> > Has anyone had any luck calling Welbilt?
>
> I would be _very_ interested in what you find out from Welbilt. I
> haven't tried to call yet because I am still experimenting. Could
> you please post to this mailing list when (if) you find out
> something?
After trying a few times (the "bread machine" person was supposedly
continuously returning calls like mine) I got ahold of Welbilt, and was
sort of underwhelmed. The person on the other end didn't seem overly
helpful or competent, in my opinion. She suggested placing a piece of
aluminum foil, shiny side down, on top of the glass dome to help hold in
the heat. She also said to try reducing the water to 1 cup, and add
up to 3 Tsp water if the machine was "laboring". Hell, my machine
nearly ALWAYS "labors". It's not unusual for the dough blade to *stop*
for 4-5 seconds at a time before it bulls its way through the dough.
I haven't had a chance to try this yet. I'll report back when I have time
to experiment -- in the meanwhile, if Bruce or others try it, let us know
how it turns out!
Re: inability to get any help from DAK 800 number
I suggest calling Welbilt. While they aren't great, they WILL answer
the phone and eventually get back to you.
> There are a couple things I notice that, I believe, make the Panasonic
> bread maker superior to the DAK. First, the yeast is kept separate from
> the rest of the ingredients in the Panasonic until kneading time. Perhaps
> it heats itself to optimal yeast-growing temperature before adding
> the yeast? I don't know. But I think this is a superior method,
> especially for me since I like to tell the thing to start 4 hours after
> I go to bed, and I don't trust the yeast and water together in the DAK
> for 4 hours before kneading. Well, when I tried it, the bread was n.g.
Interesting. WHere does the Panasonic keep the yeast? DAK's suggestion
of putting the yeast in first, followed by flour, followed by liquid,
has worked fine for me. 3/4 of the loaves we've made have been done with
a 4+ hr delay, and for the first few months it worked great. It was only
after a couple of months that it started making gooey bread.
> Also, the little blade in the DAK whirs continuously once the thing is
> activated. For the first five minutes or so in the Panasonic, the blade
> spins a bit and stops a bit. I think this probably is a better simulation
> of human kneading. Just seems more logical to me.
I don't think this would really make a difference, as long as you don't
abuse the dough or work it so hard that it overheats or something. Even
with the dough blade running constantly, most of the dough isn't getting
kneaded constantly anyway. So I think overall it's probably no problem.
It usually seems to work OK.
Gary
fritz@hpfclp.sde.hp.com