To Sue who plans to buy a bread machine,
I have had a Regal Kitchen Pro machine for 3 years,
and here's what I like about it:
1.It came with a very useful video for novice bread
bakers.
2. Its owner's manual features 3(!) recipes that call
for no butter, oil, eggs, cheese, nuts, seeds, etc.
Two are
for whole wheat loaves and I like them a lot. One is
for sourdough and I haven't tried it.
I made a good variation on the whole wheat that I
would be happy to
share with you if you are interested.
I just bought (it arrived UPS yesterday) a Panasonic
Bread Bakery SD-YD205.
A Consumer Reports article (November 1997 issue) found
that
the SD-YD205 and also the Breadman TR800 make "better
bread-- golden brown and crusty outside, fluffy and
uniform inside."
I found the Panasonic on Yahoo Shopping at a place
called
A1 Vacuum and Sewing for $136. It often costs from
$200 to $220.
Not having tried it yet, my big disappointment is that
EVERY recipe
calls for 2 tablespoons of butter. I will be
experimenting
to find out what the best bread is that it can make
with no added fat.
I don't know how big a concern that is for you.
A book called "More Bread Machine Magic" contains
several recipes
that I make over and over, and should work in any of
the machines.
One is called "Light Oatmeal Bread" and the other
"Light Whole Wheat Pizza Dough".
To make the pizza dough, your machine should have a
dough cycle.
I don't know what you want most from a bread machine,
but
I couldn't live without a whole wheat cycle and a
dough cycle.
Beyond getting cycles for the types of bread you want,
it's pretty much a question of finding or inventing
good recipes.
If you are not as concerned as I with not adding fat,
there are
some VERY tasty looking recipes (some with no added
fat) in:
1. The Bread Machine Gourmet, by Shea MacKenzie
2. Electric Bread, by Suzan Nightingale, contains
recipes
developed to work in ANY bread machine
3. More Bread Machine Magic, by Linda Rehberg and Lois
Conway
I have had rather mediocre results with recipes from
"The Best Low-Fat No-Sugar Bread Machine Cookbook
Ever",
by Madge Rosenberg.
I hope this helps. Do other listmembers have some
different
machine that make wonderful no-added-fat bread?
Laurie in Oklahoma
One final thought: the Kitchen pro whole wheat cycle
takes
4 hours and 20 minutes, the Panasonic 5 hours. All
other
cycles are shorter. I think the machines currently in
the stores
that advertise "Bread in one hour" are talking about
quickbread recipes
with baking soda. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.