Bread Machine Tutorial, kinda sorta, maybe....hahaha

Good morning blessed ones of God.       I pray you are still enjoying "Happy Thanksgiving" and being thankful and grateful this morning.     Even if you're not in US and celebrating, you can still just celebrate right where you are and be thankful and grateful for the presence of the Lord in your life.     Where would we be without Him??     Lost and bound for the devils hell, that's where we would be.     I love the Lord and I'm so happy that He loves me more than I could possibly ever know or understand.    I try to let the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas be the time that I reflect on truly what God has done for me in the past year.     It can be overwhelming to remember all He has done for me.     Getting up each morning is a miracle in itself.     So start thanking God for all He has done for you and you just won't ever be able to stop.

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So, this morning I am making bread and using my bread machine to mix the dough.   It is a life saver and a hand saver.      I've been thinking for a while about doing a mini tutorial on how I care for my bread machine.      This is the only one I've ever owned and its soon to be 14 years old and seems to be still going strong.

The first thing I will say is that the manufacturers will tell you that the bread pan itself is dish washer safe and safe to wash in the sink.      Technically, that is true.      If you believe in "planned obsolescence" you'll agree with the manufacturers.      But I don't agree with that.       Planned obsolescence is wasteful and I don't agree with that at all.     My machine is soon to be 14 years old.      Had I not taken care of it, I could have done been on my 3rd machine, easily.    

When you get your machine, the bottom of the removable bread pan has part of the mechanism that allows for the mixing to take place, and also part of the mechanism that keeps it locked in place.    When you run that bread pan through the dish washer, that's washing away all the factory grease that was put in that mechanism to keep it greased and running smoothly.     When all that grease is washed out of it, it will start wearing out pretty quickly.

And yes, I do wash my bread pan every time I use it and I even use toothpicks to do detail cleaning around the spindle that holds the bread dough blade.     Dough can build up in and around the spindle.      It may not cause an issue, but I don't want to find out.     I also clean my bread dough blade really well.      Make sure all the dough is from the top of it and make sure the center of it is clean.      Then clean the spindle that the blade sits down on real well too.   I wash the bread pan real well inside and wipe the outside off real good with a damp dish cloth, paying close attention to not get water on and in the mechanism area that we just we went over.       Once I have it all clean and ready to go for the next batch, I put the pan back in the bread machine and put the dough blade in place and I'm ready to go for the next batch of bread.

The second thing about my/our bread machines is that the bread pan can only go in one of 2 ways and one of those ways is wrong.    It is possible that they have made them now, so that the bread pan can only go in one way, I hope they have.      But if not, you will have to learn the correct way or again, plan on cutting the life span of your bread machine short.     

Over the course of time I had noticed that one time I made bread, the machine popped and the pan would try to dislodge.      Other times, it was silent and hummed like dream.      It was very annoying that I had a hard time figuring it out.      But eventually, I took a morning and put my sleuth hat on and set out to figure it out.      I turned the pan over and looked closely at the bottom and then looked closely at the inside of the bread machine where the pan fit in the machine.     I looked at those 2 areas for what seemed like days and I finally seen what it was.     Unless you was looking real good for it your wouldn't even see it.      But, there was a slight variance in one side of the mechanism verses the other side.   I mean about a .32nd of an inch variance.     Not even noticeable with the naked eye.     

After finally seeing that, I put my pan in and started a batch of bread.      Put the pan in "right" and it was perfect, put it in the other way and it popped and carried on.      I done that multiple times switching back and forth and I had the same reaction each time.      Right, it was quiet.     Wrong, it popped loud.    So, after working that out, I took a permanent marker and marked it with arrows pointing the correct way on both sides of my pan.     Now, when I set my pan in, it's easy to see the arrows.   

So, if you are new to a bread machine and planning on getting one, pay close attention to how the pan is in the machine and use a permanent marker to put arrows on the outside of the pan pointing towards the front of the machine.     That way when you go to put it back in the machine, you'll get it in right and hopefully avoid it wearing out before it's time.

These were the two main things I wanted to touch on today that could possibly help you get many good years from you bread machine.       My bread machine is a Breadman Pro and they are not even made today.     It was without a doubt, one of the best investments we ever made and when this one does finally stop working, I will be broken hearted, but will have to look for another one.      But I will be armed with some good info gleaned from the last almost 14 years of owning this one.

I do have some pictures to share.

This is what my Breadman Pro looks like on the outside.      Very sleek and "handsome", if you will.     It has several different functions and settings.      It has served me well and I pray that I get many more good years from it.      If I take my own advice, it should last me a few more years.

 This is what it looks like on the inside, with  dough in it.      I use the dough function a lot.      So it will just mix and then shut off.      At the very end of the dough function, it heats up a little and the dough starts rising.      I can leave it in the machine to rise if I want to.      Most of the time I take it out and make my buns or rolls and then let them rise till bake time.                                                                        

This is what the bottom looks like.      You can see where there is grease in it, at and on this mechanism area.    This is why it doesn't ever need to be put in a dishwasher or the sink.     Just wash it on the counter with the edge of it over the sink so the water can run back into the sink.    And then dry it real good and pop it back into the machine.

This is what the inside of my bread machine looks like.      You can see the burner coil that goes around the whole inside of the machine.       And you can also see the mechanism that the bread pan locks in to.   If you click on each picture it will bring up the large picture and you can see the whole thing better.

This is showing my arrow that I drew on with a permanent marker.      Upside down, it shows the arrow pointing to the left, but when it's right side up, the correct way is with the arrow pointing to the right when my bread machine is oriented to the right.                                                                                 

This is may bread pan without the bread dough mixing blade on it.      You can see the spindle area and the 3 rivet heads that holds the bottom mechanism in place.      You can also see a black circle indention around the spindle area.      That is the area that I gently deep clean with a tooth pick.     Dough will build up in that area and personally, I just don't like it.     So, I started cleaning it really well.

This is my bread pan with the little bread dough blade on the spindle.       It's that little piece of metal that makes the whole thing work.    hahaha     Without that, it wouldn't mix at all.      

When the bread machine is in perfect working order, it is a fabulous piece of machinery.       The few tips I have given here, are to help keep these fabulous machines working flawlessly.      I don't have any idea what the new bread machines are like.      These tips may not even apply.       But I still believe that some of them will always apply to them.       Especially the cleaning parts.      I'll never put a bread pan in the water or the dishwasher.       But hey, you do you.     hahaha

Well, this is the swirling mass that was going thru my head while I making a batch of dough and cleaning up around the kitchen while the bread machine was earning it's keep.    hahaha      This is one of those appliances that I will definitely replace, and pretty quickly, when this decides to give up and quit working.     

I hope this is helpful to at least one someone.      If it is, then it was worth the effort to write this down and share the pictures.

Blessings to each of you as we see November soon come to a close.    It's been a tough month and not the way we wanted to see the year end, but thru it all, we can say that God is good.     He loves us all.    I love you all too.   hugs, love and blessings, patty