How to Use a Bread Machine

Do you have a bread machine, but no manual, because you bought it at a yard sale, inherited it from a relative, or just lost the manual? Instead of storing it in a cabinet and adding to your "I'll use it someday..." clutter, get started making your very own fresh, toasty, delicious bread! See Step 1 below to get started.
Get to know your machine. Take some time to inspect it. There is a hinged lid, which can be lifted and shut; there may be a window in it, and probably a small vent too. Next to the lid, you should see a control panel with a few buttons (and maybe a light or two if you have a fancy version). Inside the bread machine, there is a bread pan or bucket. There should be a handle on it, which is probably folded down so the lid will close. The bread bucket works as both the mixing bowl and the baking pan. In the center of the bread bucket will be a little bread paddle or kneading blade. It is responsible for kneading and mixing the dough. When the dough bakes, it bakes around the kneading blade. You must remove the blade from the bottom of the loaf after the bread is baked.
You must have all three parts to make bread. The machine itself, the bread bucket, and the kneading blade. If any one of these parts is missing, you must replace it. The kneading blade is the smallest part and the one most likely to be missing. It is also the least expensive to replace. If you need replacement parts then do an Internet search to find the manufacturer of your machine. Go to their website and email them about what you need.
The bread bucket and kneading blade are removable. To take the bread bucket out, your machine may require you to pull hard, depending on how it snaps in. Look it over, grab the handle, and pull. Don’t worry; you are not breaking it. After you get the bread pan out, examine it. If you turn it upside down, the kneading blade will fall out. There will be a peg inside the bread pan the kneading blade fits over. To put the bread bucket back into the machine and snap it into place, you may have to shove down hard. Yours may go in easily or you may have to turn the gear under the bread bucket just slightly to get it to fit into the machine the right way.
Find out your bread bucket capacity. Take the bread bucket out set it next to the sink. Get a measuring cup and fill it with water. Pour the water into the bread bucket. Do it repeatedly, until the bucket is full. Count how many cups of water you are adding to the bucket, until you get a total. This part is important, so measure carefully. When you choose a recipe, it is important that you match it up to the size of the bread bucket you have. You would not want to make a 2 lb recipe in a 1 lb machine. It would result in a big mess.
If your bread bucket holds 10 cups of water then you can make 1-1/2 pound loaves of bread.
If your bread bucket holds 12 cups or more then you can make 2 pound loaves of bread.
If your bucket holds less than 10 cups then you can make 1 pound loaves of bread.
Become familiar with the settings. Have a good look at the buttons and display screen on the control panel. You will probably find a Select button, a Stop/Start button, Crust Color and Timer or Arrow buttons. Unplug your machine. Plug it back in. The machine will be on its Basic (or default) setting now.
Close to the select button you will see several choices. The most common ones are White or Basic; Whole Wheat; French; Sweet; Rapid, & Dough. To set the machine to a particular cycle you have to keep pressing the Select button until it gets to the cycle you want. Sometimes a number identifies each cycle. For instance, White or Basic is usually 1. Whole Wheat is 2. French is 3; and so on; you get the idea. Each cycle takes a different amount of time to mix and cook the bread.
The crust setting is not available on all machines. If you do see a button labeled Crust then it will have 3 settings available: Light, Medium & Dark. The default setting is medium. When you unplug the machine and then plug it back in, it will automatically set itself to the medium setting. If you prefer a light or dark crust instead, then you press the Crust button to change the setting. Usually the Crust button will not work until after you select the dough cycle and before you press Start.
Using the timer is described in a separate section, below.
Add the ingredients in the right order. If you are going to mix and bake the dough right away then it does not matter which order you add the ingredients. If you want to program the machine with the Delay Cycle to start while you are away, then the order becomes important. The ingredients must be added in a way that will keep them inert until the machine begins its mixing. Therefore it is a good idea to get in the habit of adding the ingredients in this way from the beginning.
Put the liquids into the machine first.
Next add the flour. As you are adding the flour, urge it out over the top of the water so it seals the water in.
Then you can add the other dry ingredients like salt, sugar, dry milk powder and seasonings.