Zojirushi Home Bakery Virtuoso Plus Breadmaker (BB-PDC20)

We're not cooks. We live in a big city with plenty of bread for sale. We don't need something special, like gluten-free bread. Neither of us has ever baked a yeast bread in our life. So why the heck have we bought a bread machine? Desperation. We used to be able to buy good bread, but somehow everything has become Wonder (bubble) bread, more suitable as a pillow than as something chewy, substantial, and yummy. Longtime small bakeries we loved have cut back their distribution (Buona Forchetta) or vanished (StoneGround). Nobody--including Farmer's Market boutiques--sells European-style dense, flavor-packed whole-grain loaves in this town anymore. My wife and I looked at each other and said, maybe we are going to have to buy a bread machine. So this electronics engineer started exploring the world of bread machines. It's always good to see a basic design being refined. Zojirushi was doing that. I saw it in the model-to-model changes and details. Bread from their horizontal double-paddle machine would fit into our toaster, unlike the 6-inch by 7-inch slices of the vertical single-paddle machines. The latest Zoji was designed so I could start simply with standard, predefined setups, but as I got more skilled, I could program it as I wished from start to finish. Reviews and blog postings had nice things to say about the Zoji despite its cost. Zoji's US office was within reasonable driving distance if we needed to have it fixed. (Everything made in China seems to have its share of manufacturing shortcomings; all of the bread machines, including Zoji's, have some 1-star and 2-star reviews to ponder.) Now that I have made my 10th loaf of bread with our Zojirushi "Virtuoso" without a single failure, I am posting this success-story/review. I started simply, with two Bob's Red Mill bread mixes from the biggest Whole Foods Market in the area. It was really interesting to watch a collection of mixed powders be transformed by the incessant paddling of Mr. Zoji over just a few minutes into a well-behaved ball of dough, which the machine and fast-growing yeast then transformed into bread in 3 more hours. This was a good start; the two bread mixes made satisfactory loaves but I would not go out of my way to buy them in a store. Back I went to several stores, buying items new to me like Vital Wheat Gluten and King Arthur Bread Flour. I used several recipes in Zoji's colorful instruction manual for several more loaves. I was happy to see that it had measurements in grams, as I had vowed to avoid the trap of measuring large amounts of compressible powders by volume. Tablespoons, maybe, but no cups for me--I am using a small digital scale. Amazon Prime-shipped me Beth Hensperger's bread machine book, whose introductory sections I read and reread. I learned to test and adjust the dough ball just after it formed. A white bread was OK but the "Platinum" yeast I used practically pushed the Zoji lid up. A smaller wheat bread was OK but bland and soft. A cinnamon-apple bread was breakfastly sweet but its freeze-dried apple pieces from Whole Foods tasted more like styrofoam than fruit. My first really good loaf was an Italian olive-oil wheat bread in which I had replaced the recipe's basil with rosemary (an idea I stole from La Brea Bakery). That was so delicious that I made up 4 Ziplocs of essentially the same recipe and learned by making minor variations when I baked each. An artisanal baking book, by a baker who does not once use the phrase "bread machine", came home with my wife. I started measuring the starting temperature of the water and adjusting it so that it was always 80 degrees in the Zoji pan before I proceeded. All this time the Zojirushi Virtuoso behaved like a real trouper, never like a prima donna. I used four different "courses" (processes) from its repertoire--the regular and quick basic courses and the regular and quick wheat courses--and nothing ever went wrong, fell flat, burned up, jammed, refused to operate, crashed, or came apart. Cleanup has been easy with the method recommended by several Amazon reviewers: Fill the pan with water after it has cooled off, squirt in some dish detergent, let it soak at least half an hour, wash out, rinse, and dry. This is also all it takes to unpaste the paddles from their shafts. Today's bread approached what we are looking for. It was the Three-Seeded Whole Wheat from the Hensperger book (p.116). I had to convert the flour and dry milk recipes into grams using an Ingredients Chart from the King Arthur website, and have patience and then add a little flour--but with restraint--to a runny, sticky mix that only formed a dough ball when its seeds were added. All was well. I have learned to lift the lid--the Zoji safely stops and marks time--and adjust the shape of the dough ball with a nylon spatula before each dough-rise subcycle. The excellent Zoji instruction manual gives detailed cycle timing so there are no surprises. So there you have it. A total novice is now baking bread that pleases two critical people--his wife and himself. The Zojirushi Virtuoso may not be the only usable breadmaker in the world, but it has done everything it promised.

Oh, I cant tell you how much I love my zojirushi bread maker! I use it 1-2 times a day to make the most amazing breads and cakes! There are two things that I love the most in my kitchen; my zojirushi bread maker, and my zojirushi rice cooker. Whomever made this- thank you, just thank you! My bread is soft and moist and perfect each time. never over or under cooked. I thought all bread machine bread was like a hard log, but this beautiful creation proved me wrong. I get the same response from those whom eat my bread- after the first bite, their eyes widen, and I receive compliments galore. My parents are on a strict diet, and on their cheat days, they beg me to bring over bread! When the 14 year old boys in scouts (hubby is a scout master) come over, they ask for bread with honey as the "dessert". I mentioned that I make 1-2 loaves daily- that is how quickly my small family devours them. The bread that comes out of this thing is better than store bought and I only pay like $.50- $1.00 a loaf? (honestly I haven't calculated it, but is cheaper than a $5+ lump of coal (bread) from the store). Every single time I take a bite of bread from this thing, I practically cry out in song because the bread is just that good. This was the best buy ever. Along with my amazing bread maker, I bought "Bread Loaf Bags, Pack of 100 by Perfect Utopia", those will happily fit a 2 pound loaf or home made pizza; and most importantly, "The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook: A Master Baker's 300 Favorite Recipes for Perfect-Every-Time Bread-From Every Kind of Machine". I am so in love with my bread machine. It has been the best birthday present ever. I recommend the Zojirushi bread maker to everyone whom has tasted my bread, and I recommend it to you to! You wont be disappointed! This bread machine has been a life changer. Update: Well, it has been nearly a year since my purchase of the Zojirushi bread machine, and I still think it is the best kitchen purchase I have ever made (well, it is tied with my Zojirushi rice cooker). I use my bread machine at least 5 times a week, as I make bread for my family and my parents and our weekly get family get togethers. My bread loaves come out perfectly each time (given that my ingredients- especially my yeast are still good). MY bread is still adored by all we entertain and my 1st grader even says her school friends at lunch love it (I guess they trade lunches sometimes!). I love, love, love, love this bread machine and rant and rave about it every time my bread is complemented. I have saved so much money baking bread instead of buying it, and now my entire family cant stand store bought bread, even my toddler tastes the difference. I love that it takes only a few minutes to load the machine with ingredients and then all I have to do is take the fresh bread out when it is done. Thank you Zojirushi for making such an amazing and high quality product!! Update 1/4/2019 I still love this bread machine!! It makes the best bread ever. I am still praised by my kids and others for the bread this machine puts out. Even after owning it several years, this machine works like a charm. I still use it at least 6 times a week. I mainly make my white bread and the occasional banana or zucchini bread loaf. I will note that after about a year, I do need to purchase new mixing blades. I clean my bread pan/ mixing blades by filling the pan with water and letting it soak an hour or so each time, than cleaning it with a soft cloth, followed by a water rinse. After a banana bread loaf I use soap and have to be more aggressive with the washcloth, but it is easy to clean none the less. I notice when I do make banana bread, it tends to remove the nonstick finish off the mixing blades quicker. I have since just had an "older" set of mixing blades that I use just for banana bread, while I use my newer set for my regular bread, so I don't have to replace them as quickly. When it is colder in my house (guessing 60 degrees or below), there is a higher chance my bread wont rise properly. I tend to end up tossing, making grill cheese sandwiches, or french toast with those loaves when that happens. The taste is still there, just not the light fluffy texture, and it is very dense. I cure this by heating the house, specifically where my machine is at, and baking the loaf during the warmest time of the day. I also have learned that, for at least my machine, placing both mixing blades to point in the same direction (i.e. both point north), the bread will rise evenly. I am not sure if there is some magical science to this, or if it causes the dough to rise evenly, but if they are not pointed in the same direction, I notice that one side will rise higher than the other. Took me a year to figure that out. I still recommend this machine to everyone who loves my bread! I get a good laugh that every time one of my brothers comes to visit, one of the first things they do is 'causally' walk into my kitchen and conveniently stand to talk in front of the bread and than after a few minutes, just nonchalantly cut a huge slice and smother it in our raw honey, and repeat until the loaf is more than half gone (well, at least they have the decency to leave one or two slices for my children, haha). This bread machine has been the best investment, with me only having a pay a few cents a loaf in ingredients. It has more than paid for itself.

The Zojirushi BB-PDC20BA Home Bakery Virtuoso Plus Breadmaker is a great breadmaker. We purchased this and began making bread immediately. There is a recipe book that helps to get you started, but you can also search for other recipes. We have not purchased bread from the store since we made this purchase. Its nice knowing that there are no additional preservatives in your freshly baked bread. the breadmaker is very easy to use and the cleanup is very easy. It does accommodate a 2 lb loaf, but can also be used for 1.5 lb loafs. The larger capacity is great for making pizza dough etc. The machine seems to be built solid, but that's what Zojirushi does, build solid appliances. It costs a little more, but highly recommended.

I used my new bread maker for the first time last week. It was an easy process and the product was excellent. I was happy that I had spent the extra money for this bread maker. However, after washing the loaf pan I noticed some circular marks that looks like the beginning of a wearing process underneath each of the two paddles at the base of the pan. This, in spite of the fact that the paddles themselves do not touch the bottom of the pan. I assume that the moving of the ingredients as they are stirred and kneaded must be doing the scraping. I took a picture of this and sent it off to the manufacturer by email. (first photo, below) I received a response by email. The representative told me that such wear was normal. She attached two pictures. One showed a bread maker pan of several months of age where the pattern of wear that was slightly more exaggerated than mine. (second photo, below) The other one was a bread maker of several years of age showing significant areas of the non-stick surface having worn away in patches.(third photo below) This did not provide me with any reassurance. I have read a great deal about the fact that non-stick surfaces are not safe to use once they start to wear (a process which is apparently already beginning with my one-time use of my pan), especially if the components of the non-stick surfaces have been shown to be linked to cancer, as in the case of PFOA. Many manufacturers of non-stick surfaces today advertise proudly that their products do not contain PFOA in the manufacturing processes, nor do they contain PTFE (which is still considered safe by the FDA) . I then asked the representative to email me back with information as to whether PFOA is used in their manufacturing process, because I would not keep this product if that were the case. Their answer is quoted below: "Unfortunately, we have no access of the requested information because it is Proprietary/Confidential Information belonging to Zojirushi Corp." In other words, they do not want to tell me. I have written them back saying that if they do not tell me, or if it does have PFOA, I will be returning this bread maker. I cannot believe that with a high quality product such as this and with a company with as great a reputation as Zojirushi, that they have not switched to ceramic as a non-stick coating. I will keep you posted as this saga continues. Update as of Feb 25/16 I have since sent and received two emails from the company as part of my attempt to find out whether their manufacturing process includes the PFOA agent. Each time I received the same answer: the FDA has determined that there are no detectable levels of PFOA in the loaf pan. When I asked for clarification as to whether they used PFOA, the email reply to me was the same.. I am assuming that their process does include PFOA but they do not want to tell me. I am therefore returning my bread maker with great regret. I hope that they clean up their act and upgrade their coating to a safer non-stick or to ceramic.

Tengo un hijo con intolerancia al gluten y a los lácteos, y yo soy alergico a la nuez, encontrar un pan que no tenga esos ingredientes es prácticamente imposible, sin embargo con esta máquina he podido hacer pan para sandwitches, pan de chocolate, pan de calabaza, muy deliciosos, Tanto con levadura como sin levadura, gracias al plan de programación manual. Excelente producto.

I hope this helps others. It is Oct 2024 at time of this review and I purchased this Bread Machine in May 2021. I've been making my own bread for over 30 years and have used a number of bread machines over those years. My family of 4 goes through about 1.5 loaves/week and I make all our bread. I purchased this Virtuoso as I thought it was the best on the market and the fact it had the horizontal, 2 paddle bread. Boy was I mistaken about "best in market". The ONLY redeeming quality of this machine is the horizontal, 2 paddle normal shaped load, but that's where the benefits end. For $500 I thought I'd get the best machine on the market but other, less expensive machines have so much more than this crappy unit. I'll list the negatives, and as I do, consider that most other bread machines on the market (that unfortunately don't offer the horizontal loaf) provide for the functions that this machine does not. 1) No back light on the display: This display is worse than the old electronic phone book I bought from Radio Shack in the late 80's. It is difficult to read, even with a lit room. I've had many times where I've used a flashlight to read the display. 2) There is no BEEP or other indication that the bread is done on most settings: Seriously, you need to set a timer (on another device) to inform you when your bread is done. Anyone who's used a bread machine knows that when the bread is done and sits there with the "Keep warm cycle" on (that can't be turned off) it 1-overcooks, 2-gets a very hard crust, 3-shrinks, 4-dries out considerably... Some settings have a BEEP for cycle complete, others don't. That just makes no sense. 3) There is no way to adjust the settings down from a 2lb loaf. Every other machine I've owned I had the ability of 1, 1.5 or 2lb loaf for each setting. Not this one. You get what you get, 2lbs and that's it. 4) On some settings there is no way to select crust type (light/normal/well done) which completes the top burner cycle sooner or later depending on crust type. Thus for the types of bread I normally make I need to set my (external) timer 10minutes early to get a lighter crust. When I miss my timer (as I do regularly) I get a very crusty bread. 5) There is a "Home Made" setting but because of the crap display, it works on paper but not in reality. If you want to program a "Home Made" setting, you'll need to write down the sequence on paper first before attempting to program it into the 1980's display (and understand their abbreviated stages). You'll also need to remember what you programmed in setting 13, 14 or 15 because you can't label the settings. In fact, if you choose one of your settings, you don't even know if the machine lost it's programming until you've ruined your mix of ingredients. 6) The setting where you need to "add" ingredients will beep incessantly and will not stop. Ironic that it beeps like crazy, but the machine won't inform you when your loaf is done... If you don't have anything to add, you need to open and close the lid for the program to continue. If you choose one of those setting and walk away. You can come back 10hrs later and the machine is still paused at the "add" stage. Other machines I've had will resume after 10-20minutes (in fairness, I did have one other machine that also would maintain a pause forever). 7) On some settings, there is a 15min delay at the beginning that can't be turned off. Most times when I make bread, I mix all my dry ingredients (and hand mix the various flours with a spoon), mix my wet ingredients (in a measuring cup, again hand mixing), then combine the 1st-oil or fat, 2nd-wet ingredients, then the dry on top before placing the bread pan in the machine. Thus I don't want the rest cycle ever. But on most settings I can't choose to turn this off. 8) The delay cycle only works on some settings. For some settings like cake, this might make sense, but for other types of loafs, like Whole Grain, it doesn't. You cant override this and set a delay. 9) There is no decent way to clean this thing. Now in fairness, I've never had a bread machine that was easy to clean, but because you can't take the lid off, this one is near impossible to clean. Take note if you ever plan on making a cinnamon roll loaf or something that risks over rising because if you ever spill sugar or anything else at the bottom, you'll be spelling burnt stuffs for the remainder of the life of the machine. 10) The cleaning thing is not only an issue for the inside of the machine, but the outside as well. The ribbed plastic on the lid traps dust like no tomorrow. You can wipe down the machine and the lid will look as dusty / dirty as it did before cleaning. I figured the ribbed lid is for heat dissipation, but that is just a theory. regardless, it's difficult to keep clean. As it collects so much dust, it should be a removable cowling. I justified spending $500 for this machine because I figured I'd get about 10yrs from the machine (I've normally got about 10yrs from my bread machines and that is acceptable); but, 3.5yrs in and I'm thinking of cutting my loss and buying something else, mothballing this one or giving it away. I can't count how many loaves I've ruined from just the lack of indication that the loaf is done. The crap display is also a deal breaker for me, it is very difficult to read and as I get older, I'm sure there will come a day very soon where I need to keep a flashlight with the machine just to read the crap display (I'm almost at that stage now). It has one redeeming quality, it makes a normal shaped, horizontal loafs. At the time of purchase there wasn't any on the market that I knew of. Probably something to do with a patent or something, but I see there are other options now for horizontal loaves. I haven't started to investigate yet, but I'd bet I could get a far superior machine for half the price of this nearly useless machine. I've used it pretty hard for 3.5 yrs and for some that may seem like a solid machine, but believe me, every bread machine I've had has lasted longer than the bread pan that goes inside. Nearly every new machine I owned, I bought because I couldn't get a replacement bread pan or paddles. The machines ALWAYS outlast the pans. So the fact it's lasted 3.5yrs should be a given. In fairness, the pan is still in pretty good shape, only minor scratches but nothing that causes sticking. I've listed the things I can't stand from this machine (there are probably more issues I haven't listed). Making at least 2 loaves a week with this machine and my experience with at least 5 other machines in the past, I believe makes me knowledgeable of the issues. If you can live with the the cons I have itemised above, then you may like this machine. For me, these issues are such that I am willing to trash this unit and purchase something else that doesn't piss me off every time I make a loaf. I feel I got ripped off. Seriously, a 1980's display and programming functionality.

Inmediatamente que recibí la máquina se ve la calidad de ella, también en los manuales y el equipo adicional, es el costo alto pero a las personas qué les guste la calidad se las recomiendo ampliamente al probarla hoy no funcionó

I hope this helps someone else. I bought this very expensive ZOJI BB-PDC20BA Home Bakery Virtuoso bread machine for $560 CAD in Sept 2024. Despite hand washing the machine, never putting it in the dishwasher and only making 1 loaf per week, the bread pan was leaking black lubricant within 6 months after purchase. When I reached out to Zojirushi, they told me the machine was now unusable unless I replaced the bread pan for an extra $150, bringing the price up to $700+. Despite the product being nearly new and obviously defective, they would not replace it. I understand that sometimes there are products that are lemons - and if that's the case, then as a company you need to step up, take responsibility and make it right. Zojirushi did none of that. Instead, they left me as the customer, out to dry. Prior to this experience, I had also been planning on buying a Zojirushi rice maker, but because this company does not stand behind the quality of their products and does not care about their customers, I will be purchasing one from Costco instead due to their phenomenal return policy in case anything goes sideways. I will never buy a product from Zojirushi again. Hopefully this review helps others.