To start out, follow all directions exactly. Use whatever type of flour the recipe calls for, do not substitute ap flour for bread flour. Your machine should have come with a recipe book. Start with the basic white bread recipe (always the easiest to make) and after that comes out the way you want it (maybe even on the first try!) move on to another recipe. Since you are not familiar with bread making I would suggest reading everything that came with your machine before you start. I know my machine came with a book about how the machine works, and a recipe book that included a couple tutorials on using the machine (one for basic white bread and one for white bread in the quick cycle). Also, very important, be sure to measure the ingredients as exact as possible, and add the ingredients in the order the book tells you. Good luck! I hope you enjoy your new machine.

Joanne

I'll second Joanne's suggestions - all good ones. Read the book that came with your machine, follow its instructions, and try a basic white recipe and the quick white bread before you attack something else.

My bread machine (West Bend, about 10 years old now) came with a Classic Rye recipe that's pretty good. Once you're familiar with how the ingredients are supposed to go in your machine, and how large a loaf your machine makes, you can try this one.

CLASSIC RYE BREAD (From West Bend bread machine booklet)
For a 1-1/2 lb loaf

1 cup + 1 tbsp water 75F-85F
1 tbsp butter or margarine
2 cups bread flour
1 cup medium rye flour
1 tbsp nonfat dry milk powder
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp caraway seed (optional)
2 tsp active dry yeast OR 1-1/2 tsp bread machine yeast

My machine calls for putting the liquid ingredients and butter in the pan. Then add the dry ingredients except for the yeast. Tap the pan to settle the dry ingredients, level them, and then make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Put the yeast in the well. Lock the pan into the bread maker. What buttons you have to press depends on your manufacturer's instructions. Mine would be Select 1-1/2 lb loaf and then START.

If you need the measurements for a 1-1b loaf, let me know - I have those.

DonnaR/CA

Lora, I make all my bread in the bread machine. French bread, Italian bread, foccaccia, rye, honey wheat, cherry yogurt, chocolate cherry, multi-grain, sourdough. It all goes into the bread machine.

I don't bake it in the machine, only because I don't like the crust, it gets softer than I like it, kind of steamed. I put my bread machine on "dough", let it run though the cycle, then form it into loaves or dinner rolls or cinnamon rolls or whatever, let it rise and bake it in the oven.

First, AP flour is fine, I used it for years. The bread flour sometimes makes a lighter loaf, especially if whole grain flours are also used, but I successfully use King Arthur AP all the time. It's a higher protein flour than Gold Medal/Pillsbury/etc., but it's still just AP flour.
In addition, King Arthur Flour Company (I think it was them) did a study and found that bread machine bread actually rose higher and had a better texture than even bread made by hand, the machine was made for exactly that purpose.

Rye bread? Sure, I do it in the bread machine. I like the darker pumpkernickel, the molasses and cocoa makes it dark, but I make the lighter caraway rye too. Here's a recipe for the dark stuff:

Bread Machine Pumpernickel

For a 1-1/2 to 2-pound bread machine:
1 3/4 cups lukewarm water
1/4 cup vegetable oil, room temperature
5 Tablespoons molasses
2 Tablespoons wheat gluten
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons caraway seeds
4 Tablespoons cocoa powder
2 3/4 cups rye flour
2 3/4 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons yeast for bread machines

Place all of the ingredients in a bread maker in the order given. Set machine for regular cycle and light color, and press the start button. When the bread is finished, remove from the pan and transfer to a board or work surface. Cover bread with a sheet of plastic film, then cover plastic with a lightly moistened kitchen or tea towel. Set aside to cool. This is wonderful with unsalted butter while still warm. Or refrigerate bread to firm it up, then cut into thin even slices for pumpernickel sandwiches.

I don't have any trouble with grains on the outside of the loaf, I just brush with egg white or an egg wash, then sprinkle with the grains or seeds and bake in the oven. I'm not sure how you could do that in the machine other than brush the top and sprinkle.

I've also found that almost any bread recipe will work in the bread machine. I've used Ann T's Italian bread recipe, Julia Child's French Bread recipe, Grandma's bread recipe that's at least two, maybe three generations old. They all work, I just put liquids in first, then dry ingredients, set to dough and let it go.

All these loaves are bread machine bread, including the rye:
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Well, you get the idea. Do anything you like in the machine, what's the worst that could happen? It's just flour, water and a bit of yeast. It's not expensive (too much) so if a loaf doesn't happen to turn out just like you want it, it's not a big loss and it can always be bread crumbs or croutons!

Then, when you get really confident, you can start on sourdough. (grin)

Annie

Re AP vs Bread flour... It much depends on your flour source. In Canada, most of our flour crop (and we grow lots!!!) is "hard wheat", a high gluten product. This is what our AP flour consists of. I seldom see "bread flour" in my supermarkets. I lived in England and Texas as well, and their plain/AP flours were softer, low-gluten domestic flours, and unsuitable for most breads. There, I used "strong" or bread flour, which I was told were usually Canadian imports.

Mind you, like much of life, try what you have easy access to. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, look around for bread flour.

Lots of great information shared already...

1. Respect the type of yeast called for in the recipe. If you use the QUICK cycle, you must use a fast-acting yeast (Bread Machine Yeast, SAF-Instant, or Quick or Rapid-Rise yeast). Active Dry Yeast and the fast-acting yeast products are NOT the same thing. Active Dry Yeast is not as fast-acting.

2. Don't be afraid to open the lid and check the condition of the dough after it's been mixing/kneading for 5 minutes. Bread isn't something where you load the ingredients, hit the start button, and walk away. You need to check the dough for the correct hydration. The dough should be formed into a very soft dough ball. When you touch it with a finger tip, a tiny amount of dough should stick to your finger. At this point, you can add water or flour, as needed to achieve the correct texture.

3. I never bake the bread in the bread machine. I use the dough cycle and form and bake breads in my conventional, convection, or solar oven.

4. Out of all the bread machine cookbooks I have, this one is my favorite and I've never had a bread failure from all the recipes I've used in it. "Bread Machines for Dummies" by Glenna Vance and Tom Lacalamita. It has great general instructions and a good selection of recipes.

5. If you DO substitute All-Purpose flour where bread flour is called for, you will need less hydration, so start with 1-2 T. less water. Because there is less gluten in AP flour, it will not soak up as much hydration.

6. It's helpful to know what the flour capacity is for your particular bread machine so you don't make recipes that contain more than your machine can contain. I have a Zojirushi V-20 and it has a 5-cup flour capacity. I can make 1-pound, 1-1/2-pound, and 2-pound recipes.

7. Not all bread machines can make 100% whole wheat bread. It's a stiffer dough and some machines can't take that stress, so check your manual before making 100% whole wheat bread. So use recipes for Light Wheat bread, which will include both bleached/unbleached flour and whole wheat flour.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Kansas Wheat Commission - Bread Machine

Thank you GrainLady!!!

Point #2 is something everyone with a bread machine NEEDS to know!

The first loaf I made was too wet but I thought that was the way a bread machine recipe was supposed to be.... My second loaf came out really dry and extremely heavy... It was a rye bread recipe that I've made the regular way a few times without any problems... It didn't dawn on me until just now that when I've made the rye bread before I never added all the flour... lol

Rita