Bread Maker Review - Zojirushi BBCC-X20

The Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme Breadmaker is the Rolls Royce of bread makers, and is considered by many to be the best overall bread maker machine on the market.

It makes horizontal loaves, between one and two pounds, valued by most bread machine owners as being the most pretty, and most like those oven-baked in a conventional bread loaf pan or available from bakeries. To handle the mixing challenges a horizontal loaf brings, the Zojirushi bread maker uses two mixing / kneading paddles. Experts agree that this is a serious advantage over the more usual single-paddle machines. More thorough kneading leads to a more consistent rise and crumb.

The Zojirushi has more useful cycles and options than any other bread maker I've come across, including a sourdough starter cycle. I've never seen that in any other bread maker. As a fan of sourdough breads, this is a real “plus” to me. Owners say that the Zojirushi bread machine is very flexible and can do more than just make bread. There are cycles for jam, cakes and even meatloaf. There are three custom-memory settings and a long, 13-hour delay timer.

The Zojirushi gets solid reviews from owners, with over 300 written reviews at Amazon.com and anthoer 200 or so at Cooking.com. I did find a small number of complaints about durability, but nothing that seemed any different from other high-end bread makers. Some others complained about how large and heavy the machine was, but I think that's to be expected with a bread maker of this quality and capability.

If you don't care about custom cycles, the Panasonic SD-YD250 may be a better option for you. It costs less still got great reviews. If you want nothing but the best in your kitchen, though, you'll want to pay the extra cash to get the amazing Zojirushi bread maker.