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[autumnfey]

I got my first breadmachine for Christmas this year and have tried a few recipes, but I haven't found the right one yet.  I'm not looking for a recipe so much as to understand what the different ingredients do.  For example, I made a wheat bread recipe but it seems very dense and dry.  In looking for a different recipe it would be helpful to know

Comments

[rowangolightly]

I've had several different bread machines and have come to believe that the best recipes for each machine are the ones recommended for it that come in literature. My current one, the Salton Breadman Corner Bakery (which I just *love*) came with a whole cookbook full of recipes for it. Plus they have a wonderful help site with people who've actually worked with the machines in their kitchen.

Each machine seems to be calibrated slightly differently and so each one handles amounts of ingredients differently.

Having said that, the best way I've found to make wonderfully moist wheat bread that raises well is by adding gluten to it.

[autumnfey]

thanks - I have a breadman and will do some looking. I did have a friend give me a wheat recipe that called for gluten that I will try. But I even found my white bread to be somewhat tasteless, so when looking for a different recipe, what should I look for as most recipes have the same basic ingredients. I am just trying to figure out what each component does (ie, yeast makes it rise, gluten makes it moist, dry milk vs powder milk does this, more or less sugar does this, etc,).

[rowangolightly]

Gluten doesn't add moisture but rather volume or lightness.

Here's a good article on bread machine ingredients:
http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Bread-Machine-Baking-The-Basics/Detail.aspx

[jcw_da_dmg]

One of the most important things is to make sure your yeast is active. It's easy to test it by putting a tiny bit in some warm water with some sugar (any kind of sugar, including honey) and let it sit for 20 minutes or so. You should see a pretty fair amount of bubbling.

[cissa]

For moisture, things like potato starch and honey are helpful, since they attract moisture and thus slow staling.

Milk products and fats add tenderness, and also slow staling. Sugars add sweetness, and sometimes make things rise more.

I think there's really not a substitute for experimenting with your own machine, but these tips might help. Good luck! :)

[petienka]

I once stayed with a friend who was making amazing whole wheat bread in her bread machine -- it was so soft! The softest and lightest bread machine bread I'd ever tried -- and this was whole wheat no less! I asked for her secret -- turns out she swears by a teaspoon or two or three of liquid soy lecithin...