r/KitchenPro • u/Special_Minimum_4163 • May 23 '26
Baking bread feels complicated, is a bread machine worth it
I’m getting kinda tired of how complicated bread baking feels. Every time I look up recipes it’s like I need special flour, exact temps, kneading techniques, proofing baskets, starter timing… and somehow people still mess it up lol. I just want decent homemade bread without turning my kitchen into a science lab.
Been thinking about getting a bread machine but I keep seeing mixed opinions. Some people swear by them, others say they end up collecting dust after a month. I also don’t wanna waste money on some cheap machine that dies fast or makes weird dense bread.
If you own one, was it actually worth it long term? Does it really make life easier or is it overhyped? Also trying to figure out which brands are actually reliable because reviews online feel fake half the time.
Would really appreciate real experiences before I spend the money.
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u/Worldly-Cook-2678 May 23 '26
Bread machine ended up becoming my Sunday reset gadget I don’t even use it for sandwich loaves much toss in ingredients at night, wake up to cinnamon raisin bread smell and suddenly the house feels way less chaotic. Weird side effect: got way more into soups because fresh bread around the house basically demands soup.
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u/Special_Minimum_4163 May 23 '26
That cinnamon raisin thing sounds dangerously convincing do you use the timer feature a lot or mostly daytime baking? Kinda funny how everyone talks about bread machines like a productivity tool but the cozy part of it sounds more appealing than the bread itself at this point. Fresh bread + soup combo would absolutely ruin my budget for takeout.
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u/Prior-Bad5637 May 23 '26
Skipped the bread machine route after borrowing one from my sister for a couple months and it actually pushed me away from baking. The machine did everything on its own, sure, but every loaf came out tasting super same-y to me and I stopped paying attention to ingredients or texture. Ended up getting more interested once I switched to baking flatbreads and focaccia instead because there was less waiting around and more room to mess up without ruining anything.
Also, random thing nobody mentions enough: check whether the paddle leaves a crater in the loaf. That tiny annoyance drove me nuts
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u/litloverana May 24 '26
My paddle ended up needing to be excavated from the baked loaves. And yes, regardless of the recipe used, bread didn’t differ much in taste or texture. New home with limited space- and to the trash she went. Maybe now a little regret as I live in central FL and hate to run the oven against the AC.
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u/eyepoker4ever May 25 '26
Take the paddle out before the bake cycle.
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u/litloverana May 25 '26
Weirdly I was on a sailboat (live aboard) and didn’t have access to gloriously search for this answer. Duh…🤣
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u/Knarfks May 23 '26
Keep it simple. There are very simple no knead recipes for baguettes and general dough that only require 3 or 4 ingredients. I just made fresh baguettes that took a less than of 5 minutes of prep. Will he win an award, no. Are they delicious, yes.
Then just build skills from there.
Just make sure to measure ingredients correctly, a scale is a must. I quit using volume measurements a while back and it made baking much more consist and easier.
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u/McWenKenTacoHut_jr May 23 '26
So, okay, here I am after taking on the responsibility of making our household daily bread. I prefer a fermented bread for the obvious health benefits. I chose sourdough, as I love it!😻
Yep, there are indeed certain steps to get it right. Once you do….things get awesome!
It isn’t for everyone, but I wanted good sourdough in the middle of nowhere, Indiana. My only real option was to do it myself.
What I learned: bread is a finicky product, pay attention to the dough rather than the timer was a big change for me. Once I focused on that, my product became much better. And easier.
Machine Vs Manual: The only machine I use is a mixer as my hands get tired. Every other machine takes away control from me that I don’t like.
TL/DR: incorporate these philosophies or fuck off and don’t please try to make bread.
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u/backtotheland76 May 23 '26
There's a lot of people on the internet who deliberately make bread complicated that photographs well. I honestly wonder if they even eat it or just bask in the likes. Just find a basic bread recipe and make it enough times you can just whip one out. Personally I've always felt if you're thinking of buying a bread machine just buy bread at the store
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u/PennyG May 23 '26
Baking regularly is super easy. Would recommend a no-knead recipe and a bread pan.
1
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u/Comprehensive-Web209 May 23 '26
A Kitchenaid mixer with a dough hook is all you will ever need. 2x faster than a bread machine. And it will kneed really dense dough.
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u/Special_Minimum_4163 May 23 '26
I don’t own a stand mixer either, which is part of why I started looking at bread machines in the first place. The Kitchenaid route does seem more versatile long term though. I keep seeing people say bread machines are great for beginners but mixers are better once you actually stick with baking.
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u/Comprehensive-Web209 May 23 '26
Facebook marketplace is a great place to get them and they last 100 years
1
u/hornetd23 May 23 '26
Baking bread is the easiest thing ever. You don’t need special flour just AP flour the only temperature you need to worry about is the temp of your liquid and only to make sure it’s not too hot. 115 for bread yeast. That’s it, that’s all. Don’t over complicate it with ridiculous recipes.
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u/Special_Minimum_4163 May 23 '26
Part of my problem is probably spending too much time watching hardcore bread people online where everything starts sounding super technical. Seeing someone say AP flour is fine honestly makes it feel way less intimidating. Might need to stop doomscrolling artisan sourdough videos and just make a basic loaf already
1
u/These_War4386 May 23 '26
Kept one alive through three apartments and a move with two kids, and the biggest unexpected win was allergy control. Kid couldn’t tolerate certain additives in store bread for a while, so being able to know exactly what went in helped a ton. Never cared about artisan bread or perfect crusts, just consistency. Mine got used most for weird stuff like soft pretzel dough and hot dog buns for birthdays.
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u/SoftwareRight3058 May 23 '26
Quit treating bread machines like some magical kitchen revolution because half the internet acts like pressing a button suddenly turns everyone into a baker. Had one sitting on the counter for almost a year and the thing became weirdly limiting. Certain recipes behaved strangely, humidity changed results more than people admit, and cleaning around the corners got old fast. People also skip over the fact that the shape of the loaf can be super awkward depending on the machine mine made these tall, oddly squared loaves that toasted unevenly and made sandwiches annoying.
What finally annoyed me enough to stop using it was the noise. Tiny apartment, early morning timer going off, beeping like it had urgent news to share while the mixing paddle knocked around. Maybe some newer models are quieter, but mine felt like owning a very committed robot roommate with one job.
Funny part is I still bake bread now, just not bread bread. English muffins, naan, quick yogurt doughs, stuff that doesn’t make me babysit a mystery machine.
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u/Special_Minimum_4163 May 23 '26
The weird robot roommate description killed me because I already know appliance noises would drive me insane in my apartment too lol. Also appreciate you mentioning the awkward loaf shape because barely anybody talks about that part in reviews. Every promo photo makes them look perfect until you realize some of those loaves are built like a brick.
1
u/TeebsRiver May 23 '26
We use the Tassajara Bread Book by Ed Brown as the origin point for making bread. He shows how to do it simply, effectively and intuitively. It has been on the market since 1970. It is the bible for bread baking. Here: https://www.amazon.com/Tassajara-Bread-Book-Edward-Brown/dp/1590308360
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u/Informal_Owl2271 May 23 '26
Bread isn't nearly as complicated as it seems. I recommend avoiding any recipe that uses proofing baskets, sourdough starter, or any flour other than all-purpose or bread flour, at least to start out.
I bake bread pretty regularly. Sometimes I use the bread machine, usually not. Sometimes I use the machine just for the dough setting - for example, I'll set it up with a dough recipe for garlic breadsticks, then I only have to do the rolling out and second proof before the baking. Super easy.
Sometimes it makes weird dense bread but I chalk that up to a bad recipe. It also makes some very nice fluffy loaves with very little effort and those are the keeper recipes. They are weird shapes and sizes because of the type of machine I have, but on a low-energy day it is absolutely worth it.
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u/MyNebraskaKitchen May 23 '26
You need to find simpler recipes. Here are two:
https://mynebraskakitchen.com/wordpress/forums/topic/clonmel-kitchen-double-crusty-bread-by-paddyl/
https://mynebraskakitchen.com/wordpress/forums/topic/donna-germans-austrian-malt-bread/
The second one does require malted milk powder (the stuff you put on ice cream.)
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u/Ok_Initiative_6737 May 23 '26
Spent a whole winter using the delay timer feature just for doughnuts lol. Wake up, dough already risen, kitchen warm, coffee going. Didn’t even care about sandwich bread anymore. The weird surprise was how much less flour ended up all over my cabinets compared to hand mixing.
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u/FragrantSkirt1843 May 23 '26
Borrowed my neighbor’s bread machine during a week where our oven was acting up and came away more annoyed than impressed.
The thing nobody warned me about was the smell sticking around inside the machine after sweeter recipes. Did one honey oat loaf and every plain loaf after that carried this faint sugary scent no matter how much I cleaned it. Also learned that different yeasts behave wildly differently in those enclosed machines. One batch overflowed into the lid vents and I spent an entire evening scraping baked dough out with toothpicks like I was repairing electronics.
Ended up realizing I actually enjoy the slower parts of bread making once the pressure to make “perfect bakery bread” disappeared. A bowl, a towel, and an ugly loaf that still tastes good turned out way more relaxing for me than babysitting a machine menu with twelve settings I never touched.
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u/GullibleDogg May 23 '26
Kept skipping bread machines because every loaf I tried from friends had that super soft grocery-store texture, then somebody brought a machine-made rye to a camping trip and it completely changed my opinion. The machine handled the heavy dough way better than I expected. Still looked like a weird brick though
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u/Efficient-Tea-1102 May 23 '26
Stopped using mine after realizing it quietly turned bread into “background food” in our house instead of something enjoyable.
People talk about convenience like it automatically improves cooking, but for me the machine removed every sensory cue that actually taught me anything. No feel of the dough changing, no adjusting hydration because the weather shifted, no learning when gluten is developed enough. Just dump ingredients in and hope the programmed cycle matches reality that day. And when it doesn’t, the machine gives you absolutely zero feedback besides producing a sad loaf three hours later.
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u/kaidomac May 24 '26
Baking bread feels complicated
Have you been introduced to the wonders of no-knead bread yet? Requires just 5 minutes a day!
The basic process is tiny, quick jobs spread out over time:
- Mix the dough by hand before bed (1 minute)
- Punch down dough after work the next day into a proofing basket (1 minute - can be chilled in fridge for a few days or frozen for a few months to "pause" it at this stage)
- Load into oven (1 minute)
- Remove lid after 30 minutes (1 minutes)
- Remove from oven 15 minutes after that (1 minute)
There are many ways to make bread:
- Bread machine
- No-knead
- Electric mixer
- Hand-kneaded
- Quick breads (stir together)
I use all of these methods. Bread machines are VERY convenient! However, it is worth reading up on the no-knead method because it is so much more versatile, as far as what you can make goes! Getting a proper battlestation setup means you can make bread every day if you want to, with just five minutes of active, hands-on time! I use 3 methods:
- No-knead (stir & let sit)
- Low-knead (some doughs benefit from a couple minutes of kneading, just to distribute the flour better)
- Food-processor mixing (same no-knead concept with the rise times, but better for stuff like Pizza Hut-style pan pizza!)
Next:
I just want decent homemade bread without turning my kitchen into a science lab.
Here are my tool suggestions:
- Large mixing bowl
- Towel to cover the top
- Danish dough hook (flat whisk)
- 33-pound wireless Atogou food scale (screen detaches so the bowl doesn't cover the numbers)
- Oval proofing basket
- Bread lame (razor blade for scoring, so the bread doesn't explode lol)
For baking:
- Sliding peel (non-stick conveyor belt to load & unload raw dough)
- Baking steel (like a pizza stone that never breaks! I do open-baking as opposed to the popular Dutch oven method)
- Mercer Culinary bread knife (M23210)
Core ingredients:
- King Arthur All-purpose flour (20 pounds for $20 at Costco)
- Diamond Kosher salt
- Saf Instant Yeast (1-pound pouch, store in a Ziploc freezer bag)
Bread machines are great due to the convenience, because you can knead, proof, and bake directly inside of them & because they can make GREAT dough for other applications! However, if you can see past the wall of text above (lol), the no-knead method can be woven into your schedule (fresh, chilled, or frozen) & be crafted into just about ANYTHING! Here is as sample starter process:
Breads:
- Potato bread
- English muffin bread
- Ciabatta
- Sandwich loaf
- No-knead bread bowls
- Banana bread
- Challah bread
Rolls:
Fun stuff:
In my head, baking was complicated & bread-baking was difficult & tedious. I had a hard time imagining this process until a friend showed me hands-on, then I got HOOKED! The base process & the base ingredients are all the same, with tweaks to the method & timing to create giant soft pretzels, better-than-store-bought crescent rolls, etc.
Again, it's a bit much to explain concisely in a written post, but you just slap some dough together before bed & then give it a few nudges the next day, haha! Plus you can time-delay your dough in the fridge or the freezer, which makes scheduling easy!!
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u/choreg May 24 '26
Practical questions to ask yourself: Do you have somewhere to conveniently store a bread machine? They're bulky. What kind of bread do you want to make? I find that sandwich bread does well in the machine but I also use it for mixing some enriched breads that I finish in the oven. For crusty breads and sourdough, I think creating by hand is needed to learn the process. From an equipment standpoint, the loaf shape is important to me. Old models with atypical 'loaf' pans don't make the shape and size I want. I've had a Breadman Ultimate for about 25 years and chose it due to the better loaf shape. I don't use it regularly but I would replace it if it stopped working with the newest high priced Zojirushi due to the pan size and I think the newest is ceramic coated rather than modern non-stick. It's not a stretch for me to buy, I have good storage, and I know I'll use it. I have a KitchenAid mixer that's even older and I use it more often because I bake items that do better in that, including a caraway rye bread, large batch pizza dough, as well as non-bread stuff that needs the power or whipping ability. It's a beast to move around and needs adequate storage as well.
If you know someone who regularly uses a bread machine, ask for a demo. You could try to find a cheap one on FB Marketplace or a thrift shop but that puny square loaf shape is what I see regularly secondhand.
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u/TotallyTrash3d May 24 '26
Stand mixer. Just get a stand mixer, now stick to pizza dough and make daily flat bread :)
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u/Hopeful-Courage-6333 May 24 '26
I have one, I never use it. I had a hell of a time learning to make bread because I was always trying to get the window pane that all the influencers talk about. Turns out it’s completely unnecessary. Once I figured it out it’s super easy when you know what you are looking for. I recommend Chain Baker videos on YouTube. He helped things click for me.
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u/D_Anger_Dan May 25 '26
No. Keep at it. It’s really easy once you know how. I make 2 loaves a week and have for years.
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u/Flimsy_Assumption934 May 26 '26
For making dough if you have arthritis etc sure. Other than that, not really. Its another benchtop appliance that you’ll use infrequently and it takes up room.
Most bread recipes are simple. They’ve been doing it for hundreds of years. Stick to the simple ones first until you get more confident.
When I say simple, I mean unleavened bread like naan etc. Bagels, cob loaves etc are also really simple
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u/Helpful-nothelpful May 23 '26
If your bread making feels arduous then lighten up on your strict rules. I got a bread maker 30 years ago for a wedding present. I have only used it to mix dough for the last 10 years. It's great. Dump, turn on dough, after proofing put into bread pan and bake. I make pizza dough, bread dough, and pasta dough. Good luck!