Bread Machines For Dummies Read Free

wheat, barley, and millet, and to capture wild yeast to use in baking and brewing. We also know that as the Roman Empire spread throughout Europe and Great Britain around 2,000 years ago, grain crops, mainly wheat, began to thrive in the conquered territories. Early settlers brought wheat to America and those amber waves of grain grew beyond anyone’s wildest hope.
    Around the world, the art of making homemade bread became a skill passed down from one generation to the next. Then came the industrial age — commercial bread was mass-produced, sold in the marketplace, and considered superior to homemade bread.
    In the 1970s, as Japan was experiencing an economic boom, young Japanese were finding a breakfast of bacon and eggs with orange juice and bread or rolls to be more convenient than fish and a bowl of rice with pickled vegetables. Unfortunately for the Japanese housewife, her family wanted very fresh bread.
    What a relief when, in 1987, Shin Ojima, an electrical engineer, manufactured a totally automatic bread machine. Even at prices exceeding $400, automatic bread machine sales took off, and more than 1 million units were sold in Japan in less than 12 months.
    This success was short-lived. Within a year, the bottom fell out. Most Japanese live in very small apartments that have sliding, paper-covered partitions for walls. Between the noise of the machine and the aroma of a loaf of fresh bread, many Japanese families found it difficult to sleep. They abandoned the idea of having fresh, homemade bread for breakfast. The machines were trashed.
    Fortunately for Japanese manufacturers, the United States and Canada presented a large, untapped market, ready and waiting for such an appliance. The first bread machine reached North America in time for the Christmas of 1988. They originally retailed for more than $400, but prices have dropped dramatically, affording millions of people the opportunity to make delicious, wholesome bread with the push of a button.
    Defining a Bread Machine
    In this modern, technological age, the bread machine is unlike any other small appliance you have. Microwave ovens, automatic coffee makers, juice makers, and so on, use manual controls that depend on your opening and closing an electrical switch by pushing a button. But your bread machine uses a computer chip that contains the programs for the various cycles the bread machine performs.
    For those of you who want to know more about the inner workings of things, you will find the mechanical operation inside the machine to be quite simple. The machine has a small motor that turns a belt-driven drive shaft to rotate a kneading blade inside a bread pan. It also has a thermostat to regulate the temperature inside the machine to the appropriate warmth for rising and baking.
    This amazing appliance has changed making bread from an insurmountable task (for many of us) into a simple procedure. It literally kneads, rises, and bakes the bread without the hands-on skill of a human. No wonder the bread machine continues to be a top-selling appliance in the housewares industry. We all love good, homemade bread, and when the process is so easy, we’ll make it ourselves.

    Use a surge protector strip with your bread machine. The microchips used in bread machines are sensitive to voltage changes. A surge protector strip will guarantee steady voltage and prolong the life of your bread machine.
    The Basics on How a Bread Machine Works
    With a bread machine, you measure the ingredients, put them into the bread pan in the order they are listed in the recipe, put the pan in the bread machine, select the appropriate cycle, and press Start. Bingo! The bread machine takes over. Is it any wonder that bread machine manufacturers advertise “Homemade bread with the push of a button.”
    Here is an abbreviated glossary of ingredients to help your understanding of how the ingredients mysteriously change their appearance within the machine, mix with each other,