Posts by Annie & Grainlady convinced me that I should buy a Zojirushi. So last year my husband got me one the larger one for Christmas. I use it exclusively for kneading & rising. (I don't care for the way the crust turns out when the machine does the baking. I had another brand years ago and the crust was the same, so I think it's just part of the bread machine experience.) My husband is on a low sodium diet, so I make all our breads and cut the salt content by half. We're not big toast eaters so I usually make sandwich buns, dinner rolls, bagels, etc. and keep them in the freezer until needed. Because I bake the dough myself, I don't fuss with special bread machine recipes. I just put the ingredients in the machine following the recommended order. I let the dough rise in my machine and then take it out to form and bake. However, while it's kneading, I check it to see if it needs a bit of extra liquid or flour. You can't just dump everything in, walk away, and have a perfect loaf. There are so many variables that I think it's really necessary to check the dough while it's kneading. One advantage to baking it yourself is that if you find that, for some reason, the dough is still too dry or too wet, you can adjust it before sticking it into the oven. The large machine is perfect for marathon baking days. I've used it to make three different breads in one day. I'll get one recipe going and pull out the dough to rise in a bowl while I use the machine to mix up & knead another recipe. Then I'll do the same thing. Only the last recipe made will actually rise in the machine. That way I can get almost a month's worth of sandwich & breakfast breads baked in just one day. I also use it for kneading sourdough bread. But I take that dough out and let it rise on its own, many times overnight. The instruction manual for the Zojirushi gives the times for the different processes (pre-heating, kneading, add-ins, rising) so I just set my kitchen timer a few minutes past the beginning of the kneading cycle to check the dough. Then I set the timer again for the beginning of the rise. I usually rub a bit of oil on my hands and dab the top of the dough ball so it won't dry out during the machine rise. I make pizza dough in it all the time and let it rise in the machine unless I'm doing one of my marathons. I think using the full operation, from pre-heat to final raise, probably takes longer than if you just took the dough out and let it rise on its own. Before I got the bread machine, I either made bread by hand or using my food processor. There was nothing wrong with those methods. The thing the machine did for me was allow me to make larger quantities of bread products at one time to accommodate my husband's dietary requirements.

Have you mixed sesame, poppy and flax, or used them individually? A mix can also be a good choice. Add something that has more flavor: caraway, fennel or anise. I also like pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, and dried onion flakes. -Grainlady I need to add Nigella. That's a new favorite on some gluten-free bread rounds I make. This post was edited by grainlady on Fri, Dec 13, 13 at 11:04

Here's a mix recipe that makes a lot more than you'll need. I don't know how much is in a Jiffy Mix. It's from KitchenCraftsnMore: CORN BREAD MIX 8 cups flour, all-purpose 4 cups cornmeal 2 cups sugar 3 tablespoons baking powder 2 teaspoons salt Mix all ingredients until just blended and store in a moisture proof airtight container at room temperature. To Use: Mix 1 1/2 cup mix, 1 egg, 1 cup milk, 1/4 cup oil until well blended. Pour into well greased: 8x8 dish or 12 count muffin tin. Bake 20-24 minutes at 425F degrees. Serve warm or freeze until needed.

Just this past weekend I made a cornbread casserole for a BBQ birthday bash, it was a big hit even among people who normally dislike cornbread. I modified the recipe shown below in that I used 1 can-full of frozen corn rather than the can of regular corn. Cornbread Casserole 1 box Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix 1 can creamed corn 1 can regular corn (drained) 1 stick of butter 2 eggs 1 cup sour cream Take glass baking pan, melt butter in it, in the microwave. Beat egg in bowl. Add egg and all remaining ingredients to baking pan, stir until blended, spread mixture to uniform thickness Bake at 350 deg F for 1 hour in 8x8 pan or 45 minutes in 13x9 pan