Broke out our bread machine after 15+ years of non-use. Not sure if it was because I’m Covid-bored, or caught the bread-baking bug again, but I’m glad it happened.
Why a Bread Machine?
Twenty years ago, one of our three young children started getting intense migraines. Before going the recommended medication route, I decided to look at diet. Everything but wheat flour was eliminated from this child’s diet, with one type of food added at a time as we watched for reactions.
What they look like now: https://www.zojirushi.com/app/category/breadmakers
Why Not Eliminate Wheat Flour?
In those days, if you wanted a wheat flour alternative, you had to make your own by grinding nuts. We had too much going on as a family with three young children involved in everything from scouts to sports to band. If the migraines had continued, I would have committed to nut grinding.
Long story short, that child was allergic to artificial colors and flavors! So as a family, we moved our diet as close to artificial color and flavor free as possible.
Worked Like a Champ!
All those years ago this bread machine was a total workhorse, but how would it work after sitting idle for such a long time? To my surprise, it worked like a champ! This loaf of “Italian” bread turned out great! Even though the crust was nice and crunchy, next time, I’ll put the crust setting on dark rather than medium for looks and see what happens.
Think I’ll keep using the machine, experimenting with other types of bread, but for really, really good specialty breads, I’ll still head over to Underground Baking Company.
Migraine Update
The migraines lessened in frequency and intensity to almost none as that child grew older, adding body mass. He’s pretty careful. Reads ingredients. But they can still happen if he lets his guard down and something with a lot of artificial colors or flavors is consumed.
Would you believe, I have this breadmaker and have used it a few times in the last 20 years. One thing different, though, I usually make dough only and reshape and let it rise in my oven the second time before baking. You have just convinced me to dust it off and use again for rolls for the holidays. Thanks.
That’s awesome, J!
When I was using the bread machine a lot, we had friends who used it (or similar machine) to just mix up the dough and let it rise. Then they’d bake the bread in the oven. You get a much nicer looking bread that way without the kneading paddle holes in the bottom. And probably a nicer crust. You can also score the loaf before baking to make it really nice looking.
Making rolls sound like a great way to use the machine! Hadn’t thought of that.
Thanks for taking the time to comment, Laura