how I quit my bread machine

I've owned a bread machine for a long time. Not only have I owned it, but unlike most bread machine buyers, I've used it for a long time. In fact, I was so dependent on my bread machine that last year, when my first one broke, I replaced it within a week.

The problem with the bread machine is that, while it produces perfectly edible bread, it was about as tasty as the soft-crusted, bland, perfectly-sliced bread-aisle bread. And I'm a bread snob.

When we married, Jeff was working as an artisan baker. I had become accustomed to Kalamata Olive bread and Sourdough Cheddar, along with Challah and Farmer's White. I love the hard, crispy crust, the imperfect hunks of torn bread rather than slices. I love eating bread by itself, as its own entity, not as the envelope to hold sandwich fillings. But you can only achieve this bread by hand. It doesn't come from a bread machine. And if the experienced bread bakers talk about the process, they'll have you thinking it's a secret laboratory experiment that has to be performed with excruciating precision or you'll end up with a hard, lumpy half-baked ball of waste.

Hmmm.....turns out, not so true. I've suddenly fallen in love with making bread by hand because it's far more forgiving than "they" would have you believe and, here's the neat part, it's just as quick & easy as the bread machine. Who knew?

Here's my beginner's knowledge about making bread.

The salt to yeast ratio is very important. Follow the recipe for this. Everything else can be adjusted.

A great ball of dough is neither too dry nor too wet. If your dough feels like it's not pliant enough, it probably isn't the perfect dough. If it sticks to your hands, probably not the perfect dough. But, smaller loaves of imperfect dough will usually bake up just fine.

Rolls are way more forgiving than larger loaves.

Kneading doesn't take very long. Turn over 10 times or so before the first rise. Knead each roll 10 times before putting them on the baking sheet.

The oven has to be hot -- at least 400 degrees -- to get the "oven pop" that rises even a sluggish dough.

A little pat of butter or oil on top of the dough before baking is essential.

When using all wheat flour, you can put the dough in its bowl to rise, accidently forget about it & go to bed, get up the next morning, punch it down & bake your rolls and it will still be good. Some might even say better.

If any of your batches of dough just won't rise, try flatbread instead. Bake in a very hot oven (500 degrees) for a few minutes to make pita bread or fry on the stovetop for a fried flatbread similar to Indian breads.

I remember about this time last year, we made rolls in our preschool class. All those itty, bitty hands got to knead the dough & form their rolls & put them on the baking sheets. And when they came out, they were beautiful little breads, and they tasted as delicious as they smelled. If bread-making were that hard, how come a 3-year-old can do it?