The Bread Machine

The bread machine (b.m) has become a popular appliance in recent years; in fact, if you don't have much time available, it is ideal for home baking (including natural baking). What makes it particularly interesting is its ease of use and the ability to prepare numerous types of bread, but also dough for pizza, desserts, fresh pasta, and much more.

The b.m is equipped with a non-stick basket where all the ingredients (flour, water, salt, yeast, and possibly secondary ingredients like nuts, olives, and seeds) are placed, and it, in complete autonomy, takes care of all the processes necessary for bread preparation (mixing, rising, and baking).

There are various programmes available (wholemeal bread, quick bread, white bread, bake only, and dough only); the preparation process begins by adding the liquid ingredients first, followed by the dry ingredients: however, care must be taken to ensure that the salt does not come into contact with the yeast, as it will denature it through osmosis. At this point, the desired programme is selected, the baking temperature is chosen (usually expressed in "crust thickness" which is 160° for thin, 180° for medium, and 200° for thick), and the start button is pressed. At this point, the mixing phase begins, lasting around 10 minutes depending on the programme, followed by the first rising process (the machine maintains a temperature favourable for yeast development), then another mixing phase and another rising phase (the second), and the process concludes with baking. As you can see, the process is carried out in complete autonomy: all you need to do is add the ingredients, select the desired programme, and start it (mixing, rising, and baking are done by the machine without any external intervention).

There are various models available on the market, with different features and production capacities (from 400g to 1800g), but any model can also produce intermediate weights. Some are equipped with a bi-valent basket (divided in half): very useful if you want to produce two different types of bread with the same programme, or simply two smaller loaves. Another very useful accessory is the backup battery for blackouts, which provides power for 20-30 minutes in case of a power outage. This is very useful to avoid throwing away the dough in the event of a blackout.

The b.m allows for baking with gluten-free flours, which are often very difficult to use; however, it is important to ensure that there is a suitable setup (tall paddles).

The number of programmes varies greatly from one machine to another, and some are really rich in options, but what really matters is the function that allows you to customise the parameters, so you can create them to your liking: this way, there is no longer a need to have many programmes; you just create them!

The shape of the bread is probably the only limitation: there is only the loaf shape and baguette (not even in all models), but even in this case, you can compensate by using only the dough programme and completing the shaping and baking externally.