Margaret, I HAD a Breadman machine (the TR-444). It bit the dust 2 years
after I bought it on sale at Stern's dept store. Then I bought an Oster.
When you get a new machine, they never make the recipe the same way as the
old machine. This one takes more liquid and the Breadman took less. I found
it to be quite a noisy machine too. This Oster is quite quiet I think.
Anyway, you just have to play with the ingredients to get the dough the way
you like it and continually make notes.
In my little notebook where i write down the recipes, I have different
dates with different machines listed next to it. I had a DAK Turbo IV, then
the Breadman TR-444 and now an Oster Expressbake. They all make the breads
differently. I hated the breads I made in my first machine. Loved the ones
that my Breadman made and really love the Oster breads.
I have to say that I mainly use the dough cycle though. I bake in the oven
in my old Fire King bread pan, or the King Arthur Italian Bread Pan or a
Chicago Metallic Sandwich loaf pan. I love all of them so much. They make
wonderful bread.
My only suggestion is to experiment. Use less water and see what happens.
Or less flour, or whatever. It will always be different from
machine-to-machine unfortunately. Not all machines act the same. Also
things may be different because of the time of the year. I find I use more
flour in the summer than the rest of the year.
I hope this helps a bit.
RisaG