Silicone Bread Maker, Model #, Brown

I’ve loved baking bread for ages, but am losing hand function, and got this wondering whether it might make baking all of my own bread easier. Wow, does it! I can now use a no-knead recipe, mix it right in this bread boule with a dough whisk (another purchase that’s made my baking life immeasurably easier — no pun intended!) in minutes, and then just close the boule up for 24 hours to rise before baking — again in the boule. So there are no mixing bowls to wash, no counter mess, no kneading, and no worries. I now bake bread several times per week, and without any physical strain. This little item takes practically no room to store, is lightweight, insanely easy to clean, and it works like a charm. I get a lovely crust on my bread, and am the only one who knows what a breeze it is to make!

Lekue Bread baker/ recipe to amazon This is a really fine product. I’m 84 years old and was having difficulty handling the weight of the Dutch oven that I used in making bread, particularly when it was 400 degrees, so I thought I would give the Lekue a try. Admittedly the booklet’s recipes aren’t too helpful. What I now use it for is making whole wheat Irish soda bread and it does a great job. My recipe is simple, and I mix it right in the cooker, so I don’t have any dirty bowls to wash. For what it is worth here is the recipe: Tools needed: 1 teaspoon measure, 1 tablespoon measure, 2 cup mixing cup for the flour, bran, and buttermilk and an optional egg-use the cup for measuring the flour and bran first, plastic scraper for mixing, a fork for whipping the egg, and the Lekue cooker. Turn on your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit or 200 to 205 Celsius, so it has time to heat. Dry ingredients (put the ingredients directly into the Lekue cooker): 2 ½ cups of whole wheat flour 1 cup of bran--½ cup of wheat or oat bran and ½ cup of ground flax or chia seeds or a mix of the two. Remember to use your mixing cup for measuring the flour and bran before you use it for the wet ingredients. 1 teaspoon of salt ¾ teaspoon of baking soda-in Ireland it’s called bread soda-tip from the Irish housewives; baking soda and baking powder tend to form small clumps which will ruin your day if you bite into a lump at breakfast, so put the baking soda and baking powder it in the palm of your hand and press it with the back of a spoon to break up any clumps- then dump it in the Lekue baker 2 teaspoons of baking powder (why I don’t know, but it works, i.e. the bread rises) Mix the dry ingredients well with your plastic or silicon scraper/spoon. Make certain they are very well blended. Wet ingredients: Crack one egg into your 2 cup measuring cup and whisk with a fork. I’m not certain if an egg is necessary, but I think it makes the bread hold together better Add 8 to 12 ounces of buttermilk start out with 8 ounces (you can use dried buttermilk--one brand is Soco Cultured Buttermilk--which is ok, and if you use dried buttermilk mix it with the dry ingredients, but I think liquid makes a somewhat better bread). Start out with 8 ounces of buttermilk or water if you used dried buttermilk and mix it with the egg. Using your tablespoon add 2 tablespoon of cooking oil to your buttermilk and egg mix and stir it up. Using the same tablespoon you used for the oil add 2 or 3 tablespoons of honey—by using the same tablespoon you used for oil with no cleaning the honey will roll right out with no sticking and no mess. Procedure Mix all the liquids well, make a hole in the center of your dry ingredients and pour the liquids in. Here I depart from the Irish ladies. They mix with their hands, and I have done so, but it is a very wet dough and your hands will soon be covered, so now I just mix with the spoon. You will undoubtedly need more liquid to get it all mixed together, so just keep adding liquid and stirring until you don’t have any more dry ingredients to mix. Shape the mix into a loaf shape crosswise in the Lekue baker. Cut or poke a line down the center of the loaf, so the bread can expand. I just use the fork I used to beat the egg. Irish ladies use a knife to cut a quite deep cross in the bread to let the Fairies out, or to protect the bread against the Devil, or maybe to just make certain the bread is cooked through. Close the top of the Lekue cooker and put the bread in the oven. Bake for 45 minutes, then open the top of the Lekue and cook for another 15 minutes. Take it out of the oven and let it cool for an hour or so. Use a rack, so air can circulate below. No rack--tip from the Irish ladies—two upside down forks work as well as a rack. Tip from me—I cool it on a turned off burner on the stove—works fine. This is a very good bread. 100% whole grain with added fiber and minimal cleanup. I only wash the Lekue cooker after, give or take, a dozen loaves. Since I am both the baker and the dishwashing machine clean up is important, and the cooker does a great job of being both the mixing bowl and cooking the bread.

I usually bake lean bread in a dutch oven. The recipe I use for my dutch oven has 500g bread flour, 375g water, 9g salt and 50g of natural starter that is one part water, one part flour. Based on the recipe included with the product, which called for 200g of flour, I split my 500g recipe between the 2 Lekue Bread Makers that I bought. I didn't mind the "half sized" loaves because sometimes I would bake the smaller loaves anyway, because I think the smaller loaves keep better, because one loaf remains uncut as the other loaf is being eaten. I didn't even bother trying to mix or "knead" the dough in the bread maker because it seemed like it would only lead to frustration. I did my mixing and kneading in the regular bowl that I typically use for bread making. I only used the bread maker for rising and baking. Because the bread maker is made of silicon and because I would be baking in the same vessel as I was letting the dough rise in, a lot less flour could be used to keep the dough from sticking. I baked the bread at 425F degrees, which is 25 degree lower than what I use for the dutch oven but I still got a very crispy crust. I would have rated it five stars, if it was larger and if the company didn't try to overstate the practical use of the product as an all-in-one bread making device. You cannot conveniently knead bread in this bread maker even if you are just folding over the dough as is the technique for "no knead" bread dough. I would just recommend this product for rising and baking the dough. Edit: I have used it a few times now and it will hold a loaf that has 500g of flour and 375g of water which is a common size loaf of sourdough.

Great size for Portuguese bread. Love it and will buy another.

ótimo, todo o processo do pão é muito bem feito

Je suis contente de mon achat. Je fais mon pain sans gluten et je n'avais pas vraiment de moule pour le cuire, c'est chose faite, tout ce fait dedans c'est très pratique. Cuisson impeccable et forme agréable du pain, ça change des pains ronds qui ont trop de mie.

Work on but tens to burn the bread at the bottom.

Absolutely non-stick and turns out loaves of Bread in a beautiful shape and appearance. Will be most likely ordering more of these.