I settled on the Mini Zo because we do a lot of traveling back & forth to our lakehouse and the Mini is very easy to transport. I also like the smaller footprint of that machine. We're empty nesters, too, and the smaller loaf suits our weekday needs. I think it performs really well with all types of bread - whole wheat/grains, sticky doughs, etc. When we have people over and I want larger, or different sized/shaped loaves it can mix & knead ingredients for those larger recipes and I can let them rise outside the machine and bake them off in my oven. The "minus" in the Mini is that most recipes I find and would like to try - even on the King Arthur website - are not given in measurements for the small loaf size. Of course it's possible to recalculate everything but, for me, it's a pain to have to try measuring things out in fractions and trying to "split eggs", etc., - almost seems like less work to just make the bread without using the machine. There are some books - the Hensperger book cited above, for example - that give measurements for 1 lb. loaves, but most do not. Something to consider - Do you plan to always have it on your countertop? If so, I would probably go with the full size one. Yes, it takes up a bit more space, but not that much. If you won't keep it out & will need to store it and lug it in & out a lot, I'd suggest the Mini - it doesn't take up nearly the storage space and is easy as a tote bag to pick up by the handle and move around. If the ease of portability wasn't a big issue for me and I were to buy another, I'd go with the full size. Cost wise, I believe the difference is negligible over the time the machine should last. And for me, a big part of having the machine is for its convenience. There are times when I want to mix, knead, let rise/puch down, & form bread for baking, but most times when I prepping the rest of the meal I want to just read a recipe, measure it out as written, pop in the ingredients & get the finished product. Good luck with your decision. I bet you'll be pleased w/ either machine. Zo's are great!

Hello everyone! I walked in the door last night at 11:00 p.m. after the flight from hell. I white knuckled it all the way home on the plane. Usually turbulence doesn't bother me. Charles didn't wake me this morning with his usual rustlings, so, I slept in and I'm well rested. That dough master named Teresa really cracked the whip and had me worn out by the time I got home ;-). I had such a good time and was sorry to see the get together end :-( Everyone at Paney Camp was a joy to be around and I highly recommend the get togethers. Looking forward to PFPP in Novemeber. When I got home last night I had a box from a CF friend on the kitchen island. OMG, I couldn't believe it! I'll start a thread as soon as I can. omg, omg, omg! Maggie is here and we are catching up on our time we spend together every week so I need to keep this short. I will be back tomorrow with a few more pictures. I'm running short on time today.

Thanks Teresa, Grainlady and Annie for your help. Mad about Mickey, what a coincidence. The first one was certainly not my best either. Teresa- You answered one of the questions I didn't ask... I wondered if I was supposed to use the paddle then switch to the hook. Do you switch after all ingredients are in I'm guessing? I use my mixer a lot, but for the same few things... cookies, an occasional cake, whipped cream and dog treats. I should probably read the instructions again. Grainlady - here is the recipe... 2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast, or 1 packet active dry yeast dissolved in 2 tablespoons water 1 1/3 cups (10 1/2 ounces) water 1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) vegetable oil 1/4 cup (3 ounces) honey, molasses, or maple syrup 3 1/2 cups (14 ounces) King Arthur Traditional Whole Wheat Flour 1/4 cup (1 ounce) nonfat dried milk 1 1/4 teaspoons salt Mixing: In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients and stir till the dough starts to leave the sides of the bowl. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased surface, oil your hands, and knead it for 6 to 8 minutes, or until it begins to become smooth and supple. (You may also knead this dough in an electric mixer or food processor, or in a bread machine programmed for "dough" or "manual.") Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl, and allow the dough to rise till puffy though not necessarily doubled in bulk, about 60 minutes, depending on the warmth of your kitchen. Shaping: Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled work surface, and shape it into an 8-inch log. Place the log in a lightly greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan, cover the pan loosely with lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow the bread to rise for about 1 hour, or until it's crowned about 1 inch above the edge of the pan. A finger pressed into the dough should leave a mark that rebounds slowly. Baking: Bake the bread in a preheated 350F oven for about 40 minutes, tenting it lightly with aluminum foil after 20 minutes. Test it for doneness by removing it from the pan and thumping it on the bottom (it should sound hollow), or measuring its interior temperature with an instant-read thermometer (it should register 190°F at the center of the loaf). Remove the bread from the oven, and cool it on a wire rack before slicing. Store the bread in a plastic bag at room temperature. Yield: 1 loaf, 16 slices. I think when I made it by hand, I basically did what you were saying. When I tried to strictly follow directions, the dough was too sticky to work with, so I added the flour until I could work with it. I finished kneading with the oil. I didn't punch the dough, but I don't think that hurt much of anything, I only have one spot with a bigger air bubble, so I must have smushed it enough when I shaped it. I have never tried the sponge, in fact, I had never heard of it before last year when I was thinking about learning to make some different types of bread. I will try that sometime. I was taught how to bake bread by my great aunt when I was in elementary school (early 80's??) I make some here and there, but years go by without making any, so I have to regain the "feel" of it. That's why I posted, I the dough didn't feel right when I followed the directions, and I was second guessing myself. I have also discovered you can learn A LOT from these forums, so I thought it might be educational to ask! I think I need to re-acquaint myself with bread baking the way I was taught, and then I should try out some other methods. There seems to be a ton of variety out there, and I should learn some of it. Thank you, and BTW, this loaf did turn out much better than the first one.

FLsandytoes- Proofing the yeast was an interesting "new" twist to making fluffy bread in a bread machine, and one I've never come across. I think there are probably much better methods, but one just never knows..... I had a friend who used fresh yeast in his bread machine and it had to be proofed, so there are some applications for this process in a bread machine. I have a recipe for white sandwich bread that uses 1 cup of white cake mix, as another interesting example for making "fluffy" white bread, due to the soft wheat flour in the cake mix. FYI -- Two tablespoons of non-fat powdered milk, reconstituted, equals 1/2 c. of milk - which is a reasonable amount of milk in a bread recipe without causing crumb and crust problems. Much more than that and you will need to scald the milk first to avoid the textural problems caused by too much milk (from the milk whey protein). Heating the milk denatures the problematic protein. Try the recipe with 1/2 c. of milk and the remaining liquid water and see if you get different results. You will STILL need to adjust the dough for correct hydration (soft sticky ball) while it's starting to knead. --To improve 100% whole wheat bread, add an acidic ingredient, such as ascorbic acid. Some yeast products add ascorbic acid to the yeast. Yeast works better and longer in a slightly acidic atmosphere. There is a substance in wheat germ called Glutathione which breaks down the gluten - and is why we have trouble getting high-rising, fluffy, loaves of whole wheat bread without lightening the loaf by adding bleached/unbleached flour. By adding ascorbic acid it will help counteract the negative effects of Glutathione and will help repair broken gluten bonds (which is the cause of short, compact, squatty loaves). Add 1/8 t. of ascorbic acid (Fruit Fresh will work - it's a mix of ascorbic and citric acid) per 3-cups of flour. You may also find some recipes for 100% whole wheat bread that add lemon juice or vinegar for the same acidic effect, but it takes a lot more lemon juice or vinegar than it does ascorbic acid. You would have to use 6-times as much lemon juice to be as effective as ascorbic acid. -- Another way to lighten 100% whole wheat bread is to do a sponge with a portion of the flour for at least 1-1/2 hours, and as long as overnight. When I incorporated this method I got high-rising loaves of 100% whole wheat bread that were equal to any light-wheat and white breads I made. Soaking whole wheat flour helps lighten the loaf by softening the bran (bran cuts the gluten) and it gives the gluten time to absorb moisture, which creates strong gluten bonds without manipulation (kneading). I always use a sponge method for 100% whole wheat bread made in the bread machine. -- When adding 10-Grain Cereal Mixture, add it towards the end of kneading at the add-in beep. This goes for anything that may have a sharp edge, like nuts, dried fruit, etc. Adding dried fruit (raisins) early in the process and the kneading will pulverize them. If you add this coarse grind of grains/seeds/beans early in the dough making process it will cut the gluten strands as the dough kneads and you'll end up with a short squatty loaf because of the cut gluten. I prefer adding a dry mixture at the add-in beep because I like the "toothy" nuggets from the cereal mixture. If you don't want that much texture, you may want to soak the mixture first, but still wait to add it at the add-in beep towards the end of kneading. -- Another way to improve 100% whole wheat bread is to wait to add the salt and fat after the dough is kneading and the gluten is well developed. Once you add salt, the gluten tightens and kneading is more difficult - with a bread machine or by hand. Adding the fat early in the mixing/kneading "shortens" the gluten strands and development for a finer textured loaf. You can make the exact same recipe, and by adding the fat early or adding the fat late, it will alter the crumb and size of the loaf. Adding fat early for a close crumb (bread used for sandwiches), add it late for a more open crumb (bread used for toasting). These options are neither right or wrong - but are options to help control the crumb of the bread. --The same bread making rules and techniques that apply to making bread without the bread machine also apply to making bread IN a bread machine - such as when to add salt and fat. Bread machines are designed to make bread quick and easy and doesn't always take into considerations these rules and techniques. -- Check the dough for proper hydration while it's kneading, not after it's rising, while you still have time for the ingredients to be mixed into the dough. -- I only use the bread machine for mixing and kneading dough. As soon as it has completed the kneading I stop the bread machine and remove the dough and place it in a dough-rising bucket. I don't want a machine with a timed rise to determine when the dough has "doubled", which is actually determined by the strength of the yeast, moisture and ambient temperature, not a clock. If I have 1-quart of dough patted into the bottom of the dough-rising bucket, I know it has doubled when it gets to the 2-quart line -- whether it takes 25-minutes or 1-hour. In fact, it's better to only allow dough to rise to just UNDER double because our flour no longer has the extensibility it did as when it was bromated, and whole wheat flour was never bromated. The reasons not to use milk for proofing: 1. Water is more reliable than milk. 2. When proofing yeast in milk use 4-times the amount of milk as yeast. Yeast also tends to clump in milk and not proof as well. If you have to stir the milk/yeast mixture, you will end up killing some of the yeast. 3. Yeast works best with sucrose (table sugar) over lactose (milk sugar). 4. Yeast granules can become coated with milk fat (much like fat coats flour when making pastry) which can restrict water from entering and dissolving the yeast. -Grainlady