I'm totally new to bread machines, having made my first loaf yesterday and just started the second one an hour ago, but the Cuisinart I'm using is so easy a stoner can do it.

My Zo is a Home Bakery Virtuoso and I love it. When it was time to replace my old machine, I remembered all the praise for the Zo from people on here that have one so that's what I decided to get. I used the white bread recipe that was in the manual that came with it and was very dissatisfied with the results. Then I used an Amish White Bread recipe and loved it. It turned out absolutely perfect. Next I did King Arthur Flour's Beautiful Burger Buns recipe and they were the same. Love it, love it, love it! One thing I did with these two recipes, though, was follow the order that the Zo recommended for putting in the pan. The Zo has a pre-heating time, I think 15 minutes, for the liquid and yeast that you put in before the other ingredients. I think this helps in making a great bread product. Just my opinion.

Madonna

Mine is an old machine, have had it for over 25 years, it still functions perfectly. I use it for various recipes from Bread Making cookbooks, they all turned out good. I use it to knead dough too, so simple and easy.

I heard the new model is even better, but have never tried one.

I do have a small old second hand Zo, but it was just for curiosity. It sits out in the garage in case I need a backup. I use a bread machine almost exclusively for kneading and first rise only. It sits on the counter because it is used at least once weekly. It is a slight upgrade of the original DAK/Welbuilt bread machine with the round loaf and glass dome lid. It is very powerful; it was built before designers could determine that less powerful motors and lighter cases would do.

Since I don't bake with the machine, the round loaf isn't an issue and I wouldn't like the hole that any other machine's paddle leaves either. I make more rolls than anything else, especially since I have been baking most regular loaves in batches of three with the Kitchenaid for the mix/kneading.

You really can't go wrong with any Zo. My friends have used the first one that came out, S-15 (small bucket for a 1-1.5# loaf), and made 1-2 loaves of 100% whole wheat bread each week for at least 25-years, and always baked the loaves in the Zo. I recently gave them my old (VERY well-used) V-20 (15-years old) so they could make a larger loaf than the S-15 could make, and in a loaf pan style, not the bucket-style.

I also have an X-20 (purchased in 2009), but use it only a few times a year anymore, now that we've been gluten-free for over 3-years. There are several models that came after that, so be sure to check the basic differences between models to get one that will work best for you.

If you are going to make 100% whole wheat bread, be warned that not all bread machines are capable of that task like a Zo is. Meanwhile, all I used was freshly-milled wholegrain flour from a large selection of grains/seeds/bean for making bread. Some bread machines won't work well with freshly-milled flour, either, and some suggest you not use it at all.

I normally used the Zo for making dough, and baking was done in my Sharp Convection/Microwave Oven or in my Solar Oven. I can bake two loaves in my Sharp Convection/Microwave Oven in 25-minutes and NO pre-heating. A real energy saver.

-Grainlady

I had an X-20 for several years and loved it for kneading dough. It also could bake 1-1/2 pound loaves and knead doughs with up to six cups of flour. As Grainlady mentioned, the Zojirushi handles 100% whole wheat dough with no difficulty at all. (That said, no matter what bread machine you have, you need to check it about 5 minutes into the knead cycle to see if the dough is dry and needs additional liquid or if it is too loose and requires additional flour.)

The only negative was that the top crust never was browned, looking a bit under cooked. I called Zojirushi and got a few useless tips. I also went online and found several discussions about the problem along with some more useless tips.

When Zojirushi came out with its newer model, the Virtuoso, it included a baking element on the top, and eventually, I purchased one. I've been using it for about 2 years now. I use it mostly for making dough, but during our hot Sacramento area summers, I often bake loaves in the machine too. The top crust comes out just fine.

The only negative is that it has a tendency to produce lopsided loaves -- one side higher than the other. The X-20 also had that problem. I've read that many machines with 2 kneading blades have that problem. So I learned quite a while ago to check the shape of the dough as soon as the rise cycle begins. I lightly press the dough to make sure it is correctly shaped and usually the loaf turns out fine. One nice thing about the Virtuoso is that there is a cycle that allows you to stop the machine, remove the dough, shape it, and then return the dough to finish rising and then baking. So you could braid your loaf and still bake it in the machine.

I'm very happy with the Virtuoso and use it about once every 2 weeks. And when I do, I usually, do a marathon. I'll get a dough going, remove it to rise in a bucket, and start another dough. Remove it to rise in another bucket, and start a final dough that will rise or rise & bake in the machine. Then over the course of the next 2 days, I shape & bake whatever I didn't get to during the marathon. That way I always have homemade stuff in the freezer.

I usually make whole grain breadstuffs. At least 50% whole wheat, most of the time between 75%-100%. And chock full of nuts and seeds. The machine does a terrific job of kneading.

I've had the 2 Zojirushis and 1 Panasonic. My experience is that bread machines are not really a "dump everything in and walk away" answer to bread making, especially if you want the machine to do the baking. As I said before, you've got to check the dough while kneading to make any adjustments. And it's also helpful to check the dough when it first starts rising to make sure it's shaped correctly. If you do those two things, them you'll be able to produce delicious, correctly baked, and good-looking loaves of bread.