I'm a happy Zo owner and am on my second one - wore the first one out. I use it for making nearly all the dough I make, but never bake in it. There's also just two of us, but I bake ahead and fill my freezer with all kinds of things divided in single-serving sizes.

In the summer I can bake a loaf of bread in my Sharp Microwave/Convection Oven in 20-minutes without ANY preheating (25 minutes for 2 loaves) or I'll bake in my Solar Oven. I like the results better than in the Zo.

I usually make the largest amount of dough (2#) that a recipe will make and divide it into 2 loaves (we use one loaf of bread per week). Use one and freeze one.

My "everyday" 100% whole wheat bread recipe makes 2.5 pounds and I can get several things out of this amount of dough. Some combination of the following, depending on what I need to fill the freezer with:

1- one-pound Pullman Loaf or regular loaf
6- jumbo pecan or cinnamon rolls
4-6 hot dog buns
8-inch square pan of dinner rolls
6 hamburger/sandwich buns

So think past loaves....

I make sourdough all the time. I just use the dough cycle and remove the dough from the bread machine as soon as the kneading is finished. I put the dough into a dough rising bucket to finish the first rise. Because sourdough raises much slower than bakers' yeast dough, I always remove the dough from the bread machine and watch the rise myself.

If you do decide on the smaller Zo (which I don't think is a bad decision), you can always do what I do when I have a "marathon" baking to do. I'll make consecutive batches of dough without letting them raise in the bread machine. As soon as one recipe is done kneading, I'll stick it in a dough rising bucket and have the ingredients ready-to-go and start the next recipe (don't clean/wash the bread machine out, other than what you can remove with a spatula). About the time the first recipe is doubled in bulk in the dough rising bucket, the second recipe is ready to come out of the bread machine and go into the dough rising bucket (although I have a number of dough rising buckets of different sizes to use for marathon baking). I've done as many as 5 consecutive recipes doing this. I may have to retard some of the dough in the refrigerator, but I've done large amounts of baking for receptions using this method.

One word of caution, although the large Zo can bake a 1-pound loaf, I'd suggest you bake it outside the machine for that small amount of dough. I baked a 1-pound loaf in the Zo when I first got it and we had a good laugh at the results. The one pound amount loaf ends up being an "odd" size (short and wide - not good for sandwiches or toast) since the bread pan is designed to accomodate double that amount.

I don't think you can go wrong with either size Zo.

-Grainlady

Like Grainlady, I love my Zo! I've got the bigger model and even though it is now mostly just my husband and I, personally I wouldn't go with the smaller model if my big one ever dies.
I don't bake in mine either. I prefer the shape of oven baked and like to be able to monitor the time of baking. Also it is actually faster to do the dough cycle (esp if you program for Homemade dough and so skip the preheat time) and bake in the oven than doing the bake in the machine option.

I'm doing more freezing now that it is just the two of us. Made two loaves of pumpernickel yesterday and gave one loaf to a neighbor. Over the weekend, I made three rounds of rosemary focaccia and froze two of them for paninnis later. (I freeze the bread til solid and then vacuum seal with the FoodSaver.

I'm always asked to bring breads to potlucks and dinner parties. My husbands poker group requested two loaves for their Octoberfest get together and when my kids come home they crave my homemade breads, pizza, rolls etc.... . So for me the big one is pretty essential.

I used to RV with my kids every summer and we always made room for the Zo to come along! I'm sure you'll love it!

Grace

W/o a doubt get the 2lb. I bought a one lb. machine precipitously on a one day on sale at Bloomie's.
I regret not buying the 2 lb. Lord knows that I'm no bread expert, but it seems like most recipes make more than a 1 lb loaf.
Let the experts weigh in!

Add me to the list of happy Zo owners, it's one of the few appliances I have that if it dies, I'll replace it immediately without regret about price!

I have the big one and I love it, I can't imagine having the smaller one. I never bake in it, I only use it for dough, but I'm always taking a loaf to work or to stepmom, baking extra for a family dinner, whatever. If I have any leftover dough I make it into buns for italian sausage or burgers or use it for cinnamon rolls. I freeze some baked goods but not many, truthfully, and if any does get stale I make bread crumbs. More often the stale bread becomes stuffing or bread pudding or croutons or bread crumbs or...

Can you tell I just love that Zo? I can bake a smaller amount with the bigger machine if I need to, but I can also use the bigger one for making multiple loaves or rolls for family dinners, church suppers, bake sales, whatever.

Annie

Thanks for all the thoughtful replies.

It's interesting to read that most of you still choose to bake your breads outside the machine, even one that's as good as the Zo is touted to be. One of my justifications for the large expense was not having to run my big oven for every loaf, but I appreciate hearing how you really use it.

I've been reading bread baking books I got from the library and am coming to understand that what largely affects the outcome in bread baking is being able to "read" the dough through the rising and baking stages, so it makes sense that you choose to do some of those things outside the machine. I've become fascinated by the process, and can see this becoming a hobby as much as "putting bread on the table."

The loaf from the mini Zo is an odd shape. I am waiting for an email reply from their site where I asked if a hole or tunnel is left in the loaf once it's baked in the smaller machine. That was a real downside in a breadmaker I bought a decade or so ago when they first came out. In that machine the side and bottom crusts were also not great - they always had a hard, shiny sheen that didn't look or taste homemade.

I've only been at this for about a month, but I've already built a little fan base. My parents, who are older and don't have great appetites anymore, swoon whenever I deliver a fresh loaf from one of my successful experiments. DH loves coming home to the aroma of baked bread on these colder nights and DD & new SIL do a happy dance when I call to tell them I have a fresh loaf for them to pick up on their way home from work. So I think this is more than a passing fancy for me.

I'm still torn with regard to the small footprint and ease of transport with the mini, but right now the scales are tipping toward investing in the larger size.....unless someone can point out other reasons that I might be overlooking to go mini.

I thought I posted this yesterday, but it seems to have disappeared, so sorry if it pops up twice in another thread!

When I first got my Zo, actually this is my second as my other lasted about 8 years and was bounced all over the country in our RV, I too thought that I would do most of the baking in the machine. Other than a few occasional times though with my tried and true sandwich bread when I just can't be at home to put it in my favorite long pan from King Arthur, I don't bake in the machine.

For me the reasons for oven baking are that I can adjust the temp and time of baking to accomodate whether I want a crunchy crust or am doing a big round loaf or several small oblongs. It only takes a minute or two of hands on work. Also the time to do the dough cycle, plus a final rise and then the baking in the oven is actually faster than doing the bake in the machine option. You gain even more time if you use the homemade dough option and eliminate the preheat time. Finally the only bread that I really want as a traditional "loaf" is my wholegrain sandwich bread and everything else I turn into pretty shapes, braids, rolls, pizza etc....

For traveling in our RV, I saved the original box (and the foam inserts). I'd box it up and put it on the floor while we bounced along the road. I didn't have much kitchen counter space, but it fit perfectly on the TV shelf in the bedroom area. Obviously I didn't think a TV was necessary, but the Zo was!

In my original post, I should have been clear on that I didn't have to make such big quantities of dough either, I could have cut the recipes in half. But like Annie, people are always requesting my bread! And when my kids come home to visit they are positively craving my homemade things.

Grace

I will also mention that I make all my bread in the machine, I don't just use the bread machine recipes. I've done everything from Grandma's white rolls to Sol's honey rolls to Terri's honey wheat to Ann T's Italian, all in the Zo.

Bread is one of those things that vary from day to day. Sometimes you need more flour, sometimes less, sometimes it takes longer to rise. It's one of those things that you can't weigh the ingredients and expect the same result every time, you have to check your dough and adjust. It's not an exact science and it seldom fails completely.

I'd still be kneading dough by hand if it weren't for this blasted carpal tunnel. The Zo got me back to baking all of my own bread and has saved me from that soft and squishy white stuff as well as the exorbitantly expensive artisan bakery stuff.

Annie