Yep, you heart it right...
It's a present!
For those who followed me on noise.cash readers would have known that I actually got my mom a tablet in order for her to have a better view for recipes on YouTube
But there was another present at play when some of dad's dividends from RealT mounted a small percentage and he wanted me to get a bread maker for mom (with a bit of a top up from my side), so that mom's anxiety from watching too much Baking channels from YouTube will be satisfied
But before she could use the machine, I have decided to hijack it during the weekend while they were both napping, because I read the part that I have to "warm up the engine" of the bread maker before starting to fully use it.
And so my Bread Maker test and review journey begins!
This simple contraption looks pretty decent and easy to make, and instead of making a full loaf I chose to make the smallest just to see if it works properly; and if there are problems I will need to send it back to the factory immediately before any warranty lapses during these lockdown / no lockdown confusion times.
For a price of around $50 USD, this came well equipped with all non-stick coated surfaces, including this kneading knob that is highly important for mom, because all she wanted for the bread maker is to help her to knead all the dough when necessary since she prefers making buns instead of the whole bread.
Even the measurement utensils are provided, with this measuring spoon and measuring cup (that I forgot to take a picture with); and through this while looking at the instructions and their pre-printed recipes I learnt something.
A scoop is actually = 1 table spoon!
I actually had to google it to find out what a scoop means because the measuring spoon says "1 TBSP" 🤣
Following the recipe and instructions to the tee, I prepared the wet ingredients while the machine is on "bake mode" just to get it warmed up and making sure no foul smell (from new plastic / metal) lingers in there.
After that, in came the salt and sugar measurement. The ration is Sugar 2: 0.5 Salt for this recipe, but I am tempting to use monk fruit sugar substitute if I am doing gluten free bread on it next time
Yes... it has a feature to make gluten free bread too.
To have the best spongy bread effect, apparently high protein flour is recommended as the rest of the type of flour may not have a good effect of rising and maintaining sponginess. Unfortunately I have to spend a little more for an organic high Protein powder just because there weren't any other types at the grocer near my home.
Instead of placing them in directly, I have decided to sift through the flour before mixing the dry ingredients together
And apparently yeast has to be the last to be placed in according to the instructions, not touching the sugar or salt and making a small well at the top of the flour and placed it in.
The process does take a while to finish as the kneading and resting time is needed, however, this actually saves us a lot of time from being hands on, while the machine does all the work.
So the verdict came...
The whole living room was filled with fresh bread goodness, and it does turn out pretty impressive!
The browning looked just nice for a 1 pound bread, and it was quite soft and relatively easy to pop out, although I have to dig out the kneading knob from the bottom of the bread with its readily provided hook.
How was the taste?
I think all in all, a 1 pound bread should not need to use a full basic bread feature as it turned out a little more chewy in the end, but it was perfect for dipping soup in the evening for dinner.
Pretty great if lockdown happens again and breads were not able to be delivered and small business has to be closed.
All we need is yeast, flour and some sugar and salt! 😆
Even though this is a much expensive bread with only half of its size from a store bought bread (because of the ingredient we acquired), this doesn't have any preservatives and that is great for post cancer patients.
What do you think?
A worth while investment?
(I just hope the electricity bill will not shoot up too much when the baking mania happens 😅)
Since the whole fiasco of not being able to find bread anywhere initially, I did consider getting one Then, of course FOMO because friends around me got theirs and started baking their own bread
And I cannot forget the time Khim brought some freshly baked bread over to my place to work on something and it was really good But I invested in a stand mixer instead....
Have been meaning to try baking bread for the longest time... but nervous. Have only saved like a gazillion tiktok videos on how to... hehe But looking at how beautiful your bread came out... I think I am closer to trying it out
and yes, I think it is a good investment if you are bread people :D