Give us this day

Earlier this week a bread machine ended up in our e-waste load.  In the spirit of reduce, RE-USE, and recycle, I thought I'd give it a whirl to see if it still works (with the permission of the previous owner).

Now, you have to be careful when testing things slated for recycling.  Don't plug them in where they could potentially blow up any sensitive electronics (like the wireless radio being programmed by Favourite Man).  Check to see if there's any wear and tear on cords or plugs.  Attempt to find a user manual online and make sure you don't press any self-destruct buttons, etc.

All that done, I plugged it in.  Hmmm... seemed to work OK.

So I invested in a kilo of white bread flour as a test run, dumped an approximation of ingredients into the depths late last night, and pressed play.

Initially it was a bit of trial and error to make sure the mix wasn't too wet or too dry.  Kept an eye on it while it mixed into a dough ball, then left it be.

Around midnight our first loaf of bread beeped done.

And this morning we ate it for breakfast!  Hey, it wasn't half bad.  Nice and moist, filling (as most home-made bread is), substantial slices and tasted quite decent.

I've always been fond of the idea of ditching store-bought bread in favour of knowing what goes into ours.  This little device may just make that happen.  Although the loaves aren't huge, they're enough for our daily bread.  And they take nearly no effort - while we're munching the last slice of one loaf, I can throw the ingredients for the next one in, and have it ready and waiting by the time we've digested the meal!  A lot cheaper than the R8-11 per loaf in the shops too.


I see a bit of experimenting coming up.  Raisin bread, honey and oats, wholewheat, perhaps even Norman's artistic creations!

Nice.... :-)