Little over a year ago bought a bread machine. Had thought about getting one for years but resisted as I enough unused kitchen gadgets. Finally bought a roughly $70 one. Was tired of buying a loaf of bread once a week and tossing half of because wife and I don’t eat that much anymore and don’t like freezing bread. Can make a loaf for a few cents so don’t feel bad about waste. Now use it every 7 to 10 days. We now make fancy breads that I would pass up in supermarket. Have started letting machine do mixing, kneading and resting. Take dough out for final rise and then bake in oven, oven does a better job baking than machine.
What kind did you buy?
I have an old Breadman that always worked really well, especially with 100% whole wheat, which is hard for a machine to pull off; but I didn’t like the shape of the loaf. I’ve been looking at the Cuisinart CBK-200 for an upgrade, as it is ‘convection’ and has a more normal loaf shape and size.
(I’ve looked at the Zojirushi ones, as they make the most ‘normal’ loaf size. But for the price and some of the issues I’ve seen in reviews, I’m not sure it’s worth it.)
I use “Steve’s Artisan Breads” recipes, and he makes it so easy, I never use my bread machine anymore. But when I did, I would let it go through everything but the final rise, then I would open it up, take the mixing blade out, and then let it rise and bake in the machine. That way, several slices would not be ruined by the blade baking in the bread.
https://m.youtube.com/results?sp=mAEA&search_query=Steves+artisan+breads