How to Make Homemade Bread

I keep getting requests for how to make homemade bread and more specifically, for bread machine tutorial videos. I get it #becausebread. I have done these types of tutorials many times on Instagram, but I finally got around to a full three-part series about how I make homemade bread in the bread machine for our YouTube channel.

But that doesn’t mean you should jump over to YouTube just yet. Let’s cover some basics in this article first which will really help you know the tools and method better.

Bread Machine + Oven

However, I do mine differently than a lot of people. I don’t actually bake in my bread machine. I have found that we like the size of the loaf better if I use two 8-inch, 1-pound loaf pans from USA Pans. Doing it that way makes loaves the ideal size for sandwiches. It also makes more sandwiches per batch and the loaf size is much more like “normal” than if you let the bread machine do all of the work.

You CAN easily bake in the Zojirushi if you like…and I do sometimes, just not often. 

Then Why a Bread Machine?!

What’s the point of a bread machine then??? Why can’t I just mix by hand or in my stand mixer? I totally can! And I do sometimes, but I find I get perfect dough EVERY TIME for my homemade bread when I mix in my bread machine. And for me, and the time savings, it’s worth it. 

I used to make excuses that I was too busy to mix up homemade bread, but now I don’t have that excuse. I can get everything in and ready to go in literally 5 minutes – it’s almost all hands-off work. So, it has paid for itself in health and convenience over and over. 

The Recipe I Use

I always use the Bread Beckers Basic Dough – because it works for me and my climate and machine. Do you have to use that recipe? Heck no! You can use whatever works for YOU. My rule of thumb for this size (2 lb) bread machine is that I don’t want to exceed the 4.5 cups flour that the recipe calls for. So, just keep that in mind. 

The three-part video series on how to make homemade bread is available anytime on YouTube. We decided to start putting more of our video content on YouTube instead of Facebook because of the ability to search and find things easily. 

How to Make Homemade Bread: The Videos

• Part One: Loading your Bread Machine (explanation of ingredients)
• Part Two: What to do with the dough
• Part Three: How to slice and store your bread

I hope that’s helpful to you! Let me know how your bread turns out!

Also, side note: I am not currently making sourdough – my starter is on vacation – but when I get back to it, I will try to make some content for that as well. 

Want more content I’ve written about Bread? I put together a list of all my bread articles and recipes as a handy reference for you. Enjoy! 🙂