Just bought a breadmaker..

[mistressploppy]

Do I have to put sugar in? Is it important for making things rise etc? I haven't done much experimenting yet - too scared

Also - I made a pizza dough which worked quite well but it said to leave it somewhere at 40 degrees to prove and I couldn't think of anywhere . What/where might be a good place? We don't have an airing cupboard. Should I put it in a very cool oven?

Gah, I'm such a novice

Sorry - that first question was meant to be; 'do I HAVE to put sugar in?' - as in, I have been doing so, as per the recipe, but I don't like the sweetness so can I ditch it?

The sugar reacts with the yeast i believe, but if you can taste it, are you putting too much in? 1tsp goes in ours and i can't taste it at all.

I put pizza dough into my gas oven to prove at the lowest setting, ie less than gas mark 1. I've also put it next to a radiator in the past. Or you could heat up your oven, then turn it off for proving.

Thanks janek, that all helps a lot. I've been putting the amount of sugar that the recipe suggested which was 1.5 tsps but might try trimming it down.

You don't need sugar. I make bread by hand and often don't add sugar.

Do you have a slow cooker? I proved pizza dough in mine on a low setting (let it warm up for ten mins first) and it worked so well, I was amazed and pleased because I generally don't get on with my SC and it needs to earn its keep