Zojirushi BB CEC20 Home Bakery Supreme Breadmaker Review

The Zojirushi BB-CEC20 Home Bakery Supreme is a pricy but versatile bread maker with a plethora of settings and a large loaf capacity.

If you’re looking for a robust machine that can make bread, jam, and even meatloaf, then this is one toasty companion for your kitchen.

It’s not perfect — it’s very large and quite expensive — but fear not, we’ll outline all the pros and cons in our BB-CEC20 review below.

Let’s get started…

Zojirushi BB-CEC20 Home Bakery Supreme 2-Pound-Loaf Breadmaker: The Details

This machine was made in mind for those that lead busy lives, with a delay timer and the ability to pop all the ingredients in and walk away.

Made of stainless steel, it will fit in with your current kitchen appliance family smoothly.

Keep in mind, though, that this is a large bread maker – with a 2lb loaf capacity – and may be a hindrance for those with smaller kitchens and limited storage space.

In a Nutshell

• Weight: 20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 17 x 8-1/2 x 12-1/4 inches
• Loaf Capacity: 2 lbs
• Settings: 10 plus 3 crust color options
• Timer: 13-hour delay timer
• Stand-Out Feature: Auto shut-off safety system

Features

The BB-CEC20 comes with all of the standard features of quality bread makers, and is simple enough for beginners to use with ease.

Loaf Size

This machine makes the classic rectangular 2 lb loaf.

A good size for people who only want to bake once or twice a week for a few days worth of bread, and also for those with large families or who are preparing for a party.

We wish there was the option to make a smaller loaf in the BB-CEC20 as well — sometimes you need something small to tide you over!

Delay Timer

Delay timers are a great feature in bread makers, and Zojirushi has a 13 Hour Delay Timer.

This is a handy setting for people who want to wake up in the morning or come home from work to the smell of freshly baked bread.

Baking Settings

Zojirushi has gone the extra mile and included a long list of pre-programmed baking settings to suit many appetites. They include:

Basic, Quick, Wheat, Dough, Jam, Cake, Sourdough Starter, 3 Home Made Menus

• Basic
• Basic Wheat
• Basic Dough
• Quick – about 2 hours
• Quick Wheat
• Quick Dough
• Jam
• Cake
• Sourdough Starter
• Home Made

The variety here means that you can get a lot of use out of this machine, and the Home Made setting is particularly great for more experienced bakers who fancy a little experimentation.

3 Crust Colors

Choose from light, medium or dark when it comes to crust color.

Home Made Setting

For more experienced bakers, or those that want to give their mother’s old recipes a try, there is the Home Made option. With this, you can tailor exactly how the machine kneads, bakes, and rises your doughs to your own will.

You can also use the homemade settings to cook a meatloaf in the BB-CEC20 – although given the use of perishable goods, you can’t use the delay timer when making meatloaf or else risking spoiling the meat.

Within the Home Made setting are 3 ‘memory settings’, allowing you to save up to 3 of your own recipe settings to the machine. Awesome!

Two Blades for Thorough Kneading

You can be guaranteed of an even loaf when using the Zojirushi BB-CEC20 breadmaker, thanks to the fact that it has two paddles for thorough kneading.

The additional kneading that your dough will enjoy in this machine also contributes to the high rise of the bread.

Keep Warm Mode

Fear not running late or getting distracted by your favourite book, because Zojirushi has built-in an automatic warming mode that will keep your bread hot for up to 30 minutes after baking is complete.

This is great for people who are using the delay timer to cook while they’re asleep or at work. No need to fret getting stuck in peak-hour traffic on the way home from work, because your loaf will still be oven-fresh when you get home.

The downside here is that warmers can dry out the bread on occasion.

 

Large Viewing Window

The lid has a decently sized window, making it easy to keep an eye on your bake.

LCD Control Panel

One of the things we love about the Zojirushi BB-CEC20 Supreme 2-Pound Breadmaker is the fact that it’s so easy to use, regardless of your baking skill level.

Part of that is due to the large and easy-to-read LCD control panel on the front of the machine.

It’s intuitive and user-friendly: it’s very easy to select your desired settings.

Easy Cleaning

This is an easy bread maker to clean, a big plus when considering any kitchen appliance.

The baking tray and the mixing paddles easily come apart and away from the main body of the machine, enabling easy maintenance and ensuring that there aren’t any food particles left behind.

Auto Shut–Off

Given that bread makers need to be left running for hours at a time, and often unmonitored, a good built-in safety setting is definitely an addition in the good books.

It will automatically shut itself off after the 30-minute ‘Keep Warm’ period has come to an end.

There’s also a 10-minute power failure back-up — ideal if you get a power cut in the middle of a bake cycle!

Zojirushi BB-CEC20: Review

The Positives

Creates Delicious Loaves

It can’t be denied — the BB-CEC20 makes truly excellent bread, dough, cakes — whatever you fancy whipping up in this machine.

Loaves are large and traditionally shaped, super soft and with a beautiful crumb texture.

We’ve seen a few buyers complain about uneven loaves and unexpected results, but we’re pretty sure that’s a result of either not following the recipe exactly (baking is a science, people!) or not using fresh ingredients.

We found that this machine created nothing but delicious and even eats.

Versatility

The sheer number of recipe settings that the Zojirushi has makes for a tantalising positive.

No need to spend time kneading out dough or standing over a hot stove making jam, because this machine will do it all for you. You can also just have the machine mix the dough up, which is excellent for making pizza bases or smaller rolls.

Add in that you can cook a meatloaf in the Zojirushi, and you’ve got one highly-capable machine.

Plus, the excellent Home Made setting and it’s ability to store up to 3 of your own recipe settings, means that this machine is perfect for both beginners and more experienced bakers.

Quiet

A huge plus is that this machine runs very quietly. There will be no rattling on your countertop or noisy humming in the middle of the night to wake you up.

Easy to Use and Clean

We’ve said this before but it bears repeating — the Zojirushi BB-CEC20 bread machine is very simple to use.

The recipe booklet is thorough and exact, the LCD screen easy to navigate — it honestly couldn’t be easier to operate this machine.

And it’s not a pain to clean either.

Detailed Cookbook

Zojirushi packages their bread maker with a detailed manual, comprehensive cookbook, and an instructions video to ensure that you get the best use out of your machine. This makes the BB-CEC20 a great starting point for novice bakers.

The cookbook also makes for a great starting point if you want to create your own recipes that will still work in the bread maker. Very impressive.

The Negatives

Short Warranty 

 

While the BB-CEC20 breadmaker certainly seems durable, it can be hard to estimate how long a machine like this will hold up over time — particularly if you’re using it a lot.

When paying this much for a bread maker, ideally we want a lengthy warranty, for piece of mind more than anything else.

That’s why we were a little disappointed with what Zojirushi presented: just one year from the date of purchase for defects in materials and workmanship and only 6 months for commercial products.

High Price

Plain and simple, this is not a cheap machine.

Personally, we think the quality of the BB-CEC20 and the Zojirushi name behind it almost justifies the price tag, but it will obviously be out of reach to people on a budget.

If you’re looking for a cheap and capable bread machine, this is not your guy.

Similarly, if you’re happy to spend a chunk on a high quality bread machine, we suggest you take a look at the Zojirushi BB-PAC20 Home Bakery Virtuoso Breadmaker — an updated version of the BB-CEC20.

For only a little more money, it comes with a gluten free-setting and better engineering for more even baking.

Here’s a quick little video on the Zojirushi BB-CEC20 vs BB-PAC20:

Large Size

This is a large machine for most kitchens.

If you have limited counter space or storage, then this 20 lb appliance may not be the right bread maker for you. Given its weight, the Zojirushi BB-CEC20 Bread Machine is also difficult to move around.

It also only has one size option: traditional 2 lb rectangular loaves. While this is perfect for families, it’s less well suited to one or two person families.

Other users have said that they have made smaller loaves in the machine successfully, but this will require a little tinkering with the settings. Why not just include this in a one-button step?

Overall Verdict

The Zojirushi BB-CEC20 Home Bakery Supreme 2-Pound-Loaf Breadmaker (phew, what a name!) is a high quality machine from a fantastic company.

You can be sure of delicious and perfect loaves (just remember to follow the recipes) and an easy-to-use interface.

Having said that, we feel that it’s pretty pricey for what it is. For just a little more money, you can get the Zojirushi BB-PAC20 Breadmaker which is one of the best machines on the market right now. Just our two cents.

Where to Buy the Zojirushi BB-CEC20 Breadmaker

Thanks to that Zojirushi name and reputation, you can find the BB-CEC20 Home Bakery Supreme in a huge number of stores — both in person and online.

Check out these retailers for starters:

• Zojirushi
• New Egg
• Rakuten

And, of course, it’s available on Amazon.

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