Hectic schedules are a normal way of life for many of us. Between work, home and family life there are plenty of responsibilities and obligations to fulfill. Children keep us busy with activities, too. When is there time to cook, let alone do baking?
Some of us save baking for those special occasions like birthdays and holidays, simply due to the time factor alone. Betty Crocker and her crew has helped out by packaging the dry ingredients needed for cakes and desserts. Starting out with a box cake mix will save you the time of measuring ingredients. Cake mixes, muffins and specialty dessert mixes are available at your local grocery store.
Bread Pan
Store shelves are also stocked with frozen dough that can be baked into a loaf of bread or dinner rolls. All you need to do is place the frozen dough onto an appropriate baking dish and bake according to the package directions. Although it's fast and easy to make, there is something to be desired in the breads made from commercially prepared frozen dough. Perhaps it's the preservatives that must be used.
Making bread with a bread machine is the best of both worlds. It saves you time and you get hot, delicious bread straight from the oven. No preservatives needed. The bread is prepared by the machine automatically. You have to measure the ingredients into the mixing pan, which serves as the baking pan as well, and select the baking cycle on the bread machine panel. Then, you can either start the bread immediately or select a time to delay preparation.
Most bread machines allow you to start the machine at a later time so that bread can be finished and ready for your meal. Fill the machine and program it to start early in the morning so you can have some fresh-baked bread and jam for breakfast. Ready the machine in the morning and select a delay time that will prepare the bread later and have it ready when you get home from work.
The hands-on time required to make bread from scratch is hours longer than the time needed when using a bread machine. With both methods you need to get out the ingredients and measure out the amounts called for in the recipe. The time spent mixing ingredients, kneading the dough, waiting for it to rise, kneading and rising again, transferring to a baking vessel and baking the bread will cost about a half a day. Sure there's some down time when you're just waiting for the dough to rise or for the bread to bake, but for much of the time you're in the flour. And don't forget there are utensils, bowls and a floured surface that will be have to be cleaned.
Contrast that with a couple minutes needed to program a bread machine. With the bread machine method, after you measure ingredients into the pan, you just have to hit a few buttons on the control panel and you can walk away. Your bread will be ready in a few hours. Making cakes in a bread machine is just as easy - just be sure to choose the baking cycle for cakes. Whether you're baking a special treat or making bread for supper, using a bread machine sure saves time!
Bread Machines Save You Time in the Kitchen
Naomi Gallagher is a writer and a fantastic cook with a love for machines that help her make the most of her time in the kitchen. Making homemade bread has become one of her specialties. Learn more by visiting her sites where she likes to write about making bread and cooking great food: http://lazysusanspicerack.com/ and http://toastmasterbreadmachine.com/.
No comments:
Post a Comment