I'd buy one in a heartbeat with the issues your family has (if I didn't already have one).

Your biggest problem with it will be washing out the pan. Since they are non-stick, I don't consider that much of a problem! It seems the thing I use mine for most, is to knead and mix the bread for me. I prefer to shape the loaf by hand and put it in the oven, but for certain recipes, I don't mind having the bread machine do it all. It's really nice to smell fresh bread baking at home, and be able to do it anytime.

lyfia, sounds like you will get one and never look back.

Think of this....putting your ingredients in the bucket, setting the timer so that when you walk in the door for dinner, the house smells wonderful with fresh baked bread, ready to take out and serve.

I use mine both for pre-mixing/kneading, shaping and baking on my own, and for a finished baked product.

After you find a few recipes you like you can start assembling breads in your sleep, literally....I woke up at 4:30 AM, put my challah ingredients in the machine, hit 'dough' and went back to bed. Because my challah has eggs, I don't do the 'hold for X hours then start' routine.

Like Claire, I use mine mostly for kneading the dough and then baking in the oven, I seldom bake in the bread machine. It's great for things besides just a loaf of bread, too. I use mine for pizza dough for th kids, to mix the dough for cinnamon rolls, breadsticks, dinner rolls, burger buns, you name it.

I put everything in the machine, push the "dough" button and go away for an hour and a half. I come back, shape my dough into whatever, and do somehting else while it rises. Then into the oven. Most doigh can be refrigerated too, so I can make pizza dough tonight, put it in the fridge and the grandkids can have pizza tomorrow!

Definitely love my bread machine, since I have carpal tinnel issues that make it really hurt to knead bread dough. And now, even with my broken index finger in a splint, I can make "real" bread...

Annie

my only complaint is that most machine make wierd shaped loaves... I'm thinking of getting one of the Zojirushi (or Zo) ... which make a more traditional shaped loaf for sandwich slicing.
they cost a great deal more than the Cuisinart we got at Costco (really great price)

Other than the shape I've been quite happy with the Cuisinart. Most of the time I let the machine do all the work but sometimes I pull the dough out and shape it in a baugette pan. Early on, I got a few collapsed-on-one-side loaves, so now I routinely add 3 or tbsps flour depending on the size loaf I'm making.
kay

I agree with all the posts already. Especially in your situation, As Jessy said, you can put in the ingredients in the morning (and if you are really pressed, add water, then a bread mix with its yeast packet), set the timer, and go.

Do it!

Another in agreement with all the posts; and another Zojirushi owner who has only baked one loaf in it in order to see how much it cost (2-cents or .35 kWh). It was less expensive for me to bake 2 loaves in my Sharp Convection/Microwave Oven.

Milk in bread recipes adds protein, tenderize and enhance the crust color, so expect those attributes to be different in dairy-free bread. Lactose (milk sugar) also acts as a sweetener.

Replacing milk in recipes with water is usually the path of least resistance, and will work very well. You can also use some potato water (saved from boiling potatoes or mix some instant potato flakes into the water) instead of milk. Potatoes will tenderize the crumb, add back a little sweetness, and help keep the loaf moist. Experiment using rice and nut milks or a mixture of them and some water. Almond milk adds calcium and is easy to make at home, as is rice milk. Another overlooked substitute - apple juice - adds a nice sweetness.

Here's a milk-free, lactose-free, high-protein, high-fiber bread.

PEANUT BUTTER AND HONEY BREAD
(source: Bread Machine Baking for Better Health)

Large loaf...

1-3/4 c. water
4 T. honey
1/2 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. thick rolled oats
4 c. whole wheat bread flour (can use half ww and half regular unbleached/bleached bread flour)
1 t. salt
4 t. active dry yeast

(Note: The peanut butter makes this a very tender "buttery" loaf.)

There are LOTS of dairy-free bread recipes for the bread machine, or convert your traditional recipes to the bread machine. Check your local library for bread machine cookbooks, as well as search on-line, for dairy-free recipes.

If a recipe calls for dry milk powder, just omit it. If you want to increase the fiber and nutrition, add 1-3 T. of flaxmeal (mill it yourself at home in a coffee/spice mill). Flaxmeal also has a shortening-like effect.

I use coconut oil in bread, instead of butter, because it aids in keeping the bread fresh longer.

-Grainlady

The only bread machine cleaning I do is to wipe off the exterior. Even if I use just the dough cycle, I leave any bits of raw dough to dry. Dried, it just flakes off. Otherwise, the lid stays closed, so it doesn't get dusty and heat from baking will kill off any germs that might linger.

If you must wash it, I think almost all of them are non-stick so it wouldn't be a big chore to do.

Thank you everybody for your input!! It is really good to hear the cleaning part isn't too bad. It seems to be one thing not really covered in any of the reviews and the Zojirush was the ones I had been eyeing after reading reviews, but it said not dishwasher safe and I couldn't help but get the feeling this meant a lot of little stuff to take a part and handwash and ...

I finally ordered one so we'll see how it goes. That recipe sounds really good so maybe I'll try that one when I get it.

I do have one more question though, what is involved in converting existing recipes? Just the amount or are there other things I need to do different?

lyfia, I've used any recipe that I thought sounded goo and it's all been fine in the Zo. Of course, as I said, I don't bake in it. I put the liquid in first, then dry, yeast on top. Push the "dough" button. After it begins kneading, I'll check the consistency of the dough and add liquid or flour if it needs it,but that's not usually the recipe, it's the flour or the humidity or whatever, I have to do the same thing with my old tried and true recipes too.

I've made everything from Bernard Clayton's Friesan Bread to Julia Child's French to Grandma's farmhouse white to my favorite honey wheat. None started as bread machine recipes but they've all come out fine.

Annie

lyfia -

#1. Along with your new Zo, I'd also suggest a copy of the book, "Bread Machines For Dummies" by Glenna Vance and Tom Lacalamita. When I give bread machine classes I give this book to my students. It will give you a wealth of basic and advanced information, as well as being filled with lots of great recipes. I've never had a recipe fail out of this book.

#2. Read the manual that comes with your machine and use some of the recipes in it. These recipes are designed for this bread machine and tend to be successful for newbies.

#3. When converting your traditional recipes, you need to be careful how much flour there is in the recipe. The Zo V-20 and X-20 have a 5-cup flour capacity if you are going to bake in it. If you are mixing dough in it, you can use more flour than that.

#4. ALWAYS check the condition of the dough during the first 5-minutes (or so) of kneading and adjust it accordingly. Don't be afraid to raise the lid and check the dough during the mixing/kneading stage. The dough should be formed into a very soft, sticky ball. If the dough is sticking to the sides or the bottom of the pan, you need to add more flour (1-2 T. at a time). If the dough is crumbly and not forming a ball, you need to add warm water. It is better to err on the side of a wet dough than a hard stiff dough.

#5. If you choose to make a small 1# loaf of bread, I'd suggest you NOT bake it in the bread machine. The pan is designed to bake twice that amount and a 1# loaf is going to be really wide and not very high if baked in the machine. Choose 1.5 or 2 pound loaves if you bake in the machine.

I generally make a 2#+ amount of dough and make it into two loaves. Or I'll make one loaf and use the remaining dough for 6 hot dog or 6 hamburger buns, 6 sticky pecan rolls, or an 8" pan of dinner rolls - all from one recipe of dough.

#6. When baking outside the bread machine, I scale the dough (weigh it on a kitchen scale) to make sure I place it in the correct size bread pan, or if I need to divide the dough into two loaves they will weigh the same amount, raise and bake in the same amount of time. Failed bread recipes is often from using the wrong size pan for the amount of dough. I also scale the dough for dinner rolls, burger and hot dog buns so they are the same size and will raise and bake in the same amount of time.

Jumbo size pan - 10x4-1/2" - 4-5 c. flour = 2+ pounds of dough

Quick bread pan - 9x5" - 4 c. flour = 2#

Standard bread pan - 8-1/2x4-1/2" - 3 c. flour - 1-1/2 #

Medium pan - 7-1/2x3-1/3" - 2-1/2 c. flour = 1#

Small pan - 5-3/4x3-3/4" - 1-1/2 c. flour = 8-ounces

#7. If you use the quick cycle on your bread machine, you will need to use a fast-acting brand of yeast (SAF-Instant, Quick-Rise, Rapid Rise, or Bread Machine Yeast). Active Dry Yeast will not work properly in the quick cycle.

I keep two kinds of yeast on hand to accommodate bread machine recipes - SAF-Instant and Active Dry Yeast. If I use the fast-acting SAF-Instant in a recipe that calls for Active Dry Yeast, I reduce it by 25%. The recipes in the ZO manual will call for one amount if using a fast-rising yeast, and another amount if using active dry yeast. Many bread machine cookbooks will have the different amounts for each type of yeast.

#8. The bread machine is great for a baking marathon. I fill the pan and set the machine to "quick dough". As soon as the dough has finished kneading I remove the dough from the pan and place it in a dough-rising bucket. Load the pan with the next recipe and do the same thing. I can quickly make 3 or 4 recipes using this method. The trick is using the bread machine for mixing and kneading ONLY, but NOT for the rising. If you pre-measure everything, you can have a recipe kneaded every 20 to 25-minutes, or so.

#9. Add "chunky" stuff (raisins, nuts, dry multi-grain cereal blends, etc.), at the "add-in" beep, otherwise the rough edges will cut the gluten strands of the dough and you'll have a short, squatty loaf. If you add raisins before the add-in beep, they will be pulverized during the kneading and blended into the bread.

#10. Have fun!!! Bread is very forgiving, but also very humbling, so expect a few failures and a bit of a learning curve to get the hang of using a bread machine.

-Grainlady

So now I'm wondering if I made a mistake in buying a bread machine. Guess I'll find out. I keep second guessing myself which is why it took so long to order it.

I made hamburger buns yesterday and when I thought about it that is often the type of baking I do, rolls etc. With that I couldn't use the bread machine except kneading, which I use my mixer for. Maybe I need start doing loaves to take full advantage of it.

lyfia -

Bread machines are designed to make bread dough and will do a better job than a stand mixer OR making dough by hand. Stand mixers tend to aerate dough too much and break-down the gluten strands.

As proof, in side-by-side tests making a 100% Whole Wheat Bread recipe at King Arthur Flour, using the same recipe in a Zojirushi Bread Machine (dough cycle) and a Stand Mixer, the loaves were panned in a loaf pan and baked in a regular oven. The Zo bread was at least 1-inch taller than the dough made in the stand mixer. King Arthur Test Kitchens use Zojirushi Bread Machines for making dough over using a stand mixer OR by hand.

I make all my dough in a bread machine (and I make all our breads) - burger and hot dog buns, cinnamon rolls, sweet breads (which typically don't rise as fast as a regular dough), dinner rolls, English Muffins, Artisan Breads, sourdough bread.... I can't remember the last time I DIDN'T use my bread machine for making dough.

Because of arthritis, carpal tunnel, and tennis elbow (too many years of professional knitting and crocheting), I now let the bread machine do the hard "work". I still utilize all the bread science I learned when making bread by hand, but use the bread machine to complete the mixing and kneading.

I take my dough out as soon as the bread machine has completed the kneading cycle and let the dough rise in a dough-rising bucket. I like to control the rise, not a timer on a bread machine. I can now how much the dough has risen in the dough-rising bucket with the graduated markings on the side. If I put in 1-quart of dough, I know it has doubled when it reaches the 2-quart line.

If I want a long, slow, cool rise to increase flavor, or retard the dough in the refrigerator, you can't accomplish that in the bread machine.

I also use the bread machine to mix an overnight sponge and complete the dough the next day.

Because I generally use freshly-milled wholegrain flour, these doughs don't have the extensibility to proof to "double" and should only rise to just under double, or I risk over-proofing the dough.

Dough rises NOT according to a clock or a set time in a bread machine, rather to the amount and strength of the yeast and the amount of humidity and the ambient temperature.

I hope you reconsider using your bread machine more often.

-Grainlady

I'm really late to the discussion, but I do the same as Grainlady when using my machine. I mainly bake in the oven, but I find the dough & rising cycles to be inavlauable. I make all our dinner rolls, sandwich buns, bagels, etc. I have baking marathons all the time. Just as Grainlady desribed, I make one recipe in the machine and as soon as it's done with the kneading, I plop out the dough to rise in a plastic bucket. Then I start on another recipe and do the same. Many times I make three yeast dough recipes in a row and let the final batch rise in the machine. I may not get around to baking all the dough recipes, but keeping them overnight in the fridge is not a problem. The next day, I simply let the dough get to room temperature, shape, & bake.

I find the Zojirushi so easy to work with. I just set the timer for a few minutes into kneading to check the dough's consistency and then for when the kneading ends. Very little fuss or muss. Cleanup is easy too.

I can hardly wait for cooler weather so I can get back to my marathons.

OK - I'm going to try the machine when it actually arrives for a few weeks with my recipes to see how things turn out. I'm guessing it is a re-learning thing again. I had to re-learn when I went from hand kneading to the mixer so I'm guessing I'll adjust and hopefully get better results. Just so short on time and don't want to mess too much up.

It sure sounds like something my mom could use though. She really liked my mixer, but doesn't have room to keep it out and it is way too heavy for her to lift. Is the bread machine as heavy?

Grainlady - you mentioned hot dog buns. Do you have a good way to shape them so they come out more like hot-dog buns? I tried in the past and mine just didn't look right and was hard to get a hot dog to stay in. Looked more like an oblong roll. I'm guessing I need to make them more rectangular before rising.

We don't eat many hot dogs so I haven't actually tried them recently, but as my daughter grows older I'm sure we'll have more hot dogs than we normally do.

lyfia -

1. A quick rule of thumb... Form the dough in a cylinder about the size of the hot dogs you are using, or slightly larger. I normally use between 2 to 3-ounces of dough. A 2-ounce hot dog bun is equal to approx. 2-servings of bread.

The dough "log" is approximately 1/3 the finished size of the bun. Allow the dough to double, and this accounts for 2/3 the finished size. The oven-spring accounts for the last 1/3 of the finished size.

2. There are any number of hot dog pans available, just do a Google search, but I use small loaf pans that are 5-3/4 x 3-3/4-inches large and place 2 buns (side-by-side) in each pan.

The finished buns are perfect for holding a hot dog that has been butterflied opened and grilled. I use this method when I have a small amount of dough and can make 2, 4, or 6 hot dog buns.

After they are cool, pull the two buns apart. These buns are cut open from the top to the bottom, rather than traditional side-to-side. They are great buttered and grilled on two sides.

3. For a small pan of more traditional looking pull-apart hot dog buns (4-5 buns per pan), I use a small disposable 5-1/2 x 8-1/4-inches aluminum pan (which I reuse). For a larger batch, as well as longer-than-normal hot dogs, I use a Pyrex cake pan that is 6-1/2 x 10-1/2-inches. Allow about 1-1/2 to 2-inches per bun.

4. Hamburger buns are baked in shallow muffin top pans using 2- to 3-ounces of dough.

-Grainlady

I love the hot dog bun pan. That said, that's a great idea for making buns...Thanks grainlady!

Here is a link that might be useful: New England hotdog