Originally posted by: johnny42544
I use my machine just for the dough cycle. It does not make a good loaf of bread. I have found that by just making the dough, rolling up and putting in a loaf pan and allowing the 2nd rise normally, it works great. Before putting in the oven, brush with an egg white wash to make the crust shiny. And when it goes in the oven, place some boiling water in a metal pan on the lower shelf of the oven. Sounds more labor intensive than just pushing the button and walking away from the machine, but well worth the effort, IMHO.
I just tried this....
First impression is: it's quite a bit more work/attention demanding
I made a basic French loaf -- and it turned out OK. I can see a potential for better bread, though.
My first-try loaf was a little dense, and slightly more moist than I think it should be.
I went with ~1 1/2hr on the second rise -- and baked it at 375 for 30min. in a metal loaf pan.
I think if I was a bit more patient and let the second rise go another 15-30 min it would have turned out better.
I'll give it a couple more tries baking in the oven -- but it's quite a bit more than pressing a couple buttons and being done with it.
On a side note: These bread machines are great!
If you haven't been following along: a few button presses and ~4hrs later you've a fresh loaf of bread. Simple as that. I can't believe how much better toast turns out. Before I bought my machine, I thought it was strange how Ridefree thought it made such great toast. "How good can toast be?" I thought. Well, it's 100X better than any store-bought bread I've ever made toast with. And I haven't even gotten to his recipe, yet.
So far, I've made probably 12 loaves of french and about 3 batches of pizza dough (3 medium+ pizza's each).
(BTW -- I got one of those pizza stones to go along with this, and it's great too.)