Chosen Solution
I own a Cuisinart bread maker, which has always worked fine. Lately, the baking pan keeps popping out during the knead cycle. This causes it to stop kneading the dough, resulting in a very flat bread. I have tried playing with the brackets that snap the pan inside the oven, pushing them toward the inside or the outside, but haven’t gotten any success. Any suggestions?
Sometimes the clips that hold the container get stretched out after use over a period of time. Try pressing them in when the container has been removed to tighten up their hold.
I used bottle corks cut to fit in order to lock the bread pan in place while kneading. Cut four corks (mine came from whisky bottles); cut down to ca. 3/4 inch (19 mm) long and wedge them againt the pan and bread machine sides next to the clips which are supposed to hold the bread pan in place. It works; the bread pan no longer pops out during kneading. Use a spoon or other non-sharp utensil to pry the corks out after kneading to remove the pan.I haven’t tried the baking cycle with the corks left in place; this solution is only for the dough option.
Oooh. I would not want duct tape inside my bread machine when it starts to bake! This brings to mind an older bread machine that I had, where the spindle got so stiff that it kept popping the pan off. In that case, it was not stiff dough causing it. Rather, once a pan gets older, the centre spindle might get tighter and tighter, due to the lubricant wearing out. I always grab the kneading blade and spin it around by hand a few times (with the pan out of the machine of course) before I put the ingredients in. Sometimes adding a bit of water first helps make it spin better. An old Sunbeam break machine of mine broke when the motor couldn’t spin a spindle that was completely seized up. That’s why I always check the spindle first.
This just started happening to me today with my Cuisinart bread machine. I suspect what’s causing this is the spindle in the bread pan becoming very “stiff”. This probably causes the entire pan to pop out of the rotator motor during kneading. I always try to smoothen it out again by twisting the spindle with the kneading paddle in place. This usually works, but I think as the pan gets older, it gets stickier. I’m still trying to find out out to re-lubricate the spindle in the pan.
I have an Oster that always worked fine. I had not used it for several years and it seemed to be fine until the dough got a little stiffer when the kneading progressed and it kept popping off. My pan has a bail handle so I left it straight up against the lid and taped the lid closed with duct tape. worked a treat! I may try the cork option to see how that works. Or even make some wedges from heat proof material.
I have a hand me down Breadman bread maker that has this same problem, and found this thread when googling it. I don’t have magnets that would work so I just used a paring knife that I wedged into the hole of one one the holders attached to the side of the bread maker and put it under the handle. Fingers crossed, it seems to be working for the rest of the first knead period
