All of Marriage’s Strong home baking flours are suitable for use in bread machines, do make sure you check the specific manufacturers manuals as they can vary.
The Panasonic Ideas Kitchen has a range of bread machine recipes at:
http://www.panasonic.com/uk/consumer/home-appliances-learn/home-appliances/the-ideas-kitchen.html
We’d suggest following the manufacturer’s instructions, and add the yeast in first and the water last (as otherwise the yeast will be activated when it comes into contact with the water). It is also best to keep the salt and yeast apart, so that the salt does not kill the yeast.
Yes – if you want to save time, then you can use a bread machine for the dough kneading stage and then do the rest by hand.
Water should be tepid (approximately body temperature 37°C) – if it is too hot then the yeast will be activated too fast. Using cold water will not activate the yeast.
It is possible that too much liquid was added and that your bread rose too fast.
Many newer bread machine models have dispensers for nuts and dried fruit, but if you are adding these manually then it is worth checking that you have done so at the recommended stage in the kneading cycle as per the manufacturer’s instructions (normally towards the end of the cycle).
Instant fast acting yeast – fresh yeast is not suitable for bread machines.