Introduction
Nothing beats the unforgettable taste of freshly made bread. However, it’s hard to come by because it takes some to get to your table from the bakery. But all that can be changed with an automatic bread maker. This compact electronic oven lets you turn your kitchen into a bakery to the delight of your family. So, how does a bread maker work? Here’s how and what you should know.
Chances are that you may have never made bread. The bread-making process requires time and effort, which to most people isn’t as exciting. But you don’t have to worry about that because a bread maker automatically does the entire process for you.
Bread Making Process
You will realize just how a bread maker is after you understand what goes into the bread-making process. There are five steps to making bread manually:
- Mixing- you mix the ingredients which are flour, fat, sugar, salt, yeast with water to make the dough
- Kneading- where you make the dough stretchy and elastic by beating and bashing it
- Rising- you place the dough in a warm place and allow the yeast to work on it, plumping it as air enters
- Knocking down and proving which involves bashing it to knock the air out and let it rise a second time (proving)
- Baking- put the dough in a tin and place it in an oven to bake
How Does a Bread Maker Work?
Okay doing all the above may be quite a challenge. You don’t want to put in all that effort and time and then end up with something that’s not any close to real bread. The best option is to get a bread maker. It automatically mixes, kneads, rises, proves and bakes high-quality bread like what you would buy from the grocery store.
All you have to do is put the measured ingredients into the baking pan or tin, place the pan back in and turn it on. It has a paddle connected to its motor that mixes the ingredients thoroughly into dough and kneads it. The machine then provides a warm environment to let the yeast, for instance, instant yeast to act on the dough. Once it rises, it knocks the air out and rises it again before the oven turns on to bake the bread.
It takes some time, so once you put in the ingredients and set the mode, you can kick back and relax. It will indicate once the process is complete. Now that the question of how does a bread maker work has been answered, here are other things you should know:
How to Use a Bread Maker
You will find it incredibly easy to use this machine right away. The steps are:
- Add the required amount of the water, flour, instant yeast, fat, sugar and salt into the baking tin
- On the control panel, select the type of bread, baking mode, size of loaf and size of crust
- Press the timer button to see how much time the bread will take to be ready
- Press start and let it make the bread
Kinds of Bread Can You Make
A bread maker will allow you to make different kinds of bread. You can bake white bread, wholemeal and other kinds of special loaves by varying the ingredients. Remember to select the appropriate bake mode for the specific bread. A Small Bread Maker will surprise you at just how many types of bread you can make. Always check the types of bread a machine can make before buying it.
How to Choose a Bread Maker
- Just like when shopping for the Best Coffee Machine, choosing a bread maker requires you to look out for some things.
- Capacity- ensure the capacity is adequate to meet your family’s daily bread requirement
- The material of baking pan- although all are made of nonstick coated aluminum, the thickness of the aluminum determines the thickness of your crust
- Loaf shape- choose between vertical bread and horizontal bread that resembles that from the store
- Delay timer- one with a delay timer lets you set the bread to be ready at a specific time, for instance, wake up to warm, fresh bread
- Crust control feature- choose one that lets you choose between the dark, medium and regular crust
- Price- always insist on getting value for money
Conclusion
Now you can buy one for your kitchen and let your family and guests enjoy some quality bread. And if a guest asks how does a bread maker work, you will know exactly what to tell them.