[.ca] Bread Machine Magic (ISBN 0312069146)

Will purchase a more updated bread machine book soon . .:
I have to agree with the reviewer who called this book "outdated." My bread machine, while not a brand-new, top of the line model, has more features and settings than this book references. For example, the book often instructs you to set your bread machine on "Bake." Well, is that Basic, French, normal, rapid, etc.? I find myself having to guess at which settings to use, often resulting in mediocre-tasting bread with a dry texture. The tiny recipe book that accompanied my bread machine is very limited, but at least when I use any recipe found in there I get perfect bread. This book leaves much to be desired.

The standard for bread machine recipes:
When making bread, I rely heavily on this book. The recipes here always work, regardless of type, and the authors have supplied enough recipes to keep an ambitious baker busy. Even better, this book won't overwhelm a novice. Many of the recipes are based on "basic" recipes (such as Basic White, Basic Whole Wheat,and Basic Sweet) and then varied, showing a newcomer the way to create her/his own recipes. The models the authors cite may confuse those new to bread machines, even though this is probably the best book for them. All you need to do is follow the ingredients list and hit start. You don't need to worry about adding a tablespoon more water because you own X machine. Flour storage techniques, room humidity, and measuring skills all affect the amount of needed liquid more than individual brands. As long as you make sure your dough forms a smooth ball inside the pan, you'll be fine. In addition to the basic breads, my favorite recipes are: Anadama Bread, Buttermilk Bread, Black Forest Pumpernickel, and Cracked Wheat Bread. I use the Basic Sweet Bread recipes for my cinnamon rolls, You'll also find recipes for pita bread, soft pretzels, pizza dough, and Aunt Celia's Raspberry-Cream Coffee Cake with Almonds. Hungry yet? A bread machine is nothing without first-rate recipes. This book is a great place to start.

My Favorite!:
I have used a bread machine for years and have accumulated upwards of 12 bread books, this being one of my top two favorites. As someone else said, it is getting pretty ragged from use. The measurements used, work perfectly with my Hitachi machine. I love it!

Good book but not perfect:
This book was given to me as a gift with my bread machine. It has some great recipes but I tend to find some don't even work out. I follow the recipe and try them twice at least but it just doesn't work and I don't like the fact this book doesnt have recipes for a larger machine. I have a 2lb machine and 5 children to feed so would like larger loaf recipes. But not a bad book. Worth having in your collection if not for the roll recipes alone.

Dog-eared keeper:
I own several bread machine recipe books, and this one is the raggiest of them all. The pages are bent to reveal favorite recipes, there are smudges all over the pages, and I've scribbled my own comments in the margins. I've learned that I can trust what the authors say in their comments. This one is a keeper!