Zojirushi BB-HAC10 Home Bakery 1-Pound-Loaf Programmable Mini Breadmaker
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Zojirushi BB-HAC10 Home Bakery 1-Pound-Loaf Programmable Mini Breadmaker
Customer Review: Zojirushi Mini (1-Pound)
Summary: 5 Stars
My Zojirushi Mini (BB-HAC10) arrived a few days ago and I'm baking Loaf #4 as I write this. First, the delivery was prompt. I chose Amazon's free shipping but for some reason, it was sent overnight to me. That was a nice touch. This is my very first bread machine and I bought it because my husband and I (no kids) constantly have bread problems: the commercial loaves are too big for us and we end up throwing out 1/2 the loaf, OR we run out of bread mid-week when it is inconvenient to go to the store. Add to that our refusal to buy bread with preservatives and whatnot added to it. So it was inevitable that we'd buy a bread machine. Living in a condo with a small kitchen, this machine was an easy choice because of size (we hardly notice it on the counter now). The price was a bit of an issue but we justified that based on the superlative reviews this model has received. The first two loaves of bread I baked were truly delicious though a bit dense -- got the recipe off a website where the contributor owned an identical unit. But being new to bread-making, I didn't realize that there was a difference between "bread flour" and something called "whole wheat bread flour". I bought the latter... an absolutely delicious (and equally nutritious) version of regular whole wheat flour but of course requires more leavening than "bread flour". I had bought these ingredients ahead of time, having no clue what the Zo's own recipes contained, only knowing that most reviewers liked these recipes quite well. Loaf #3 was Zo's basic white bread and it turned out beautifully. In fact it rose so much that it was flat against the lid by the third rise. I had to open it and deflate it with a toothpick. Anyway, I'd like to save anyone who has ordered this Zo from the trouble of buying the wrong ingredients for the first few loaves you'd probably make if this is your first experience with a bread machine. Here's what you need for the regular cycle recipe for white bread from the Zo manual: water, bread flour, sugar, dry milk, salt, butter, active dry yeast (breadmaker yeast works too).
I also bought Beth Hensberger's "The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook" after using Amazon's search-inside feature and reading a bit of it. It's very comprehensive and very educational for beginners like myself (600+ pages for $14). Though most of her recipes are for 2-lb loaves, she says you can halve the quantities for 1-lb. Some people disagree. My Loaf #4 (raisin bread) is such a conversion and I'm hoping she's right! This Zo, by the way, is not made in Japan, but is made in China. The construction is of extremely high quality and certainly has that sort of "Hello Kitty" Japanese look to it. The bread pan is very thick and solid. It fits very easily into the slot in the machine and putting it in and taking it takes hardly any effort. I cannot believe just how easy the whole bread-making process is. I know that other reviewers have been saying that, but I couldn't imagine that bread-making could ever be called easy. But this machine really does make it easy. The hardest part, I would say, is making precise measurements and learning about some of the chemistry behind bread-making. I've also never, ever baked anything that required so little clean-up. The bread pan and mixing paddle barely look like they are used after each loaf is removed. Once, there was a bit hard dough stuck in the tiny space between the paddle and the rod that holds it, and I found that the quickest way to clean it was to soak the whole thing in water for 10 minutes. I'm hesitant to soak it in soapy water because I don't want anything eating into the non-stick coating. I've also been using the soft side of a sponge, not the scrubby side (even though the scrubby side is designed for non-stick coatings). The notch made in the bread by the paddle is quite insignificant. I've eaten airy breads with much larger holes in the slices before. The beeping sound after 30 minutes for adding extra ingredients and for completion of baking is soft and I've been using my microwave's loud timer alongside the Zo to make sure I don't miss it. The operation of the Zo is VERY quiet. My husband was in the kitchen cooking dinner while the bread was baking and I had to ask him to take a look and see if the machine was actually doing anything. (It was. It was kneading). Sometimes you can hear the whirr of the paddle in another room if there isn't any other ambient noise. The unit came with a plastic measuring cup (1-cup size) and a plastic tablespoon/teaspoon measure. It also came with a VHS tape which was useless for me. A DVD would have been so much better, or even an online demo on [...]. The buttons on the Zo itself are simple and self-explanatory. For example, I realized after putting in the ingredients of my last loaf that I'd have to use a new cycle and I was able to figure out in a matter of seconds which buttons to press. The Zo has a cake-making and jam-making feature and those will be my next ventures. The size of the 1-lb loaf, by the way, is substantial for two people - enough for two meals for two people.
Lastly, I did feel compelled to buy an additional 2-year warranty after reading some of the reviewers talk about units that conked out. (I bought it via Amazon from Square Trade for $22). I will follow up on this review in a few months.
10/13/2010 - Now that I've had this breadmaker for a few months, I have to say that I really love it. I use it 3-4 times a week. The process couldn't be simpler. The breads come out perfectly every time. When we have company I bake two loaves using the quick cycle. The cake function is great though the loaves are small. They're perfect for 2-3 people but not if you have company. Last week I used a 2-lb recipe for banana bread and had the Zojirushi mix it up but then I took it out and baked it in a regular size loaf pan in the oven. Turned out perfect. I've made jam twice. Both times the results were way too liquidy and uncooked and I had to transfer it to a saucepan to cook for an additional 20 mins on the stovetop. Still it saves you about an hour of stirring.
Customer Review: Very versatile little machine
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my first breadmaker, but I did a lot of research before buying it. I have now owned it for a little over a year and thought I could give a good evaluation of this little machine. The rest of this review is split up into five parts (bread, dough, cake, cookie dough, jam), evaluating the main features of the Zojirushi BB-HAC10 separately:
BREAD
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PROGRAMS: The machine has separate settings for hard and soft breads, as well as crust control which comes in handy when you're making bread that has eggs in it, since it browns much faster. There is a program for french bread that takes a little over 5 hours and produces beautiful crusty french bread with no oil at all. The quick bake program, which makes bread in just under 2 hours is something I was very skeptical about but that I have to appreciate a lot, since it always comes out perfect. The bread won't have as much of a yeasty flavor to it, but the texture is just fine, and I've found that almost any recipe can be made this way, usually by doubling the yeast. I have made quite a few specialty breads in this little machine using both quick bake and regular cycles, including ciabatta, challah, jalapeno-cheese, banana-flavored bread, and a ton of different sandwich breads from all white to all wheat with sunflower seeds. If you're concerned about the kneading blade hole on the bottom of your bread, you could go through the trouble of taking the dough out after the second rising, taking the blade out, then putting the dough back in. I personally don't mind the hole much at all.
YEAST: I had a couple of failures in the beginning when my whole wheat bread turned out like a brick, practically inedible. I found that using high-quality yeast makes all the difference. I experimented with several different kinds, including regular active dry yeast and several brands of "bread machine" yeast. I finally tried SAF from King Arthur Flour's website because it had great reviews. Every single one of my breads has risen perfectly since I stared using SAF, and it has the additional benefit of being tons cheaper than anything you'll find in your grocery store, so I would very highly recommend it. I am now finishing off the package which I bought almost a year ago!! I store the package in an air-tight container in the freezer, and transfer a little into one of the little jars of that "bread machine" yeast I used to buy as needed.
SOURDOUGH: I have also made several different kinds of sourdoughs, most often ciabatta. Although the mini Zoji does not have a sourdough program, so it can't produce a true sourdough that would take a few hours, I made my own starter (recipe can be found in Bread Machine Magic by using the "browse this book" feature), and use that in different proportions. By feeding the starter regularly, it lasts forever. Every once in a while, when I haven't used it for a couple of weeks, I'll transfer it to a new dish and feed it again, throwing out most of the old starter, and that works great.
DOUGH
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I have used the dough feature to make different doughs, most often pizza dough (the beer pizza dough recipe that comes with the Zoji booklet is quite nice), challah dough for when I have the time to shape it, and focaccia dough. Dough comes out perfectly kneaded every time, is very easy to handle, and rises and bakes beautifully.
CAKE
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The cake feature is great! I've made many a chocolate cake, and just recently started making cheesecake in the Zoji as well. That's right, cheesecake, with the crust and everything! Cakes come out with a perfect texture, and rise very well. Since the kneading time is so short, ingredients often need to be at room temperature, and cut into smaller chunks to ensure even texture, but once you take these precautions, you will get some great cakes. The only negative is having the big whole on the bottom or top from the kneading blade, which is much more of issue with cakes for me since they're smaller and therefore a bigger part of them is affected. Slathering my cheesecake with strawberry jam fixed that problem, though, since the hole is nicely hidden.
COOKIE/PASTA DOUGH:
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COOKIES: I have not made home-made pasta yet because I can't justify the time. However, I've made many many cookies with the Zoji, and usually the result is good. Sometimes, I find that the dough gets overmixed and I'd rather do it by hand, but you can't beat the convenience.
QUICK PIZZA DOUGH: I also often cheat and use the cookie dough program to make instant pizza dough by using lukewarm water (the SAF yeast mentioned above works as rapid rise as well), letting the Zoji mix the dough for 8 minutes, then assembling my pizza and baking it immediately, when I'm really in a crunch for a quick meal.
JAM
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I made several different jams over the summer using mostly fresh strawberries, though I tried mango once too. The jam came out so delicious, it never last more than two days. I would modify the included recipes and use about half the sugar, though, because the jam was a little too sweet to the point of overpowering the natural flavor of the fruit. Mixing and cooking the jam was the easiest thing, and having your kitchen smell like freshly cooked strawberry jam might just be the best part of it all.
Hope this helps you with your decision!
Customer Review: Comparison to Zojirushi BBCCX20 and Breadman
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my fourth bread machine in the past 15-20 years. I started out using the original Zojirushi, which was a great machine (but eventually died after many years of loyal service). More recently, I had been using a full-size Zojirushi BBCCX20 and a Breadman Ultimate. I still use both the Breadman and the Zojirushi BBCCX20 for specific purposes (I bake a lot of bread), but the Zo Mini is the only machine that stays permanently on my counter now. It has become, by far and away, my favorite bread machine.
For starters, I should explain why I still use the Breadman and the full-size Zo:
o The Breadman (which seems to be sold under a variety of private labels these days) is the most flexible machine on the market in terms of the range of cycles and the ability to adjust the cycle timing. I especially like the Pause button for breads that refuse to proof as quickly as expected. The motor is weak, though, and the machine is very noisy.
o The full-size Zo has a great motor. It's the only option for making 2-pound loaves of whole-wheat bread. It also has the ability to program custom cycles (but no Pause button once a cycle is under way). On the downside, it has a very annoying beep to signal when it's time to add fruit/nuts -- the beep goes for a very long time and can't be silenced, which is a problem if you use the machine on a delay setting to bake bread overnight. Like the Breadman, it also takes up quite a bit of counter space.
Now, on to the Zojirushi Mini:
+ The Zo mini produces the perfect size loaf for every day. The larger machines are great for producing 1.5 to 2 pound loaves, which are the right size for a big gathering. But a loaf of that size is too big for everyday meals. And, because home-made bread has no preservatives, I routinely find myself having to throw out half the loaf from the full-size machines after a couple of days. The Zo Mini, on the other hand, produces a loaf that's perfect for everyday use -- we generally eat half the loaf as soon as it comes out of the machine, then finish off the loaf the next day before it goes stale.
+ The Zo mini takes up less than half the counter space of the full-size loaf machines. It's so small that I can leave it out all the time, which makes it really easy to bake a loaf of bread on a whim.
+ The Zo mini seems to live up to the Zojirushi reputation in terms of motor power. I've had no trouble with very stiff whole-wheat doughs.
+ The Zo mini is incredibly quiet. The difference between the Zo and my Breadman in terms of noise is amazing. This is especially important if you like to use the machine on a delay setting overnight so that you can wake up to fresh bread.
On the downside:
- The Zo mini does not have the same options as the full-size Zo to create customized baking cycles, and it still doesn't have a Pause button (why hasn't Zojirushi figured this out by now?).
- The beeper that indicates when to add fruit/nuts still can't be turned off. On the positive side, though, the beeper only beeps about five times on the mini, which is a huge improvement over the 15-beep cycle on the full-size Zo (which always kept me from using the full-size Zo overnight).
In a nutshell: The Zojirushi Mini is the closest thing I've found to the perfect bread machine. It's compact and simple, with a powerful motor, and it produces the ideal size loaf (i.e., one that you can finish before it goes stale). Although I continue to use my bigger machines for holidays, the Zo Mini is now the only bread machine we use on a regular basis. It's a great addition to the kitchen if you enjoy fresh bread.
Customer Review: Comparison with full-sized Zojirushi BBCCX20 and Breadman
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my fourth bread machine in the past 15-20 years. I started out using the original Zojirushi, which was a great machine (but eventually died after many years of loyal service). More recently, I had been using a full-size Zojirushi BBCCX20 and a Breadman Ultimate. I still use both the Breadman and the Zojirushi BBCCX20 for specific purposes (I bake a lot of bread), but the Zo Mini is the only machine that stays permanently on my counter now. It has become, by far and away, my favorite bread machine.
For starters, I should explain why I still use the Breadman and the full-size Zo:
o The Breadman (which seems to be sold under a variety of private labels these days) is the most flexible machine on the market in terms of the range of cycles and the ability to adjust the cycle timing. I especially like the Pause button for breads that refuse to proof as quickly as expected. The motor is weak, though, and the machine is very noisy.
o The full-size Zo has a great motor. It's the only option for making 2-pound loaves of whole-wheat bread. It also has the ability to program custom cycles (but no Pause button once a cycle is under way). On the downside, it has a very annoying beep to signal when it's time to add fruit/nuts -- the beep goes for a very long time and can't be silenced, which is a problem if you use the machine on a delay setting to bake bread overnight. Like the Breadman, it also takes up quite a bit of counter space.
Now, on to the Zojirushi Mini:
+ The Zo mini produces the perfect size loaf for every day. The larger machines are great for producing 1.5 to 2 pound loaves, which are the right size for a big gathering. But a loaf of that size is too big for everyday meals. The Zo Mini, on the other hand, produces a loaf that's perfect for everyday use -- we generally eat half the loaf as soon as it comes out of the machine, then finish off the loaf the next day before it goes stale.
+ The Zo mini takes up less than half the counter space of the full-size loaf machines. It's so small that I can leave it out all the time, which makes it really easy to bake a loaf of bread on a whim.
+ The Zo mini seems to live up to the Zojirushi reputation in terms of motor power. I've had no trouble with very stiff whole-wheat doughs.
+ The Zo mini is very quiet. The difference between the Zo and my Breadman in terms of noise is amazing. This is especially important if you like to use the machine on a delay setting overnight so that you can wake up to fresh bread.
On the downside:
- The Zo mini does not have the same options as the full-size Zo to create customized baking cycles, and it still doesn't have a Pause button (why hasn't Zojirushi figured this out by now?).
- The beeper that indicates when to add fruit/nuts still can't be turned off. On the positive side, though, the beeper only beeps about five times on the mini, which is a huge improvement over the 15-beep cycle on the full-size Zo (which always kept me from using the full-size Zo overnight).
In a nutshell: The Zojirushi Mini is the closest thing I've found to the perfect bread machine. It's compact and simple, with a powerful motor, and it produces the ideal size loaf (i.e., one that you can finish before it goes stale). Although I continue to use my bigger machines for holidays, the Zo Mini is now the only bread machine we use on a regular basis. It's a great addition to the kitchen if you enjoy fresh bread.
Customer Review: Excellent choice
Summary: 5 Stars
I have used breadmakers for many years now. My last one died about two years ago. In the search for a replacement, I read many reviews and looked at the various options in stores. The Zojirushi BB-HAC10 Home Bakery 1-Pound-Loaf Programmable Mini Breadmaker turned out to be the right choice for me.
The Zojirushi is relatively quiet and its compact size allows it to fit nicely in a limited space. It has a nice appearance and will fit well into most kitchens. Its operation and many options make it easy and fun to use.
My breadmaker came with a large white label on the right side (not shown in the advertising) that provides a recipe and instructions for making basic white bread. I did not remove this label as I felt leaving it there would provide me readily available assistance should I need it. If it gets to look ugly, I can always remove it.
The mixing paddle is relatively small and thin compared to the paddles on other breadmakers. While it does make a small hole in the bottom of the loaf of bread, the small profile of the mixing paddle makes the hole unobjectionable. Initially, I had some difficulty removing the mixing paddle for cleaning until I discovered there was a tiny hook on the breadmaker shaft that helps retain the paddle while you remove the bread from the bread pan. Counter rotating the paddle slightly allows it to be easily removed from the bread pan shaft.
The bread pan can be removed, inserted and locked in place very easily. The design allows you to place all of your ingredients in the bread pan prior to placing the pan in the baking chamber. This is a nice feature as it prevents the mess of ingredients ending up in the baking chamber, particularly if you are like me and tend to be messy.
The Zojirushi comes with an instruction manual that has a variety of recipes that cover most of the types of bread or cakes that you would like to make. I strongly recommend following the recipes in the book exactly until you are comfortable with the bread making process. Once you have a good understanding of this breadmaker, you can modify the existing recipes or make your own to meet your unique taste. I have not had a bad loaf of bread or cake since using this breadmaker (please note the importance of following recipes exactly).
This breadmaker makes a rectangular loaf of bread that provides a slice of bread that is about 20 percent taller and slightly narrower than a commercial loaf of bread. It will provide you about 8 to 10 slices of bread depending on how thick you slice the bread. I slice off both ends slightly thick to make a fresh and tasty hamburger bun.
The Zojirushi is at the high end of the price range for breadmakers. However, in this case, you get what you pay for. The design, quality, and construction of this breadmaker make it well worth the price. It provides a large variety of options for making bread, dinner rolls, cakes, cookies, pizza, croissants, jams and even meatloaf. If you are serious about having fresh bread every few days (or daily if there are two of you), then this is an excellent choice.
I have had the Zojirushi BB-HAC10 Home Bakery 1-Pound-Loaf Programmable Mini Breadmaker for approximately 45 days. I am extremely pleased so far with my purchase. I would not hesitate to recommend this product to anyone desiring a quality and compact breadmaker.