Thanks for your help. Linda confirmed our suspicion that the bread machine was too hot. We still had time, so called Amazon for a return authorization. I want hardware that can handled the recipes I love, so will order the Zojirushi BB-CEC20WB tomorrow. If you're interested, here is our original recipe for raisen bread that is wonderful!!! 1-1/4 cups water 1/3 cup honey 2T butter, softened 1-1/4 cups whole wheat flour 2 cups bread flour 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. Vietnamese cinnamon 1tsp. Penzeys single-strength vanilla extract 2 tsp. rapid rise yeast 1 cup dried raisens We've made this recipe for 10 years with great results. It has a soft crust, doesn't blow out the top, the inside texture is moist, but not gummy and the flavor is amazing. Thanks, everyone, for your help. Jim

Marilyn (fammsimm) - "Must this be done immediately or is it possible to freeze (or refrigerate) the dough for future baking? Any tips you could share?" The dough cycle on your bread machine is designed to make the dough only, up to the point where it needs to be formed, allowed to rise once more, then baked. This particular cycle feature comes in handy when you want to take the dough and make dinner rolls, hamburger/hot dog buns, cinnamon rolls, English Muffins, bread sticks, pizza, calazone, bierocks, kolaches, panned or free-formed loaves, etc. Things that must be formed and baked in your conventional oven. I'm a do-it-now personality, so I remove the dough from the bread machine and form, rise, and bake. The only time I retard bread dough (or items made with bread dough) is if I have too much to be accomodated in the oven and I don't want to risk over-proofing the dough before I can get it baked. So if I make 4 loaves and my oven only accodomates 2 loaves, I'll form the loaves, cover with plastic wrap, place 2 in the refrigerator to slow down the rising, allow the other two to raise, and bake. About the time the first two go into the oven, bring out the refrigerated loaves, and allow them to finish proofing. They should be ready to go into the oven about the time the first two come out. I also refrigerate half the dough when I make English Muffins because it's easier to work with in smaller amounts. It's all about timing and years of mistakes and experience. Bread is a very humbling thing... Here's where it can get tricky...especially for newbies. Can the dough be refrigerated? Yes. It's called retarding the dough. You can retard formed loaves for a few hours or dough for up to 5 days. To retard dough, you will need to remove it from the bread machine BEFORE it goes through a rise cycle (as soon as it stops kneading, remove it) to retard the dough in the refrigerator for later use. The dough will continue to rise, even in the cold confines of the refrigerator, and you may occasionally need to knock the dough down. The dough needs to be well-covered in a sealed dough-rising bucket, or a bowl covered with plastic wrap so the "skin" of the dough doesn't dehydrate in the refrigerator. A helpful hint when making refrigerator dough: they keep best if there is some potato - or any pureed vegetable - (mashed potatoes, potato flakes, etc.) in the recipe. The potato preserves moisture in the dry climate of the refrigerator. But any type of dough can be refrigerated successfully for a short period of time, up to 12-24 hours. If you are going to keep it for several days, you will want to choose a recipe with some potato in it. Most refrigerator dough is ready to use after 8 hours, and will keep for up to 5 days. When you are ready to use refrigerated dough, punch it down. Shape, cover, let rise and bake. One of the famous recipes for this type of dough is Betty Crocker Potato Refrigerator Dough. You can Google the recipe to give you an idea of what you can make with refrigerator dough, even though it's not a bread machine recipe. Retarding dough in the refrigerator is also a way to add flavor to the bread. Can the dough be frozen? Yes. It is best if you form it before you freeze it, and needs to be used within 4 weeks, whereas baked bread can keep for 3 months in the freezer. Check the link below for complete information about freezer dough. I'm like many of the others, I only use my bread machine for making dough. I don't even let it rise in the bread machine. I use a dough rising bucket instead, so that I can judge when the dough has doubled. Dough doesn't rise to a clock and it's easy for dough to over-proof in a bread machine. But bread machines are great labor-saving devices when it comes to kneading. I have carpal tunnel and tennis elbow in both arms and wouldn't trade my Zojirushi for anything (other than another Zojirushi). The bread machine is what I use to make all our yeast and sourdough breads and I bake some kind of bread/s at least once or twice a week. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Baking 911 - freezing bread dough

robin, I adapt non-bread machine recipes to use in the bread machine all the time, I've never found one that didn't turn out, so I don't see why it wouldn't work the other way around. I'd mix all the wet ingredients, beat in the dry ones, then knead until it feels right, probably the obligatory 7-10 minutes. Let rise, knock down, shape, rise and bake. Although 350 is my "universal" temp I'd do bread at 375F for 25 or 30 minutes, depending on the shape of the loaf. make sure your liquid ingredients are warm, but not too hot, so you don't kill the yeast. And no, I never proof today's yeast and I haven't experienced any problem, as long as the yeast isn't outdated. Heck, you know my theory on bread. People have been baking it in one form or another for centuries in everything from fireplaces to the most expensive ovens, or on hoes over a fire. Toss everything in a bowl, mix, knead, rise, bake. It'll be good. That recipe, BTW, looks really good, I think I might try that myself as soon as my loaf of high protein honey wheat is gone. Annie

This is my absolute favorite a friend makes with her Breadman Ultimate. Cinnamon Raisin Whole Wheat (For bread machine ultimate) 2 lb. loaf 1 1/4 c. water (use 1 1/2 c. with all whole wheat) * 1 egg 1 1/2 Tbsp. oil 1 tsp. salt 3 1/2 c. whole wheat flour * 1/4 c. dry milk 3 Tbsp. sugar 1/2 c. each raisins & walnuts 2 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. vanilla 1 tsp. active dry yeast Put in machine in order given. *the water is increased because orig. recipe called for half all-purp flour and half whole wheat.