Sometimes when all looks bleak, there is still a way to make something last just a little bit longer. We are experiencing a good example of that right now. Our bread maker has decided that not only will it make bread, but it must do it while dancing the can can across the countertop.
You see, there are clips that hold the bread pan in the machine, and those clips are worn from some serious usage. As a result, when the kneading cycle gets going at a good pace, the pan typically jumps out of the machine, bumps against the lid and makes the machine jump across the counter. Since the pan then can not get itself back in alignment, the dough no longer gets kneaded.
We’ve tried bending the clips, taking the bread machine apart and putting it back together and looking for new clips that could be installed. No luck on any of that, and I was resolved to have to manually hold the pan in during the kneading cycles (which, really, I might as well knead the bread myself by hand).
I’ve had my eye on a new, fancier bread machine for a while, but the dream machine is a little cost prohibitive, so I am trying to make my current one last as long as it can. Since I am a heavy user, using the bread maker between two and four times per week, picking up a cheaper model doesn’t work for us. I burn them out within a couple of months.
My husband, who is the creative king of making things work with whatever is at hand, came up with a solution. We place four stacked non-stick loaf pans upside down on the bread pan, along with a heavy garlic press. Then the lid is closed and a five-pound container of either flour or sugar is placed on top of the lid. It seems a little strange, but it works. So far, I’ve gotten four more uses out of my bread machine. It’s conga days are over, at least for now.