8 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
Conveniently makes fresh-baked bread!
Date of Review: Jan 14, 2009
The Bottom Line: I have no major complaints about this bread machine, but I'm not sure if adding nuts will damage the nonstick surface. Japanese companies tend to have better customer service.
I live in Japan where Zojirushi company is located and have the Japanese version of this bread machine. I'm pretty sure the American and Japanese machines are the same because I currently use the American English instruction booklet with it, and everything including the recipes works the same.
The Zojirushi Mini is the first bread machine I've owned. Many people had recommended a bread machine to me, so I finally decided to give one a try. So far I've been pleased.
The Zojirushi Mini has various options and recipes for different types of bread. The 3 main choices are firm (chewy), regular, or soft. All 3 turned out well, but I didn't notice a huge difference between them after trying each just once. All the recipes I've tried from the booklet have been successful, and there are many types to choose from including white, wheat, raisin, apple, chocolate, and more. There is also a choice of regular or light crust.
Other settings include a cake setting, a French bread setting, a quick baking setting, a jam setting, a cookie/pasta dough setting, and a dough setting for pizza crusts, brioche, rolls, doughnuts, croissants & soft pretzles. Recipes are included for all these settings. So far, I've only tried the cake setting for banana bread and cornbread, and they turned out well.
Another useful feature is the timer function, which allows you to add the ingredients in advance and have the bread done at a certain time. There's a small window on the top where you can view what's going on inside. If you're experienced at bread making, you can look inside the machine when the dough is kneading and add extra flour or water if needed.
The only problem I've had with the machine so far was with adding nuts to a recipe (banana bread). I used pecans instead of walnuts, which might have been the problem, but some of them got stuck under the kneading blade and scratched the nonstick surface on the bottom of the pan.
The recipes require exact measurements (like 7/8 cup) but are very good. In some of the bread recipes I've doubled the salt and reduced the amount of sugar without bad results. I've also used oil instead of melted butter for the cornbread.
The bread generally comes out of the pan easily, usually with just a few shakes. As with any bread machine, there will be a hole in the bottom of the loaf where the kneading blade was. Cleaning the bread machine is easy, but it's best to fill the pan with water and let it soak, especially if the kneading blade is stuck with cooked-on dough.
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