Here is a review/comparison using our whole wheat bread machine recipe (with all-purpose substitute) in a Black and Decker 3 lb loaf machine vs. the oven. The one on the left was baked in the Black and Decker (a slightly taller skinnier pan) the one on the right was baked in the oven (in a wider shallower pan).
I haven’t seemed to have time lately to make bread from scratch and since my husband and children were complaining about being sick of even the best store bought bread we could find. I decided maybe it was time to pick up another bread maker (as I gave mine to my mother when I stopped using it). I picked up a Black and Decker 3 lb model at Canadian Tire on sale, the price was right, I didn’t want to invest a lot into it, as I don’t mind making bread from scratch when I have the time.
This Whole wheat bread machine recipe is one I’ve been using for years with various adaptions, but because I always had an upright loaf bread machine, I always just used the dough cycle and then placed it in a bread pan and raised and baked it in my oven. Now that I bought the Black and Decker 3 lb bread machine with a sideways bread pan, I thought I would do a short review and side by side comparison of the results.
So far I have baked 5 loaves (with the all-purpose substitution as I didn’t have spelt right now) from start to finish in the bread machine, using the whole grain setting. The 1st loaf I chose the dark crust, it was a little dark but still quite fine. The 2nd loaf and all the remaining loaves I chose medium crust and it cooked fine, the 3rd one hit the roof, but still baked fine, 4th and 5th were nice and tall but didn’t touch the top, and baked up nicely. Although this machine says it is a 3 lb machine, If my memory serves me, this is a 2 lb (tops 2 1/2 lb) recipe and I wouldn’t want to add any more, it already almost touches the top. The total time that it takes the bread maker to mix, rise and bake is roughly 3 1/2 hours, but it only takes minutes to throw the ingredients in and walk away.
I also made 3 loaves using the dough cycle, and baking them in the wood cook-stove. They all turned out nicely.
The procedure starts out the same for both ways, place the wet ingredients, plus salt, then the dry ingredient, ending with yeast.
Place the pan into the bread machine and choose either whole grain setting or the dough setting.
If you have a horizontal loaf pan, all you have to do is wait for it to finish.
If you don’t when the dough cycle ends (you don’t have to let it rise twice, I never do), take the loaf out shape it and place it in a seasoned bread pan.
Place in a warm but not hot spot, and cover until risen about the same as in the photo. Don’t let it over rise, it will rise more in the oven, trust me. Bake at 350oF turning the pan part way through so it bakes evenly.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ c. water
- 1 ½ tsp. sea salt
- 2 Tbsp. cold pressed olive oil or sunflower oil
- 2 Tbsp. maple syrup or honey
- 2 Tbsp. molasses
- 1 c. sifted spelt flour (I've substituted all-purpose flour whenever I didn't have spelt)
- 3 c. whole wheat bread flour
- 1 ½ tsp. instant yeast
Instructions
- Place ingredients in order in the bread machine
- Select either dough cycle or whole grain cycle
- If selecting dough cycle, remove from bread maker and place in a prepared bread pan
- Rise in a warm place until it has risen about 1/2" - 1 " above the loaf pan
- Bake at 350F turning the pan part way through so it bakes evenly.
- Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack, let cool at least half hour before slicing.
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The bread looks lovely.
Is that instant yeast packets, teaspoons or tablespoons? Thanks =)
It is 1 1/2 teaspoons instant dry yeast. Thank you so much, I just fixed it in the recipe.
This recipe turns out great everytime!!! We love it! I let mine sit out overnight to harden, it makes it much easier to cut in the morning. I also choose the dark setting on the bread machine and. The 2.5lb setting. Works everytime!!