The Wonder Machine

Well, at least it’s currently my wonder machine.  My new bread maker, which allows me to do other tasks during the day and sleep early at night, only to wake up to the wonderful aroma of bread wafting in from the kitchen, as it keeps the loaf warm for breakfast.

Now, bear in mind that my bread maker has all those functions.  Surprised? I was, when I first started to research for one that would have most of the functions that fit my requirements.

A piece of advice: Don’t let the price be your first criteria, or where it’s made.  It just does not work to our advantage.

Why? Because for the first reason, I found that a good bread maker would cost us more than what we perhaps have in mind for a budget, not to mention, in the long run, would more than pay off for itself with the savings from making our own bread.

The second reason stemmed from the fact that some of us are a bit wary with items made in China.  As I write, more and more brands of electrical goods will commission their appliances in Chinese factories according to strict specifications stated by the brand company, not the manufacturer.  Besides, sub-quality products can be made by other western world manufacturers, so let’s not start overanalysing here.

Back to my criteria for a good bread maker.  First one is size.  I chosed to have one that is big enough to consume for a day or two so I won’t have to bake everyday, yet require a small machine which would fit into a small space on my kitchen counter or in the pantry where I keep the other appliances such as the toaster, blender, rice cooker.  Don’t mind me, I hate clutter on my kitchen top, so I fit them all in the pantry.  Usually bread makers make 2lb loaves, which is pretty huge, but nowadays, you get the ones making 1lb loaves too.  Also a small one means if you muck up the dough, your wastage is minimized.  So I bought the 1lb version.

On my list of requirements are also for the bread maker to have a timer, and a warmer function, so that I could pop the ingredients into the machine the night before and have fresh made loaf in the morning.  And the cleaning must be quite easy.

The following week I will divulge and discuss the rest of my bread maker criteria with you all.  Stay tune!