24 new of 66 responses total.
Jim tried out the machine he found at the curb, with the timer. It tells him how much time is left to finish and light med and dark are 7 min apart in cooking time. He used the dough blade from the other machine and the same recipe and procedure and got bread that actually rose and had the texture fos omething other than a wet sponge. It also did not burn on the outside (perhaps because it was 3.5 instead of 2.5 inches high in the pot) and tasted better. So either they improved the technology or the other machine has something wrong with it (maybe itw as supposed to keep warm during the rise and does not?). The pot and gasket on the found machine are beat up so he will rob them from the other machine and then attempt to take the other one apart and get it working with computer control so that he can run each cycle as long as he wants. Has anyone experience with this sort of thing?
Jim has come to the conclusion that the reason the first bread machine was baking unleavened bread is the yeast was sort of old, but he still wants to take it apart to computerize it as an experiment. I should go buy the other one at Kiwanis if I want to make bread at my place, he says.
Kiwanis did not have any bread machines for sale (they get them in often) but
two former electronics customers heard me ask for broken bread machines and
dropped one off on Jim's porch. He found a blown thermal fuse and is trying
to replace it with something similar (different max temp and physical size
since nobody in town carries the right part) from the popcorn popper. This
one will make bread in either 3 or 4 hours rather than 2 hours 15 min, which
should give the whole wheat dough a better chance of approaching the top of
the pan. He has carved a cast aluminum dough blade for the curbside find.
I am supposed to order another 50 pounds of flour.
The blender and juicer just sit there unused. The idea was to make
tofu with them.
Jim reports that his latest bread machine, which he fixed by replacing the thermal fuse with one from the popcorn popper (which is for a higher temperature) seems to have burnt up the motor (or maybe the fuse again?) and it made a bad smell and stopped working. He thinks maybe it does not like his heavy dough and he should have added more water, but he used the usual recipe. Has not taken it apart the see what really happened.
A bad motor may have caused the original fuse to blow.
Jim thinks only if it was overloaded. Too stiff a mix? What other appliance might have a motor that would fit a bread machine?
Another bread machine (with something different broken)? My impression is that those are rather specialized stepper motors.
Maybe he could learn to rewind the motor coil? He already rebuilt a refrigerator starter coil (just cleaned and adjusted it).
resp:14 I wish I could find a yogurt maker. Around here, they are very difficult to find. I wanted my mother to give us her Yogurta, but she said no way-- it had sentimental value, and you can't get it in the States. (She got it in Spain.) I guess we are going to have to beg my grandparents (her parents). Our veggie/rice steamer, our toaster, and our waffle iron seem to get the most work. Sometimes the electric teakettle is used. Everything else is used pretty sparsely. I used to use my Juiceman more, but I've fallen out of the habit.
I am pretty sure you can get a yogurt maker if you really want one. Check out http://www.lucyskitchenshop.com/yogourmet.html
They tend to show up at all the yard sales and rummage sales here for $5, in fact I think we even saw one at the curb recently. Any oven with a pilot light would work but you say WA state is all electric. YOu can also try making yogurt in a closed box with a light bulb for heat (a styrofoam cooler might work, with the pot of yogurt-to-be in it).
resp:52 excellent. It might work. resp:53 I don't doubt it. Yes, WA state is all electric. Don't know about doing it from my own design. Perhaps you could send one? I'll ask my grandparents, first, however.
btw, resp:52 again-- I like how the container is big-- I've seen yogurt makers that did little individual cups (blech) and that's what my grandparents have.
You don't need a design, just a warm spot for the milk with the culture in it to sit in overnight. Near a heat vent might do, in winter, or on a radiator.
not really willing to do that here.
Sounds like bread machines, even broken/refixed ones, were pretty popular a few years ago... Do you still use one these days and how do you like it? What about other electric gadgets in this day and age?
I use mine occasionally but have found that it is easier to just buy bread at the store. But, a person cant get "just baked" bread from the store usually so sometimes there is nothing like having a bread machine.
We can't buy whole grain bread without additives at the store and we are not even near a food store. THe local bakery mixes in white flour.
Can you buy zucchini bread at the store?
Bread without corn products (which my family members are allergic to) is too expensive for us to buy regularly, so I use our bread machine regularly to make dough (5-8 loaves a week, depending partly on whether our older son is in residence). I also use a yogurt maker as needed (1-5 times a month, also depending on whether Jonathan is around).
We have never put any corn products into bread. What corn products are in store bread? Sugar?
high fructose corn syrup (sugar) is a very common ingredient in bread
Immersion blender Analog crockpot with a temperature controller (sous vide, bain marie, rice cooker) George Foreman grill
We just used a hand-cranked shredder to make potato pancakes. It was so much fun we made three times as much shredded potato as we could cook and eat, which considering Jim's appetite is a huge amount. I found it for $2 at a yard sale in the original 50s or 40s box. The rubber suction feet don't stick too well any more.
You have several choices: