I have a zojirushi bread machine and I love it. I knew I wanted the zoji so I watched Craigslist and got one for $90. I use the dough cycle a lot. It saves me time. I can put the ingredients in at 5 am and set the timer to deal with the dough when I am home from work.I make foccacia, bagels, pizza dough. I do bake bread in the machine too and it is great for a soup and bread supper and I have several sandwich loaves we like. I would recommend getting a food scale too if you don't have one. I find bread in bread machine or by hand works best if you weigh instead of meadure.

Karen - Just yesterday I cracked my "Bread Machines for Dummies" in an effort to finally motivate to try my bread machine. Here's a paraphrased version of their recipe. Obviously not T&T but I'd expect it to be reliable. Dump in room temp ingredients in the following order: 1 cup water 2T olive oil 1t salt 4t sugar 3 cups flour 2.25t active dry yeast Select Dough or Manual setting. Once cycle is complete, shape into a ball on lightly floured surface. Place on greased cookie sheet and flatten to a 10" circle. Prick with a fork. Arrange toppings (suggestions are thinly sliced roasted pepper, sun-dried tomato, red onions, olives, green pepper, sesame seeds, sauteed onions with sugar and salt) and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle Italian seasoning, S&P to taste. Cover and let rise about 15 min. Bake in preheated 375 oven for 25 to 30 min. Good luck!

I see hardly used bread machines at garage sales all the time. Going prices are $2-$10. I have a cheapy--regal or rival, I forget. Have never used a Zo so I may be missing out on something. Don't know. I've been mostly happy with my cheapy (a little bummed because the WW cycle doesn't work) and, as I venture more & more into no-knead/ lo knead artisan type breads w/ long ferments, I have less & less use for the bread machine. However, I did use it twice this past weekend--for cinnamon roll dough and as soon as that was out of the bucket, I loaded it up to make pasta dough for lasagna ndls. I would definitely suggest picking up a second hand machine on the cheap to see how a bread machine fits into your cooking routine before plunking down a lot of $ for the more exotic makers. (BTW, I have seen one Zo at a garage sale & mighta' bought it if I hadn't already bought a lot of stuff that day...so you could luck into one of the pricier machines for cheap.)

I've used coconut flour a bit. Many of the coconut flour recipes I've seen use *a lot* of eggs. Not a problem for me but might be for others. The texture of the cupcakes I made was interesting - dense, but light. I need to do more experimenting, but it is a very expensive flour. Here is the *best* and easiest GF Bread recipe I have ever made. You would hardly know it is gluten free. Gluten Free Focaccia Ingredients: ● 1 1/2 tsp dry yeast ● 3/4 cup warm water ● 1 tsp sugar ● 1 cup brown rice flour ● 1/4 cup potato starch ● 1/4 cup tapioca flour ● 1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum ● 1 tsp unflavored gelatin powder ● 1 tsp dried rosemary ● 1/2 tsp gluten-free onion powder ● 3/4 tsp salt ● 2 large eggs ● 2 Tbs olive oil ● 1/2 tsp cider vinegar ● ● Topping ● 1 tsp seasoning (Italian, herb, whatever) ● 1/4 tsp salt ● 1 TBs olive oil Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 2. Dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast into water and stir until dissolved. Set aside to foam, about 5 minutes. 3. Combine flours, xanthan gum, gelatin powder, rosemary, onion powder, and salt in a small mixer bowl. 4. Whisk eggs, olive oil and vinegar into the dissolved yeast and stir the mixture into the flour. 5. Beat dough with mixer for 2 minutes, using a spatula to keep stirring down the dough on the mixer beaters. The dough will be soft and sticky. 6. Transfer dough to an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 inch non-stick pan coated with cooking spray and cornmeal. (I usually line pan bottom with parchment) 7. Brush top with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and season as you wish (I use thyme) 8. Cover and let rise in warm place for 40 minutes. 9. Bake for 15 minutes. Yum! Off topic - my fab Candied Ginger Gluten-free cookie. Ingredients: * 1 cup Unsalted Butter, slightly softened * 3/4 cup Brown Sugar * 1/3 cup White Sugar * 2 Eggs * 1 tsp Vanilla * 1 cup Sorghum Flour * 1 cup Brown Rice flour * 1/2 cup Tapioca Starch/Flour * 1/2 cup Potato Starch * 1/2 tsp Baking Soda * 1 tsp Baking Powder * 1 1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum * 1/2 tsp Salt * 3/4 cup Flaked Coconut, unsweetened * 2 - 4 Tbs Coarsely Chopped Candied Ginger (I used 4), plus extra * 1/2 cup Dried Cranberries Directions: Preheat oven to 325F degrees. Mix the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum together with a whisk and set aside. Using an electric mixer beat the butter until soft, and add the sugars, blending well. Add the eggs, one at a time, incorporating each well. Add the vanilla and blend. Add the dry ingredients until just blended Add the coconut, ginger, and cranberries and mix until just blended, about 10 seconds. Spoon a full tablespoon of dough (or use scoop) and press into a 2" circle (about 1/4" thick). Sprinkle additional chopped ginger on top of each cookie, to taste. Bake approximately 17 minutes (top of cookies won't brown much) Let cookies cool on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before moving to cooling rack. Makes 3 to 4 dozen cookies, depending on size.