help you to decide quickly is the size of the loaf. Consider whether you want to make bread for two or for a large family. The function is another deciding factor. You may want a fully automated bread maker where there is provision for add-ins like seeds and nuts at some point in the cycle. Again, you may want to go for a simple bread maker that just performs basic functions.
One thing is important: you must get to know your bread maker. Familiarizing yourself with your machine enables you to be knowledgeable about its capabilities to handle the recipe that you desire. The kind of loaf sizes its makes, the kind of cycles it has and whether it has a crust control setting which allows you to choose how dark or light you want your bread crust. Bread makers have the ability to make between 1-3 pounds sizes of loaf. They can also have about 10 different cycles.
Add In Your Measured Ingredients
To make bread, your ingredients must be at room temperature, especially if the brand of machine that you have cannot work with ingredients that are added in directly from the refrigerator. Measure your ingredients carefully and accurately, for this is important to the taste and texture of the bread.
Having done this, add in your ingredients in the correct order. Order doesn’t really matter if you are baking straight away. But if you want to pre-program baking for a later time, then the ingredients must be in the right order. Liquids generally come first, followed by the dry ingredients and lastly your yeast. Close the lid.
Select Your Settings
Select your preferred cycle. And if your selected cycle doesn’t come with a pre-programmed set time, then you’ll need to set your own time. Your manual and recipe book should guide you. The timer indicates the total time to bake the cake, including the waiting time. Therefore, when setting the timer, set it for the time you’ll want the bread to be baked. Do not set it for when you want to begin the cooking process. For instance, it’s 9pm and you are ready to go to bed, but you want the bread to be ready by 7 in the morning. So you’ll set your timer for 10 hours. Press the start button to begin the countdown.
Start Your Cooking
The next step to take after selecting your settings is to push the start button. If you have a bread maker that waits for the ingredients to attain the appropriate temperature, nothing will seem to happen after pushing the start button. But generally, it should start its cycle in the next hour.
(If you have a removable kneading blade, do not forget to remove it before your bread maker begins its baking cycle. You wouldn’t want it to bake into the bottom of the loaf, do you? If you forget to remove it, you’d find an unpleasant hole in the final product when you eventually do).
While it’s tempting to peek, refrain from doing so because it can affect the temperature inside the bread maker. However, if your machine comes with a viewing window, you can check a few times to see how your bread dough is forming. If adding fruits, spices, raisins or nuts, the machine will sound an alarm for this; so you’ll know when to add them in.
On the average it takes 3-4 hours to bake a large white loaf, while you'll need fours hour or more to bake whole meal bread. Using the rapid -bake setting on your bread maker will enable you bake quickly for about an hour. However, the longer you bake with the rapid bake function, the better your outcome.
Remove The Bread
Once bread is baked, remove at once and do not leave inside the machine. This will keep it from overcooking and preserve the texture and color of the bread. Let it cool for a cooling rack for about 30 minutes before slicing it. The importance of cooling is to enable the water molecule to escape so that the inside of the loaf will be moist and not spongy.
Clean The Machine
The final step is to clean the machine. Wipe the exterior to keep it clean. Wash the bread pan with a soft sponge and soap. Do not place in a dishwasher so that you will not slowly damage the nonstick surface.
Remember that your homemade bread contains no added preservatives, unlike shop-bought ones, and so must be eaten within 2 days. Wrap your bread in foil or keep well sealed in a plastic bag so it doesn’t dry out. Freezing bread also works fine.
Finally, do not move your machine around but in the same place and keep away from places where heat, humidity and drafts come and go. The place your bread maker is kept must also be well-ventilated.
