Bread Machines For Dummies Read Free Page A

and turn into bread.
    Liquids make the chemical changes happen.
    Wheat flour has protein which, when mixed with liquid, becomes gluten.
    Gluten becomes elastic when kneaded and forms the structure of the dough.
    Yeast is activated when it comes in contact with liquid to ferment the starch in the flour and the sugar in the bread. The fermentation causes gases to form that make the honeycomb structure in the bread dough.
    Salt flavors the bread, controls the yeast activity, and strengthens the dough structure.
    Your part in this process is simply to have all the ingredients at room temperature, measure them correctly, and put them into the pan. When you push Start, the machine will begin to mix the ingredients and then knead the dough. For a period of time after the dough is kneaded it will seem like nothing is happening. This is the time when the dough is rising. Most machines then knead the dough a second time and let it rise again before heating up to bake the bread. The machine does the work; you take the credit.
    Who and Why? (and What, Where, When, and How)
    Early on, the average bread machine purchaser was 55 to 65 years old and somewhat affluent. They were financial risk takers, who had the expendable income to purchase the latest and newest gadget on the market. With the downsizing of corporate America at the beginning of the ’90s we also saw many men from this age group, forced out of the work force with incentive retirement packages, picking up bread machine baking as a hobby or as an introduction to cooking. Bread making to them was nostalgic, bringing back memories of the good old days, when they came home to the smell of homemade bread from their mother’s kitchen. The smell of bread baking in their own kitchen is comforting, and the taste of homemade bread is wonderful. Eating it is sheer pleasure.
    Since the introduction of bread machines over ten years ago, bread machine retail prices have dropped to less than $100, which has initiated a change in who uses them. A recent survey by
Good Housekeeping

showed 43 percent of its readers have bread machines that they use at least once a week. For the most part, today’s consumer is a 30- to 39-year old, married, working woman with children. To her the bread machine is a convenience. She’s able to prepare nutritious bread with minimum effort that the whole family enjoys. This makes her feel good, because although she works outside the home, her primary concern is the care of her family.
    Of course, there’s a group of us who just want to eat good food that’s good for us. The bread machine makes it possible, with limited effort and time, to make healthy breads for a healthy diet. And did you know that bread machines are now a standard item on the bride and groom’s department store shopping guide? Speaking of gifts, bread machine sales are at their highest during the winter holidays. Many grandmothers, who are perceived to have everything, find a big box under the tree for them to open. It’s a bread machine! And they love it! Bread machines may make it possible for a grandmom to rekindle her love of baking fresh bread in her kitchen, without the hassle and strain that’s a part of making homemade bread without a bread machine. Many people who give a bread machine as a gift receive homemade bread in return.
    And let’s not forget another group of people using bread machines — kids. They love using them. They are fascinated with how they work and what goes into making a loaf of bread, and kids can use a bread machine with ease. Bread machines are great tools for practical, hands-on learning. Using a bread machine can teach a child how to measure, help them visualize fractions and percentages, and allow them to see organic chemical reactions. Many schools are incorporating the bread machine into their standard classroom equipment, from grade school through high school.
    Shapes, Sizes, and Features
    In 1989, when we first