Breadmaker advice needed

[allcraz]

Wow, way more complicated than I thought. Thanks for the replies, although now I'm not sure what to do with this breadmaker!

 

[AngelinBA]

Dennisr there isn't really much of a secret, luckily. The machine comes with a basic recipe book, which I use. My basic white bread calls for 3 cups of flour so I do half of that with the 000 flour and the other half with 0000. I only use Pureza or Favorita brands. Tried the las canuelas one, but I couldn't get it to rise nicely. As someone else said the Levex yeast sachets are the best.
It really is as easy as putting the ingredients in the machine in the prescribed order, hit the On button and wait to hear the beep 2-3 hours later. Warning: for the first few months you will eat way too much because the smell of freshly baked bread is irresistible. Then you kinda get used to it.
My biggest proud moment, used the machine to make dough for hotdog buns (then cooked in the oven) for my 10 year old's birthday party. All the kids saw the panchos and were saying "oh, homemade bread! This is so yummy!" If you can please a bunch of 10 year olds you're doing well.

 

[EricLovesBA]

Wow, way more complicated than I thought. Thanks for the replies, although now I'm not sure what to do with this breadmaker!

Yeah, kind of unfortunate. I think if it were me, the decision would pretty much come down to the transformer and whether I was willing to risk burning up the motor in a short time. Seems like a transformer that size is going to be a bit pricey. If you cut your losses now, maybe the money you saved on the transformer is halfway toward a used local breadmaker. If you have other uses for the transformer, you could just go for it and take your chances. The motor might burn out in hours, weeks, months, or maybe never, just depending on your luck and the specs of the motor. I doubt it would be a fire risk, but you might want to err on the side of caution there as well, running it in a place where flames wouldn't be an issue.

If it's really high end and you want to baby it, you could try putting a heavy dimmer on the live wire leading to the transformer, turning it down a tad during the mixing phase, (ideally measuring the first time with a voltmeter for about 96V on the output side and remembering the dimmer setting to get that voltage) and back up for the rest of the process.

Disclaimer: These suggestions are not those of an engineer, but from somebody with hobby-level electronics knowledge.

 

[Somewhereinba]

Actually a good idea considering a loaf of bread is now 27 pesos !!

 

[allcraz]

I wanted to update. It wasn't as complicated as I feared after reading responses on this thread. I went to Casa de Transformadores and asked there (I was determined to use this bread maker!) and they said a 500w transformer would work fine. I didn't buy it there because it was almost $500 pesos and I got a perfectly good one on MercadoLibre for $120 pesos (used in excellent condition). Works fine. Now just trying to find a favorite recipe!

 

[French jurist]

I love my machine and it comes in handy. The cons are the density of the breads

Resurrecting this old thread but that's one month I'm trying to make a baguette I like (I like them very much aired) using a Moulinex bread maker with baguette inserts.

I also had the same problem (breads with a high density) and we are not alone (even in France).

I start to get decent results now & I realized that the Moulinex cannot make really light/aired baguettes (nice machine though for those who don't know much about cooking).

Mistakes of the Moulinex process (if you want a bread much less dense):

- The kneading process lasts about 20 minutes -> Should be 5 minutes max
- Add a bit more water than what Moulinex recommends (try with 5/8% more, will make a difference)
- After the kneading part, take the dough out (will stick to your fingers more than usual, no worries) while not breaking it (must remain as it is) and let it sit for 20 minutes
- After 20 minutes, fold the dought over itself 3/4 times, each time trying to capture as much air inside
- Repeat the step right above 2 more times
- Now the dough should stick less. You can now cut it in 2/4/6/8 parts (very cautiously, try to keep it the way it is)
- Wait 10/15 minutes
- Now take each ball of dough and fold it over 2/3 times (again to capture air inside), roll them to shape the baguettes
- Wait again 30 mins
- Make the incisions on the baguette (I don't like the tool provided by Moulinex, furthermore, the dought being more liquid, better take a razor or something really sharp)

Then you can cook it as usual.


In short, to have a lighter bread:
- Kneading process shouldn't last long, that's a mistake (5 minutes)
- The hydratation rate of the dough should be slightly higher than usual (a few percentage makes all the difference -> put a bit more water than usual, about 5/8%)
- Fold over & over & over 3 times during one hour

 

[gpop]

I bought myself the Moulinex but not with the baguette inserts. The density is a problem for some types of bread but I started cutting the wheat flour with 30 - 40 % rice flour and it helped.
Using this recipe: http://allrecipes.co...ench-baguettes/
I use the #6 cycle- dough mix and rise. then put it in the oven for around 1/2 hour.

My family loves how it turns out, and I almost never have leftover bread.... this makes just enough.

Edit: oops, I'm repeating myself here

 

[Girino]

I don't think you can really expect a single machine to do a tons of types of bread.
The rising process takes time, and the way and number of times the dough is plied determines the inside of your bread.

I have always seen brick-like breads coming out from bread makers, sometimes even hard to digest because the amount of yeast was too high (to make it rise faster).

Personally, I just use a food mixer like the Kitchen Aid (mine is a Kenwood, though) and then bake in the oven.
As for the recipes, there is this great website with recipes also in English. The guy is Italian and lives in California, so there are reference to flours sold in the US.

About flours - I am still researching on the subject of harinas here because the classification in use is different than in Italy. I found a nice and useful article on the subject on the WebSite of a certain Donato De Santis, which owns a couple of restaurants downtown and appears on local TV, as well. Article - Lose diferentes tipos de harinas

 

[gpop]

I don't think you can really expect a single machine to do a tons of types of bread.
The rising process takes time, and the way and number of times the dough is plied determines the inside of your bread.

I have always seen brick-like breads coming out from bread makers, sometimes even hard to digest because the amount of yeast was too high (to make it rise faster).

Personally, I just use a food mixer like the Kitchen Aid (mine is a Kenwood, though) and then bake in the oven.
As for the recipes, there is this great website with recipes also in English. The guy is Italian and lives in California, so there are reference to flours sold in the US.

About flours - I am still researching on the subject of harinas here because the classification in use is different than in Italy. I found a nice and useful article on the subject on the WebSite of a certain Donato De Santis, which owns a couple of restaurants downtown and appears on local TV, as well. Article - Lose diferentes tipos de harinas

On one occasion I got hold of some rye flour and had went nuts with that for about 2 weeks but I didn't like the texture of the bread that was being produced, the impression I had was that it just didn't seem "done". I think that maybe the temperature of the machine doesn't get high enough for heartier flours. My only experimenting with the rye flour was the proportions, not temperature. I think that maybe baking in a hotter gas over (or better yet - wood oven) will produce the lighter bread, as you mentioned.

 

[Girino]

On one occasion I got hold of some rye flour and had went nuts with that for about 2 weeks but I didn't like the texture of the bread that was being produced, the impression I had was that it just didn't seem "done". I think that maybe the temperature of the machine doesn't get high enough for heartier flours. My only experimenting with the rye flour was the proportions, not temperature. I think that maybe baking in a hotter gas over (or better yet - wood oven) will produce the lighter bread, as you mentioned.

As I mentioned, I have no experience with those machines and I don't know exactly how they work nor the temperature they can reach. I saw a couple of them, and to me the baking pan is way too small to get a nice crispy crust. I also believe you can do very little "adjusting" when baking, like using tinfoil to cover the bread if you need to cook it longer but it is burning on the top, or placing a small cup of water in the oven to "moist" the air during certain baking. Anyway, I wouldn't worry about different baking temperatures for various breads, in my experience it is simply "the higher, the better".

If you want to take my advice, use your machine to make the dough, but do the rolling and bread forming by hand and then bake in your oven, so that you can keep things under control. Also, cook the bread/pizza on a piedra. Here it is very easy to get and cheap. I got mine for ARS 180, and I saw it at Jumbo for ARS 250 as well. Although it is not essential, it allows you to bake your bread like a pro.

As for the recipes, start with something simple such as this one, then try something harder or try mixing different kind of flours. (AVOID flours with yeast added)
I recently bought a loaf from Hausbrot and it was too dense, with too much yeast, and having 4 slices of it ruined my sleep (too much gas due too much yeast). I used to buy a ready-to-make flour for hausbrot in Italy and it gave me the same issue, so I moved to lighter breads.
Finally, flours here are not very strong and the results might be disappointing at first. You might need to adjust them. I am going to try to use 30% of 000 flour (stronger, less refined) and 70% 0000 flour (weaker, refined) for my future breads and pizzas, as I can't seem to find manitoba flour here.

If you want fluffier bread (like ciabatta), you need to make almost liquid doughs with long rising times and larger space than for a loafer. Try research on "bread cell structure" and read some resources like this one.

I like a lot breads with lard or butter, and I am not sure you can make those with the bread maker.