This review is from: Zojirushi BB-HAC10 Home Bakery 1-Pound-Loaf Programmable Mini Breadmaker (Kitchen)
The Zojirushi BB-HAC10 breadmaker is terrific for couples, singles, or apartment dwellers wanting a small loaf of bread (1 LB). While at first, its price may be offsetting, it is a fantastic device and made of high quality materials. Most breadmakers are too large and end up being stored in the closet, but this machine is small, sleek, and bakes perfect loaves of bread. It is the same width as my toaster and is small enough to keep out on an apartment kitchen counter. The loaves on regular cycles take between 3:40-3:00 to bake, but it has a timer and a “keep warm” feature. It is quiet and an 8-year old could easily operate its simple push button controls.
It has an even-heating element, and a good quality, heavy, non-stick baking pan, which is a snap to clean up. It has a pasta/cookie dough feature and a jam (!) feature. The tiny paddle is actually surprisingly efficient at making dough for cookies and such.
One caveat: It bakes a small, vertical loaf of bread and a 1 LB loaf is smaller than you think it is. So the “rounded” part on top takes up about 1/4 of the entire loaf. Also, your bottom slice will have a gaping hole where the paddle bakes into it. While this is not much of a problem for a large 2 LB loaf, for this small loaf, it is a bit of a waste.
We have had a Zojirushi since the early 90’s and although we found it consistently made excellent bread, it wasn’t getting used very often because it was large and the 2LB loaves simply weren’t getting eaten. After downsizing, we found that this breadmaker is fabulous because it makes small enough loaves that you can experiment with tons of different recipes and throw away a botched recipe without feeling bad about waste.
This review is from: Zojirushi BB-HAC10 Home Bakery 1-Pound-Loaf Programmable Mini Breadmaker (Kitchen)
If you are like me, you will do a huge amount of research on the web before you make a purchase like this. Usually I get it down to a few brands, then one item, then I find the best price. Years ago I purchased one of the earliest commercial bread makers available to consumers. It was a thrill to have such a thing, as I love fresh bread, but I am also a well-known yeast killer. Needless to say, the technology was new… it worked for about a year, and only when making one recipe – Basic White Bread. I decided not to get it fixed (the price tag for repairs was over 100 bucks), and just wrote the whole idea off. Last fall – after about ten years had passed! – I decided to try again, only this time I had the internet on my side. I am so glad I looked as hard as I did! This little machine is fantastic. I’ve had my Zoji for about a month now and I’ve only had one failure – it was my fault, the water I put in was just too hot, and I killed the yeast (no new thing there). Otherwise, I’ve made about 13 successful loaves for myself, family & friends! My Challa loaf and my basic white have now been perfected. Wheat and quick breads turn out great, too. I’ve even figured out how to use the soft bread cycle and a sweet loaf dough, and remove it at just the right time, then roll the dough up with cinnamon or slice it and put layers of filling, whatever you can think of, then get it back in the pan quickly for the rest of the last rise and the baking. As long as you are prepared and do your math with the clock so you can work fast, this works great. The other plus is that the loaf size, at just a pound, is perfect for singles like me. I do not have to freeze so much extra bread, and it gets eaten before it gets stale or bad. Do yourself a solid and get some bread flour, it does make a difference to the rising and the texture of the loaf. The zoji has some great features that may not be apparent when reading the manual (go to […] and download the manual in PDF form – I do this with every single appliance I am serious about purchasing and it really helps make the best decision for you). The water I put in is truly cool to lukewarm. I learned by watching my Zoji that during the “rest” phase (the first phase), the water is at the bottom of the pan and the machine warms it up during this phase to the perfect temperature. I know that sounds trivial, but remember this is how I always kill yeast! So… biggest problem for me: SOLVED. Next is to put the ingredients in as they tell you to – mostly to keep the yeast dry and on the top of the flour until it begins to knead. Another thing I learned about this by watching, to be absolutely sure, is to put in the water first, then just HALF the flour, put the rest of the ingredients on top of that flour (except your add-ins like raisins, there is a beep later for that), lastly put the remaining flour on top, then make a small dip right in the middle and put all the yeast right there. If you do this, when the Zoji starts the first knead, the yeast sinks straight to the bottom into the water – which is just perfect. Clean up is very easy – just be sure to get all the bread out of the paddle and it’s assembly, and dry everything properly until the next loaf. I love this little machine. Zojirushi is the more expensive brand, and even though I am on a tight budget, I am happy I got this one. I can see why it costs a little more – it’s great!
++++++
UPDATE: It’s been a little over a year later, and I am still just as thrilled with my zoji. It has a permanent place on my (limited) countertop. For the record, I have used it consistently about 6 times a month, and there has been no change in the machine’s performance. I consider that really durable for such an item. The only thing I have learned to do different from when I first reviewed is for better performance in the winter months: my house is usually cold, because gas is $$, so I give it a little boost (VERY LITTLE – remember how I kill yeast) by putting hot tap water into the pan before use. Let that sit for about 3 mins while you gather ingredients, then pour it out, and put in your regular cold tap water in the amount for the recipe. A good tip for more stubborn recipes is to add a miniscule amount of ginger on top of the yeast. Ginger will act as a booster to the yeast, it makes it work longer and harder. But remember you only need a little – less than a dash for this sized pan – or else the taste of the bread will change. Another tip is to get a decent brand’s box of organic Vital Wheat Gluten, especially if you can’t find bread flour. 1 Tbls per recipe for this sized pan is about right. Sorry, anti-gluten folks, but this is a wonderful product. If you want to try something whole grain with a fantastic taste, get some organic Spelt flour. Take your typical white bread recipe and halve the white flour with Spelt. Add 1 Tbls gluten. You may need…
This review is from: Zojirushi BB-HAC10 Home Bakery 1-Pound-Loaf Programmable Mini Breadmaker (Kitchen)
I already owned the Zojurushi BBCCX20 (the 2-Pound-Loaf Bread Machine) for 2 years before deciding on buying the smaller model to adjust to changing needs. Unfortunately, I expected the same kind of “programmable” machine. The only thing programmable on the Zojirushi BB-HAC10 is the delay timer. Do not buy this machine expecting to control the time of rise, kneed and bake. Maybe I’m the only person who did use this feature on the other model, but it was truly useful for making spelt bread. The only way to make a nice spelt bread using this machine is the “Quick Baking Setting” and it cannot be combined with the timer. So impossible for me to make a spelt bread for breakfast.
Things I do like : -The size of the machine is perfect, I store it in the cupboard. -The beep sound (for adding raisins, nuts, etc.) is not to long or annoying like the BBCCX20 which would wake me up in the middle of the night. -Easier to clean than BBCCX20. There are no nylon inserts in the bread pan to which bread sticks to.
By the way, the first unit I received blacked out after 5 minutes. It was my first defective purchase from Amazon and replacement service was as perfect as I had read by other customers.
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This review is from: Breville BBM800XL Custom Loaf Bread Maker (Kitchen)
This is probably one of the best breadmakers out there. I’ve used it to make whole wheat bread on numerous occasions, and except for one time that I’m assuiming was somehow my fault in not measuring the ingredients correctly, they all turned out great–and I’m usually not one to describe bread machine bread like that (this is not my first machine; I’ve been known to just use them to mix, knead, and proof the dough, then shape and bake by hand in my own pan in the oven). In addition to a variety of preprogrammed settings, it lets you take any of them and customize the exact time of any of the steps, as well as the temperature for the preheat, rise, and bake phases. The phases, if you’re wondering, are: pre-heat, knead 1, knead 2, rise 1, rise 2, their associated punchdowns, rise 3, bake, and the optional post-baking “keep warm” phase, though not all programs include all phases (whole wheat is, in fact, the only one that uses them all). You can also save these custom programs in the machine for future use. This is described in the manual and recipe book, as is a lot of other useful information.
The machine is very nicely built, with a stainless steel case (a bit thin, however, so watch for dents), an easy-to-read display and controls, an “oven light” button you can press to show what’s going on inside, the ability to turn on or off beep noises (ones you get after certain phases), and a well-thought-out power cord that has a finger/thumb hole for grabbing out of the wall easily.
The pan can make up to a 2.5 lb loaf, and the machine allows for loaves as “small” as 1 lb. (You chan change the loaf size before you start the program. The machine uses this to slightly adjust the time of the various phases.) That’s really my biggest problem with this machine–I prefer smaller loaves, which most machines handle nicely, but if you try to make a 1 lb loaf in this one, the pan is so big–particularly its width–that the loaf will be an awkwardly wide, average length, and rather short in height. You’ll also have to shape it by hand before the last kneading phase (the machine beeps a few times to let you know when this is) since with all the extra space the machine usually won’t be able to turn it into a nice shape. A 1.5 lb loaf bakes nicely in this machine with a good shape, although I also usually shape it by hand before the last knead. This also allows you to remove the paddle, which I do to avoid the indent on the bottom of the loaf (the collapsible paddle makes it a bit smaller than breadm machines with only fixed paddles, but there’s still an indent). I’m sure bigger sizes would work even better without much intervention, although regardless of what I’m baking I think I’d still remove the paddle if I’m home when that time comes.
As I’ve said before, I’ve used this to make whole wheat bread on many occasions. (I have my own recipe I prefer, though it’s not a lot different from the one in the book.) I’ve also used it to make “jam,” though the result was really more of a coulis (which, in their defense, is exactly what the recipe called it). I don’t think you’ll be able to use this to get the typical kind of firm jam. I’ve also used it to make pizza dough (which turned out well) and pasta dough (which didn’t get thoroughly mixed by the machine, though that could have been because I slightly modified the flour type in the original recipe–and the rest mixed nicely by hand when the machine was done). I haven’t used it to make sweet bread or white bread (making 100% whole wheat bread is one of the reasons I do it at home!), but given my luck with the rest I’m sure they’d be good as well. Perhaps the last feature I haven’t mentioned is that for sweet breads (or, I suppose, whatever you’d want to use it for), the machine also includes a fruit and nut dispenser in the lid that will open at the approriate time in the cycle to mix them into the dough.
In summary, this is a great machine. I like the ability to customize, although I rarely do so, and it’s made many great loaves of bread for me. However, it seems to work best for large loves (>= 1.5 lb). I’m currently renting it through a service I subscribe to, and as much as I like it, I’d like it better if they made a machine that better accomodated the baking of 1 lb loaves. I probably won’t buy it (the relatively high price doesn’t help, either!), but I definitely have enjoyed the time I’ve had it so far. I just might opt for a machine with a bit smaller pan in the future. If they made a smaller machine (keep in mind I’m just one person, not a family of four) or even just a smaller pan for this machine (if that would work), I’d seriously consider it. But because loaf size is just a personal preference and this machine is stellar in every other way, I’m going to give it 5 stars. If it matches your needs and you don’t have a problem with the price, I don’t think you’d go wrong with this.
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This review is from: Breville BBM800XL Custom Loaf Bread Maker (Kitchen)
Pros: The LCD screen on this is FANTASTIC. The best of any bread maker I have seen. Large pan size works well for things like brownies and cornbreads. Customization is great.
Cons: The collapsible paddle takes a giant chunk out of most breads, especially yeast-free breads such as cornbread.It also wears away the non-stick coating wherever the collapsing part touches another part on the paddle, thus I have eaten some Teflon. The nut dispenser could be larger. It did not work when overfilled (leaving the nut door open).
I really wanted to love the Breville. The LCD screen is awesome. But the lame collapsible paddle ruins it. It might be going back. What to buy instead?
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This review is from: Breville BBM800XL Custom Loaf Bread Maker (Kitchen)
My husband and I had a Cuisinart Bread maker for about 2 years. This past spring, it started behaving strangely and then it started to produce big lumps of really bad bread. Since I had other Breville products, the Smart Grill and the Convection Oven, I decided to give Breville’s bread maker a try.
The interface is much easier to use than the Cuisinart. Especially for my parents who have no understanding of technology. The window feature is fantastic and my son LOVES watching the bread knead and mix. The top slips off easily for cleaning, our Cuisinart started to do this on its own when the hinge broke. Breville’s was designed to slip off when needed.
I know people have complained about the dent from the collapsable paddle. Compared to the enormous whole from the Cuisinart, the little dent from the Breville was not even an issue for me. Getting the paddle out of baked bread in the Cuisinart was like perfoming major surgery and a surgeon I am not.
Overall, it produced a great loaf of bread in less time than the Cuisinart. It is simple and easy to use and I would happily recommend it to anyone.
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Perfect for Singles, Apartment Dwellers, and Couples….,
It has an even-heating element, and a good quality, heavy, non-stick baking pan, which is a snap to clean up. It has a pasta/cookie dough feature and a jam (!) feature. The tiny paddle is actually surprisingly efficient at making dough for cookies and such.
One caveat: It bakes a small, vertical loaf of bread and a 1 LB loaf is smaller than you think it is. So the “rounded” part on top takes up about 1/4 of the entire loaf. Also, your bottom slice will have a gaping hole where the paddle bakes into it. While this is not much of a problem for a large 2 LB loaf, for this small loaf, it is a bit of a waste.
We have had a Zojirushi since the early 90’s and although we found it consistently made excellent bread, it wasn’t getting used very often because it was large and the 2LB loaves simply weren’t getting eaten. After downsizing, we found that this breadmaker is fabulous because it makes small enough loaves that you can experiment with tons of different recipes and throw away a botched recipe without feeling bad about waste.
—
Update: Well, six years later, it is now Oct 26, 2013, and my little breadmaker still works, though I use it much more sparingly than I used to. I’d say that it was worth the investment. In fact, we’ve bought a few other things from Zojirushi since then: Zojirushi CD-WBC30 Micom Electric 3-Liter Water Boiler and Warmer, Champagne Gold, the Zojirushi NS-YAC10 Umami Micom Rice Cooker and Warmer, Pearl White, 5.5 Cup Capacity, and a couple Zojirushi AASB-22SB Premier Air Pot 74-Ounce Beverage Dispenser, Brushed Stainless. I’ve been nothing but happy with the quality of each of these items and I’d buy every single one of these items again (maybe bigger on the water boiler, though). To us, the Zojirushi brand is an indicator of quality. It’s nice to find a manufacturer that still takes pride in the usefulness and durability of their products. Elephant FTW.
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|Excellent! STILL MORE UPDATES, August 2014…,
If you are like me, you will do a huge amount of research on the web before you make a purchase like this. Usually I get it down to a few brands, then one item, then I find the best price.
Years ago I purchased one of the earliest commercial bread makers available to consumers. It was a thrill to have such a thing, as I love fresh bread, but I am also a well-known yeast killer. Needless to say, the technology was new… it worked for about a year, and only when making one recipe – Basic White Bread. I decided not to get it fixed (the price tag for repairs was over 100 bucks), and just wrote the whole idea off.
Last fall – after about ten years had passed! – I decided to try again, only this time I had the internet on my side. I am so glad I looked as hard as I did! This little machine is fantastic.
I’ve had my Zoji for about a month now and I’ve only had one failure – it was my fault, the water I put in was just too hot, and I killed the yeast (no new thing there). Otherwise, I’ve made about 13 successful loaves for myself, family & friends! My Challa loaf and my basic white have now been perfected. Wheat and quick breads turn out great, too.
I’ve even figured out how to use the soft bread cycle and a sweet loaf dough, and remove it at just the right time, then roll the dough up with cinnamon or slice it and put layers of filling, whatever you can think of, then get it back in the pan quickly for the rest of the last rise and the baking. As long as you are prepared and do your math with the clock so you can work fast, this works great.
The other plus is that the loaf size, at just a pound, is perfect for singles like me. I do not have to freeze so much extra bread, and it gets eaten before it gets stale or bad. Do yourself a solid and get some bread flour, it does make a difference to the rising and the texture of the loaf.
The zoji has some great features that may not be apparent when reading the manual (go to […] and download the manual in PDF form – I do this with every single appliance I am serious about purchasing and it really helps make the best decision for you). The water I put in is truly cool to lukewarm. I learned by watching my Zoji that during the “rest” phase (the first phase), the water is at the bottom of the pan and the machine warms it up during this phase to the perfect temperature. I know that sounds trivial, but remember this is how I always kill yeast! So… biggest problem for me: SOLVED.
Next is to put the ingredients in as they tell you to – mostly to keep the yeast dry and on the top of the flour until it begins to knead. Another thing I learned about this by watching, to be absolutely sure, is to put in the water first, then just HALF the flour, put the rest of the ingredients on top of that flour (except your add-ins like raisins, there is a beep later for that), lastly put the remaining flour on top, then make a small dip right in the middle and put all the yeast right there. If you do this, when the Zoji starts the first knead, the yeast sinks straight to the bottom into the water – which is just perfect.
Clean up is very easy – just be sure to get all the bread out of the paddle and it’s assembly, and dry everything properly until the next loaf.
I love this little machine. Zojirushi is the more expensive brand, and even though I am on a tight budget, I am happy I got this one. I can see why it costs a little more – it’s great!
++++++
UPDATE: It’s been a little over a year later, and I am still just as thrilled with my zoji. It has a permanent place on my (limited) countertop. For the record, I have used it consistently about 6 times a month, and there has been no change in the machine’s performance. I consider that really durable for such an item.
The only thing I have learned to do different from when I first reviewed is for better performance in the winter months: my house is usually cold, because gas is $$, so I give it a little boost (VERY LITTLE – remember how I kill yeast) by putting hot tap water into the pan before use. Let that sit for about 3 mins while you gather ingredients, then pour it out, and put in your regular cold tap water in the amount for the recipe.
A good tip for more stubborn recipes is to add a miniscule amount of ginger on top of the yeast. Ginger will act as a booster to the yeast, it makes it work longer and harder. But remember you only need a little – less than a dash for this sized pan – or else the taste of the bread will change.
Another tip is to get a decent brand’s box of organic Vital Wheat Gluten, especially if you can’t find bread flour. 1 Tbls per recipe for this sized pan is about right. Sorry, anti-gluten folks, but this is a wonderful product.
If you want to try something whole grain with a fantastic taste, get some organic Spelt flour. Take your typical white bread recipe and halve the white flour with Spelt. Add 1 Tbls gluten. You may need…
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|Comparison with Zojirushi BBCCX20,
Things I do like :
-The size of the machine is perfect, I store it in the cupboard.
-The beep sound (for adding raisins, nuts, etc.) is not to long or annoying like the BBCCX20 which would wake me up in the middle of the night.
-Easier to clean than BBCCX20. There are no nylon inserts in the bread pan to which bread sticks to.
By the way, the first unit I received blacked out after 5 minutes. It was my first defective purchase from Amazon and replacement service was as perfect as I had read by other customers.
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|Absolutely great, though best for larger loaves,
The machine is very nicely built, with a stainless steel case (a bit thin, however, so watch for dents), an easy-to-read display and controls, an “oven light” button you can press to show what’s going on inside, the ability to turn on or off beep noises (ones you get after certain phases), and a well-thought-out power cord that has a finger/thumb hole for grabbing out of the wall easily.
The pan can make up to a 2.5 lb loaf, and the machine allows for loaves as “small” as 1 lb. (You chan change the loaf size before you start the program. The machine uses this to slightly adjust the time of the various phases.) That’s really my biggest problem with this machine–I prefer smaller loaves, which most machines handle nicely, but if you try to make a 1 lb loaf in this one, the pan is so big–particularly its width–that the loaf will be an awkwardly wide, average length, and rather short in height. You’ll also have to shape it by hand before the last kneading phase (the machine beeps a few times to let you know when this is) since with all the extra space the machine usually won’t be able to turn it into a nice shape. A 1.5 lb loaf bakes nicely in this machine with a good shape, although I also usually shape it by hand before the last knead. This also allows you to remove the paddle, which I do to avoid the indent on the bottom of the loaf (the collapsible paddle makes it a bit smaller than breadm machines with only fixed paddles, but there’s still an indent). I’m sure bigger sizes would work even better without much intervention, although regardless of what I’m baking I think I’d still remove the paddle if I’m home when that time comes.
As I’ve said before, I’ve used this to make whole wheat bread on many occasions. (I have my own recipe I prefer, though it’s not a lot different from the one in the book.) I’ve also used it to make “jam,” though the result was really more of a coulis (which, in their defense, is exactly what the recipe called it). I don’t think you’ll be able to use this to get the typical kind of firm jam. I’ve also used it to make pizza dough (which turned out well) and pasta dough (which didn’t get thoroughly mixed by the machine, though that could have been because I slightly modified the flour type in the original recipe–and the rest mixed nicely by hand when the machine was done). I haven’t used it to make sweet bread or white bread (making 100% whole wheat bread is one of the reasons I do it at home!), but given my luck with the rest I’m sure they’d be good as well. Perhaps the last feature I haven’t mentioned is that for sweet breads (or, I suppose, whatever you’d want to use it for), the machine also includes a fruit and nut dispenser in the lid that will open at the approriate time in the cycle to mix them into the dough.
In summary, this is a great machine. I like the ability to customize, although I rarely do so, and it’s made many great loaves of bread for me. However, it seems to work best for large loves (>= 1.5 lb). I’m currently renting it through a service I subscribe to, and as much as I like it, I’d like it better if they made a machine that better accomodated the baking of 1 lb loaves. I probably won’t buy it (the relatively high price doesn’t help, either!), but I definitely have enjoyed the time I’ve had it so far. I just might opt for a machine with a bit smaller pan in the future. If they made a smaller machine (keep in mind I’m just one person, not a family of four) or even just a smaller pan for this machine (if that would work), I’d seriously consider it. But because loaf size is just a personal preference and this machine is stellar in every other way, I’m going to give it 5 stars. If it matches your needs and you don’t have a problem with the price, I don’t think you’d go wrong with this.
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|Great user interface, terrible paddle,
The LCD screen on this is FANTASTIC. The best of any bread maker I have seen.
Large pan size works well for things like brownies and cornbreads.
Customization is great.
Cons:
The collapsible paddle takes a giant chunk out of most breads, especially yeast-free breads such as cornbread.It also wears away the non-stick coating wherever the collapsing part touches another part on the paddle, thus I have eaten some Teflon.
The nut dispenser could be larger. It did not work when overfilled (leaving the nut door open).
I really wanted to love the Breville. The LCD screen is awesome. But the lame collapsible paddle ruins it. It might be going back. What to buy instead?
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|Nothing is better than fresh bread,
The interface is much easier to use than the Cuisinart. Especially for my parents who have no understanding of technology. The window feature is fantastic and my son LOVES watching the bread knead and mix. The top slips off easily for cleaning, our Cuisinart started to do this on its own when the hinge broke. Breville’s was designed to slip off when needed.
I know people have complained about the dent from the collapsable paddle. Compared to the enormous whole from the Cuisinart, the little dent from the Breville was not even an issue for me. Getting the paddle out of baked bread in the Cuisinart was like perfoming major surgery and a surgeon I am not.
Overall, it produced a great loaf of bread in less time than the Cuisinart. It is simple and easy to use and I would happily recommend it to anyone.
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|