Well, I got a Breadman Ultimate TR2200C and tried it out last
week. Unfortunately, I was going to write about it in last weekend's
digest but had been having too much fun playing with it and trying out
different things. So I am going to give you my opinion of this machine.
First I decided to make jam. Well, I chose the recipe from their book for
Peach-Raisin Jam. I had never made jam in my Zo because I had a friend
(locally) who made some type of jam in her Zo (like mine) and it ruined the
finish on the baking pan. I was a bit leary of starting right off trying
this but decided to jump in and give it a test. So I gathered the
ingredients (recipes all included with this posting). I read the recipe
and it said "Place all ingredients in Baking Pan and start the Jam
cycle." So I decide that 1 1/2 hrs just couldn't be enough time to mash up
the peaches so I cut them into 3rds. Put all the ingredients into the
baking pan and started the jam cycle. Well, 1 1/2 hrs later I took out the
pan and poured the jam into the cleaned jar. I figured that it would jell
when it got cold. Well, it did and tasted wonderful!! If it is left out
for any length of time (since there is no pectin added) it gets a little
runny but the flavor is wonderful. But the chunks of peaches were still
the same as when I put them into the pan. So I looked thru the book and
found the half page of jam making instructions and it says for best results
"to crush with a potato masher or food processor but not to puree the
fruit. Jam is supposed to have some bits of fruit in it".
Then I decide since we have all this jam we will use it before I make some
more ... we are pretty slow using jams and jellies.
Next we make a 2 lb loaf of Easy French Bread. We used the delay baking to
see how that will work out. Made the recipe exactly as written this
time. It turns out very, very good!! The texture was quite good.
The next day we use the 2 lb Whole Wheat Bread basic recipe but I decide to
make it a light ww bread. I made it and it was excellent!! I used 3 1/3 C
whole wheat bread flour and 1 C white bread flour, (I have never had any
luck using gluten). This was a very good loaf of bread but it needed more
salt. Made it again and used 2 1/8 tsp salt and it was perfect.
Made a basic White Bread recipe and it was very good. Great for kids lunches.
Another day we make another 2 lb loaf of the same Easy French Bread recipe
and use the programmable abilities of the machine. We set it up to have a
delayed start also. The machine is very easy to program. Even more so
then the Zo I used at Lora's house a few years ago when they were first
out. We added 5 minutes to the preheat and 5 minutes to the 1st rise. The
texture of this was even better then the first loaf of Easy French Bread we
made.
So we continue to try out another recipe. I decide to use the Easy French
Bread basic recipe but cut back the flour to 3 1/2 C and add 1/2 C med
grind cornmeal ... I called it the French Cornmeal Bread. We did another
delay time setting and awoke to the incredible aroma of fresh bread
baking. What a special treat to have this bread in the morning. It was
excellent with a very good texture and nice crunchies that both Jeff and I
love. It is very good toasted and plain ... did try it toasted with
margarine but I wasn't too fond of it that way. I like the taste of bread
plain or toasted and plain. I am not too fond of added flavors messing up
the wonderful flavor of bread.
We decided to make the French Bread recipe again using the pause feature to
add in some dried herbs. It felt very nice to push the pause button and
then decide which herbs I wanted to add in. Pushing the pause button will
give you 10 min to do whatever you want to do and if you forget to push
start then the machine will automatically restart on it's own at 10
mins. I will like this feature in some of the other breads I have planned
but not yet gotten to. Anyway, back to this recipe. We used the
programmable feature again for this 2 lb loaf and it was very, very
good. The same excellent texture, taste, aroma and ease of use for the
machine.
I can't seem to get the nut & fruit dispenser to drop open. It makes 2
clicking sounds and one time the top opened but the bottom part didn't drop
open to dispense the items in it. I had only 2 Tbsp of slivered almonds in
it so that wasn't too much. I tried it 3 more times and the same thing
happened. Jeff checked it and it will "unlock" but the bottom pivot door
is tight and won't pivot easily. Any ideas on this?? I don't know if it
should be oiled or not.
Made the Pineapple-Coconut Claufouti Cake last nite. Had a piece of it
today and it is very good. It uses a batter bread setting as well as a
bread machine so this is why I am allowing it to appear on list.
Well, I will let you know when I get the nut & fruit dispenser to work.
Reggie