Bread maker...
A lot of people have complained about Bread Makers for whatever reason...so I thought I'd add another to the list.

I love making bread, but from scratch. I find it therapeutic to warm the water and/or milk up to the right temperature, combine it with the flour, salt, and oil/butter/lard, and kneed for a good 10 minutes. Then, leave it somewhere for an hour or two and do something else while it rises. Come back, knock it back, add some extra ingredients if desired, form a loaf or rolls, and leave somewhere to rise again for 30 minutes. Then pop in the oven, and bake. Bearing in mind you don't have to do anything while it rises or cooks, it takes the best part of 20 minutes of actual work. And of those 20 minutes, I can be completely switched off from work or troubles...just working some dough.

This is to say, I enjoy making bread.

So after a few years of experimentation, I got the technique nailed. I didn't need to measure anything; I could do it all by feel and intuition alone. It was about this time that my family, very generously, bought me a bread maker, on account of how much I like baking bread.

I literally used it once, then went back to making bread the normal way straight after. It took every bit of fun out of it, and genuinely wasn't much of a time saver. It's like giving Michelangelo an automatic ceiling painter...
( guffguff fuckes your gradeds balls!, Mon 3 Oct 2011, 18:11, 4 replies)

Oooh 'ark at 'er! Michelangelo are we?
Yeah, I'm not convinced that they are that much of a labour saving device. It's a bit like a dishwasher in a way. Before, we used to argue over who did the washing up, now we argue about who loads the dishwasher.
(Nitrous Nitrous, Mon 3 Oct 2011, 18:44, closed)

I like to think my bread is to baking, as Michelangelo's paintings are to art...
:P

But yes, dishwashers are also a pain in the arse. Especially when you have to rinse them off before you load them to stop the bits going in the filter. If you're going to that extent, then just wash them in the sink! Pffft...time saver my arse!
( guffguff fuckes your gradeds balls!, Mon 3 Oct 2011, 18:48, closed)

Once you get it nailed.
It is actually a fair timesaver.
Dump in water from a cup with a marked line, same with flour, sploosh of oil, pinch of salt, toss some grains on the top, hit go, and you can be done in around a minute, with no cleanup.
(speedevil, Mon 3 Oct 2011, 18:55, closed)

Handy hint...
Most people don't knead the bread long enough or hard enough. I find that the 12" of Blue Monday is just the right length and speed for optimal kneading. Oh, and it's still pretty dope, all these years later.
(gordonjcp, Tue 4 Oct 2011, 0:59, closed)