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I think you mentioned that about your cooker before. Are you talking the oval type slow cooker or crock pot type. Just trying to get an idea here.

For those that don't know, slow cookers have their elements more at the bottom while crock pots have their up the sides which is why they tell you to fill your crock pot about 3/4 full for cooking.

How old would you say your cooker is. Just trying to gauge it compared to the age of my crock pot. I do think that over time or various manufactures have made changes.

In fact the same is true for bread machines. I did so much research before I bought my bread machine. I had lost my book for my first machine and nothing I tried worked in it, including a so called universal bread machine booklet found online, so I didn't want to put a lot of money into a new one. Even some of the expensive ones were getting some bad reviews, so I read a lot of reviews and settled on this one. Breadman TR520 Programmable Bread Maker for 1-, 1-1/2-, and 2-Pound Loaves. $59 and no shipping.

Amazon

So far, no problems and I really like it. Except for one thing. What moron thought it was a good idea to use white text on yellow?? I copied that page from the booklet, cut it out and taped to the inside cupboard door for quick reference. Really only need it for cycle selection and at this point I'm still playing with 'basic'.

One thing that I've noticed is that all bread machines seem to be different. Sometimes it is the amount of heat used for cooking and that all by itself makes a world of difference. Recipes that work with no adjustment for one machine may not work without tweaking for another. But, using the booklet that came with the machine helps with the tweaking process.

We don't use a lot of bread, but when we do, we try to use those that a re lower on the glycemic index. Whole grains (haven't tried that in the machine yet), ryes (tried one and thought it tasted more like wheat, will add more rye flour next time), and sourdough. I don't know if there is a difference between sourdough bread and buttermilk bread, but I'm going to find out. This is a recipe I found online that we like a lot.

Honey Buttermilk Bread
1/2 cup buttermilk 1/2 cup milk + 1 Tb 3 tablespoons honey 1 tablespoon margarine or butter	3 cups bread flour 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
Place ingredients in the bread machine pan in the order suggested by the manufacturer. Select Basic bread cycle, and start machine. Makes one (1 1/2 pound) loaf.

This next bread recipe I found recently and am going to give it a try. I've always wanted to try a sourdough but didn't want the hassle of keeping a starter in the fridge and all that. With several containers of flour in there already fridge space is at a premium. :) But, this recipe caught my eye as I hadn't seen one like it with all the looking around I did. If anyone has already tried this please let me how it came out. Based on the flour amount I would say it probably makes a
1 1/2 lb loaf.

Sourdough Bread

Starter
1 1/8 cups water
1 cup bread flour
1/2 teaspoon yeast

Dough
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
2 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons dry milk
2 1/2 teaspoons yeast

Place the starter ingredients in your machine fully assembled pan. Select the dough cycle and press start. After the starter has mixed for 10 minutes. Stop the machine and allow the starter to sit and ferment for 3 hours to 3 days. The longer it sits the more pungent and sourdough like it will become.

Then place the dough ingredients in the pan with the starter. Select the basic or white cycle and press start. About 10 minutes after your machine has started kneading the dough you need to open the lid and check the consistency of the dough. The dough should be starting to form a smooth round ball. When you touch the dough with your finger it should be slightly tacky to the touch however no dough should remain on your finger when you pull it away. If your dough is too dry add 1 tbsp. of water at a time (allowing the machine to knead for a minutes or so between additions) until the dough is the proper consistency. If the dough is too wet add 1 tbsp. of flour at a time (allowing the machine to knead for a minute or so between additions) until the dough is the proper consistency. These types of adjustments are not unusual and don't mean there is something wrong with the recipe.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 152 Calories; 2g Fat (13.8% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 28g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 5mg Cholesterol; 198mg Sodium.

Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

NOTES : As the starter ferments it will give a strong sour yeasty smell, this is fine and what it should smell like. Also, if you let the starter go for the full 3-days you could see a clear or lightly colored liquid form on the top. This is hooch and is perfectly normal. Instead of using white bread flour in the starter use rye flour. Then add 1 tsp. of whole or ground caraway seeds to the dough ingredients. Use molasses in place of the sugar. This makes a great rye bread. Make this recipe on the dough cycle and use the dough for 2 large pizza crusts.

As a ps, I think you should always put the ingredients into the pan in the order the manufacturer suggests. That Mustard Rye one that I posted earlier puts ingredients in backwards to mine, but I don't know if that is an older recipe or what. Did older machines put flour in first? Anyway I just wanted to remind people of that in case there are others that are new to bread machines like myself.