Our First Bread Maker

Today is boxing day. We went for shopping in different malls, DFO in Jindalee, small mall in Horseland, and Indooroopilly Shopping Center.

We bought a few clothes in DFO, then spent several hours in Indooroopilly Shopping Center until we were starving and thirsty. We saw the discount prices of several bread makers in Myer. We have thought about buying one bread maker since last year, but we did not buy one yet. I don't know why, but we just wanted to buy one today, so we went to check price in K-Mart, Target and Harvey Norman. After comparing the price and model, we bought our first bread maker, Breville BBM100. It is the 2nd cheapest one, $109.65 AUD. We did not buy the cheapest one, Sunbeam ..., because the kneading blade won't be able to disassemble with bread pan. We are afraid that some bread might be stuck between kneading blade and bread pan, then we won't be able to clean it well for those Sunbeam models.

Here is our test for making bread by ourselves:

1. Basic White Bread
(1) Test 1 on Dec 26, 2009
290 mL H2O
1 TBL oil (i.e. 20 mL = 16 g)
1.5 tsp salt (i.e. 7.5 mL = 9 g)
1.5 TBL sugar (i.e. 30 mL = 30 g) (ps. we used brown sugar)
3 cups bread flour (i.e. 750 mL = 450 g) (ps. we used plain flour)
1 TBL milk powder (i.e. 30 mL = 10 g)
0.75 tsp bread improver (i.e. 3.75 mL) (ps. we used 2 500mg vitamin C tablets)
1.5 tsp yeast (i.e. 7.5 mL = 6 g)

Setting: 1 (basic), medium crust color, total 3 hours
1st knead (2 min) -> 2nd knead (28 min) ->1st rise (20 min)
-> punch down (15 sec) -> 2nd rise (20 min) -> punch down (10 sec)
-> 3rd rise (50 min) -> bake (60 min)

The bread looks good, but it is a little bit too moisture and salty. We will reduce water to 280 mL and salt to 6 g next time.

(2) Test on Dec 27, 2009
280 mL H2O
1 TBL oil (i.e. 20 mL = 16 g)
0.67 tsp salt (i.e. 3.35 mL = 4 g) (ps. original receipt is 1.5 tsp salt)
1.5 TBL brown sugar (i.e. 30 mL = 30 g) (ps. original receipt is sugar)
3 cups plain flour (i.e. 750 mL = 450 g) (ps. original receipt is bread flour)
1 TBL milk powder (i.e. 30 mL = 10 g)
1 tsp lemon juice (i.e. 5 mL = 5 g) (ps. original receipt is 0.75 tsp bread improver)
1.5 tsp yeast (i.e. 7.5 mL = 6 g)

We use the same setting as test (1). The bread looks good with perfect moisture and salt taste.

(3) Test on Dec 28, 2009
Everything is the same as Dec. 27, except we added some raisin in. Still taste good.