The gasket under the bread pan is litterly falling apart. I keep finding pieces of it underneith the pan when I remove it after the dough cycle. (the pieces actually look burnt and I have only baked the bread once in my machine) Since then, I only use the dough cycle so I can shape my loaves and bake them in my oven. If this gasket completely falls apart...will I still be able to use my bread machine for the dough cycle?

https://www.amazon.com/Proctor-Silex-Machine-Manual-Reprint/dp/B00SO0PZXU

https://www.amazon.com/Proctor-Silex-Bread-Machine-Manual/dp/B00QLI087U

http://useandcares.hamiltonbeach.com/files/840106600.pdf

Model numbers determine what manual to purchase or look for free download.

That's not a good sign. This will keep your bread from rising properly and baking, obviously.
If you are still under warranty, contact your manufacturer, otherwise, you can still use the machine to mix but you will need to use your oven to finish your bread.
If your bread is not rising in the machine:

• Remove mxing chamber from machine
• If the chamber is not removable, UN-PLUG THE BREAD MACHINE so the blades DO NOT TURN.
• Be careful of the mixing blade in the chamber
• Remove dough gently with slightly oiled hands into a lightly oiled bowl with room for about 2x the volume of the dough
• Cover with plastic wrap to prevent the dough from drying
• Place the bowl of dough in an unheated oven and leave the oven OFF
• Place an empty lasagna pan in the cold oven on a shelf below the dough or on the floor of the oven if there are no exposed elements
• Boil some water and pour it carefully into the lasagna pan
• Close the oven door - You have just made a proofing box. The steam and heat from the boiled water is sufficient to make a great proofing cabinet out of your oven hot box
• Allow the dough to rise to about twice the original volume
• remove the dough from the oven and remove the pan of water
• continue with the baking instructions below

If your bread is rising in the machine or you have finished the above instructions:

• Remove dough gently with slightly oiled hands into bread pans. Breadmakers are different sizes so you may need to use one or two pans. Or make an artisan style loaf on a cookie sheet lined with parchment.
• Be careful not to compress your risen dough as this will make the loaves dense
• You may also choose to make buns by separating the dough into smaller balls and placing on parchment lined cookie sheets
• You can allow the dough to rise again for a short time in the proofing box above but I would just leave them on the counter under clean towels to prevent drying for say another 20 minutes. Over-rising bread should also be prevented. The result will be 'deflated' looking bread.
• Preheat your oven to 375F and bake the bread until it is golden and makes a hollow sound when thumped on the top or the bottom crust

Personally, I love that a machine will mix and knead my dough for me while i go do something else but I don't like the appearance of a machine baked bread. I like the artisan hand-made look. I recommend you keep the breadmaker until you find one you like that is drastically reduced in price and just use the artisan proofing & baking options above.
If you have a Pizza Stone, you can also try that for baking an artisan bread. Use the breadmaker as the workhorse, use your oven as an artist.
Good Luck and may the Yeast be Lively!

Looks like you have the same bread man machine I have. My metod is too unplug the machine for a half hour then put it through a second round of mixing. At the end of secound mixing I place the dough in a bowl greased and large enough for the dough to rise one last time oil top of dough cover with a towel on top of stove turned on set to the desired temperature. Keep dough away from any drafts. Once dough has doubled in size usually about one hour, take dough from bowl and divide it into buns or loafs of bread. Let dough rise again covered. Place in oven bake for about 15 minutes or longer until desired color, bread is done when you tap the top of it and it has a hollow sound, remove from oven let cool in pan for about 5 minutes, then take bread out of pan and place on a rack that allowes air to flow all around it. The reason for the rack is that baked bread that is allowd to cool on a fly surface will cause the bread to sweat on the bottom. Make sure yeast is good not expired or left out in the open

Your machine has a lubricating grease that is under the small gasket or washer at the bottom of the pan under each paddle. After a lot of use the little gasket can fail and the grease can get get past the gasket and into your bread. The best thing to do is either replace your pan with what is called a "pan assembly which will include everything but the paddles. If you decide to do that be sure to keep your paddles. The other choice of course is to replace your machine which might not be a bad idea if your machine has been used a lot because you would have a new pan assembly but older parts may begin to fail such as the drive belt. Bread machines aren't all that expensive anymore so you may want to go ahead and replace especially since you just use your machine for making dough.

Hi..That assembly is part of the sealed bearing in the bottom of the pan. That sealed bearing allows the shaft and paddle to turn freely. Unfortunately Regal stopped making bread machines and parts several years ago so the chances of you finding a replacement is rare. Hank

Hi,
There is a sealed bearing at the bottom of the pan. This allows the paddle to rotate. The bearing has failed and is falling apart. This usually happens with age or use. Time for a new bread pan. If you are lucky you can find one on ebay. Sorry for the bad news....Hank

The Teflon coating on the inside of the pan has worn. You will need a new pan and probably also a paddle. In the meantime you could try spraying the inside of the pan with cooking oil prior to each use.

Watch/listen to the machine your machine. After the last knead cycle, remove the paddle from the bake pan before the dough rises, continue to bake as normal.

My Breadmakers Hearth was making the same sound, so after taking it apart I found that it was only the Bread Pans "under paddle" that the machine reaches up and connects to to drive the Paddle. I wears loose and wobbles and starts to slip making that banging sound. You can either replace the Bread Pan or like I did INVERT the under paddle (requires removing the C-clamp washer) to extend the life of the Pan and use of the Hearth. Hope this helps you.

Before the baking cycle begins,remove the bread pan ,shake out the batter onto a piece of waxed paper,remove the paddle from the bread pan,place batter back into the pan,close lid.This way you only have a small hole in the finished loaf. I prefer the 1.5 pound rye bread,and set a kitchen timer for 2 hours 5 minutes-when the "shape" cycle finishes,we remove the paddle.
This is listed in my manual on page 76,item # 7;heading is METHOD.
Front of the manual lists the times for the cycles,just add them up.
(When you dump the batter back into the pan,try to pat down the rough edges,it looks better).