Normal Wear and Tear?

About a year ago I figured out a way to use my bread machine to make granola.  I’ve been making granola at least once a week ever since.  We buy walnuts halves that I put through a nut grinder.   Ideally the grinder would turn them into chopped nuts, but they come out very finely ground.  It tastes great and so I haven’t worried about it.

Now I’m wondering this those teeny, tiny bits of ground nuts work their way under the paddles while the machine is going.  If so, could they be damaging the gasket?

I got the machine in November of 2008.  The first pan wore out in June of 2011.  (That was my first experience with the leaky gasket situation.)  At that point I ordered a replacement pan from Amazon.   That means that the original bread pan was used for 32 months.  The second pan lasted only 23 months.  That’s nine months shorter than the first one! I’m using my machine a lot more than I used to though.  I make all our bread, dinner rolls and hamburger buns.  Plus there’s the granola.  Plus there’s the occasional cake or batch of jam.   All in all, I think I use the machine 6 times a week.  So maybe the nuts have nothing to do with it.  Maybe this is normal wear and tear.

While researching this issue I found this quote at Amazon about a Zo bread machine:

I bake bread every single day and have to replace my bread pan about every year to 18 months. The paddles I replace about twice a year. In my opinion that is good enough although it would be nice if they lasted longer of course.  Things that will influence how long your pan and paddles will last is how rough the dough is (the more seeds or nuts you put in, the more the non-stick layer will be damaged during the kneading process) and how sturdy you make your dough (if the machine has trouble moving the dough around you probably don’t have enough water or other fluid in it which is harder on the motor, as well as the paddles).

Note though that the talk in the above quote is about scratches and not oil leaks.  My pan is a little scratched, but nothing deep or alarming.  The scratches are so tiny and few that it’s hard to notice them.

Question One – Does the use of finely ground nuts harm the bread machine?

I’m going to email Zojirushi about this.  I’ll let you know what they say.  Until I hear from them, I’m advising people to hold off on making granola with your bread machine.  If you do make granola, my advice would be to use nuts that are not finely chopped.

Do any of you have any thoughts or experience in this area?  If so, I’d be interested in hearing from you.

Question Two – Do I get another pan or do I buy a new machine?

My current machine is a Zojirushi BBCCX20. I love it, but I’ve got to admit that I’ve had my eye on the Zojirushi BB-PAC20 Home Bakery Virtuoso Breadmaker. But I can’t justify the cost of a new machine if I can spend just $65 or so and get a new pan.  Also, while the Virtuoso looks amazing, it doesn’t seem to do more than my current machine.

The real question is, how long do bread machine’s last?  My first machine lasted about six years.  If that’s normal, then I’ve got a little over a year to go and my money would be better spent buying a new bread pan.  I’ve also seen people claim that machines last anywhere from three years to eighteen years.  It’s hard to know what to think.

I’m going to make a decision in the next day or two.  Right now I’m leaning toward just buying a new bread pan. If this machine lasts six years, that would make the most sense.

Pineapple Rolls
¾ cup pineapple juice
1 egg
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 ½ Tablespoons sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
3 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons milk
1 ½ teaspoons yeast

Follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of which ingredients to put in the bread machine first.  Use the dough setting.

As always, check on the dough after five or ten  minutes of kneading.  Just pop the top of the bread machine and see how the dough is doing.  It should be a smooth, round ball.  If it’s too dry add liquid a tablespoon at a time until it looks OK.  If it looks too wet,  add flour a tablespoon at a time until it looks as it should.

When the dough is done put it on a lightly floured surface and divide in half. Form into rolls. The goal is to get about 16 dinner rolls of appropriate size and shape. Put the rolls on a greased cookie sheet.

Cover the rolls with a clean, light-weight kitchen towel and let the rolls rise for half an hour. Then remove the towel and put the rolls in a 375 degree oven for 12 to 17 minutes or until done.  (I baked mine for 16 minutes.)

Move the cooked rolls to a rack to cool.

Making the Bread

I read the instructions on the package.  To my surprise, they called for water of exactly 80 degrees to be used in making the bread. As my regular readers know, I use a Zojirushi BBCCX20 machine.  The bread cycle includes time for preheating.  So I just used water from the tap.  If your machine doesn’t have a preheat cycle though, I’d recommend that you follow the directions on the package.

I added the ingredients as recommended by the instructions that came with my Zo, being careful to make a little nest for the yeast.

I chose the basic setting and let the bread machine do it’s thing.

The Final Product

As you can see, the final product looks amazing!  The bread is a dark, brown color and the loaf was well shaped. The bread smelled like a heavy, rye bread while baking.  It also had a lovely rye aroma.  However the final product had a lovely cake-like texture.  The taste was more like a light rye.  The rye was there, but it wasn’t overpowering.

We will defiantly make this bread again!

The folks at Prepared Pantry were kind enough to send me some bread machine mixes to review.  I really liked their Italian Country Bread, but something went wrong with the San Francisco Sourdough Bread. And I’m afraid it was all my fault.

What I Forgot

You see, I forgot one of the basic rules of using the bread machine.  I forgot to check on the dough after a few minutes of kneading.

Regular readers will know that I always say, “Be sure to check on the dough after after five or ten  minutes of kneading.”   I always do that, but I forgot just this once.  I remembered to look later, after the second rise and I saw that the dough didn’t look right.  It needed more flour.  I put a little in, but it was too late.  The flour never was worked into the dough.

The bread was edible and it had a good flavor.  However the loaf looked funny and the texture was off.  I wouldn’t hesitate to try this bread again, but the next time you bet that I’m going to check on the dough!

First of all, you may notice that I changed the colors of the website.  Do you like it?  Let me know what you think.

One of the things I enjoy most about this blog is hearing from you. I get great questions, tips and comments. I’d like to share what we’re talking about around the kitchen table.

JoAnne had a yummy-sounding variation of the pepperoni rolls, ” I made these today for my son’s 4th birthday tomorrow. I added some Italian seasoning to the dough. I also added a pinch of shredded mozz cheese on top of the pepperoni. It smelled divine while baking!!! And tastes even more so!!! ”

Rachel made a batch of bread machine granola using maple syrup instead of honey.  The result?  She loved it!

Lynn S. shared a great hint for adding spices to the bread machine pizza dough recipe.  “One great tip I learned that I’d like to pass on – if you’re adding anything extra to the dough like Italian seasoning, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder (whatever floats your boat!): mix them with the olive oil and the seasonings will be evenly distributed throughout the dough. I used to add them separately and I’d end up with ‘clumps’ of seasoning in one area and other parts would be bland in comparison.”

Josh shared a yummy-sounding variation for the cheese and onion bread recipe.  “This recipe turns out absolutely incredible all on its own, but I have one addition to make: bacon. Specifically, three strips of crispy bacon, blotted dry, and finely chopped. It adds a great flavor to the cheddar and onion. Actually, I’m thinking of trying this as a dinner roll and serving it as an appetizer.”