Bread Machine?

[gentledenny]

I was looking at the salt content of my bread today. yeah i know i do do some weird things but i have the time. I see 230 mg for two pieces. SO i had seen the bread making thread and i know the frugal way would not be the non lazy way. And since i am lazy. DO any of you use a bread machine. do you recommend the one you use or not recommend the one you use. I have did a little research and understand that the salt tames the yeast down a bit. but i still think i can realize a healthy bread by using less salt then the 230 mg i see now. Or if you aint as lazy as i am Please look at your bread, what kind do you use. what is the salt content of it. Sodium ... Thanks for helping me improve my life.

[Jaded]

Here's one I found.

Crusty Salt Free Bread
Years ago, salt was heavily taxed so the people of Tuscany often baked their bread without it. Today they enjoy salt-free bread with salty salami and cheeses. The beaten egg whites make the dough quite moist but they add extra crispiness to the crust – a good way to up leftover egg whites from egg breads or custards.

Large Loaf
1 cup water
1 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp sugar
3 1/4 cups white flour*
1 1/4 tsp bread-machine or instant yeast
2 large egg whites, stiffly beaten

Extra Large Loaf
1 1/4 cups water
2 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
1 tbsp sugar
4 cups white flour*
1 1/2 tsp bread-machine or instant yeast
3 large egg whites, stiffly beaten

*In Canada use all-purpose or bread flour; in the United States use bread flour.

Tip: 2 egg whites = about 1/4 cup ---------- 3 egg whites + about 1/3 cup

1. Add all ingredients except egg whites to machine according to manufacturer’s directions. Select French or basic white cycle.

2. Add egg whites after machine has started to mix and ingredients are moistened. If necessary, scrape down sides with rubber spatula once or twice.

[Missy]

I prefer to use my bread machine (sunbeam) I use it for rising dough. i bake it in the oven. our altitude messes with my machine, loaves never come out right.

I don't have a lower sodium recipe to offer. Jaded's sounds good though. mmmmmmmmmmm

[dcompton]

I loved my bread machine. I am diabetic now and gave it away -- warm fresh bread was too irrresistible to be responsible and think about carbs. I would vote for the machine. Years ago I made all my bread without one, but hated cleaning up the mess after the kneading and all the flour that seemed to get spread around. I'm sure you could decrease the salt. You could probably find some information on low salt in bread baking with some creative google-ing. Check out the Fleischmann's yeast site -- I seem to remember there was a lot of information there, but it might not answer your question.

I used to haul out all the ingredients, and bag up many batches of everything except liquids and yeast. I would put a note in the bag with what kind of bread it was and the remaining ingredients to add. Then all I had to do for weeks after was just dump it in, added the last two or three things and voila! Totally hassle free bread. Ah, those were the days! And no flour mess to clean up. Can you tell I don't like messing around with flour?

[gentledenny]

thank you for the advice and ideals. i was beginning to think there were no bread makers or everyone just did it without the machines. Of course as a man, I love to cool most of the time but the clean up. grrrrrr.

[wanderinggrandma]

My DH wanted a bread maker. So he made exactly 1 loaf of bread. From a box. And there it sat. I love to bake, cook and EAT! So I started using it because it has a delay feature that lets you wake up to baked, warm bread. Or come home from work to dinner in the crockpot and fresh warm bread in the bread maker.

I have found that bread without salt has a coarser texture but that was about it. You just have to experiment. If you don't like how it tastes, make it into bread cubes for dressing or croutons or feed it to the birds.

Try this site for bread machine recipes:

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Interesting site and has a "sister site" for heathly eating and recipes.

I also have a Bosch Mixer and do make most of my bread dough with it. I enjoy forming the dough into whatever--cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls, bread sticks. I use oil on the counter and my hands and not flour when I'm working the dough. It keeps the dough from getting to dry and it gives a beautiful golden color to the baked product. It is a lot easier to clean up than the flour mess I make.