Zojirushi BBCCX20 Home Bakery Supreme Bread Machine
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Zojirushi BBCCX20 Home Bakery Supreme Bread Machine
Customer Review: Turning out fantastic bread!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Admittedly, I have only had this machine for 2days, so I can not speak to reliability yet. Normally I would not review a product so early, but some negative reviews elsewhere almost scared me off. I have baked three loaves in two days, and I am just thrilled with the results. I bought this to replace a Breadman Plus, because I wanted the horizontal loaf pan, dual paddles, and customizable settings. I was not sure about the purchase, as the Breadman was producing fairly good bread, and I'd read about some problems with dry and/or overcooked bread. I'm so glad we made the switch. So far, I have baked a cinnamon apple raisin bread, a pumpernickel, and a honey-oat-wheat bread, all on the whole wheat setting, with between 50 and 66% whole grains. (None of the recipes were designed for the Zo.) The pumpernickel loaf is especially lovely. It looks like it came from the bakery NOT the bread machine. Perfect crust all around and in my four year old's words: "Mommy! It's tastes like pumpernickel!" After a tip from a friend, I've pulled all the loaves out a little early, between 5 (for the apple bread) and 15 minutes. (I could create a custom setting for this, but for now, I'll just do it on my own.) This probably helped prevent the bread from drying out, as some people experienced, and kept the crust softer and lighter, as we like it. The breads were lighter and airier than in the Breadman, and the crusts were so much better--still, well, crusty, but not at all hard. The pan cleans up more easily than the Breadman, and the paddles have not stuck in the bread at all yet. Oh, and the horizontal load is much easier to cut 1oz slices. We're thrilled so far. Hopefully that will continue.Customer Review: Great breadmaker, but 2 major gaffs
Summary: 4 Stars
I've read many of the other reviews, and from my experience, I don't have a problem with the bread itself. I find it a very capable and versatile machine. I have a wheat bread recipe that rises to the density of my white. The white bread is as soft and pliable, but way better, than store bread, and the sourdough is to die for. Remember to always use bread flour for any white flour requirements.
However,
There are 2 major problems with this machine that I find inexcusable.
1st - The bowl does not positvely lock to the base. With only spring tension the bowl wobbles during the kneading cycles, and one time even came out of its base. I bent the springs to hold more firmly, and it has not come out, but it still wobbles.
2nd - The paddles stick to the shafts and will not release. This makes it extremely hard to get the loaf out, and it means that you must shake the whole thing until the bread tears through the paddles and finally comes out, leaving the paddles behind. I would much rather that the paddles stayed in the bread, where I could then easilly pull them out. I used to have a West Bend (looked sort of like R2D2), where the shaft was tapered. The paddle always stayed in the bread, and you just pried it out with the handle of a wooden spoon. I've tried on the shafts oil, butter, even mineral oil and Vaseline, and nothing works. The West Bend also positively locked to the base.
I call this "I don't give a s*** engineering" - They must have tested this at least once when they were developing the machine, found, of course, that it didn't work well, and then said, "Oh well, we'll sell it as is anyway"
There is on excuse for these defects.
Customer Review: Another great machine!
Summary: 4 Stars
This is my second Zo, the first being a model they don't make anymore that I had for fifteen years! These days, I honestly don't expect any appliance to last that long, but after much research and reading all of the reviews (both good and bad), I decided I was going with another Zo.
I've only had it a short time, but I'm very happy with the bread that I've made so far. I do agree with other reviewers that it does tend to make a lopsided loaf if you don't take a couple of seconds to straighten it out during the last rise, but honestly this is not a big deal to me. Considering how much time and effort it takes to make bread by hand, a couple of seconds of my time is nothing. It's a two-paddle machine, and being a machine, it's simply not capable of knowing when the dough is "crooked".
I have also noticed, as other reviewers have, that the loaves come out a bit light on top compared to the sides, but it hasn't affected the texture or taste of the loaves I've made so far. I use the light crust setting, and may play with setting some custom bake times in the future.
I often just use the "dough" setting with bread machines and do the rest by hand, and for those who would like a perfect uniform loaf with no paddle holes in the bottom, I can tell you that it doesn't take much of your time to do that if you want to. Just punch the dough down, form it for a bread pan (there are instructions online for this), and let it rise another hour or so. Bake for 25 minutes at 375 degrees. Done!
So overall, if you can deal with the couple of little quirks mentioned above--and let's face it, every brand has its quirks--I would highly recommend checking out this machine!
Customer Review: Why spend 200 bucks on a bread machine?!
Summary: 5 Stars
As I found out, because it's worth it!
This is my third bread machine. The first one died years ago. I recently gave myself permission to buy the top-of-the-line bread machine, even though my aging current one still works.
That was before I learned that "top of the line" meant this $200 critter! But, based on the outstanding reviews here, I followed through.
The thing I did when I got the machine told me everything. I made my first loaf with the same bread recipe I used most often in my other machine.
Wow.
The finished product clearly showed how brilliantly designed this machine is. Every feature--the preheating, two blades, true loaf-shaped pan, third rise time--came together to produce a loaf of bread that was in a completely different class in texture from the one my previous machine produced. It was really surprising and my family was delighted.
I have made a number of different recipes since then (I've had it for over four months) and the results have nearly always been wonderful. It's easy to use and easy to clean and as a result we use it far more often than any bread machine we've had before it.
I haven't tried to produce anything other than loaves of bread and probably won't, with the possible exception of pizza dough. I'll leave that to the bread machine wizards.
So, what I can offer you is this perspective. If all of the extra things you can do on this model are meaningful to you, then great, but you won't need them to justify the expense. In my opinion, the basic core function of the machine--making a loaf of bread--is in a class by itself.
Customer Review: Disappointed
Summary: 2 Stars
I previously had a Panasonic which I used for many years and finally wore it out. It made wonderful bread. I debated whether to buy another one or go with a different brand. I decided on the Zojirushi because I liked the idea of having a loaf that, well, looked like a loaf of bread and I thought the two blade system would be good for mixing.
Well, I've had the machine about a year now and I'm disappointed to say the least. First of all, the bread comes out too well done on the bottom & sides. I've discovered if I take the bread out 5 or 6 minutes before the timer on the machine says its ready, it helps a little.
The other issue is I found that my 65 year old arms have great difficulty in getting the d...m bread out of the pan. It is so frustrating! I shake & shake and finally after about 15 shakes it will loosen and if I'm lucky the paddles with stay in place. Boy, my arms hurt after this struggle.
Then, when it finally does pop out it will land hard and squish the top or part of the top crust will flop off. What a mess.
Many times the paddles have stuck to the bread and when we go to slice, oops, we hit the blade at the bottom of the loaf.
I wish I had my old Panasonic back. When this one hits the dust I will not buy another Zojirushi.
However, it's only saving grace is that it does make decent dough for pizza and rolls. That's why I'm giving it a two star instead of one.
I do have a Zojirushi rice cooker which I love and use for oatmeal as well as great for white & brown rice. However, that is another product and another story