Posted: 11/25/2008 8:30:29 PM EDT
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Who has used a bread making machine? Would it be a worthwhile small appliance if you are operating
your house on a generator for a period of time, or SHTF scenario? Pros and cons? |
| I've used one and it does make it much easier. In fact I used it so much the Teflon coating is peeling off of the bucket inside and we have to replace it. Recipes for it are free online, I wouldn't waste any money on the mixes. They're tasty but not worth the cost. |
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I have one that my ex left . It works great . I make bread for special ocassions .
Not sure about a genny w it though . A micor or ele stove can use ALOT of power . I suppose a bread machine would also . Look at the wattage on both genny and Bread maker and check it out . |
| I use my wife's and it works fine, just not the same as the old fashion way of doing it. Learn to make it from scratch, then use a machine if you must. When you scratch bake you put a piece of yourself in everything you cook and it reflects in the quality of the food. Machines are more convenient, but scratch baked goods are a necessary culinary skill to master. I can bake bread or cobbler in a dutch oven over a fire and don't need a generator. If you really want to get medieval, learn to make an oven from baked mud, it's not that hard to do, they do it in Africa every day. |
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the cost of running a bread machine off a genny for 3 hours,,,doesnt balance out.
they are easy, no kneeding, no guessing, pour in the contents and set the timer. convienence. bread can be made dozens of ways in way less than 3 hrs of running a genny.. oven, stove top, dutch oven, live coal, gas, electric ovens, mud ovens, brick ovens, steel ovens...flat bread, sweet breads, tortillas, Pitas, lots of ways. |
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i am with the guy doug. its not worth running it for bread. its so easy to make good bread with out using one. try this
3 cups flour 1/4 tbs yeast 2 tbs salt 1 1/2 cups warm water. mix the dry stuff then add the water. mix it around just enough its all toghter. cover with a towel for 8-18 hours. heat a dutch oven to 500 degrees. make into a round loaf with ur hands by holding the edges under. then put nice side down in ur dutch oven. cook for 15 mins with the lid on then another 5 with it out or tell nice and brown on top. let cool. it comes out really good. its the best bread i have ever made. its so easy and u dont need much stuck |
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I use one and I'm off-grid. They are great, and to echo others, if you make
the bread from scratch it's even better. We make maple syrup out here and I use that instead of sugar and the bread is heaven. Is it worth it to run a generator just for the machine? No. But if you are running the generator to charge batteries, run the fridge and freezer and the like, then the small added load of the bread machine won't even be noticed. Mine runs fine from my Xantrex 1.5kW inverter with all of the other loads. |
| If you want to make bread mechanically use a mixer. A bread maker is just that, a bread maker, Do you really want to spend all that money on such a one trick pony?. If you have a decent Kitchen-Aid and an oven you can make almost any bread youwould want depending on the size of your mixer. Plus you can make all kinds of other thinks with the mixer so it does not sit on the shelf 90% of the year. |
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Quoted:
If you want to make bread mechanically use a mixer. A bread maker is just that, a bread maker, Do you really want to spend all that money on such a one trick pony?. If you have a decent Kitchen-Aid and an oven you can make almost any bread youwould want depending on the size of your mixer. Plus you can make all kinds of other thinks with the mixer so it does not sit on the shelf 90% of the year. We have both a cheap bread maker and a monster kitchen aide mixer. the bread machine is great for when we are busy, we often make pizza dough in it too. On the weekends when we have more time we use the oven and Kitchen Aide to make bread. A while back I bought a cool folding sheet metal Coleman oven that sits on a camp stove and uses heat from the propane burners to heat the oven. I plan on using it on top of our Glacier Bay woodstove to bake when the power goes down. It is built with a temp gauge and vents so you can control the heat. I think it will be the cat's ass when the power goes down. I'll report back after we break it out and try it... Here is a link: Coleman oven |
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Quoted:
I use one but I don't see the point to running a generator for 3 hours just to bake bread. If you are powering other stuff in that period then fine but I think you would still be much better off to make it by hand. Exactly the reason to use a mixer or mix by hand. Better yet you can make some of the breads that use very minimal mixing and them long fermentation with pieriodic folds in between to minimise mixing time. |
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We use one several times a week just to make dough. We take the dough and bake bread in regular bread pans because we like the texture better than the bread machine makes. For SHTF, I would not plan on using a genny with the breadmaker unless I was running it for other reasons too. Does not make sense to burn precious fuel for something you can make by hand. The breadmaker is just a convenience. |