Sounds like some of you folks need to try a newer machine. My six or seven year old one has all kinds of settings, including 3 crust settings. The darkest setting is so crispy, you have to be careful eating it so it doesn’t cut your mouth up.
I do this, because my skin is so sensitive that kneading will cause my hands to turn red and irritated (contact dermatitis). I usually rise in a bowl rather than in the bread machine, but sometimes I just leave it in the machine. And I always shape the loaf myself. Plus, it makes great pasta dough; I make homemade noodles a lot in the winter, and very often on a Sunday we’ll have homemade chicken soup with homemade noodles and homemade bread. I go out and get some good cheese, and there just isn’t anything better on a nasty day.
I’ve had mine for ten years, a gift from my father. Mostly I use mine as Fenris does - as a kneading machine, for the same reasons.
And don’t forget, folks - when you bake your own bread it is not going to be full of preservatives so it won’t last long if you don’t keep the leftovers in the refrigerator.
As if that is going to be a problem. 
Mrs. FtG cooks a lot. I kept suggesting that I get her a bread machine and she thought she wouldn’t use it. Finally asked for one. Got one for like $5 at a garage sale. They go for $10-20 at thrift stores.
She loves it and uses it 2-3 times/weekend. Bread, rolls, pizza dough and on and on.
For bread, she uses it only for mixing, kneading and rising. For the final baking she puts it in pans, let’s it do it’s final rise and then bakes it.
A tremendous time saver and makes Real Bread.
Disagree. I’m someone who will make a French onion soup that takes 6 hours (most of that is hands-off, but y’know) or make everything in a trifle from scratch (including the coconut macaroons and custard), but I friggin’ love the bread machine I got for free from a friend. We’ve had it for about 5-6 months now and literally have not bought store bread since. Even though I love baking, that wouldn’t happen if I made it by hand.
Yeah. I hope Athena doesn’t use a crock pot/ slow cooker, since it’s basically the same thing
I’ve never made bread, and a couple of months ago I got a Panasonicbread machine. I love it. I like all the different breads you can make - like brioche, spelt, fruit (one I made was so fruity, it was almost a pudding), nan (not very successful, but I think that was me), and pizza (I’m never buying another pizza again).
When I’m making ‘standard’ loaves, I usually let the bread machine do all the work, but for some of the more specialist recipes, I let the bread machine do the kneading, and then I’ll take over and shape and cook the dough.
I’d recommend a good bread making recipe book. There so many things you can make that I’d never thought of.
My grandmother and my parents had a bread machine. The shape of the loaf isn’t ideal for sandwiches, IMO, but it’s fine for just having bread and butter with a meal, or having a couple of slices of toast for breakfast. I found that both breadmakers made extremely tasty bread, and this was at least 15 years ago.
I’m afraid to let a breadmaker come into this house, because I KNOW that my husband and I will then start living on bread alone, despite the old saying that man can’t do that.
Here’s an idea of what you could expect if you tried.
I have. I’m super lazy and have what I call T-Rex arms- my arms are short and weak with very little stamina, like the arms of a T-Rex. If this recipe required any vigorous kneading or stirring, there’s absolutely no chance I’d do it more than once. I have made bread with this recipe several times.
A really nice feature of this bread is that it’s good with about 1/4 cup of the water replaced with beer (lager works well). Now there’s an open beer, and it would be wasteful if nobody drank the rest of it, wouldn’t it?
Inspired by this thread, I decided to make bread last night. Guess who’s oft-used, 15-year-old Black & Decker breadmaker no longer works? I’m blaming it on your post.
StGermain, you and I apparently have the same cookbook, because that is my go-to recipe for white bread. I vouch for its yumminess.
The other option is to learn to make sandwiches with non-loaf-shaped bread. One way is to slice the boule (the squashed-ball shaped loaf), then cut each slice in half in the middle. You’ve got two fairly symmetric slices of bread. You’ll have different size slices from different parts of the boule, and your sandwiches won’t be square or triangular, but some of us don’t mind that.
The best thing about a breadmaker is that you can load it the night before and set it to finish in the morning. I will set it along with my coffee pot to finish at the same time and you wake up to a house that smells like a cafe. Awesome on a Sunday morning.
Ahh something I do know a little about!. I’ve now got a breadmaker. Here’s the link I looked at which persuaded me to go with Panasonic: Electronics, Beauty & Appliances | Panasonic UK & Ireland
I also looked at reviews on various sites, and they seemed almost universally good. But you should shop around. Find what ticks all the boxes for you!
I’m due to be selling my flat soon, and I’m told that the smellof freshly baked bread and freshly brewed coffee, can make your property feel more inviting and homely! Here’s hoping!
Good luck and bon appetit!
I have this one too. It’s very nice 
This was hilarious but also the reason I won’t buy a bread machine.
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