Why is this bread maker the best for singles or people with a small family?
It’s compact in size and won’t eat up much space on the countertop. In this zojirushi bread maker review, you’ll see why we’d go for it any day.
Zojirushi Bread Maker Review: Features
- The bread maker is fully automatic and makes 1 pound of cake (or bread) at a time
- It’s easy to use and can be used to make pasta, cookie dough, and even pizzas
- There’s an LCD control panel that allows you to access it’s various features.
- You can use it t0 make fruit jam at home too
- Features a quick bake cycle whenever you need to make bread fast
- Inbuilt programmable timer of upto 13 hours
- Has non stick kneading blades and a non stick baking surface for easy cleaning
- Comes with a limited 1 year warranty from the manufacturer
- Relatively Light (weighs just under 10 pounds)
- You can see how well the bread is baking through the window at the top
- Instruction manual and a 25-recipe book included
Perhaps the biggest selling point if this unit is that it can be preprogrammed to start baking after upto 13 hours. You can get creative and prepare all the ingredients at night and you’ll wake up to freshly baked bread in the morning: Or prepare your ingredients before you leave for work and it will be baking when you’re coming back.
You don’t have to be a chef to use this bread maker as it comes with a handful preset programs for making different recipes. Make anything from bread, cakes to fruit jam with ease thanks to this unit. Need to knead dough for pizzas, casseroles, muffins or pasta? You could even use this bread maker to prepare butter for cookies.
With its fast bake cycle, this bread maker will bake a one pound loaf in 2 hours. On it’s LCD control panel, you get to choose how crispy you want the bread’s crust to be with three resets (medium crust, a baked one or a light crust)
It would be impossible to achieve dough of consistent texture without making use of nin stick kneading blades. You won’ have a hard time removing the bread from the unit either as it has a non stick coating. There’s a viewing window at the top where you can see how well it’s working (without rising the lid and letting heat escape). The control panel and it’s LCD display are easy to use even for beginners.
OUR TOP PICK
Zojirushi Virtuoso - Top Features
- Makes regular shaped bread
- 2 pound capacity
- Can make gluten bread too
- 2 kneading blades for even consistency
- Quick baking cycle feature
- Measuring cup and lid included
- Two heaters at the top and bottom for even baking
EDITORS CHOICE
Zojirushi Home Bakery supreme - Top Features
- Dual Blades
- 2 lb capacity
- 13 hours timed delay
- Makes gluten free bread
BEST VALUE
Zojirushi 1 pound bread maker - Top Features
- Zojirushi 1 pound
- LCD control panel
- 13 preset programs
- 1 pound capacity
Can you get replacement parts for Zojirushi bread makers?
Even though most components and parts on this unit are durable, they may still break with continued usage. Replacement parts can be purchased from their official website or through the company’s Amazon sales page
Replacing the measuring cup
The Zojirushi measuring cup that comes with the unit can be replaced for any measuring cup you like. I would personally go for this one as it has a spout for mess free pouring. The OXO measuring cup is made from BPA free plastic that’s dishwasher safe too. Thanks to it’s angled side, you get to take measurements from above. It kind of takes the guess work and trial from measuring liquids when baking.
Measuring spoon
You can replace the measuring spoon it comes with (or get a backup one) from amazon. You’ll need this measuring spoon when adding liquids or flavors. This lightweight replacement spoon is light and has a comfortable grip.
Blades
While you can use any measuring spoon or cup, Zojirushi blades aren’t interchangeable. You will need to get the exact replacement part for your model. These blades are all available on the company’s website. They even have a chart that lets you know if the replacement blades will work with your model before you make the purchase.
Replacing the baking/kneading pan
The pans aren’t interchangeable either and are model specific. You will need to know your model number beforehand. There are various sellers on Amazon and they all indicate the models that their pans will work with your unit.
Zojirushi bread maker review: It’s advantages
Owning a bread machine is a great advantage for your busy lifestyle as it not only saves time in the kitchen but also makes your life better in many ways.
Fresh Bread Anytime
Traditional oven baking is not so much a single task as a series of steps. It requires careful planning to get baked bread out of your oven. Of course you can purchase bread from your local bakery, but it’s not always freshly baked. With a bread machine, you do not have to plan in advance as all you need to do is add the ingredients and start the machine. You can enjoy freshly baked bread anytime you want it.
Ingredient Freedom
You don’t have any choice as to the ingredients in commercially available breads. With a zojirushi bread maker, you can customize the taste and texture of your breads because you have the freedom to add your favorite fruits, spices, herbs, cheese and so on and enjoy your choice of flavors.
Effortless and Clutterless
Traditional bread making makes lots of mess what with all the mixing and kneading. A bread machine creates no mess at all, as everything from mixing to baking is done within the bread pan.
Healthy & Economical
When you add up the cost of store-bought bread over the years, a bread machine is a much more economical choice. More importantly, it is a smart way to enjoy freshly baked bread with healthy ingredients as you can choose the flour and everything else that goes into it.
Getting to Know Your zojirushi bread maker and Baking Techniques
Before learning to make aromatic, delicious breads, you need to understand the basics of bread baking and the basic functions of a bread machine. Bread machines are also popularly known as bread makers. They function in a very systemic way and go though many steps to complete the baking process.
Zojirushi bread maker Cycles/Settings
The zojirushi bread maker offers many different settings for baking different varieties of breads such as gluten-free, whole wheat bread, basic white bread, sweet bread etc. After you add ingredients to the bread machine and start the baking process, the mixture goes through many cycles before coming out as a perfectly textured bread.
Basic/White
Use this setting for all basic breads, including white breads and many other breads. The commonly used flour for this setting is white bread flour, and the average duration is 3–4 hours.
Wholegrain/Whole Wheat
Given their heavy, high-gluten texture, whole wheat and wholegrain flours need longer kneading and rising times. Use this setting to prepare all types of wholegrain and whole wheat breads.
Gluten-Free
This setting is suitable for preparing all types of gluten-free breads using flour other than wheat flour. A gluten-free diet is becoming a popular choice for millions of health-conscious people across the world. However, there still aren’t that many commercial gluten-free breads available, and those that exist tend to be a little expensive. One great advantage of a bread machine is that you can prepare all types of gluten-free breads with your choice of ingredients to suit your taste and texture preferences as well as your budget.
Quick/Rapid
Use this setting for breads with lower rising times and overall shorter baking times. Generally speaking this means breads with no yeast requirement, which require less baking time than other breads; however, this setting is also appropriate for some breads with yeast. Time varies from 30 minutes to 2 hours.
Dough
This setting is for preparing dough without baking the bread. It’s quite useful when you’re planning to bake in the oven but want to skip the kneading part. One advantage of this setting is that baking in the oven lets you create breads of different shapes. After you add the required ingredients, the bread machine mixes them and kneads a flaky dough for you. The zojirushi bread makers kneads the dough till first rise.
Fruit/Nut
Use this setting for preparing breads with added fruits and nuts. Many machines have a fruit/nut hopper to grind the added ingredients while the kneading process is going on. The machine will either add the nuts/fruits automatically during the baking process or signal when the time is right for you to do it.
Sweet
Use this setting for breads with a high amount of sweet and/or fatty ingredients, as well as for breads prepared from cheese and/or eggs. Sweet breads require less baking time and lower baking temperature to avoid an overly dark crust.
French
Use this setting for breads that need little or no sugar. French breads need higher temperatures and longer rising times, and they typically have hard crusts.
Timed-Bake
This setting is like a timer for your zojirushi bread maker: You add all the ingredients and the machine processes them later. For example, you can add the ingredients right before leaving for work and set the timer for mid-afternoon. The machine will start baking at the set time, and you can enjoy freshly baked bread when you return home. As the ingredients will stay inside the bread pan for a while, it is not recommended to use this setting for recipes that include perishable ingredients such as milk, cream, cheese and eggs.
Steps in Making Bread with the zojirushi bread maker
Bread machines have made the complex task of bread making as simple as possible. You do not need to master the skill of kneading the dough or worry about dough rise or baking consistency. In a few easy steps, you can make many different varieties of breads with automatic bread machine functions.
Measure Ingredients
The first step involves measuring the ingredients specified in a recipe. Measure them as per your preferred bread size. The most popular bread sizes are 1½ pounds (12 slices) and 2 pounds (16 slices), although 1-pound and 2½-pound sizes are also used.
For 1½-pound and 2-pound breads, the bread pan capacity should be at least 10 cups and 12 cups respectively.
Bread Pan
After measuring the ingredients, take out the bread pan provided by the manufacturer. Add the ingredients to the pan in the order specified in the recipe. Yeast is added last to keep it separate from liquid ingredients for better fermentation.
A standard order for adding ingredients, which will give the best results for most recipes, is:
- Wet Ingredients
- Dry Ingredients
- Yeast
The order of ingredients is covered in more detail in the following section.
Select Function
Follow the recipe instructions to select the appropriate function from the available options (Basic/White, Wholegrain, Sweet, etc.).
Select Loaf Size
After selecting a function, select the loaf size (1, 1½, 2, or 2½ pounds) based on the ingredient measurements.
Select Crust Type
Most bread machines have three choices for preparing breads with different crust types:
- Light
- Medium
- Dark
After selecting the crust type, start the machine and it will start mixing the dough and baking the bread.
Cooling & Slicing
Take out the bread pan after the machine signals the end of the baking process. Allow it to cool down for 5–10 minutes, then shake the bread pan to loosen the bread, take out the loaf, slice and serve.