R2D2 vs. Breadman

So, for my birthday James gave me a bread machine. It looks like R2D2, so that's the name it goes by now. However, earlier in the year Sue had told me that she had this Breadman laying around and that I could have it. In order to pick one to take to the apartment with me I decided to give these two a whirl. (This was in August.)

The test bread was brioche! I used The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook recipe. I saw it involved a lot of butter folding. It couldn't disappoint.

Results:

Breadman finished in 3 hours and 20 minutes.

R2D2 finished in 4 hours and 10 minutes.

Breadman's rise cycle was significantly shorter. R2D2 started baking when Breadman was just about finished. However, R2D2's cycle did include cooling down. I'm not sure this is a good thing, but R2D2 seems to blow cold air around the pan to cool it. So, the two loaves were cooled around the same time.

Another point worth noting is Artoo dances around the counter a lot. Last weekend I was making a sourdough loaf and neglected to put away the container of milk that was standing next to bread machine. The milk got knocked down on the carpet by Artoo during its kneading cycle. I was a huge mess. Ugh.

Taste test:

I couldn't get enough of Artoo's brioche. No butter required. Breadman's wasn't as good. Too much crust? I decided I would make bread pudding using Breadman's loaf and save Artoo's for eating brioche plain. It was really good.

It made excellent french toast a couple of days later too.

And guess who moved in with me to my apartment? It's my little-naughty-milk-knocking-off friend Artoo.

Oh, and how addictive are these stupid ass jigsaw puzzles? This was completed the August, the same day I did the bread machine testing. This panda kept me from checking on the bread every 5 seconds. (And that is very hard to do. It's like I'm expecting to see little gnomes kneading away in there and folding little pockets of goodness into the dough. Ugh, such an annoying habit.) The Bees, over here, helped me finish this panda-jerk. The white fur was just not cooperating, but we put it in its place.