ZojirushiBB-HAC10 Home Bakery 1-Pound-Loaf Programmable Mini Breadmaker, White

I need a maker with a small footprint due to space constraints. Initially, I purchased the Cuisinart compact model. Pros to that model is it can make a 1, 1.5 and 2 lb loaf while still a small footprint. Nice! It made decent bread. The price was much nicer. However, the dough cycle browned the dough. Given that was a mode I would frequently use instead of replacing that model, I selected the Zoji.The footprint is similar on the Zojirushi, however, the Zoji is limited to only a 1 lb loaf. The size of the pan seems dinky. However, it is just for my husband and I so enough bread for 2 days and less being tossed due to staling. Since it is so small, even small missteps in measuring ingredients can impair the final result, so weigh those ingredients.This unit has a handle so between it being light weight and the handle it is super easy to store in a cupboard and pull out when in use. Huge advantage. Recipe book has more than enough options to get your started and their website offers recipes optimized for the unit as well. The different modes are plentiful enough. I do wish it had an automatic option for adding in ingredients such as nuts or chips, but not a deal breaker. Good quality pan and housing. Super easy to clean. I suspect after a year or two of regular use the coating will wear off the pan, but that would be true with any model.The price. UGH. I purchased this exact model for my sister 2-3 years ago for a gift. It was $100 or so on sale. Flash forward to this purchase and I paid $172 for a "nearly new" model. At the end of the day though, look at it like a math problem. 1 loaf of my husband's favorite bread (Daves) runs $7 or so, and we toss nearly a third regularly because he can't get through it fast enough. I can make the same amount for $2 and in 2 different loaves so there is no waste. I am estimating between my bread choice and his we will average $5 a week savings so in less than 10 months this device will pay for itself. If you are an artisan bread buyer you will save a lot that way too. If you need a special diet such as my sister (salt free), gluten free) then you will really use the heck out of the machine.Overall, you can spend 5 minutes or less in the morning loading ingredients. Then you come home to fresh baked bread. If you end up not loving the vertical loaf shape it is easy enough to reshape and bake in the oven. It makes it super fast and easy to make bread, rolls, buns, pasta, cookie dough, etc. I have never made jam in the maker, but that is also an option. Happy with the purchase and hope to get years of use out of it.

This is my fourth bread machine in the past 15-20 years. I started out using the original Zojirushi, which was a great machine (but eventually died after many years of loyal service). More recently, I had been using a full-size Zojirushi BBCCX20 and a Breadman Ultimate. I still use both the Breadman and the Zojirushi BBCCX20 for specific purposes (I bake a lot of bread), but the Zo Mini is the only machine that stays permanently on my counter now. It has become, by far and away, my favorite bread machine.For starters, I should explain why I still use the Breadman and the full-size Zo:o The Breadman (which seems to be sold under a variety of private labels these days) is the most flexible machine on the market in terms of the range of cycles and the ability to adjust the cycle timing. I especially like the Pause button for breads that refuse to proof as quickly as expected. The motor is weak, though, and the machine is very noisy.o The full-size Zo has a great motor. It's the only option for making 2-pound loaves of whole-wheat bread. It also has the ability to program custom cycles (but no Pause button once a cycle is under way). On the downside, it has a very annoying beep to signal when it's time to add fruit/nuts -- the beep goes for a very long time and can't be silenced, which is a problem if you use the machine on a delay setting to bake bread overnight. Like the Breadman, it also takes up quite a bit of counter space.Now, on to the Zojirushi Mini:+ The Zo mini produces the perfect size loaf for every day. The larger machines are great for producing 1.5 to 2 pound loaves, which are the right size for a big gathering. But a loaf of that size is too big for everyday meals. And, because home-made bread has no preservatives, I routinely find myself having to throw out half the loaf from the full-size machines after a couple of days. The Zo Mini, on the other hand, produces a loaf that's perfect for everyday use -- we generally eat half the loaf as soon as it comes out of the machine, then finish off the loaf the next day before it goes stale.+ The Zo mini takes up less than half the counter space of the full-size loaf machines. It's so small that I can leave it out all the time, which makes it really easy to bake a loaf of bread on a whim.+ The Zo mini seems to live up to the Zojirushi reputation in terms of motor power. I've had no trouble with very stiff whole-wheat doughs.+ The Zo mini is incredibly quiet. The difference between the Zo and my Breadman in terms of noise is amazing. This is especially important if you like to use the machine on a delay setting overnight so that you can wake up to fresh bread.On the downside:- The Zo mini does not have the same options as the full-size Zo to create customized baking cycles, and it still doesn't have a Pause button (why hasn't Zojirushi figured this out by now?).- The beeper that indicates when to add fruit/nuts still can't be turned off. On the positive side, though, the beeper only beeps about five times on the mini, which is a huge improvement over the 15-beep cycle on the full-size Zo (which always kept me from using the full-size Zo overnight).In a nutshell: The Zojirushi Mini is the closest thing I've found to the perfect bread machine. It's compact and simple, with a powerful motor, and it produces the ideal size loaf (i.e., one that you can finish before it goes stale). Although I continue to use my bigger machines for holidays, the Zo Mini is now the only bread machine we use on a regular basis. It's a great addition to the kitchen if you enjoy fresh bread.