The Biggest Mistake You're Making With A Bread Machine

The soothing smell of homemade bread wafting through a kitchen can make you want to cozy up on the couch, but making it from scratch is daunting to some. A bread machine seems like a great solution, with many assuming this instrument of convenience will do the work for them. After all, technology is meant to make our lives easier, like the microwave hack for shucking corn. However, the tricky part is that humans are still at the helm.

While a bread machine will save you precious time, it's not like the old Ronco rotisserie ovens that advertise, "Set it and forget it." Pizza and bread making expert Nicole Bean owns and operates two pizzerias with her family in Houston called Pizaro's Pizza Napoletana, and she has some advice to share regarding these handy appliances. One of the first things she says is that the "set it and forget it" practice doesn't fly. "Most often people will set all their ingredients in the machine and walk away," she said. "This is a terrible mistake as you should never trust that a machine will do exactly what you are wanting it to do."

Leaving a bread machine to its own devices can result in problems that could have been remedied with a watchful eye. According to Bean, "Just by visually looking you will be able to notice when something is off." Being present and aware while using these helpful amenities is the surest way to come away with what you want.

Simply monitoring your freshly baked carbs doesn't guarantee the bread will come out perfect every time. It's crucial to account for other factors in your kitchen that will affect the cook, like climate. As Bean said, "Another mistake is not taking into consideration the ambient temperature of your kitchen. Anything can offset your dough, especially temperature!" If your kitchen is brisk or you've been cranking up the heat so it feels like walking into a warm blanket, you may need to adjust the settings on your bread machine to get the results you seek.

Some folks pride themselves on cooking by instinct, tossing aside the measuring cups and eyeballing certain ingredients included in their dish. However, Bean cautions against baking intuitively with a bread machine. "Not measuring ingredients can be extremely detrimental," she cautioned. Tossing ingredients into a recipe because you feel they belong can be an absolute game-changer for soups like Julia Child's favorite and other savory dishes, but when it comes to baking, it's a clear mistake. Baking is more of a science where ingredients need to be carefully measured. In other words, while there is an easy fix to over-seasoned meat and veggies, once your ingredients are mixed while baking, you can't undo what has been done. The familiar carpenter's axiom to "Measure twice, cut once," which cautions that carefully executing first steps is crucial, applies just as much to building a house as using a bread machine.