Zojirushi bread machines

[teachermom2834]

My inexpensive Breadman bread machine is dying. I was very happy with it. I have used it probably 5 times a week for 5 or 6 years. It was the cheapest thing on the shelf at Target when I bought it.

 

It's time for new one and I always thought I'd spring for a Zojirushi when that time came. Now I'm reading reviews on Amazon and there are a lot of negatives and I'm hesitating to spend the money. I haven't been able to find any bread machines without many negative reviews (of course there are positive ones, too).

 

I use it for bagel and pizza dough but I also want to actually bake my bread in it. It seemed like the reviews were saying that the Zo was good for mixing dough but not necessarily for the baking.

 

I'm becoming paralyzed by indecision. The Breadman gets some bad reviews too but it is $100 less to start with.

 

Help! What should I buy?

 

Marie

[OnTheBrink]

I bought a Zo, have no problems with it, except I just don't use it. If you were local, I'd let you come over and play with it, then sell it to you. :D

 

Seriously, the few times I used it, it worked fine.

[Rainbows]

ours works fine...no complaints :)

[kmacnchs]

I use the Zo to "make" the bread (45 min), then I take it out, kneed it a little more, let it rise, and then bake it in the oven...so I guess I'm not much help. But for what I do, it works GREAT!

[Sophia]

The Zo isn't good for baking?

Maybe they're doing something wrong?

My 10 year old bakes bread in our Zo at least 4 times a week and it tastes great!

In fact, dh gets upset she doesn't bake bread every day.

No regrets here, I'd definitely buy it again.

[Samiam]

Keep in mind, the ZO is so expensive because it has a high-powered motor that can handle fresh-ground whole wheat. If you are not necessarily going to be use whole-wheat, then you probably don't need to go to such an high-end model, unless you just want to treat yourself :).

 

hth

[Tenaj]

I love, love, love my Zo. I wonder though if the reviewers are using the preset cycles. I don't use the presets for most things, I have adjusted mine to a shorter bake time under the "Homemade" cycle option. I think I also lengthened the kneading time because I use whole wheat flour. We found the bread was too dry and crusty for our taste using the presets, but I've found that with every bread machine we've owned. I chose the Zo because of that programmable setting.

[TCoppock]

I love my Zo. I bake 1-2 loaves of bread a week and have yet to have any problems. I'm not sure what the complaints are but maybe they are expecting bread to look like the factory made store brand. My bread is never perfectly shaped but always tastes fine. I think it is worth the price.

[Jen500]

I've had my Zo for 10 years and usually just bake the bread in the machine--no problems. We also use it to make dough for rolls and pizza, and to make jam. I like the double paddles, the different cycle settings, and the delayed timer, and that it makes a rectangular shaped loaf. I'll definitely buy another when mine finally quits working.