Happy Bread Machine Baking Month!

by Alexa Weibel, Posted Jan 3rd 2011 @ 1:15PM

Happy Bread Machine Baking Month!

Baking bread in a machine may sound counterintuitive, since bread is often a fussy process when it comes to the addition of ingredients, the degree of kneading, the distance from heat, etc. But with the use of bread machines, a golden loaf of bread has never been so easy.

The New Food Lover's Companion summarizes bread makers as follows: "computer-driven machines that mix, knead, rise, punch down, bake and sometimes cool bread." The first bread machine was invented in Japan in 1986, and became popular in the United States, Great Britain and Australia by the 1990s. Although bread machines can produce loaves of different shapes and sizes, each model shares the same core components: a nonstick canister that serves as the mixing bowl, baking pan and oven all at once, a motorized blade that shifts the dough as needed, and a heating coil to bake the bread.

To get started on your own motorized bread making, the Bread Machine Digest seems to have all the answers, from machine recommendations to tried-and-true recipes.

Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool to get a shot at having your photos featured in Feast Your Eyes.