My first breadmachine was a Toastmaster. I got it because it was
reasonably priced, had a good heavy pan, and also made butter. But I had
the same problem that you do. My crust was always dark and thick, even on
the lightest setting. And I couldn't even use the keep warm cycle, because
it made the crust even darker and harder. I thought it was me, so I
checked with my sister, who had the same model as I did. She said that
hers did the same thing, but she never thought to tell me because she
really likes the bread with a thick dark crust. *I*, on the otherhand, do
NOT like that. I even called Toastmaster, and had them walk me through the
process, to see if I was doing something wrong. But after about 15 loaves,
I just took the thing back and bought a Zojirushi. I got nice, light
loaves and a thin tender crust right from the very first loaf. That was
two years ago, and it's still going strong.
I think that each machine is different, and you almost have to buy one, try
it, and decide whether or not you want to keep it. It's a shame that there
are no real standards to go by. One thing I've noticed, though. It seems
that the pans with thinner walls tend to produce a lighter crust.
I do have to say one thing for the Toasmaster - it did make wonderful
butter with very little mess.
Caron
>From: RollFamily@aol.com
>Subject: Overbaking?
>Date: Sun, 19 Oct 1997 10:29:21 -0400 (EDT)
>I?m hoping someone can help me. I have a Toastmaster
>bread machine that I purchased close to a year ago. I
>really love it and have been experimenting with a lot
>of different types of recipes. My only problem is that
>the bread always seems to be overbaked. It seems as if
>the bread machine is either baking the bread too hot or
>for too long. I have tried baking the bread on the
>shortest baking cycle and that doesn?t seem to help. The
>bread turns out a little too dry and has a very thick
>crust on it. I have gotten into the habit of using the
>dough cycle on all of my bread recipes and then baking
>it in my conventional oven. By doing this with the same
>recipes I have a nice moist and tender loaf of bread. Any
>suggestions?