100% yes and I'll tell you why (edit: 100% yes worth it)
I had the same frustrations years ago when I first tried them. This is how you do it:
Buy a nice digital kitchen scale. Forget your cups and tablespoons. You're working with grams now. Dabble with recipes that appeal to you. Trial and error. Once you nail it, that's your recipe from now on. The scale keeps it consistent every time. Game changer.
Buy a good bread knife. And resist the temptation to slice until it's cooled. You'll get better and better and suddenly you're making beautiful sandwiches with your clean slices.
Those two things will eliminate what I think the main frustrations are with bread machines: inconsistency and cutting issues.
Edit 2: WHEAT GLUTEN!! If your loaves are not chewy enough and just kind of mush, add straight wheat gluten. I have 15g in my personal recipe due to using half white all purpose flour.... replaces some of the gluten missing from that.
It's unbridled capitalism because the one and only priority is profit. And those with the money to chase this profit are the ones who refuse to entertain the idea of paying more taxes.
Taxes can correct unaccounted-for externalities. But we refuse to force the capital class to do it.
That's how it's capitalism. To my knowledge there is no mechanism in place to ensure that the capital class does not simply throw us to the wolves when our labor is no longer needed.
I'm not trying to be a jerk! But I'm thinking maybe it's more the extra steps involved? Of those, baking and slicing a homemade loaf and chopping garlic are the two most cumbersome steps.
If so, use a store bought pre sliced loaf (0 extra time) whatever is cheap. Invest in a garlic press (pays for itself with cheaper garlic breads) and use that to quickly pulverize garlic directly into the butter (30 seconds, let's call it 90 to be generous and account for getting rid of the peel, etc), the Italian seasoning and salt is literally seconds of work. Mash for like 8 seconds.
Spread on bread. If the butter is nice and soft (sub tub margarine for convenience if you can accept the tradeoff in flavor, or are vegan.... it mixes easily) you can do this in 90 seconds as well.
Let's round to 200 seconds. 3 min, 20 sec and you're now at the same point convenience-wise as store bought, uncooked garlic bread. And while the store bought loaf will still cost you at least 6x more than baking a loaf, you'll still come out a bit ahead cost wise. Fresh garlic makes the biggest difference here though.
Bonus:
easy for kids to make and they generally love it
makes your house smell amazing....premade always has some kind of sour smell, I'm guessing citric acid to preserve the garlic (like the red headed step-child of home cooking....jarlic.)
bread excluded, you know exactly what's going in your body and where it came from
And this isn't all directed at you specifically! Just a friendly nudge to all potential home cooks.
That's all well and good except the part where they are too stupid to connect the consequences with the actions, and will just blame whoever they are told to.
I feel like this simple fact is like 99% of the problem here. They. Will. Not. Ever. Learn. They have to be stopped, not taught. There is no shortcut.
You'll walk out, and 10 people who only give a fuck about their bottom line and nothing else will walk in.
Capitalism + human greed = collapse. As true as 1+1=2.
It's not AI you're mad at though. It's 100% capitalism. If you opened Reddit to a bunch of stories of humanoid robots being used for the greater good, you wouldn't be mad, I guarantee it.
AI powered reforestation drones? Yes please. AI lifeguards for public places that can't get human lifeguards? I think so. AI hospital workers (reliable ones)? Obviously.
Watch what happens in Canada if it ever gets even close to this bad here......