Are you wondering which bread maker wins out in the battle of Zojirushi vs Breville? Read on…
If you’re passionate about home baking, you’ll know that a bread maker is an invaluable piece of kit for your kitchen.
However not all bread makers are made equal, so we’ve put two leading brands to the test in order to discover who has the best bread maker — Zojirushi or Breville?
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Best Zojirushi Bread Makers
Zojirushi BB-PAC20 Home Bakery Virtuoso
Bake bread like a boss with the foolproof Zojirushi BB-PAC20 Home Bakery Virtuoso.
Equipped with 2 powerful blades to pummel even the densest dough to perfection, this bread maker has a 2lb capacity ideal for most families and bakes traditional rectangular shaped loaves.
The non stick surface and double handles of the baking pan makes it easy to flip out freshly baked loaves, and a breeze to clean.
Watch your loaves rise through the large viewing window in the lid of the machine, which also contains a clever heating element to ensure that your bread gets browned just the way you like it — dark, light, or medium.
Choose between a wide variety of pre-programmed settings to bake everything from artisan breads, basic white loaves, whole wheat and rye, cakes and jams, pizza and pretzel doughs, cinnamon rolls – even meat loaf.
A power back up feature makes sure baking programs aren’t interrupted in the event of a power outage provided it lasts no more than 6 minutes.
Want to wake up to the delicious scent of baking bread? Simply pop in your ingredients the night before and set the timer.
An excellent recipe book and user manual are also included, along with a measuring spoon and cup.
Pros
- Clear and easy to use LCD control panel
- Handy timer
- Wide range of recipes
- Can bake gluten free bread
- Simple to use even for beginner bakers
- Durable, quality machine
- Great for bakers who want to experiment and create new recipes
- Produces very little noise
- Makes delicious tasting bread
- Clever heating element ensures even browning
Cons
- No choice of loaf size
- Takes up a lot of room on the counter
Zojirushi BB-PDC20BA Home Bakery Virtuoso Plus
The Zojirushi BB-PDC20BA Home Bakery Virtuoso Plus is very similar to its little brother, the aforementioned Home Bakery Virtuoso.
It features the same 2 lb, 9 x 5 inch loaf capacity, 13 hour delay timer, crust color selection, 2 powerful kneading blades beefy enough to handle any type of dough, and heated lid with handy large viewing window to ensure an even result every time.
So what’s different about the Zojirushi Virtuoso Plus?
Well, it has unique programs for baking bread for special diets such as sugar free, gluten free, and vegan, which can normally be tricky to get good results.
It also boasts a rapid cycle which dramatically cuts down baking time for a basic white or whole wheat loaf to less than 2 and a half hours for when you need your loaf in a hurry.
It also allows you to create and store up to 3 customized baking programs, which can be activated whenever you need with the touch of a button on the convenient LCD display control panel.
With this bread maker’s 15 settings you can also bake a range of different doughs including pizza and pasta dough, jam and cakes, and European recipes.
Pros
- Non stick coating makes clean up easy
- Straightforward to use
- Wide range of baking programs
- Handy loaf size for families
- Can store custom recipes
- Convenient delay timer
- Lid and base heating elements bake evenly
- 10 minute interruption memory in case of a break in power supply
- Detailed instructions and recipe book
- Versatile
Cons
- LCD display is not backlit so may be hard to see in certain lighting conditions
- No automatic dispenser for things like fruit, nuts, and yeast
Zojirushi BB CEC20 Home Bakery Supreme
The most affordable of the 3 Zojirushi bread makers on our list, the Home Bakery Supreme is nevertheless packed with many of the same great features for a slightly lower price.
This bread maker produces 2 lb rectangular loaves and can handle even tough doughs thanks to its sturdy dual kneading blades.
Both the blades and the 9 inch long baking pan are non stick, which eliminates the hassle when it comes to cleaning. Keep an eye on rising and baking without lifting the lid thanks to the large viewing window. The lid also doubles up as a heating element to enable you to get just the right level of browning you want on your crust, with dark, medium, and light settings.
The game changing 13 hour delay timer means that you can wake up in the morning or get home from work to a freshly baked loaf all ready to eat.
With 10 baking settings the Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme is a little less versatile than the other Zojirushi bread makers on this list, but its still possible to bake a great range of products including whole wheat loaves, meatloaf, cake, doughs, jam, rapid loaves, and more — as well as 3 customizable settings.
There’s an automatic shut off feature too, for additional safety and peace of mind.
Pros
- Suitable loaf size for big families or for freezing and storing ahead
- Great for both beginner and experienced bakers
- Bakes evenly
- Handy automatic shut down feature saves energy and adds safety
- Easy to clean
- Includes customizable settings
- Straightforward user guide and recipe book
- Convenient delay timer
- Mixes and bakes evenly and consistently
Cons
- It’s big and takes up a large space on the counter
- No gluten free setting
- Beep alerts are loud, which for some people is a negative
Best Breville Breadmaker
Breville BBM800XL Custom Loaf
If you’re looking for a bread maker with all the bells and whistles — look no further.
The Breville BBM800XL Custom Loaf is suitable for singles, couples, or large families thanks to its choice of 4 different loaf sizes, from handy 1 lb loaves to whopping 2.5 lb loaves. And no matter which loaf size you choose, the quality of the finished product remains constantly high, with even shape and crust color, for which you can decide between light, medium, and dark to suit your individual taste.
The non stick baking pan is fitted with a clever collapsible kneading blade that mixes ingredients to perfection before folding down out of the way as soon as the baking process beings, which means no holes in your loaf and no struggling to ease finished loaves out of the pan.
There are 13 different settings on the Breville Custom loaf, which include whole wheat, gluten free, yeast free, jam, dough, pizza, pasta, sweet, and rapid loaf.
There are also 9 customizable memory slots for you to create and save your own recipe settings with ease, so you can get really creative with your baking.
If a recipe requires you to add extra ingredients such as fruit or nuts, there’s no need to stop what you’re doing and manually add them. Instead, the fantastic automatic dispenser adds and mixes in the extra ingredients for you without you having to lift a finger.
Everything can be effortlessly controlled using the large, clear LCD display with selection dial and intuitive user interface.
If at any time you want to see how your bake is progressing there’s no need to lift the lid and interrupt cooking — just take a peek through the large viewing window with practical interior light to get a good view.
Prepare your ingredients and set the delay timer for up to 13 hours to wake up to a perfectly baked loaf fresh from the machine.
Pros
- Bakes wonderfully tasty bread
- Loads of excellent features
- Choice of 4 loaf sizes
- Versatile baking programs
- Super simple and easy to read LCD display
- Experienced bakers love the 9 customizable settings
- Clean up is easy
- Automatic fruit and nut dispenser is a game changer
- Baking start time can be delayed
- 1 hour of backup power will save your bake in the event of a power outage
- Attractive design
- Beep alerts can be muted if too annoying
Cons
- Collapsible kneading paddle can sometimes leave a hole in your loaf
- Some people find this bread maker a little noisy
Breville vs Zojirushi: Who Makes The Best Bread Maker?
Japanese brand Zojirushi have been around for more than 100 years, and they really know their stuff.
Of the 3 Zojirushi bread makers featured on our list, our favorite is the Zojirushi BB-PDC20BA Home Bakery Virtuoso Plus.
It’s a durable, top quality machine which has got everything you need in a bread maker, including settings for special diets such as gluten free, vegan and sugar free.
But how does it compare to the best of the Brevilles — the Breville BBM800XL Custom Loaf?
They are both fantastic bread making machines worthy of a place in any kitchen, but in our opinion the Breville Custom loaf just pips the Zojirushi to the post thanks to the addition of the automatic dispenser, the top notch LCD screen, and the amount of customizable settings and choice of loaf sizes.
Which breadmaker do you think wins in the battle of Zojirushi vs Breville?