maxine in ri wrote:

> Never one to follow a trend, while all of you were madly making bread by
> machine, I was making artisan breads. Now that you all are "following"
> me, I've just come into possession of a bread machine.<g>
>
> It's a Pillsbury 1021, and since the 1 lb recipe I made last night
> filled about half the cannister, I'm guessing it's a 2 lb machine.
>
> Are bread machines as susceptable to atmospheric changes as hand made
> breads? On humid days, I seem to use about 10% less flour than on dry
> ones.
>
> The instructions that came with the machine warn against altering any of
> the ingredient quantities/proportions. I'd like to make a sweeter,
> lighter, less crusty whole wheat bread, by adding more sweetener and
> gluten, but they say not to open the lid while it's baking, and during
> baking is when I I'm used to adjusting the moisture content to produce
> my preference of crust.
>
> The machine came with the manual and about 8 or 9 bread books, which I'm
> plowing through in what passes for spare time ( Most of them seem to be
> of the " don't change a thing and you'll love our recipes" variety.
>
> Which bread newsgroup has the most creative, least argumentative
> posters? Seems you can join dozens of them, but I'd like opinions on
> whcih you find most helpful.
>
> maxine in ri
>
Hi Maxine. New poster here. I've had a B&D breadmaker ever since they
first came out. A lot of my breads are made in the breadmaker then
baked in the oven. Don't worry about that ingredient warning. Do a
little experimenting and have fun! One of my best loaves and now family
favourite came about by adding the egg to the dough instead of using it
as a wash. Another family favourite is using the white bread recipe and
tossing in 6 - 8 cherry tomatoes along with a tsp or so of italian
seasoning. It is equally as good using fresh basil in place of the
italian seasoning. I had to add a little extra flour to each of the
above but the results were great! HTH

--
Think beyond your assumptions.