Reply #16: I've been back and forth on the bread machine. [View All]

[Longhorn]

I actually wore one out years ago. The paddle that does the kneading broke. I'd make one or two loaves a day when all four kids still lived at home and everyone loved it. I even got a few recipe books and made cheese loaves and special Christmas loaves.

A few years after the first one died, my mother gave me hers, a better model, since she wasn't using it any more. However, I haven't used it once! I've been mostly dieting since she gave it to me and I don't need the added temptation of freshly-baked bread around.

I thought the bread tasted great and no, it doesn't have the aesthetic appeal of an artisan bread, but ours never lasted long enough for anyone to notice! And it was so great to wake up in the morning or come home in the evening to a freshly-baked loaf of bread. I only tried to make it by hand once or twice years ago and nothing I made was ever as good as the bread machine bread.

I think for someone who is not an expert and really has no desire to become one but who loves bread, the bread machine is a really great deal.