I bought an older model BBCC Q20 Zojirushi at the thrift store too. It was still in it's box and didn't even look like it had been used. It had all the parts including the measuring spoon and cup. I have compared it to another 1 cup measuring cup and it is the same. Also true for the tablespoon and teaspoon measuring spoon. So if you already have accurate measuring spoons and cups, you don't need those.

The only problem I have had is the bread, if baked in the machine, rises too much and sticks to the top. That is probably due to operator error rather than the bread machine. Most of the time I bake it outside of the machine in the oven because I want a round or other shaped loaf. Otherwise it is the best bread machine I have had. I can't think of any cons at the moment. I have baked all kinds of bread from all whole wheat to oatmeal to molasses rye and they all came out great whether I baked them in the oven or machine.

Hope you enjoy your machine as much as I have mine.
Clare

Newer machines may be made in China, which may not mean they are lower in quality.

dcarch

I have an older one and I love it. I seldom bake in it, because I like the crust better in the oven, so I can't tell you how well/poorly that works.

I use any bread recipe I have and haven't had a failure yet. Wet ingredients first, dry next. Yeast in last. Dough setting. I haven't found that any measurements are different and I can make whole grain loaves and thick dense doughs without problems.

I love the Zojirushi I have, I only hope yours serves you as well. Mine has chugged through hundreds of loaves of bread, getting used at least two or three times weekly and it's still going strong.

If it quit tomorrow I'd buy another one in an instant!

Annie

I believe the Zo you purchased is the original (or next generation) that makes a small loaf in a bucket (recipes will have around 4-cups of flour in them for this machine). I have a friend who has used this model for nearly 20-years making one loaf of 100% whole wheat bread each week for all that time.

The measuring cup and measuring spoon are cheap plastic and nothing that will make or break your breadmaking experience. You ALWAYS need to check the condition of the bread dough because you may need to adjust the hydration. Check the dough about 5-minutes into the kneading. 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 a bit more bread flour. If the dough is crumbly and not in a ball, or if the ball appears firm, add more water. It is better to err to a wet dough than a dry dough.

I rarely bake bread in my Zo, but it's great at mixing dough. I generally bake my bread in my Solar Oven or in my Sharp Convection/Microwave Oven. I don't like the holes the paddle/s leave in the loaves.

-Grainlady

I forgot to include this earlier. I don't if you have the manual with yours or not. Mine has some great recipes for the machine and lots of good information on using the machine.
Clare

Here is a link that might be useful: Recipe book and manual

I have the same model Zo, also picked up at a thrift store. I mainly use it for dough like most everyone else here. The only downside I've found is that it only makes a 1 1/2 lb loaf vs a 2 lb loaf. It does an outstanding job of kneading!

Tracey

Tracey, if you don't bake in it, can it knead larger than 1 1/2 lb?

dcarch

I think it will knead a little bit more but keep an eye on it if you let it rise in the machine. Otherwise it will probably overflow the pan.

Tracey

The Zo S-15 is supposed to have a 4-cup capacity if you bake or use the dough cycle in it. To be on the safe side, if you use a recipe with 5 cups of flour (much more than that and you might risk burning the motor out - especially if it's 100% whole wheat dough), take the dough out of the bread machine as soon as the kneading cycle is done and let it raise in a bowl or dough-rising bucket. Too much dough rising in the bread machine bucket will actually push the lid off and you could have a messy clean-up session on your hands. You can prevent that by taking the dough out and letting it raise outside the bread machine.

I'd also suggest scaling (weighing) your dough so you use the correct size loaf pan.

Jumbo Pan - 10x4.5-inches - 4-5 c. flour - 2+# of dough
Quick Bread Pan - 9x5 - 4 c. flour - 2# of dough
Standard Loaf Pan - 8.5x4.5 - 3 c. flour - 1.5# of dough
Medium - 7.5x3.5 - 2-1/2 c. flour - 1# of dough
Small - 5-3/4x3-3/4 - 1-1/2 c. flour - 8-oz. of dough

-Grainlady

How do you people get so lucky with finding those...my guess is the $18 one will not be there if it's in good condition! All I ever find are junky old worn out ones and the one I bought that wasn't worn out did not even turn on! GAH! OH and our GW store thinks everything is made of GOLD apparently. I go to thrift shops and garage sales all the time and still never find any Zoji!

Thanks Grainlady for that chart of loaf pan sizes, I was wondering this the last loaf I baked!

arkansas girl, I'm with you and can seldom find good buys. I say seldom only because after months and months of looking I did find my daughter a Nesco roaster. By the time I found the roaster I could have bought a new one for all the gas I used up looking.

Lol Mine was $1.99! It's the BBCC S15 model so its older. I really don't think the thrift store had a clue that it was a high end machine. They get bread machines in all the time and priced it to sell. My GW on the other hand charges an arm and a leg for appliances. I paid $11.99 lat week for a dehydrator.

Tracey

I've never found a Zoji or a Kitchen Aid or any high end appliance at GW either. I sometimes find canning jars, but they want $1 each for them, I can buy new ones with lids cheaper than that. Baking pans and cookware are pretty well used too, I sure don't find copper or All Clad.

What I do find are the "normal" appliances like GE or Rival, and relatively unused bakeware like tube pans. I did find a brand new OXO salad spinner, the big one, for $1.99 so I do get some good buys but nothing like a $18 Zojirushi or a $30 Kitchen Aid Mixer or a $5 All Clad skillet!

Craigslist here is the worst, people want more on Craigslist than I can buy it new sometimes. I've tried to buy two things on Craigslist and got no call back on either of them. I've tried to sell a couple of stepmother's items on Craiglist, like her 2 year old Maytag dryer, but I get no valid calls, just a lot of SPAM.

As a result, I don't go from place to place, I just stop in the second hand stores or GW when I happen to be in the area, I never make a special trip.

Annie

Thanks for all of your responses!

Aptosca: Thanks for the link to the manual. The person who donated this had printed one off, but I see it's for another model. There was also an obviously used, whole wheat recipe included w/notations that I may try. And glad to know I don't need measures.

Annie: Love your simplified version of how to make bread. I printed it off--I hate reading instructions. Also, glad to know you love your Zo.

Grainlady: Thanks for those loaf pan measures-another thing I printed out. Also appreciate all the tips on how the dough should look, hydrating, etc.

Tracey: You really got a bargain! Glad to hear it kneads well.

Arkansas Girl: I haven't had time to go back and you are probably right about it being gone.

I am going to be gone for about a month, so won't be trying it out for some time. When I do, I will probably be back with more questions!

Thanks again!

lizbeth, I've found that bread is as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. It can be an exact science, weighing every ingredient (but you still won't get the same results every time with bread, the variables are too great), or you can use a recipe, dump the stuff all together and mix/knead. You do have to check the hydration levels in either method, because of the age of flour, the brand, the temperature, the humidity, etc/etc/etc.

So, I dump everything into the machine and set it for dough. When I hear it knead I check to be sure there's enough liquid. When it becomes a cohesive mass I can tell whther it needs more flour or more liquid and adjust from there.

Wherever you're going, have fun. Good luck baking when you get back, I see some delicious experiments in your future.

Annie

DH asked for some bread today and since I was going to be out all afternoon I just made it in the Zo, baking and all. Here is how it turned out. It's a buttermilk 1 1/2 lb. loaf.

OH YUMMY! I wish mine would bake and all but it just won't bake right. Mine is not a Zo though, it's an Oster. I baked bread just yesterday using the bread machine for the dough and it was wonderful! I used Annie's recipe, the honey whole wheat! It was soft enough to be used for a sandwich. I ate with honey for my breakfast this morning!

I have a model BBCC-S15 that works well, but the bearing finally seized in the pan. Anybody know where I can find another pan?? Thanks, al.

"--I have a model BBCC-S15 that works well, but the bearing finally seized in the pan.--"

Are you talking about the paddle would not move?

dcarch

Bearing seized in pan? No idea what is meant there.. is the blade stuck in the pan after you take out the bread? if SO... Just give it a long soak with soap and water on the inside to loosen the stuck bread between paddle and pan, give it a few wiggles, wet, and it should come out. (Do NOT immerse the pan so the outside bottom gets wet!) They do not make the pans anymore... today, in 2016, January, I went online to Zojirushi and managed to get a new pin for the pan, the little 'nail' that sticks out on the inside to aid the blade in mixing the dough... pans and blades are unavailable on the Zojirushi site for this model, the Zojirushi Home Bakery Bread Maker BBCC-S15A, or S15.. makes me really sad. I LOVE this machine... it's the perfect sized loaf for a single person... but they no longer make it! The newer, Mini, Zo, is too small for my taste... Wish they had not stopped production of these, mine is still going strong.. I lost the bail handle for the pan long ago in a move, but now use potholders to awkwardly remove it when the bread is gone, but LOVE and would not go without my machine.. oddly, it makes better bread than the larger two paddle machines they make.. would NOT go without this S15A.. You gals above who got them at a bargain price, do not discard them, they are gems! For extra pans and paddles, etc,, all I can suggest is eBay... if you keep watching, you may find what you want.... I came to this site today hoping someone had a clue where to get new paddles, as I don't see any on Ebay right now... GOOD LUCK!

Hi All,

I picked up a like new Zojirushi BBCC-S15 with the manuals, measuring cup and measuring spoon at a Goodwill for $14.99. Good memories of Mom & Dad baking bread on the weekends and waking up years ago to the aroma of fresh bread so I thought I'd give it a go on the cheap. I'd like to make bread with known ingredients as the labels are getting too long to decipher on the store bought loaves.

A 15 minute wipe down and pan cleaning got it basically ready to use. I couldn't get the kneading blade out but it turned freely so I thought I'd try baking a loaf. I bought new ingredients and used %100 Organic King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour.

It's finishing the 1st loaf now and everything looks great so far... Can't wait to try it!

A couple of issues...

The single kneading blade on the bottom of the pan is locked in tight. I tried soap and water and even pulling up on it with a piece of shipping strapping plastic but it wouldn't budge. It's going for an overnight soaking when the loaf is done. Hope that works.

There is a large sticker on the front of the machine that says it is "%100 Whole Wheat Bread" capable I guess but there are no recipes for whole wheat in either the user manual or Zojirushi Home Bakery Recipe booklet. Does anyone have a Whole Wheat recipe they use for this model?

Thanks in advance!

John

Oh Yeah...

Has anyone figured out how to change the internal lithium battery so the clock holds time?

You can try putting vegetable oil on the kneading blade, to help loosen it. I did that with mine, and it worked better than soap & water.

As for whole wheat bread, I've had better luck using whole wheat pastry flour instead of just WW flour, as it is fewer sharp particles to cut the gluten strands. I never use more than 50% whole wheat flour when baking bread, however. The 100% whole wheat bread is just too heavy for me.

The Zo I just got was pricey, but it was new. Our GWs and other thrift stores never get any good appliances of any type in.

Madonna

To get out a REALLY stuck kneading blade that had been on there a really long time I soaked the pan with soap and water in it for a day or two, then looped a piece of strong plastic colored wire around the paddle from below (old electric wire) very close to the post holding it on and pulled upwards.... if you pull at the end of the paddle not close to the post it seems to put it at an angle and make it harder to remove and force it on the post more... I held the pan between my feet and yanked on the wire, and it worked really well... got the idea from a you tube video... Once unstuck like this if I use just a soak right after a new loaf of bread I can usually get it off with my fingers... I oil the post and the inside of the paddle opening where the paddle goes on the post before a new loaf of bread and it seems to help. As far as the lithium battery, the booklet that came with it said to return the machine to Zojirushi to change it... mine is out, too.. maybe I'll contact them to see if I can change it myself.. but I would suspect you have to take the machine apart to do it... To get around that I just plug in the machine before use and reset the time each use if I want to use a delay start... it's ok as a work around.

For 100% whole wheat bread made in a Zo, I use a soaking method for at least 3-hours, or as long as overnight, using a portion of the whole wheat flour in the sponge. This softens the bran and allows the gluten to hydrate without manipulation (kneading). The 100% whole wheat bread recipe, using freshly-milled wheat, I make is as high-rising and as light as any white bread. Incorporating this older bread-making method (soaking) that includes a sponge will help make better 100% whole wheat bread, compared to the more modern "direct dough" method, which is designed for speed and making a loaf of bread quickly. Both methods will work to make "bread", but using a soaking method will improve the bread significantly.

The second tip is to add ascorbic acid to any bread that has wheat germ as an ingredient, or whole wheat flour in it (which also contains the germ). As I've posted many times, there is a substance in wheat germ - glutathione - that breaks down the gluten bonds (hence those short squatty loaves of whole wheat bread). Ascorbic acid (aka vitamin C) in your dough will help to counteract the negative effects of glutathione. Ascorbic acid (or other acid like vinegar or citrus juice - occasionally called for in a recipe) will not only help prevent the gluten bonds from breaking from the glutathione; but it will help repair gluten bonds that have already been broken. It's not JUST the bran that cuts the gluten strands, but also the glutathione from the germ that damages the gluten. You can also release gluten-damaging glutathione from the yeast if you proof yeast in water that is too cool (cooler than 100°F). Glutathione will leak out of the yeast cells rapidly in cool water, causing the dough strength to be weakened. If using instant yeast added directly to the flour, make sure the flour temperature is at least 75°F when adding yeast. If you store your flour in the freezer, be sure to bring it to room temperature. The Zo will also warm the ingredients during the preheating stage at the first of the cycle. The preheating cycle is very short on the Quick setting (5-minutes), and about 9-minutes on the Quick Dough setting, so have your ingredients at room temperature before using these settings.

Ascorbic acid also helps to sustain the leavening of bread during baking. It promotes yeast growth, helping the yeast to work faster and longer. Yeast grows best in a slightly acidic atmosphere, and that's why ascorbic acid is added to many yeast products. I add 1/8 t. ascorbic acid per loaf. Do NOT add citric acid to a naturally-leavened bread (aka sourdough bread, or bread made with a starter or old dough method), because it is already naturally acidic.

FYI: You can damage your bread machine by "pulling the plug" to stop it. Instead, make sure you turn it off at the control panel.

I only use the machine to mix and knead the dough. Once that portion of the process is done, I turn it off at the control panel and place the dough in a dough rising bucket to rise. Dough rises according to the strength of the yeast, relative humidity, and the ambient temperature - NOT a timer. It's "double" when it doubles in bulk - period. Whether you want a fast rise using an artificially warm temperature, adding more yeast (recipe for 30-Minute Hamburger Buns), or choose to use a cool-rise and develop more flavor, which will take longer, those things determine how quickly or slowly the dough will double in bulk. Bread dough can't tell time!!!

Actually - just under double is more accurate in this day and age. Neither 100% whole wheat flour nor processed (bleached or unbleached) flour have the extensibility needed to double in bulk. Since bleached/unbleached flour is no longer bromated, it lacks the extensibility to "double" in bulk without this dough enhancer (bromates) -- so just under double is when you need to stop the process.

Because I don't use the pre-set rising time in the bread machine, I can make bread much faster than the bread machine.

-Grainlady

Battery replacement see http://www.fixya.com/support/t1557244-replace_lithium_battery_in_model_bbcc...I put the battery holder in mine so can do replacements easily...really only needed a screw driver, soldering iron, and a little solder...now works fine.

I need a paddle for my BBCC-Q20 zojjirushi bread machine. If anyone has one I would be happy to purchase it.

Joy, if you can't or don't want to go through the company for replacement parts, you might check EBay.

Joy, I just checked eBay and there are lots of listing for what you are looking for. Mostly in the $20+ area, but well worth it to keep an expensive appliance usable.

Madonna

I'm glad this old thread came up, I had forgotten all about the loaf pan sizes that grainlady posted! Sure miss her!

HU-128285197: My daughter has that bread maker and may bring it out once a year to bake bread. I can't answer your question about the teflon, but if you pull up the Zojirushi web site, you can send them your question. Because they are located in Los Angeles they are working remotely, but I did get a quick response when I had a question recently.