I've never had/tried/used a Breville, but I have an older Zojirushi and I love it, it's been used 3 or 4 times a week for several years and has been used to make dinner rolls by the dozen for family functions such as weddings, holiday dinners, you name it.

It's a workhouse that can handle whole grain loaves and as many as 7 or 8 cups of flour at a time, I can't say enough good about it.

Although counterspace is at a premium in my kitchen, if something happened to the Zo, I'd replace it promptly.

I do not bake it in, however, I use it to knead the dough then I shape by hand and bake in the oven.

Annie

I don't know anything about the Breville, but bought the Zojirushi based on Annies and others recommendations here. I've only baked in it once. Still prefer to use it to knead and rise though. Then I use the oven.

They also had really good customer service both on the phone and over e-mail. The one I got had an issue with the keypad and they fixed it for me and I didn't have to pay shipping to send it to them or back. Only the hassle of packing it up and sending it.

Breville in general seems to have quality control issues. I say this based on online reviews, not experience. I received the Zoj as a gift at Christmas and have used it several times. I like it better for mixing and needing than for baking, but I do all three in the machine at times. Lyfia, what was your keypad issue?

A couple of months ago, with the help of GW experts, I decided on the Zoji Virtuoso from BB & B with a 20% off coupon, which helps a lot on the hefty price.
I absolutely love it. It bakes perfectly. No problems at all.
I can't compare it to anything, since I have never baked breads before, but I have had no failures. Have made cinnamon rolls twice (baked in the oven), several basic white loaves, a whole wheat jalapeno and jack cheese loaf, two pound cakes, and a cinnamon raisin loaf. All of the latter were baked in the machine.

The Virtuoso completely solves the crust problem. Breads in the Virtuoso have come out perfectly brown all around, as you can see in the link I posted at the bottom of this entry. You have your choice of 3 crust darkness levels. The one below is medium. I used light for the poundcakes.

I don't know how to link to more than one thread, so here is the title of the thread where people were helping me choose a machine: ''Time to spend my Christmas $$$--Which Zoji?''
You can search for it, if you want to see what I was told.

I started a few threads with the first breads I made. Here's a link to the first one:

Here is a link that might be useful: First bread.

This post was edited by Bellsmom on Sat, Mar 2, 13 at 21:58

I analyzed this to death.. Definitely Zoji. That is what the king Arthur guys use in their test kitchen. Like Bellsmom said, virtuoso with the top heating element is wonderful. A great way to assemble and bake homemade bread.

Thanks for all of your input. I will definitely go with the Zoji.

Did not realize Breville was having quality control issues. I have their SmartOven and electric water kettle and have never had any problems - so guess I am lucky.

I've had my Zoji for 10 years with no issues. You will really enjoy the machine and the bread it produces! Oh I just purchased one of the Breville smart ovens, too. Hope it lasts!

We just purchased the Zoji Virtuoso. Have made one loaf in the machine all the way through to see how it does and make sure everything works correctly. It produced a beautiful loaf. Today, made just dough using one of my recipes and it's in the refrigerator. Will bake it off tomorrow or Monday. The dough looks and feels good.

/tricia

This post was edited by triciae on Sat, Mar 2, 13 at 16:00

I have 3 Breville appliances. One is superlative, one is good, and the other is driving me bananas.
1. The Smart Oven has performed faultlessly. I use it nearly every day--for toast, which is perfect; for heating scones, which it does perfectly; and for occasional baking and roasting. It is the second oven I didn't have room for.
2. The Smart Grill which has performed well. I use it maybe once a month to make pancakes, grill sandwiches or veggies. No problems. Maybe not as good as an iron skillet, but a lot easier to clean.
3. The Smart Grinder produces coffee which consistently foams and overflows the filter and leaves ugly dregs in the bottom of every cup. I keep thinking I will figure out what is wrong. It is on the coarsest grind, and still powder-fine dregs come through the gold filter on the Technivorm, which never happened when I used a Capresso grinder.

So, yes, I guess you might say my experience with Breville is uneven--one excellent, one pretty good, and one flawed.

But the Zoji is in a class beyond these. I have used it two or three times a week since I got it. Absolutely no problems, as I said.

This post was edited by Bellsmom on Thu, Mar 7, 13 at 19:30

Kitchendetective - I wasn't able to change the settings to my own times etc. I could still use the pre-set settings. Just thought I was doing something wrong until I called King Arthur (where I bought it) and figured out it was an issue with the machine.

Gosh. I haven't tried that. Guess I better do so. Thanks!

kitchendetective - I think mine was out of the norm. I've had it for more than a year and used it plenty for kneading and rising since then. Just not the baking part. I never would have found out unless I by mistake had unplugged it (meant to unplug the toaster) while it was going and I just wanted to re-start it at the point it was instead of starting over. So I guess I lucked out to find out while it was still under warranty.