Saturday, October 27, 2012

Who's The BreadMaker Now?

I asked for suggestions for a new bread machine and my sister weighed in, touting the fabulousness that is her machine.  She has one that she got last Christmas and loves it.  I liked the pizza dough that it made when I was at her house the last time.  It inspired me to go home and steal my parents' bread machine and do some bread making of my own over the summer.

After a few loaves, I got the hang of it and then I ventured into pizza dough.  And that was spectacular.  And then I tried to make a cake from a recipe that came with the machine and I burned it up.  Literally.  Black smoke came out the top.

So, for my birthday, I asked for a new machine and chose the Zojirushi brand that my sister has.  Because I want to be just like her when I grow up.  She has the rice maker from that brand too and really loves them both.

I was surprised to actually get the Zojirushi for my birthday because it's pretty pricey.  But my sisters and my parents split it, so I don't feel so guilty about such a hefty present for my birthday.  And it probably came with the guarantee that I will supply them with bread for years to come.  I don't know, I was so excited to open it, I didn't see any guarantees.

Here it is, in all its compact glory.

 
 
I was worried when I opened the box to see just how small "mini" actually is.  It said it makes a 1 lb loaf.  The other one I was using did a 1.5 or 2 lb. loaf.   But what I didn't like about that size was that after 2 sandwiches, it kind of got stale.  I can't eat a sandwich every day, so I wasn't using it fast enough just making sandwiches for k-ster.  I thought the 1 pound loaf would be a better size.  Still, seeing the pan makes it seem way too small.
 
But here's the first loaf I made.
 

And a slice from it that I would use for sandwiches.



It actually seems like just the right size for a couple of sandwiches and then it will be gone.

It came with a user guide that has a lot of recipes.  Like maybe 30 recipes!  I tried just the first one, a basic white bread, to see if it was like the other one I had been using.  And it is.  It's foolproof, really. 


Right before I tried to set fire to the kitchen with the other one, I had just found a recipe for a white/wheat bread that had some wheat flour but not all of it was wheat.  K-ster actually said he liked that best.  And then I blew up the machine.

This recipe book doesn't have a half wheat one, just 100%.  I can't use the recipe from the other one because it will be too big for this machine.  My sister assures me we will like it.  But I'm skeptical.

I'm also excited that I can be back in the pizza business again.  You'd think I eat it all the time, the way I've carried on about it.  But, k-ster and I can't agree on a pizza place around here that we like.  Like there is literally nowhere that we will  both eat pizza from.  And I do like to have it every couple of weeks or so.  He liked the crust the last time I made it at home, so I thought we had found common ground on the pizza front but then we had to go without it because I didn't have the machine.  I made one by hand, but that is not something I'll do very often.

And when I make Thankgiving calzones, I use pizza dough.  I used the dough I made in the last machine and they were great.  I'd rather make it myself than go to the store and buy it there.

This machine is very compact too.  If I had enough cabinet space, I'd tell you about how it fit so nicely in my cabinet.  I have poor cabinet space.  The last bread machine sat on the floor which was really inappropriate but I had nowhere to store it.  This one is so small it would seem absurd to put it on the floor.  It has a cute handle on it to make it easier to put in a cabinet. 

That I don't have. 

I'll probably have to store it in the laundry room or something weird like that.

And now that Hurricane Sandy is riding her broom all the way up the east coast and threatening to take all of the electricity with her, I should probably make a couple of loaves and some dough now.  I know, you're thinking "what will you do with dough if you don't have electricity?"  Ah, do you know about pizza on the grill?  It's marvelous!

** Zojirushi did not compensate me in any way for this post.  But I'd be happy to review something for them if they're listening!

Linking up here

2 comments:

  1. I have had a bread machine for several years now--I use it to make dough all the time. Less often for bread, but I do enjoy making cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls and pizza dough in it.
    Have fun with yours and look on line, I'll bet you can find a half and half recipe for that wheat/white loaf that will fit your new machine.

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  2. I have a bread machine..given to me by a friend when she graduated to making it all by hand. I haven't tried pizza dough yet, soon though.

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