Making my own Bread

Some time back, I read an article about "azodicarbonamide" found in Subway bread. Just the name "azodicarbonamide" alone sounds toxic enough. Azodicarbonamide is a very harmful, toxic, chemical-causing chemical used in yoga mat, shoe soles and other products. Apparently, this chemical is common in bread from the grocery stores and fast food chains. It's used for its dough strengtening properties, and work as a "dough conditioner" to give the dough volume and certain texture effects to the finished product. So does that mean we have been eating "rubber" all these while? Seriously, why do we need such chemical in our food?

Also not too long ago, in Taiwan, top pot bakery, owned by celebrity 小S's husband, also got into a scandal for using synthetic fragrances in their bread when the bakery was advertised as using natural ingredients. We can never know for sure anymore what goes into the food we're eating. The safest way is to make our own, and only add in what's necessary. So...i got myself a breadmaker.

I bought the Donlim breadmaker from Qoo10. The machine is good, but the price keeps dropping! arghz!

It has like 18 functions and can make bread, meat floss, jam and even yogurt! Ever since I had this breadmaker, I'm having fun everyday experimenting with the different functions, and it's so fun making my own bread and yogurt. Other than allowing me to keep track the ingredients used, it's more cost efficient too! :)

I was so excited when it arrived that I immediately went to try to make a bread without looking at the instructions carefully. I read so much reviews about how easy it is to use, and all you need to do is throw in the ingredients and the maker. Big mistake. I've finally learnt the important of reading instruction guide before operating any devices. Sure, the breadmaker is easy to use, but there's still some basics we need to adhere to, especially I'm an amateur in bread making (like, procedure of what goes in first, temperature etc.)

And so..presenting my very first "loaf" of bread, which is a complete disaster. hahahah...

This has nothing to do with the machine, although I did wonder if my machine is working okay since I failed at my first attempt. It is really very easy to use. All you need to do is measure and pour in the ingredients in the correct order (just follow instructions), press the button, and the breadmaker will automatically perform its magic and in 3 hours, you get a nice fragrance loaf of bread. It's a bit noisy though, and I'll suggest placing the breadmaker in a safe place not near the table edges. I always have a feeling the breadmaker is going to fall off the table when it is mixing the though and there's always this impression it's going to fall off anytime. 

All in all I'm in love with my breadmaker, and will share my recipes experiments in the upcoming entries. :)