I am going to share some interesting "secrets" learned along the way.

Actually I am not the best bread maker, even with a machine. The Net is filled with people with information.

Here, the "Secrets" are really an overview and some observations that are not found in the manual and that I have learned along the way.

A bread machine will make better bread loaves than a beginner can make. An oven--in the hands of a good home baker--will eventually make better loaves than the bread machine, but takes more practice. In between, many machines will make dough that can be oven baked.

Re: oven baking .. the counter argument:
For example, my Mom and Step Mom exclaimed .. "why should I bother with that? It makes only one loaf and I can make better bread.";

Yes, they could make fine bread in the oven.. you and I may not. (actually it is almost guaranteed) and most smaller families can only deal with one to three loaves a week. She made 8 loaves each Sunday. So a machine makes sense for many. Also, another argument against the machine is that if you can find a bakery or grocery store, you might be able to get bread loaves down at about $0.80 .. but they often still have corn sugar and preservatives (for better or worse).

The idea behind the machines really is as simple as: Put the ingredients into the machine in the order. mainly liquid first, butter or oil next, dry stuff last. select the cycle, select the time to wait, go. Adjust as necessary next time. Where things go slightly wrong is the amount of liquid and/or not sifting the flour first.

Your main expenses are the machine itself ($70 new), yeast and flour. the electricity is almost moot.

To offset these concerns:
Buy the machine from a thrift shop .. and you are at about $10 .. or get it from a friend or relation; often free. and you should search for the manual on the Internet. but often the manual is not really needed. I have bought three from thrift shops .. and all have worked.

Yeast should be bought in a jar for about $2.50. cheaper can be obtained. Avoid the yeast packets.

Flour can be bought in 5lb, 10lb and 25lb bags. (alas .. start with 5lb) How often ARE you going to do this?

The real problem is that most Bread Machines are bought and then not used. The reasons revolves around:

1. Bother
It will burn up between 15 minutes and 30 minutes to make a loaf of bread. the pre-mixing, and the post storage and cleanup. Some premix the dry ingredients to speed this up. And afterwards, when cutting, the bread crumbs seem to go everywhere. This really isn't much time, but it is enough to stop people. And the machine itself is fairly large; where to store it?

2. Taste/Texture
It is difficult to get Bread Machine bread to match store-bought bread. It often turns out GOOD, but thicker and richer than store- bought. And the recipes must be adjusted some due to weather and altitude. After a while, many people just say no.

3. Preservatives
One of the great advantages of the bread machine is that you can make "healthy" bread .. cane sugar, no preservatives, you KNOW what's in it .. you put it there. In practice, however, this means you must freeze or dump the loaf after the first few days. No more weeks of "day old" bread. So it is not fun to eat hard bread that threatens to break a tooth, and certainly not healthy to eat moldy bread.

Day-old bread takes on its older meaning.- If it seems bad after a few days, don't eat it.

Bread Cost Analysis ~2008 prices http://community.stretcher.com/forums/t/3253.aspx

Enjoy! Stephen