I expected coffee shortages at the supermarket, but weirdly everyone else was buying yeast and toilet paper. Couldn't buy yeast for like 6 months. The coffee supply was unaffected, for which I am grateful!
Or that they comfort eat more baked foods when cooped up and depressed while the world grinds to a halt for a year.
Multi-day breads were easy to time. I could schedule meetings around complex timing or steps if I had to.
Eating more meals at home meant more lunch and breakfast with delicious fresh bread.
The whole world (or at least a lot of mine) having a shared baking experience meant I could converse with many friends about a hobby I enjoyed but no one else I knew was into. Suddenly I could give helpful tips when people posted their frustrations or questions online. Like an earlier comment, I already had ingredients in bulk, so it also meant I could share with people who needed some.
BMs are perfect for no-talent, lazy, frivolous bakers like me. I also like bread that doesn't taste like cake. If I wanted cake, I'd buy cake.
Using a bread machine is stupid simple. Dump the ingredients in, push the button, and come back in a couple hours. You don't even have to clean it (the bread falls off the non-stick surface).
it's been a while since I had one. The only problem was the big hole left by the paddle in the middle of the loaf. I wonder if there are versions that eliminate that now?
Mine looks similar to this and the paddle's radius is exactly 5cm: https://makebestbread.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/oster-b...
Smell of baking bread and its extraordinary taste just conspire against you if you attempt portion control. I can control my portions pretty well otherwise, but not when tempted so much.
Actually making bread is really four phases:
1. Assemble and mix the ingredients 2. Knead 3. Rise 4. Bake
Hand baking has an extra step 3a (punch down) and 3b (let rise back up) typically, that the bread machine omits, at least mine did.
But the point was step 1 is required anyway, steps 3 and 4 don't involve any work, so what did the machine do for me, really? Knead. In fact I got into the habit, if the bread had to look good e.g. for guests, of taking the kneaded, not yet risen ball of dough out and letting it rise and bake the normal way, resulting in a normal looking loaf (not in a loaf pan).
Then one of the machines ruined a batch when its shaft seal deteriorated into sticky black gunk that got into the dough. Uh oh. That means my other three machines (two in use, two spares) probably aren't far behind. Seems they don't last forever. So I dumped them and went back to doing things by hand.
Where you can't beat them though, is starting in timer mode, so you have freshly baked bread just ready for breakfast. Aside from that one thing, if you think you need a bread machine to make bread, just try it by hand sometime.
I can spend over an hour combining the ingredients, kneading, washing up several times between stages because making bread is , cleaning the bowls, materials, and pans I used....or I can spend 2 minutes and use a bread maker and make even better bread than I was making beforehand.
There is a non-negligible peace of mind that comes with progressing from by-hand to bread maker. I would certainly suggest making it by hand for a bit if you aren't used to it, however.
I tried a couple juicers, like JuiceMan. The ads say it is easy cleanup, just rinse it off. The reality is you'll spend 30 minutes cleaning that screen. If you don't get it all, what's left will quickly rot. Not fun. The JM also had all kinds of nooks and crannies that were not reachable with a sponge and really hard to clean. I finally gave up.
The Vitamix is the solution here. No tedious juicing, just stuff everything in the machine and turn it on. The cleanup is pouring water and soap in it and turning it on for a minute.
Don't many ovens have timers for this and/or for getting dinner started early? Or does the dough not do as well when left in a larger area such as an oven for an extended period while not cooking?