How to Find and Use a Thrifted Breadmaker

When was the last time that you had homemade bread? I mean real homemade bread from your oven? In this day and age, the answer could very well be never. We pick up loaves of bread at the grocery store on our way home from work. Every now and then we may stop in a bakery, but it is usually for a special occasion.

What is so strange about this lack of homemade bread is the abundance of breadmakers. The machines that pop out fresh bread at the press of a button are easily available in stores. Furthermore, they are especially available at thrift stores for those who do not want to pay full price.

Two drawbacks to buying a thrift store breadmaker are the lack of reliability and the lack of instructions. These two reasons, however, are not reason enough to bypass a used bread machine. There are ways to ensure that you have the best chance of getting a breadmaker that will supply you and your family with plenty of loaves of bread to come.

The first step is to get the breadmaker as cheap as possible. Specifically, you want to buy a bread machine for half-off the thrift store price. Because you are taking a chance, but you must reduce your risk. After all, most thrift stores sales are final. Does your local thrift store have a 50% off day? What day are the items marked down? Do your research and get a bargain.

Once you see a possible breadmaker at the right price, test it. Every thrift store I have ever visited has an outlet where you can test small appliances. Plug in your potential bread machine. Once plugged in, it should make a beeping sound. Press the "Start" button. Does the kneading blade move? If there is a stop button, does it stop the machine? Can you select the different types of cycles easily?

Now look it over. Is this breadmaker intuitive? Can you easily figure out how the machine works? Too many bells and whistles are for folks who have instruction manuals. Go for a simple machine.

If the bread machine is half-off the thrift store price, works as much as you can tell and seems simple to operate, you are in business. Now you just need help figuring things out how to use it.

The first step is to go on the Internet. The breadmaker will have its model number somewhere on the machine. Go to www.google.com and type in the brand name of the breadmaker and its model number. If it is a late model the manual may be on line. If it is an older model, choose the manual that looks most like your machine and has the same functions. Download the manual and print it out.

Here is where the fun starts. The most important thing in a bread machine is to learn how ingredients should be loaded into your machine. The manual should tell you that.

As for recipes, the best resource is a web site called www.allrecipes.com. You can get recipes for use for your bread machine. A little trial and error and you should be all set.

Do not let lack of funds keep you from homemade bread. If you have always wanted a bread machine, follow the steps above and you will be baking in no time at all.