America’s New Bread Box

The bread machine. Words that strike terror into the hearts of artisan bakers and advocates of hands-on home baking, while conjuring up visions of delight to the ever-growing hordes of baking enthusiasts who claim they would never bake bread without a machine. An all-in-one appliance that is certainly an innovation in a time-honored craft, a bread machine creates fresh, satisfying, full-flavored yeast breads with no compromise of standards. A large part of the reason that people get so much joy from bread machine baking has little to do with the appliance itself, but comes from the deep emotional value of making bread. Bread machine baking brings the same rewards as any other type of baking. Whether you went out and bought a new machine, inherited one from a friend who never used it, or picked one up at a church rummage sale, whether you embrace this method of baking immediately or retain some skepticism, you will be thrilled with the results if you give this appliance a fair run. Bread machine baking boasts a fast-growing number of advocates, and seekers of gastronomic truth certainly now have to include the bread machine next to pasta makers, cappuccino machines, heavy-duty electric mixers, and food processors on their list of innovations in food preparation that are here to stay. Quite simply, bread machines make fantastic bread.