[. . . ] Tips for Removing Your Kneading Paddle: It's important that your kneading paddle be removed from its drive shaft immediately following each use because leftover dough wedged up under the kneading paddle can damage the shaft seal thus ruining your bread pan. [. . . ] On super-stubborn paddles I've even gone as far as to attach a pair of mini locking pliers to the kneading paddle. First wrap the plier teeth with black electrical tape to avoid damaging the paddle's non-stick surface. Warning: Do not use pliers to hold the paddle shaft's cross bar. Once your paddle is removed, clean up any leftover dough remaining on both the paddle shaft and inside the paddle hole. It's best if you use a toothpick and/or small plastic or wood craft stick. To avoid a sticking paddle in the future, after each and every use, remove the bread pan, fill with warm water and allow to sit for at least one-half hour before attempting to remove the paddle from the pan. Knowing Your Bread Pan Capacity Knowing your breadmaker's loaf capacity will enable you to find recipes of any variety on the Internet for free. which could cause rising dough to flow over the sides of your bread pan, creating quite a mess and if left unattended, quite a bit of smoke when the final "bake" cycle begins. Happy Breadmaking & Warmest Regards, The Breadmaker Guru Remove your bread pan from your breadmaker. [. . . ] Warning: When testing a new bread recipe in your breadmaker, it's always best that you not leave your breadmaker unattended. [. . . ]