Oh man, the Thanksgiving oven death is such a real thing. Mine quit on a random Tuesday and I did the same panic bake in a machine I'd gotten at a yard sale for like ten bucks. What surprised me was the dough setting, letting it knead and rise in there first, then shaping and doing the second rise on the counter before baking. That one change made my loaves way less dense than just dumping everything in and hitting start. Also the pan size on those machines is smaller so the bread bakes more even, no weird hot spots like my old oven had.

Reminds me of a guy I worked with years back who swore he could feel when a pick was too heavy by the way the truck leaned. He was dead serious about it too. Ran a little boom truck for a sign company and never once pulled out the chart on a "quick" set. Anyway he ended up putting one in the dirt, no one hurt but the sign was junk. Point is these shortcuts always work right up until they don't. Your near miss on that panel lift is proof enough. A 4,800 pound pick at 60 feet does not care how you feel about it.