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Converting a Bread Machine Recipe into a Traditional Style Recipe

What you should do for a quick bread is follow the baking instructions for a similar recipe in your recipe collection.  Of course, you should watch very carefully so as not to burn or undercook your bread. For a bread containing yeast, you can reference a similar recipe, or follow some simple guidelines for making basic yeast breads below:

-Proof the yeast (dissolve the yeast and 1 tablespoon of sugar in warm water, amount will depend on the recipe).
-Combine the ingredients and mix well.
-Knead the dough until smooth and soft.
-Let rise until doubled.
-Punch down, and shape into a loaf.
-Place bread in a greased loaf pan, or on a baking sheet for a round loaf.
-Rise again until doubled.
-Bake, as most bread is baked in a moderate oven, about 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) this is a good temperature to start with.
-Bake for 40 to 50 minutes (this will depend on your oven and the bread itself so be careful here), or until the crust is golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

Now, keep in mind that it may take some experimenting to get it perfect.  If you do perfect a recipe from bread machine to conventional, please email it to me so I can share it with everyone else, and give you the credit you deserve for the hard work!

Likewise, if you want to adapt your manual recipes for the bread machine, you can do this as well.  If you have a recipe that makes 2 loaves (9x5 or 8x4, etc), divide the recipe in half for your bread machine.  Watch carefully to determine if the dough is too wet or dry, and add water or flour as necessary.  Again, if you convert a recipe from conventional to bread machine, send it in so I can tell others!

 
Recipe Conversion:  Bread Machine Sizes

Use this chart to convert a bread machine recipe that is the wrong size for your machine.

For example, if you have a recipe that is scaled for a 2 lb machine and you would like to use it in a 1 pound size you would multiply each emasurement by .5 then add it to your machine.  Likewise, if you have a recipe for a 1.5 pound machine and you would like to use it in a 2.5 pound machine, you would multipy each measurement by 1.33.

From        To
1 pound
1.5 pound
2 pounds
2.5 pounds
1 pound
---
1.5
2
2.5
1.5 pounds
.667
---
1.33
1.67
2 pounds
.5
.175
---
1.25
2.5 pounds
3.4
.6
.8
---