The Zojirushi Breadmaker produces a mammoth size loaf of delicious bread. To maximize every last crumb I have a routine. First the loaf must be completely cool. Turn the bread on its side and thickly slice off the entire bottom of the loaf. This eliminates the "paddle holes" which might make a sandwich leak a bit. Cut that slice in cubes to make croutons. Leave them out for a day to dry. Then put them in a big bowl and spray with extra virgin olive oil. Add salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Toss well and spread on a baking sheet. Toast lightly in a 300 degree oven, being careful to watch for the best browning because it happens quickly. For the remaining loaf, leave it upright on a cutting board so that the crustless part is now on the bottom and protected from drying excessively. I always keep the bread knife on the board with the bread as well as a stick of butter with spreader. That way everyone can cut slices as desired. This will naturally promote eventual drying of the loaf especially if you don't cover it with a tea towel (which I never do). At the point where fresh slices are not as tasty, it's time to toast the slices. Cut them very thick and make "toad in the hole" for breakfast: butter the slices, then cut out a circle from the center. Melt more butter in a non-stick pan and when it's bubbly, lay the unbuttered side of the slice down in the pan. Flip when golden brown on the bottom. Crack an egg in the hole and continue to cook until yolk is set the way you like. Flip the whole thing again for a very brief cooking of the surface of the egg. I also slice the remaining bread for French Toast which is always better with a dry slice that will soak up the custard. Cube that bread and make bread pudding (YUM!) since this recipe is simply French Toast cooked in the oven. For a fruit flavor, add hot water to a cup of craisins or raisins. When plumped up, drain the water and fold the fruit into the cubed eggy bread. Put it all in a buttered Bundt pan and put that pan in a casserole dish full of hot water. Slide it in carefully and bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. If the loaf is absolutely too dry to cut in slices/cubes, it's time to make bread crumbs in the food processor. This is great to make breaded chicken tenders or meatloaf with bread as the binder. Have fun with your bread maker!
Such wonderful recommendations! thank you! My PAC 20 just turned ten years old and still works perfectly. Bummer the model was discontinued but their model now is just as good from what I hear. Happy baking!
@@skykitchen867 That's awesome to know that your PAC 20 has been going strong for a whole decade. It's a testament to Zojirushi's quality. Even though they've discontinued that model, it's great to know that the newer one is holding up just as well. Here's to many more years of happy baking with your Zojirushi.
I am an experienced chef, and I just got my Virtuoso today! Thank you for providing the first video tutorial I’ve seen about my new bread maker. I feel much less intimidated by this remarkable bread maker now, and your video helped me. You have a wonderful demeanor for instructional videos because you are calm, clear, bright, and funny. I have subscribed and am looking forward to more interesting content. Thank you, new bread friend. 🍞💛🙏🥐
I love my Zojirushi Virtuoso machine. One thought/tip: to release the pan from the machine, grab both handles and pull towards you/the front of the machine. It releases much easier than pulling straight up!
@@alldayieatlikeashark We make bread to slice for sandwiches, but also make dough for rolls (Herbed Dinner Rolls - Taste of Home) or pizza dough. Definitely going to try the beer recipe for pizza dough!
I've been obsessed over bread maker reviews over the past week and stumbled across your video. I think I'm going to pull the trigger on this particular model but I really appreciate the depth of your coverage. It was really informational! Thank you!
Any Zojirushi product is the best in the industry. I have used one of the best rice cookers and absolutely love it. Quality all over. The best user manual of any gadget I have owned. Smart Japanese !
Hey thank you for this video. I got my Virtuoso this morning and I made my first loaf this afternoon and it was lopsided. I was totally stumped on what I did wrong, or was worried it wasn’t working right, I stumbled on your video and it never occurred to me about aligning the paddles. Thank you very very much, am going to attempt my first timer for bread ready in the morning, can’t wait. Fresh bread and fresh cup of coffee. Heaven!
Hello Yvonne! Glad the tip helped! I also experienced the same but only discovered it after my second loaf! The paddles are the key! Yes, the fresh bread and coffee in the morning is
You can turn the beeps off if it bothers you. I add the extra ingredients (sesame seeds, raisins, etc.) at the beginning and it still works fine. Thanks!
Great tips! Turning off the beeps is a game changer, especially for some peaceful baking vibes. And adding extra goodies from the get-go sounds like a delicious twist! Thanks for sharing your insights.
You can pull paddles our before bread bakes. There is a notification for you to remove to prevent the holes in bottom of bread. Zojirushi listens to consumers.
I learned how to make whole wheat bread from my next door neighbor when I was about 14 years old. She would make around 15 loaves of bread in one shot using the Hi-C juice cans to bake them in. Then freeze them. I found it to be therapeutic and away to connect with my neighbor who was raising all boys.... You get the picture. 😊
FYI: If you ever want to sell your house/apartment, and real estate has told you when they're bringing someone through for a viewing, get your bread maker going so there is an aroma of fresh baked bread happening (or just finished, so the aroma is still present). Works even better if your kitchen is a selling point; but will definitely get your house sold faster - (but if someone is coming back for a second viewing, don't use this trick again. Find some strawberry scented incense or oils, and diffuse that around instead; be subtle).
I bought mine a month ago. It is one of life’s simple pleasures, and so satisfying to make food and really know what’s gone into it. And far easier than I’d imagined-especially if you bake by weight (put the bin on the scale, tare, add the first ingredient, tare again, etc etc. it’s far easier and less messy than having measuring cups, levelling them off, the excess spills somewhere, etc-all of which is very simple and yet produces just a bit of a mess each time.
There's something incredibly satisfying about baking your own bread and knowing exactly what's in it. And using a scale for measuring ingredients? Total game changer! It's cleaner, quicker, and just makes the whole process smoother. Here's to many more delicious homemade loaves with your Zojirushi!
We love our Virtuoso and have been on a spree because we bought 4 drums of wheat berries at 40 lbs each so we bake at least 2 loaves per day. I really appreciate the tip about lining up the blades so the loaves don't come out lopsided. We had no recourse to that. Thanks so much!
Wow, baking 2 loaves per day sounds like an amazing bread-making spree! 🍞🍞 I'm so glad you found the tip about lining up the blades helpful. It can make a big difference in the final result. Happy baking, and enjoy your delicious homemade bread! If you have any more tips or questions, feel free to share.
From Québec: Thanks a lot for the blade info. By the way, I do put the basket on my scale and add the ingredients, saves a lot of washing. Does not cost a lot more for a bigger scale, by big I mean a little more than the one you have. Sometimes my pots are heavier than the maximum yours can take. Thanks again.......... very useful tip.
That’s what I do. And it’s actually faster and far easier than measuring by volume. I just add the first ingredient to the proper weight, then press “tare”, add the second ingredient to the desired weight, press tare again, and so on. It’s far faster than using measuring cups and levelling each cup off as you go.
I have had a Breadman that I have been using for 16 years. I love it. It has a PAUSE button that I use to remove the paddle, before baking, so I don't have the paddle gashes on my loaves. It also makes 3 different sized loaves. I bought a Zojirushi on a super sale and used it once. I wasn't impressed and put it in the closet for a few years. I was thinking of selling it, so I took it out a few days ago and tried it. I noticed that it makes only a 2 lb. loaf, although some recipes in the book were for 1 1/2 lb. loaves. I also didn't find a PAUSE button for removing the paddles. Since it has 2 paddles, I really wanted to remove them. I figured out the timing and removed the paddles. But the next day I decided to let the machine run itself without interference. I hated it-the loaf was so lopsided! But you explained about the paddles needing to face the same way and now I'm going to unpack the ZO machine and try it again. When I put the paddles in, I noticed that they were not facing the right way. Thank you SO much for your explanation. I will try the machine again soon.
So excited! I just got my bread maker and was nervous by all the buttons and parts at first. But I'm confident my first loaf will come out great following this video. :D
This is my second time watching your video. I purchased my machine over a month ago after watching the first time. Today I’m going to try using it for the first time. Thanks for all of the great tips!❤
all day i eat like a shark incredibly great, lots of fun. We were lucky to get 65% off the unit. Haven’t try all the recipes yet. Again you were most helpful, out of all the ppl on YT you were the best.
I just purchased a "Zo" bread machine in a thrift store ($3 ...what a deal!) and there was no instruction booklet. I looked up the recipes and made the cinnamon raisin bread. After the second rise I removed the dough and the paddles and put the dough back to bake so there were only two small holes in the bottom.
Just me at home but I want my bread to keep and taste fresh.......You will need a bread slicing form. I like the bamboo kind. Let your bread cool then slide the loaf onto the bread slicing form. Next slice the whole loaf into thicknesses you want with a serrated knife is best. Serrated keeps from smashing and collapsing bread. You use a gentle “sawing” back and forth motion. When you are finished carefully put sliced bread into plastic bag. Don’t push down on the bread but get as much air out as possible then twist tie bag and store in freezer. The bread stays fresh to the last piece. Once in a while 2 pieces will stick together and I just use a table knife to just to get them separated. I have done this for years and works great. Love this channel just found it!
Hi Eagle Watch! Thanks for sharing your experience and some tips when making your own bread at home. Yes, I agree on the the tips on cutting the bread too! Do you also have the Zojirushi Home Bakery Virtuoso model at home?
Hi again, I started checking out your RU-vid channel and enjoyed learning of your diversity’s. Found your cookbooks on Amazon will be getting those for sure! I am replacing my bread machine and have my heart set on the Zojirushi Virtuoso Plus. I have searched all over and they are always sold out or on back order or for a very elevated price. Someone will get them in stock eventually. Bread makers are very big now since the pandemic has brought out the “cook” in many of us! Lol Do you know if the machine is made in China or Japan? I seem to have seen somewhere to have read “get the Japanese one.” I am going to enjoy your channel as I just found you today!
This was a great presentation... not too tedious yet totally engaging to watch and learn from. Have you ever made "Japanese Milk Bread" ("Hokkaido") in this bread machine? I have eaten it -- great and definitely different from American bread... in a good way! I know the final shaping is different, so it might have to be made using the "dough" cycle and then baked in a conventional oven. Thanks.
Great review. Covered a ton of info I wanted to know in comparison to another make model..... Where the Zoji has heating elements on top, the other make model I am looking at has collapsible paddles. Liked, subscribed..... cheers on the beer dough :)
I hope you're doing well, you have a very good narrating voice. I want to get a bread maker someday, but hopefully a more affordable one. I'm not sure how much bread I'd like to make. I mostly like to make rice.
Thank you for your compliments! There are many alternatives in the market nowadays. Or use an oven which can be used to bake other things, not just bread. I got this bread maker because I wanted to invest on something I use almost daily. You can start with buying a bread and see how many days will it take you to consume one and that is how you can tell how many bread you can make in a week :)
I use a scale as well since I no longer have the manual of plastic measuring devices after several moves.😒 I put the removable bread pan onto the scale , zero it out and weigh each ingredient directly in pan 😊 Instant baker 👩🍳
If you were using volume measurements on another machine, and happy with the results with the inherent weight variations with that technique, it is unlikely your results would be significantly different with the Zojirushi machine. I.E., you'd be happy doing it that way. Measuring by weight provides a significantly more accurate (and more importantly, consistent) measure of the ingredients but many find the variation in volume baking acceptable. This would apply to any machine. So this should be no deal breaker for you, since you've a successful volume measure baker anyway. 🙂
@@alldayieatlikeashark Still considering it. Besides the bread, it got me on the pizza dough :D And the possibility of using recipes sugar-free or gluten-free
8:32 Not sure if you were talking about straw brushes or not when you said said squeegee. But that's what I plan on buying. I'll have to pick up some cooking spray as well. Thanks for the tips!
Four to five people for three days - LOL - doubt it will last one day in my house - and it's just me!!!! I will try it this weekend. The German beer you might be thinking of is stout - or possibly porter. Great video - thank you!
Really good! I’ve made 2 loaves - got creative on the 2nd loaf with a whole wheat and adding herbs - turned out great! Thanks for the demo so I had more confidence!
It’s all good. I didn’t realize that it had to “rest” before it got going. I’ve made three loaves so far with last being raisin and all are to perfection! 👊
@@alldayieatlikeashark Yes, I think the next item will be pizza dough. My son wants a loaf of wheat bread as well so we are going to venture out. It really is pretty flawless if you follow the directions.
all day i eat like a shark I bake a variety of breads and rolls, including Artisan sourdough breads, manually. I use the ABM for enriched breads & rolls, like white Sandwich bread, pizza dough and dinner rolls. You have great videos, very thorough! Rob
all day i eat like a shark For sourdough, l learned various sources: Bread books, FB Groups, and RU-vid. The most common method that many copy is Tartine by Chad Robertson. But I started with Jim Lahey’s no Knead for years, them progressed to sourdough, but still go back to no Knead yeast. Have you tried no knead breads yet?
I discovered after a year of using the recipe on the side of the bread machine that it's different from the recipe on the Z recipe site. 544 grams of bread flour instead on 553 grams (on the side of machine). Doesn't seem like much of a difference but it seemed to make a smaller loaf of bread. I weigh all ingredients but I think the grams are off. I'm going to rework the cups to grams because it's too much of a difference on some of the ingredients. Hope this was helpful. I love my Z too.
Would love to see a close to authentic milk bread tutorial with this machine I’ve seen where the bread is rolled into three parts and stuffed side by side in a loaf pan with a lid when making traditionally without a machine. But how would one w a machine?
I always freeze my bread. After it's cold we slice it wrap each slice in aluminum foil, and then put them in a freezer bag. The slices are so large in this 2 pound machine we only need one slice for a sandwich or for a piece of toast in the morning .
Have you used this for true sour dough, without commercial yeast? I would appreciate any tips you have for doing so, particularly if you have suggestions for programming a home baking course.
I have tried many recipes and ended up with this one: put the basket on your scale (I can change from pound to grams to millimeters) and add: 256 ml of 3.25 or 2% milk, 24 gr of unsalted butter, 7 gr of salt, 20 gr of honey, 400 gr of bread flour and 8 gr of instant yeast, in that order. Let me know what you think if you have the courage to try a Québec twisted recipe. I am the very proud owner of two of these machines. I have had (note sure of the verb tense, being a francophone) those for 6 years. By the way if you do not know what to do with the leftover bread: get a dog.
Yay, mission accomplished! 😄 So glad I could convince you! Get ready for some amazing homemade bread adventures with your Zojirushi Home Bakery Virtuoso.
@@rdavid6981 I once read about removing paddles before baking and have been doing that for several years. My Breadman machine has a PAUSE button and I pause the machine after the punch down and before the second rise. It has revolutionized my machine made breads! Unfortunately, my Zojirushi machine has no PAUSE button, so I just had to figure out the time, set an alarm, and take out the dough to remove the paddles. Then I returned the dough to the machine and it baked. You can remove paddles when they are no longer needed in the cycle.
Great review! Just got this machine for Christmas! I’ll be using it along with a grain mill. Have you used a grain mill in tandem with the bread machine? If so, any recipes/tips for altering recipes?
all day i eat like a shark I got a NutriMill Plus grain mill. I really like it! We have many allergies in our house and finding good healthy bread that all of us can have is difficult. So I’ve slowly been adding these appliances so I can easily make my own. I’ll definitely try their recipes to start. Thank you for replying!
Great review, great tip about the paddles! First loaf came out perfect. I didn't mind the paddles either, My previous bread makers had huge holes, these are not bad at all. I couldn't find the recipe with the beer?
Thanks for the awesome feedback! So glad your first loaf turned out perfectly. 😄 Those paddles can be a bit of a concern, but it's great to hear they didn't cause any issues for you.
Hi, Rachel! Thank you for the interest. You may want to check out my blog post about this - www.alldayieat.com/blog/zojirushi-home-bakery-virtuoso-review-7-tips-for-homemade-bread-bb-pac20/ i believe you can also see some recipes on Zojirushi website.
all day i eat like a shark No, not really... I’ve used the Breadman and I still have it. I just ordered the machine your video two days ago. I had the question about when to add the tangzhong starter, i.e., with the wet or dry ingredients? Thx much!
Pat, I am pretty new to Portland myself. If you have occasion to get up that way, I'd be pleased to explore the food scene with you. The food trucks are especially fun ways to sample cuisines at a very reasonable cost while meeting great local folks.
@@undrwrprty You sound like a foodie like my husband and I are. We're a gay couple thinking about moving to Portland for the cooler weather. Do you recommend Portland for people who like to eat a variety of foods and entertainment? Thanks for any advice!
I've dabbled only a bit, but I've decided to make my own home-baked keto-friendly bread on a regular basis. I found the most amazing recipe for it that can be used in a breach machine. I bought a second hand Zojirushi the other day and I'm excited to begin using it. Your video was very helpful. :)
So Far, only Apple Pies! I have 20 apple trees and I get enough apples for a couple of pies each year. But I buy 6 large Honeycrisp apples for each pie sometimes more. They make a Fantastic apple pie. Sometimes they have too much juice, but after we cut the first slice we drain the juice My son is 15 in one day I may get 1 slice he polishes the rest off
Do you know how long the rest, kneading, rising, and baking cycles are? The books that came with my bread machine only indicated when it will beep to add extra ingredients. I have tried to contact the company on several occasions but to date they have not responded. Therefore, I really appreciate your assistance.
I’m confused about the sour dough bread. From what I understand, you make the sourdough starter first which takes 2.10 hrs. Then add additional ingredients for the light sour dough bread, but what is the baking time for that? It says course #1 for light sour dough bread, which means it could take another 3.25 hrs? Like for medium crust white bread? In that case total time for sour dough starter + light sour dough bread would be 5.35 hrs?
I am just one and read that Zojirushi is best but mostly rated on the larger models. What about the smaller ones? Are the smaller ones worth the premium as they seem to not have the top heater and other zo features that are supposed to make them special?
I am not very sure because I haven't tried them but I will definitely post a video/ review if I decide to get a smaller one. This version though is adequate for me.
I bought mine at a yard sale. She didn’t have the manual. So I don’t know what the time period is to pull the bread out and pull the paddles. Have looked on line found the instructions. Didn’t see a time when I could pull the dough and remove the paddles.
Hi Inga, I haven't tried it yet. But maybe next time I will make a video tutorial of how to make rye bread. How about you, which kind of bread do you like most? :)
