Bread making

[Mike]

So my Mom gave my wife a bread maker because she doesn't use it any more and we have a few questions...

Why would anyone buy store-bought bread after tasting homemade?

Is oven bread better then what comes from the bread machine? It is so easy to use the machine that I can't imagine doing it by hand unless there is a significant difference in taste or quality.

What is the difference between All-purpose flour, bread flour, and self-rising flour? Wally-world sells All-purpose in much larger bags, but all the recipes call for bread flour.


Thanks

[goosecreekfarm]

Oven bread is different from machine bread. Lots of folks use the machine for mixing/kneading and bake in the oven. Of course wood cookstove bakes the best bread... yum!

Briefly, bread flour has more gluten than all purpose, which is what helps bread rise and be kind of chewy. You can substitute AP for bread flour, but loaf may be denser/flatter. Self-rising has baking powder and salt added--not what you want for yeast bread making.

For day to day breadmaking, I usually use all purpose.

[fancyfowl]

I dont know why so many say bread machine bread is not as good. I make it both ways, mostly use the machine for the mix and 1st rise so I can go out to work the fields. Some breads are absolutly great from the machine. I just dont care for the shape of the machine bread.