Bread Making Machines: Bread Machine Mixes
Are bread machine mixes any good? Yes, some of them are, but the problem with all bread machine mixes is that they place limitations on your choice and do not encourage your creative talents. That may sound a little harsh, but think about it for a minute. If you depend on bread machine mixes you can only make the bread for which you can buy a bread machine mix and you can only tip the bread machine mix into the bowl and switch the bread making machine on. You are not encouraged to alter the bread machine mix for fear that it won’t work.
OK, what is the alternative? Well, the old-fashioned recipe book, of course! Not just any old recipe book, but a special bread making machine recipe book. Bread making is a very easy, but very tiresome process. The ingredients are ubiquitous, everyday, household items: water, flour, yeast, salt, sugar and oil. You most certainly have those items in your kitchen with the possible exception of yeast, which can be bought in any super store for very little money and it keeps for ages.
And I’m sure you already know what happens when you cook following a recipe, don’t you? You have already read the recipe through and you know you have everything in the cupboard, but when the recipe requires, let’s say, lemon peel, you open the cupboard door and see that you don’t have any lemons – but you do have orangess! Oh, well you think, oranges’ll do. You make do. You try things out. And that means that you are developing your talent and creativity. Bread making mixes will not do that for you.
A good bread making machine cookbook will have well over 100 recipes coming from several countries and you will become really enthusiastic about trying out the various ones. Have you ever eaten Welsh bread – Bara Brith? Or Amish bread? Cajun bread or onion bread? Cranberry bread is lovely too, but one of my all time favourites is Brazil Nut Bread – absolutely delicious.
The fact is that you may not find recipes for all these breads in one recipe book, but if you have a safe starting point, like a bread recipe cookbook, you can begin by using previously tried and tested gourmet bread recipes and gradually develop your own – oftentimes because you have to.
I once made a really great loaf of bread by adding some of the leftover vegetables from my Sunday dinner. It was very delicious, however I could never quite make the same loaf again, try as I did many times, because I had not written down the weights of the added vegetables. I could only remember that I had added green beans, potatoes and sweet corn in it!
Bread machine mixes will never ever provide that, will they? Furthermore, bread machine mixes are fairly expensive compared to the cost of 10 pounds of flour. I usually vary the ingredients too: honey instead of sugar, milk instead of water, olive oil or butter instead of just corn oil. Rock salt instead of sea salt or visa versa. I’m sure you see what I mean.
Bread machine mixes are not only limited but limiting too. Furthermore, a bread making machine is a great way to use up leftovers. I have added meat and fruit in my gourmet bread many times. My guiding principle is: if it’ll go in a sandwich it’ll go in the dough – like an Indian stuffed paratha or stuffed naan bread.
Stop buying bread machine mixes – they are a waste of money. Instead be creative with a bread machine recipes cookbook.
