Okay. A bread maker (with hands) will now weigh in. I thought bread machines were superflouous, and told my Dad so when he told me about his. But I gave him my recipe for whole wheat bread, modified for his machine. Darned if a machine didn't come in the mail the next week, from Dad. We tried it out, I was talking to him on the phone about it, and said "we'll have to get used to the wierd shaped loaves," to which my (now ex) husband shouted from across the room "we're used to it! We're used to it!"

We have several machines in the family that came from (now defunct) DAK. He got his machines from Welbuilt. I think the last place I saw one of those was at Sears (in the US) for about $100. They're great machines, and you can adjust the level of brownness, the type of bread (has a wheat setting), and like one post above said, if you clean the counter or put it on a damp cloth, and make sure it is toward the back of the counter, it'll stay put.

My recipe for whole wheat bread in a three pound machine loaf:

1 tablespoon yeast
3 cups white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/3 cup warm water

Put the yeast in first, then the flour, sugar, and salt. Make kind of a bowl shape in the flour for these and the water, especially if you're going to use a timer setting and let it mix and bake later. Then your yeast will stay dry until it starts mixing.

I use the manual setting a lot, so that it does the work on my dough, then I take it out and shape it. I make rolls and pizza dough in there frequently.

My roll recipe that people request for potluck dinners:

1 tablespoon yeast
3 cups white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar 1 teaspoon salt
1 egg (warmed to at least room temp.)
3 tablespoons (approx) olive oil (I just pour it in till it looks right)
1 cup warm water
A healthy shake of garlic powder, ~1-2 teaspoons
2 to 3 teaspoons dried oregano, ground in the palm of your hand before dropping it on the dough

I put this in the machine on the manual setting, regular speed or turbo if I'm in a hurry. As you can see by some of my measurements, this is what my ex called "vibration cooking"--you just put the ingredient in until it "feels right." Not a method for novices.

If you make this dough without garlic and oregano, it's wonderful for cinnamon rolls.

My parting shot, the SINGLE biggest reason people of my acquaintance go out and buy bread machines:

Fresh baked bread is about as close to mother's milk for an elemental food as I can think of. The response is an instantaneous lunge for a serrated bread knife and a tub of margarine. Now imagine this: you set the machine up before you go to bed, and set the timer so the loaf will quit baking at the time you get up. (They often cool for as much as 30 minutes with a fan running after they bake. This sometimes leaves them soggy if you let it cool in the machine). You roll out of bed, get to the kitchen to start your tea or coffee just as the bread finishes. Pop it out, let it cool for a couple of minutes, then go get the kids up. It's much easier to get them out of bed when they smell the bread. Their stomachs bring them to the breakfast table. It always works here!

Sorry to go so long--I hope the recipes help. They are for the large 3-pound loaf, but with the exception of the egg, everything measures easily in smaller amounts. For a smaller loaf, figure the standard large egg equals a quarter cup of liquid. Substitute some of the egg for a little of the water. This size loaf also fits a standard size (US) bread pan. Bake at 375 for about 40 minutes if you make it on the manual machine setting, or just make this loaf by hand.

Maggie