may I know what brand and model is your bread maker? i'm using a kenwood. there is no locking mechanism for the paddle on the shaft. just slot it in. almost everytime, the paddle will come out with the bread even though it is not supposed to

hmm.... different bread maker will be different in this sense, but raisin usually goes in at a later stage. some models have compartment for you to put in the raisin, where it will automatically dispense into the dough. for those without this compartment, it will beep to tell you when it is time to put in the raisin

whether you can put it in earlier or not, I never tried before. not sure will effect the raising of the dough though