This post is about all things bread makers and how they can make your life SO much easier!
6 Reasons Why You NEED a Bread maker
Up until a few years ago, I had NO idea that there was a little machine that could make your bread for you…in your own kitchen…on your own counter. But this past year I have found that my breadmaker is one of the best investments I could've ever made in my kitchen, and now I use it daily for a variety of things. Knowing how much convenience and value it brings into my family's life I HAD to share it with you mamas. Here are the benefits of having a breadmaker and why you NEED one in your home!
1. You Know Exactly What’s Going Into Your Bread
Over the past several decades the ingredients in store-bought bread have taken a dangerous turn. What once consisted of quality ingredients like flour, salt, sugar, etc., now contains chemically bleached flour, dangerously high amounts of sugar, and genetically modified ingredients containing cancer-causing chemicals & toxins, all of which have stripped the bread of any possible nutritional value putting your health at risk. What is now called “dead bread” runs the risk of causing digestive issues, multiple types of cancers, allergies, cramping, and pH imbalances, and also play a factor in obesity because of its high amounts of sugar and the list goes on.
Making Bread at Home
When you make your bread at home you get to decide exactly what goes into your bread as well as the quality of your ingredients. For example, the bread recipe I typically use includes organic bread flour, organic cane sugar, Himalayan pink salt, yeast, organic salted butter, dried milk, and water (and sometimes raw honey for a nice honey bread). I simply put these ingredients in my bread maker, set it to the correct setting, and walk away. Within two hours I have fresh quality bread in a fraction of the time at a fraction of the price.
You get to be sure that your bread contains the best ingredients and no harmful preservatives, toxic chemicals, or excess sugar.
2. Variety
Depending on the bread maker you can have so many recipe options to choose from. My Zojirushi bread maker makes different types of bread, jams, banana bread, pizza dough, croissants, pretzels, donuts, pasta, pound cakes, dinner rolls, gluten-free bread, etc. Typically I make several loaves of bread throughout the week and then on Fridays I make pizza dough for pizza Fridays all with my bread maker. It works as so many different machines at once, there’s so much you can learn to do with it!
3. Saves You Money
My family goes through so much bread, typically eating almost an entire loaf between the 5 of us in one day. An organic loaf of bread runs about $7 a loaf so buying bread can get really expensive really fast. Now that I have a bread maker I am able to buy my ingredients in bulk, for example, one 25LB bag of Organic Lily or Whole Wheat White Bread Flour makes far more loaves of bread than I would ever be able to get at the grocery store. The same thing goes for our Pizza Fridays. I no longer have to spend $30-$40 on pizza because I am able to make any pizza we want right at home with our bread maker. Making your own bread can really cut grocery costs and allow you to do more with your budget.
4. You Bread is Always Fresh
Having fresh bread whenever you want is a luxury you will come to enjoy. It’s always soft and if stored correctly it will stay that way until it's eaten. No stale bread, or bread with tough crusts after a few days. To keep mine fresh I purchased bread bags and seals.
5. Your Family Will Love It
The smell alone of fresh bread throughout the house first thing in the morning boosts moods and everyone really looks forward to digging into it once it's ready. Some days I will make us a loaf of bread and as soon as it's done we break off our pieces and enjoy it warm with butter. It really is the best bread I have ever had, and the fact that all it takes is 6 ingredients and 2 hours is amazing to me!
6. It Saves You Time
Making bread from scratch can take you quite a bit of time, time that you may not necessarily have. So being able to throw your ingredients into the bread maker and before you know it you have a fresh loaf of bread with minimum work on your part really is a time saver. It also lets you know what time it will be ready in case you have some things you need to take care of, and a setting where you can put the ingredients in the bread maker and schedule it to start at a specific time so that it’s ready based on your schedule. Here is the one I use.
Wrapping Up...
Of course, if you don't feel as though making your own bread is for you, at least consider making an informed decision on the type of bread that you buy. Look for organic bread that doesn't contain any ingredients that you can't pronounce and that doesn't contain any phosphates. Naturally, organic bread is going to be more expensive. This is to be expected considering it's a much better quality of bread. It may take a little time to get used to reading the labels, but once you get the hang of it, it gets easier!
Making my bread at home is a game changer, it's something I now look forward to and though I’ll probably always use a bread maker, I also think there's value in learning how to make bread by hand. But a bread maker is definitely an appliance you want to have in case you need it!
I hope you enjoyed this post and found it helpful. If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to comment below or email me directly here!