Diane H

September 5, 2022 at 10:03pm

I followed PJ's tips, plus other tips posted in the Comments and my bread machine loaves are much improved.
(I am at best, a casual home baker.)
Thank you fellow bakers for all your tips!
A few additional tweaks:
1. I cover the posts with non-stick aluminum foil as suggested in an earlier comment.
I wrap/shape the foil around the posts BEFORE using the pan, then remove them and set them aside.
It makes it easier to slip the preformed foil tubes over the posts after I remove the paddles.
To remove the paddles, I take the pan out of the machine and tip the pan on its side. I ease the dough away from the paddles with a narrow silicone jar spatula, to make it easier to remove the paddles and install the foil tubes.
I usually do this after the end of the first rise. (About 1 hour 30 minutes from the start.)
If the loaf still looks in decent shape, I don't bother reshaping the dough/loaf, as I shaped the dough into a nice loaf after the end of the kneading cycle.
[2. I shape the dough at the end of the kneading cycle and at the end of the first rise (if necessary) - when I remove the paddles and cover the posts with non-stick foil - which results in a better shaped loaf.
(I almost always bake my bread in the machine.)]
3. When cooling the loaf in my Zo Virtuoso, I put an 8.6L x 6.2W wire rack (found it on Amazon) on the bread pan support ridge, to keep it from digging into bottom of the loaf, while it cools in my Zo after baking.
I let it cool almost 2 hours before moving the loaf and rack to the counter to finish cooling.
I keep the lid propped open with one of the paddles while the bread is cooling in the Zo.
4. The Bundt Pan Cleaning Brush is a great tool to clean the posts and the round pan opening near the base of the posts. I was using a toothbrush and a dish brush to clean those spots, but they didn't work nearly as well.

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