Big Flop

About a year and a half ago, my friend Lisa over at Just Here Just Now bought a 20(ish)-year-old bread machine from our local Goodwill.  And she immediately fell in love with it.  Then right around that same time, I read Michael Pollen's Omnivore's Dilemma, and as I mention over in the sidebar (look over to the right), it changed my life.  What that book brought to light for me is the huge divide that separates us from our food.  From growing our own food.  From making our own food.  From eating in a responsible manner.  So I committed to turning things around.  To trying to get back to some basics.  To trying to feed my family more nutritious food.  Real food.  And seriously, what better place to start than bread.

Lisa's purchase inspired me greatly, so off I went to look for my own Goodwill bread machine.  After a few weeks of searching, a friend of mine finally scored one for me...for a whopping $5.  My sweet 'new' (to me) beauty was 17 years old and showed a bit of wear and tear.  I cleaned her up with loads of soap and water, then with a vinegar solution...just to be extra clean.  Then I purchased several kinds of flour, yeast, vital wheat gluten, and on and on.  Then I took off on my bread making journey.  And despite the fact my machine made some crazy loud noises and produced an unidentified burning odor, it sure did produce some quite tasty bread.  Or at least quite tasty to me.  I couldn't get the husband on board, because it wasn't shaped like a regular loaf of bread and it had a big divot in the middle from where I had to pull out the mixing paddle.  The kids didn't take to it mostly because it wasn't as soft and mushy as store bought bread.  So then I just gave up.  Instead, I found a source for bread that is easy to just run out and buy and it's made with the basic "whole wheat flour, honey, water, yeast" ingredients and it tastes good.  Plus the husband and kids will eat it no questions asked.  Oh, and it's locally made (not necessarily local ingredients, but at least locally made).  Sounds like a win-win, but the problem...it's made with margarine instead of butter.  That one fact and that one fact alone keeps me on my 'bake my own bread' mission.

Fast forward to today...I took a long break from bread making, and in the meantime the same friend that scored me my original machine scored me a more up-to-date model (this time at no charge).  I had mixed feelings about giving up my first love, but the snazzy buttons and shiny lights won me over.  The loaf the new machine makes is shaped more like a traditional loaf (although we still have the divot problem), and it takes up less room in my pantry...two good things.  However, the machine just doesn't work.  I've tried recipe after recipe and this is what I get:

A Big Ol' Flop

Or it burns. Or it's too dense. Or it's too {add in an adjective that is NOT what you want in a bread}.

 
And yes, I realize it may be user error and not the machine's fault.  But I felt flawless with my old machine.  Now I feel winless.  So my new plan - to master some basic dough recipes.  Then turn the dough out into bread loaf pans and go from there.

For the record - I got a KitchenAid stand mixer for Christmas.  So bread dough, here I come!  Anyone got a good recipe to share?