http://allrecipes.com/advice/coll/baking/articles/144P1.asp

Bread Machine Baking: The Basics 

 Ya Got Your Basic . . .

Whether you're making bread by hand or with a bread machine , you need only three ingredients to make a loaf: yeast (or a starter ), flour and liquid (such as water or milk). Once you have those basics, you can add any number of other ingredients to make a great variety of breads. Making bread with a bread machine follows the same process as making bread by hand. The only difference is that the mixing, rising and baking all take place within the machine. But just because your machine has a lid doesn't mean that you shouldn't observe what's going on inside from time to time. After all, that's what the little window on the top is for! Once you take a peek at our bread machine recipes and these tips on the bread machine baking basics, getting a nice golden loaf out of your bread machine will be a breeze!

Give It a Little Lift -- With Yeast!

Your bread is given life by a wonderful one-celled plant called yeast. Yeast feeds on sugars and starches in the dough. When it grows it produces carbon dioxide that makes your dough rise. Yeast is a living organism with a finite life expectancy. It's also very sensitive. Too much heat (at the wrong time), sugar or salt can kill it.

If you want to check whether your yeast is still usable, you need to proof it. To proof yeast, place 1 cup of warm (110 degrees F) water in a bowl. Add 2 teaspoons of sugar, stir to dissolve, and then sprinkle 1 teaspoon of yeast on top. Let it sit for a few minutes, then stir until it dissolves. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set it in a warm, draft-free place (inside your turned-off oven, for example). Within 5 to 10 minutes the top of the mixture should have turned foamy, which means the yeast is working. If there is no activity, throw the yeast away and buy a new supply. For step-by-step instructions with photos, see also Proofing Yeast .

It's the Yeast of Your Worries

Bread machine yeast and rapid-rise yeast are specially formulated for the bread machine. They also become active more quickly than active dry yeast. Active dry yeast should be dissolved in water before being used, but bread machine yeast can be mixed in with other dry ingredients. This is particularly important when using the timed mixing function on your machine.

The Skinny on Flours and Gluten

There's more to flour than meets the eye. There is a protein in flour called gluten , which provides the structure for your bread. Strands of gluten are woven together by mixing and then inflated as the yeast multiplies. Hard wheat yields the highest amount of protein, or gluten. 'Bread machine bread flour' is identical to bread flour. Both have more gluten in them than all-purpose flour. High protein flours help to give yeasted bread a chewy texture. Look for flour ground from hard wheat with 13 or more grams of protein per cup.

A product called 'vital wheat gluten' available at many stores can add strength to your dough. This is particularly important when more than 25% of the total flour in your recipe is a low or no gluten variety, such as whole wheat flour, cornmeal, rye flour, soy flour or oatmeal. The rule of thumb is to add 1 tablespoon of 'vital wheat gluten' for every cup of low or no gluten flour that is being used in your recipe. To find out more about the different kinds of flours you may want to use, see also Flour, Or More Than You Ever Wanted to Know about Flour, and Then Some and Adventures in Alternative Flours .

The Lowdown on Liquids

Many liquids can be used in bread making -- water, milk and buttermilk are the most popular. All liquids that you use in your recipe (including eggs) should be at room temperature when you put them into the bread machine. Yeast needs a warm (but not hot!) environment to grow in. Since many people use the timer on their bread machine, most recipes do not use fresh milk. Who wants milk sitting in their bread machine overnight? Instead, recipes call for non-fat dry milk or powdered buttermilk. If you are mixing your dough right away, you may certainly use fresh milk in your bread machine recipes. Simply replace the water with milk or buttermilk and omit the powdered milk.

Size Matters

When reading bread machine recipes, remember that all bread machines are not created equal. Some machines make 1-pound loaves; others make 1 1/2-pound loaves or 2-pound loaves. Some machines have a variety of settings while others simply have an on/off button. Make sure you read your machine's manual and follow its guidelines.

When trying a new recipe, compare the amounts of ingredients to the recipes you usually use in your bread machine. It's important to not exceed the capacity of your bread machine pan. Use only recipes with the appropriate quantities of ingredients for your machine, or adjust the amounts accordingly. Small loaf machines generally use about 2 cups of flour, while large loaf machines use 3 cups. It's also very important that you measure ingredients correctly. Be exact. Even a teaspoon more or less of water could make a difference. If you're using metric and want to use a recipe at Allrecipes, simply click the Convert Metric near the scaling feature on the bottom of each recipe page.

That Perfect Climate

After you've got all your ingredients measured out, don't be too quick to load the bread machine. Ideally, ingredients should be at room temperature when they go into the pan. However, due to potential health risks, it's a bad idea to store eggs at room temperature. To bring eggs to room temperature quickly and safely, place the whole (uncracked) egg in a cup of hot tap water for four or five minutes. If your recipe calls for milk you should not use a delayed mix cycle. Cut butter or margarine into small pieces before adding it to the machine.

Put One Foot in Front of the Other

When you're ready to let the bread machine work it's magic, check the instructions for your machine regarding the order of loading ingredients. In some machines the wet ingredients go first, in others, the dry ingredients. And some machines have a separate yeast dispenser. When trying a new recipe, remember that yeast will activate when it contacts water or any other moist ingredient, including eggs, fruit, cheese, vegetables or butter.

For more advice on getting the perfect loaf out of your bread machine, see these other helpful articles:

Bread Machine Baking: Tips for Experimenting
Bread Machine Baking: Troubleshooting Tips
Bread Machines: Thinking Outside the Box!