Bread Maker Aboard?

[wightknight]

Do any of you Cruisers use a bread maker whilst on passage? I use a Panasonic at home and would like to use one on my next trip accross the pond. I plan to use the generator / main engine for about two hours a day to charge batterys and pull down the fridge and deepfreeze, during this time I would like to run the breadmaker on a quickbake program. The question is do they work well at sea? If they do I will be after a 110v Panasonic breadmaker.

[nonam]

Should be no problem.I used one for a year to do the mixing and rising and kneading.I did the baking in a propane oven.

[Pblais]

We have done bread makers before. Check this thread out:

Bread Makers

If you don't use one now it's more than likely you'll chuck it after a month.

[sandy daugherty]

A dutch oven is a viable alternative, but it really heats up a galley. I've heard of them being used on a grill. As with any specialty item, storage is a serious issue, but it is multipurpose. You can use it as a crock pot or to steam a lot of shell fish.

[s/v Jedi]

I think that all the negative comments about breadmakers aboard come from cruisers who don't have one aboard now and never had before. Not really experience talking imho....

We have the full size Zojirushi aboard and it's like the dremel-tool, vise-grips or dinghy: would never want to do without!!

Many complain about the space it takes up. Sure it does, so? I see so much junk that's carried on boats that is way less useful than a breadmaker. Toss some out and you have space for the breadmaker.
Also, carrying loaf-shaped dough in the freezer is much more wasting space in a much more precious location! We use the freezer for meat, fish etc.

Energy consumption... actually a breadmaker consumes much LESS energy than kneading by hand and using the oven. The oven wastes energy like nothing else but it's from a different source: propane instead of diesel. We carry lots of diesel but not so much propane: when in paradise, we need propane well before we need diesel. One can stay away using a breadmaker much longer than using the oven. True for any boat.

Heat.... forget about using the oven for baking bread in the tropics while staying below: it's unbearable. The heat generated by a breadmaker is nothing compared to the oven (the reason it's much more energy efficient). Using the BBQ outside for baking bread is better but wastes even more propane.

A breadmaker only consumes noticeable energy while in the baking phase. The mixing, kneading and rising phases don't count. We set the timer at night and wake up to the smell of fresh baked bread!

The bread produced by a good breadmaker is much better than using marine-ovens. I hear stories about some ovens being better but these manufacturers are all bankrupt. Our Force10 isn't up to the job (temperature not high enough). We love the bread oven-baked by fellow-cruisers but never found any that looked and/or tasted as good as the bread from the Zojirushi. Oven-baked is also much more dense/heavy (too much).

The Zojirushi is the best choice aboard because it's timer/program survives power-outages up to 3 minutes. One can easily switch from genset to inverter or the other way around. Most other breadmakers re-start which is the end of the bread. Also, it has user-definable programs and can bake anything. We also use it for all other dough making like for pizza etc.

The Zojirushi can do sourdough bread! This not only tastes better, it keeps much longer without using artificial preservatives!

Here in the Caribbean they sell dry active yeast in pound-packages for $5.- We keep some in the fridge for everyday use and the rest in the freezer. Keeps good forever. We use Tupperware spice containers which are 100% vapor tight so it doesn't get wet.

ciao!
Nick.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

We have the full size Zojirushi aboard and it's like the dremel-tool, vise-grips or dinghy: would never want to do without!!

I've been looking at the Zojirushi mini for the boat, not so much because of the storage space but because a one-pound loaf will keep us happy for a few days, and we'd rather have the freshest-baked bread possible. Given this parameter, is there a better reason to go with the full-size unit?

[Malachi]

I thought it would be a real pain to make bread from scratch but it's not, it's actually quite easy, I make one that requires very little kneading and I also have a quick pizza dough recipe that works equally well for garlic breadsticks and such. Sometimes we have muffins or biscuits instead which are very quick and easy. I would have loved a bread machine but don't think I miss it at all, I don't think I would have used it enough to warrant it. I also have no idea where I would have stowed such a large appliance. If you're dead set on having a breadmaker, it sounds like Jedi has the best one.

[Microship]

Google "no knead bread." I gave away my bread maker, which worked fine... this is SO easy, and no extra equipment eating counter space! We even carry a roll of parchment...

The only real requirement is an oven that you can trust to hold temperature (you change the temp while baking, starting very high then backing off). Some small gas ones are a bit random.

Cheers,
Steve

[Amfivena]

Originally Posted by Microship

Google "no knead bread." I gave away my bread maker, which worked fine... this is SO easy, and no extra equipment eating counter space! We even carry a roll of parchment...

The only real requirement is an oven that you can trust to hold temperature (you change the temp while baking, starting very high then backing off). Some small gas ones are a bit random.

Cheers,
Steve

We LOVE no-knead bread. If your oven can handle it, IMO, it is much better than bread machine baked bread. Not to mention less work as there is nothing to wash. Just dust off the stone.

We keep a large container of dough at all times. Just about every meal we cook some up. The oven is running 9-10 months for heat anyway...

Now, in the tropics I can understand not wanting an oven. If the generator is running anyway, a breadmaker strikes me as a good option.

[jimbim]

Pressure cooker bread is fabulous. No crust, like a steamed bun. Moist, delicious and easy.

[sail4evr]

Fresh hot baguettes, mmmm

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by sail4evr

Fresh hot baguettes, mmmm

The first French Nicolle could say was: "Une bagette S'il vous plaît"

[s/v Jedi]

This is a good thread, I like breadmaker vs manual threads ;-)

First: Yes, I think the mini Zojirushi will be great too if it bakes as good as the bigger version and if it can handle the power outages as well (I don't know). I think it wasn't available yet when we bought ours.

2nd: I agree, if you don't bake bread a lot, the advantage evaporates. But it doesn't matter much in that case, as you cruise close to supermarkets and bakeries who sell bread that you like and can afford.

However, I can assure you that there are times that this isn't the case. Sometimes, there is nobody around selling bread, like during a passage or anchored in exotic places (for Caribbean: Roches, Aves, San Blas etc.). Also, the bread available can be horrible or even inedible for your taste buds. We don't like the sugar-sweet American bread for example.

3rd: Yes, we like baking bread by hand too, sometimes. But not if this needs to be done every other day. We much prefer snorkeling the reefs or meeting the local people, learning about their culture etc. We have enough work to do on the boat!!!! Also, when in cold climate, I could see us doing it more often as I don't think we'll do much snorkeling and the heat from the oven might be welcome indeed!

4: We never run the generator for the breadmaker, the inverter powers it. The reason for our need that it survives a power outage is that the time the breadmaker needs for kneading, rising and baking a bread is long and we might want to switch to generator power for another reason during that time.

5th: no-knead bread. Better than breadmaker bread? This makes it sound like the bread from a breadmaker isn't as good as no-knead bread! So, Is no-knead bread better than bread from the bakery? If so, why are there no bakeries selling that, getting filthy rich etc.? I don't fall for that but will actually do a test so that I will end up throwing away 1 bread... we'll see if that is the no-knead or Zojirushi bread! ;-)
Also, any decent breadmaker bakes a better bread than what is sold by supermarkets!

and the last one, 6: We often end up using standard all-purpose flour because it is often the only thing available. The Zojirushi bakes a very good bread from that, no problem at all.

cheers,
Nick.

[Amfivena]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

This is a good thread, I like breadmaker vs manual threads ;-)
5th: no-knead bread. Better than breadmaker bread? This makes it sound like the bread from a breadmaker isn't as good as no-knead bread! So, Is no-knead bread better than bread from the bakery? If so, why are there no bakeries selling that, getting filthy rich etc.? I don't fall for that but will actually do a test so that I will end up throwing away 1 bread... we'll see if that is the no-knead or Zojirushi bread! ;-)
Also, any decent breadmaker bakes a better bread than what is sold by supermarkets!
Nick.

In my opinion, + wife and 2 daughters, dough baked in an oven is better than anything from a breadmaker. We like our crust chewy - breadmaker never could get it right - FOR US.

For years we had a breadmaker and used it to knead the dough and then baked in an oven. That was on land. In the process of moving aboard we discovered the no-knead method and find it at least equal to dough made from the breadmaker. Plus it is literally 15 minutes worth of work for a week's worth of bread. Every day we take a handful, or two, of dough and slap it on a pizza stone. Put it in the oven at whatever temp it happens to be. Give it 20 minutes and then check every 5 minutes until done. Since the oven is our main heat source, cooking is free 9 months out of 12.

Of course we're weird. Going south for us consists of hitting the St. Pattie's day parade in Boston. So take anything we say with a grain of salt.

[bill good]

WK,
You should only use power from a pure sine supply gen or inverter as the timer is often taken from the input freq this will mean making sure the correct hz is used.

The power used is not much as the bulk is only required for the baking phase.

If you have too much made for one day you can cut it & wrap up a days worth & freeze it. It is good for mths. (I do that with shop bread as well)

regards