Get a Zojirushi and don't look back. King Arthur Flour uses the Zo in their test kitchen for mixing dough. WHY? Because it does a better job than by-hand or a stand mixer. That's what it's designed to do - bread dough. In a side-by-side test of whole wheat bread mixed in a Zo and in a stand mixer and baked in bread pans, the bread machine loaf was at least 1-inch taller than the bread made in the stand mixer. KA used to show that comparison in their catalogs.

For me, it's the only bread machine that is capable of making 100% whole wheat bread dough from wheat I mill at home. Most other machines aren't capable of that task, and most suggest NOT using home-milled flour NOR making 100% whole wheat.

I'm on my second one - wore the first one out - and I only use mine for making dough. I bake all our breads and nearly every recipe I use I've converted to the bread machine. They are energy efficient for baking in, however, I just like to control things more and usually make smaller, 1-pound loaves and like to use a pullman pan (a lidded pan than makes square sandwich bread-style loaves). I usually bake bread in my Sharp Convection/Microwave oven. I can bake 2 full-size (1.5#) loaves in 25 minutes without ANY pre-heating. Smaller appliance, no preheating, and it's a good energy saver.

I've used many other brands and have taught bread machine classes at the County Extension Office and the Zojirushi is still the bread machine of bread machines in my opinion.

-Grainlady

Oh, I definitely agree. I have a Zojirushi and it's a workhorse. I never bake in mine, I just use it to mix the dough, then I shape it, let it rise and bake it in the oven.

Here King Arthur all purpose is $3.99 for 5 pounds. Since bread is basically flour, yeast, water and salt, it's still way cheaper to bake and much better. Of course, depending on the type of bread you like, you can add sugar, eggs, milk, any number of things, but it's still cheaper to bake my own and I like it much better.

Annie

Where can I find a Zojirushi? Who carries this brand?

Also... I read up on the flour thread (about the rising costs of it) and someone said that they think it may be cheaper to just buy the bread. Surely, they were kidding, right? Loaves around here are $5, sale on plain white bread might go as low as 2/$4, but when it goes that low, the shelves are empty.

Not that this has a bearing on my bread machine purchase, but I am just curious. It burns me up... I've been doing a lot of scratch cooking to save money, and of course, they go and raise the flour! (I know there are supposed good cause for the flour increase, but it just seems all too convenient sometimes, and I'm always on the lookout for the conspiracy behind something... hehe) The next thing will be a rise in the cost of bread machines!

I just saw the Zojirushi on Breadmachines.com on sale for $199.98. Other sites have it on sale also, but for $204.

I concur on the Zojirushi. It costs more than other brands but is very reliable, performs beautifully and in all likelihood will last longer while tolerating heavy use. Any cost difference will be amortized over the life of the machine.

Amazon has it for $202.99, but they don't charge shipping, so there's a slight cost advantage over breadmachines.com/

Amazon also has 294 posted reviews. Scroll through a few of those for some useful feedback on the machine.

I also wanted to mention Pleasant Hill Grain has the Zo for $204.95 (free shipping). Given the slight difference in cost I'd go with them because they're a really good company and provide excellent service.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Zojirushi at Pleasant Hill Grain

Gardenwebber, I could buy the Wonderbread type loaf for $1.69 here, but I can't stand the stuff, I'd sooner eat cotton batting. I tell Ashley it's basically a glorified twinkie, with all that sweetener.

Nope, with the kind of bread I eat, it's still cheaper to make my own.

Annie

Annie - isn't it amazing how gross that stuff tastes (white bread) when you are used to eating whole grain types?

The $5 loaves I was speaking of are the whole grain types. Thats why I say... its gotta be cheaper to make your own. The machine probably pays for itself inside 3 months or so. (if you have a big family who eats a lot of bread like I do, packing 3 lunches per day)

Whether it's cheaper, or not, depends on how much bread you eat. For example, The Zo' costs $205. At $5/loaf, that's 41 loaves of bread just to recover the cost of the machine not counting the costs of ingredients. That's over a year's worth of bread for DH & I.

That said, homemade bread is so much better than commercial. And, your Zo' will last much much longer than one year. It's a quality machine.

At one time, our family went thru 6 loaves of bread a week. It make good financial sense to make homemade. Now, with just DH & I the only ones left at home it's more a quality issue than a cost savings. And, if truth be told...there are several very good bakeries in my area that turn out delicious bread. As you say, though, they are $5/loaf.

You'll not save enough to make a dent in your retirement needs by making your own bread but you will enjoy a quality, nutritious product plus the satisfaction that comes from working with yeast dough.

Grainlady can make a loaf of bread for pennies. She has made a lifestyle choice that many of us are unable to duplicate regardless of how much we may wish to follow in her path. Grinding your own grain requires long-term commitment plus a place to store bulky quantities of grains, bean, nuts, seeds, etc. Most of us purchase our grains already milled at retail prices.

For almost 20 years, I milled my own flours. There's a real sense of accomplishment associated with making a loaf of bread from wheat to table. I'm very glad I made the effort during our kids' childhood years. Today, I'm content to purchase flour & just enjoy a loaf of bread whenever the desire strikes us. We now eat less than one loaf/week so the cost savings is neglible.

/tricia

Maybe a silly question but I have never seen a bread machine up close. From what I understand you just put in the ingredients and turn it on? How hard is it to clean?
Claudia

Well, sort of. The instruction book for the machine will recommend ingredients be layered in a certain order - typically liquid then dry ingredients then yeast. Yeast should not be touching liquid or salt.

It really helps to have at least some experience working with dough by hand. Even with the bread machine you need to know when dough is too wet or too dry. The bread machine can't make those decisions; it's not unusual to end up adding flour or liquid along the way.

Also, as with anything else, some bread machine recipes are better than others, depending upon the source.

Carol

The one downside to a bread machine depending on your bread appetite is that they only make one loaf at a time and a small loaf at that. In the $200 price range you could be looking at a KA mixer instead.

I'm a stickler for bread science, so I don't just load the machine and push start. The last thing I want, and the thing I NEVER make, is a tasteless loaf of white bread that was start-to-finish done in one-hour on the Quick Cycle. But that IS an option that works very well for busy people and is primarily why so many people buy bread machines. They're fast when you want them to be... I like a nice 2-1/2-hour to 12-hour sponge to start with and go at it from there.

For all beginners - although I don't like the title - I think "Bread Machines For Dummies" by Glenna Vance and Tom Lacalamita an EXCELLENT book for general education as well as a wide variety of bread recipes - a great book. Tom Lacalamita also has authored "The All-New Ultimate Bread Machine Cookbook" (Fleischmann's Yeast Edition) that is also very good.

I add unusual ingredients not normally used by most people. Always adapt standard bread machine recipes to those ingredients, and use many of my own original recipes.

I guess I primarily use the bread machine as a mixing and kneading tool. I don't even allow the dough to rise in the bread machine.

We only use a one-pound loaf of bread per week, but I keep a constant supply of other things in the freezer, like hamburger/sandwich rolls, hot dog buns, pecan rolls, cinnamon rolls, English Muffins, dinner rolls, speciality breads, etc.

I do mill my own flour for pennies, like tricia pointed out. Even with my expensive wheat, it takes 10 cents of wheat to make a 1-pound loaf of bread. With the price of commercial bleached/unbleached flour going up so much, I keep NONE in the house anymore, but use all home-milled flours and process my own multi-grain cereals that I add to many breads, and make my own flakes, as well. When I used up the small amount of commercial flour I had last winter, that was it. But I'm committed to whole grains for the health of it, and use a great variety of beans/seeds/grains in my breads. Not just wheat.

It's not just about dollar and cents and getting our money out of the price of the bread machine. How often do you use any number of high-priced gadgets and appliances in the kitchen to make them pay for themselves? (And don't even LOOK in the manly areas of the home for rarely-used tools! ;-) If you want it and can afford it and really plan to use it, then enjoy it for what it is. It's a great way to control the ingredients in the breads you eat. I got my Zo so that I could eliminate trans fats, use freshly-milled ingredients and keep the heat out of the kitchen and save energy by baking in the bread machine (which I did do in my first one when I first got it).

I have carpal tunnel in both arms, arthritis in my fingers, and tennis elbow in both arms from too many years of professional knitting and crocheting. The bread machine is a great tool for me to extend my ability to make bread.

Some people play golf, have a boat and camper, RV, gamble and enjoy all kinds of expensive vices and hobbies - I do none of those, but I have my bevy of mills and my bread machine and a large amount of grains/seeds/beans in storage and that's MY hobby/vice.

About cleaning the bread machine...

The Zo is very easy to clean because it has a non-stick surface. However, you CAN'T submerge the pan in water. When I make dough, I clean the dough out of the pan with a silicon spatula. Allow the pan to sit while I make whatever bread product I'm working on. Within 20-30 minutes, any dough residue left in the pan will be hard and dry and I brush it out with a soft cloth or a paper towel. Wipe out with a dishrag and hot soapy water, rinse, and dry. Occasionally, things get tossed out of the bread pan and get inside the machine. I take a clean, soft paint brush (or a pastry brush would work), and dust the area free of any errant flour and other things.

-Grainlady

I can offer a second "yes" on Pleasant Hill Grain. They are a terrific company -- the staff knows their products and stands behind them with great customer service. They are also very responsive to any questions you have before the purchase.

I bought my Zoji rice cooker from them, and I know several people who have bought Zoji coffee brewers, bread machines, etc. Everyone I know who has bought from them has been pleased.

Another Pleasant Hill Grain person with a Zo. Very happy. Used it this morning.

I have one of those bread-in-a-bucket bread machines (Sanyo, I think). After the novelty wore off I bought a KA stand mixer to help with my bread baking, and I never used the bread machine again.

If I were to buy a bread machine today, I'd go with the Zojirushi or not bother getting one at all. From what I hear, it give you the flexibility to use it for just mixing and kneading, or you can use it for all aspects of the process.

Zojirushi is a good company. I have a Zojirushi 10 cup rice cooker I use when I need to cook large amounts of rice for a gathering; it's foolproof. (Although I wish I had waited and got one of their fuzzy logic models.)

Wow - thank you all for such helpful advice! I'm not in the market for one only to save money. That just seemed like a possible (pleasant) side effect. I just want to bake bread, rolls, etc and enjoy them with the kids and during holidays to treat friends. I, too, have carpal tunnel and kneading really kills me.

I do like the fact that you can control your ingredients, as well.

I just wanted to add that while it's true you can't do the really big 4 or 5-loaf batches you can with a good stand mixer, you can get two good loaves if you're only using the bread machine for dough and not baking in it. The Zo will bake a 1 1/2 pound loaf, which is standard, but will definitely accomodate dough for two 1 pound loaves.

Annie has more experience with that than I do. I know she routinely uses her Zo for two-loaf recipes.

Also, while I do have a good stand mixer, for canning season the Zo is my T&T because I can put the ingredients in and let it do its job until the dough is finished. I can get a good loaf of bread almost hands-free and focus on all the other work. It's great for holidays or big-batch cooking for the same reason. I can use the Zo for a specialty loaf while I make a 4-loaf batch of oatmeal-wheat bread or cookies in my mixer.

Carol

Carol, you are right, I regularly get two one pound loaves out of my Zo, baked in the oven.

Gardenwebber, I also have some pretty significant carpal tunnel issues and had nearly quit baking bread. The bread machine has been a godsend, I love it.

I've used every single recipe I could find, including Grandma's old sweet white dough, rye, maple oatmeal, whole wheat, you name it. I haven't found a recipe yet that didn't come out OK with the Zo kneading and me shaping and baking in the oven, and that includes all the recipes I use that aren't formulated for bread machines.

I put liquid on the bottom, dry on the top, set it on dough and walk away. I'm not a stickler for "bread science", but I do check after it starts kneading to see if I need a bit more flour or more liquid. You can't just measure and figure it's going to be right, it'll depend on the brand of flour, the weather, the humidity, a lot of things. Two cups today might be too much, but tomorrow it won't be enough, so I do check the dough for consistency after it gets well mixed.

I never buy bread, ever. I bake it, including 10 dozen dinner rolls for my nephew's wedding last year, and every bit came from the Zo. I figure that's somewhere around 150 loaves a year and it just keeps going.

Annie