10 June 2009

Fresh Baked Bread? EPIC FAIL!

On Sunday, I brought home my mom's bread machine. Dad certainly doesn't need it, but both DD and I have used it in the past so I thought it might be fun for us to have at home. Yesterday she went to the grocery store to buy the flour and yeast to make Deluxe White Bread.

I stay away from most kitchen appliances, especially those with lights and numbers. My only task was photo documentation.

She followed the directions precisely. Within no time, the bread machine was kneading the dough. We were all looking forward to fresh bread.

But then, something ominous happened. Some 50 minutes before the bread was supposed to be done, I started to smell smoke. I ventured to the kitchen and saw smoke rising out of the bread machine. Something was burning!

So I did what any responsible parent would do: I summoned DD! After unplugging the machine and allowing it to cool down a bit, she gingerly opened the lid. OH, NO! The bread dough had risen and overflowed the pan! It was now stuck to the inside of the bread machine. And the center of the bread was nowhere close to being done. What could have caused this disaster?

After spending an hour cleaning the bread machine, we went back over the instructions and recipe. At one point, the instructions indicated to check the dough consistency and add water if it was too dry. Unbeknownst to me, DD had peeked in and thought it looked dry, so she added a teaspoon of water. Based on what I read, adding too much water can upset the wet/dry ingredient balance and cause this type of problem.

So she'll try it again soon, without adding water. And hopefully we will have a lovely loaf of bread to enjoy!

9 comments:

Judy said...

How disappointing to not have your freshly baked bread! But now that you have figured out the 'problem', I'm sure the next batch will turn out delicious.

Linda said...

That is a bummer that the bread didn't come out. I was lol about Lily and the dolls. That is really to funny. And my desk looks a lot like yours too and I haven't made anything in about a week.

Fonda said...

Uggg, what a mess to clean up! You should get a gold star just for that! I hope that the next try turns out perfectly!!

Sarah Coggins said...

Bummer that it didn't end in a fresh loaf, but you did get a humorous story out of it. :) This part: So I did what any responsible parent would do: I summoned DD! - cracked me up!

katie said...

You need to remember my motto, "Everything is no stick when you no cook in it!"

Linda said...

Hi again! Back to let you know I left you something on my blog

Heather said...

Morgan bakes all our bread and it's great having fresh, homemade bread. Sometimes I'm left to do some part of the process and it's not uncommon for me to screw it up! He tries not to leave me with much to do because my short attention span sometimes gets in the way!1

Heather said...

Oh no! I bet that was a pain to clean! I love my bread machine (not that I use it often), but I don't bake my bread in it. Everytime I have let the machine bake the bread, it turns out too hard to cut. LOL

Jill said...

Very funny Katie!

Janet - There's one other thing you might want to check before your next try and that is the recipe measurement. I ***think*** breadmakers come in different sizes (like ice cream makers), so if you're not using a recipe from the instruction booklet, it could just be a recipe for a bigger bread machine.

I almost never use my breadmaker for anything besides mixing up pizza dough. But actually we're going to be home all morning - maybe I'll bake a loaf!