Zojirushi Home Bakery Virtuoso Plus Breadmaker Review

This post is all about my Zojirushi Home Bakery Virtuoso Plus Breadmaker Review!

There is nothing like the smell of warm, buttery-soft, fresh bread wafting through your home. However, whether you work outside of the home or are raising little ones within it, prioritizing homemade bread may not be realistic for your season.

A bread maker is an excellent way to have fresh bread with ingredients that you know without spending hours in the kitchen! Just put the ingredients in, press a button, and go! I recently got a bread maker and it has made it possible for us to replace store-bought bread with minimal effort on my part!

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Table of Contents

Why I Wanted a Bread Maker

Each year, I make goals for our urban homestead. By focusing in on 3-5 goals for the year, I am able to pick up and get pretty good at those new skills instead of trying everything at once!

One of my goals this year was to start baking a lot of our bread products from scratch at home. I started off with sourdough, homemade pasta, and tortillas. However, once I got pregnant, the thought of spending hours in the kitchen was nauseating and overwhelming to me!

We buy bread weekly in our home–especially for sandwiches. I absolutely love sourdough bread for paninis; however, the effort and time sourdough takes was beyond my capacity for this current season.

One of my friends mentioned that she makes almost all of her bread in a bread maker… including sourdough! She said it just took her a few minutes and very little effort! I was more than intrigued.

So, I started researching bread makers. I researched, and researched, and researched. I read more articles and reviews about bread makers than I care to share, but it helped me make a decision that I have zero regrets about!

Bread Maker Benefits

There are a lot of benefits to buying a bread maker. For one, you have more control over the ingredients in your bread. Store bought bread–even organic ones–often have lots of ingredients and additives to make them last longer on the shelf.

Another benefit is that you can have homemade bread with very little time and effort on your part. Just put the ingredients in, press a button, and you’ll have a hot, fresh loaf a few hours later! No need to worry about kneading and rise times.

Furthermore, many bread makers have a lot of custom settings so that you can bake white bread, wheat bread, sourdough, or gluten free. The one I got even has settings for cake and jam!

Gluten free bread can be tricky to make, and it is often expensive to buy. If you are gluten free, a bread maker that is qualified for making gluten free bread can help you save money in the long run!

zojirushi home bakery virtuoso plus breadmaker reviews

Bread Maker Limitations

Although bread makers are incredible, they do have some limitations. For example, you will have limitations with the shape of your loaves. You can remove it after the rise, reshape it, and bake it in the oven. But, if you’re hoping for long loaves or round loaves, it will require some extra work!

Bread makers can also be expensive. While they can save you time and money in the long run, they will cost more than simply making bread in a simple loaf pan in the oven.

Which Bread Maker I Got: Zojirushi Home Bakery Virtuoso Plus Breadmaker Review

As I mentioned above, I decided to purchase the Zojirushi Home Bakery Virtuoso Breadmaker after extensive research and consideration.

This machine is not cheap. I paid $390 for my Zojirushi, not including tax. I tried to get a less expensive one by purchasing through Amazon’s open box program.

However, while I received the correct box, it had the wrong bread machine inside. I returned it and decided to order a new one instead of risking receiving the wrong item again.

Pros: Zojirushi Home Bakery Virtuoso Plus Breadmaker Review

Through my research, I learned that the Zojirushi Virtuoso is the top-of-the-line breadmaker for home baking. I even read some reviews that said they have used their older Zojirushi models for over 15 years with no problems!

The main difference between the newer Zojirushi Virtuoso and older Zojirushi Supreme is that the newer model has a heater on both the top and bottom of the breadmaker. This ensures even baking across the entire loaf!

Several reviews I read stated that they get a perfect loaf with their Zojirushi Virtuoso every time as opposed to inconsistent loaves. My experience using it so far has been perfect loaves every time when I use the included Zojirushi recipes.

This breadmaker also makes 2 lb. loaves, which is double the size of most bread makers. The loaves are also horizontal as opposed to vertical and resemble traditional loaves in appearance.

The Zojirushi has a 13 hour delay timer so that you can have hot bread in the morning or in the evening after a day at work or out of the house! This is perfect for moms who are on the go and don’t have time to stick around the kitchen for each rise!

Additionally, the Zojirushi has 15 different settings to help you make different types of bread with the click of a button! Because I occasionally mill my own flour with my Nutrimill, I wanted a bread machine that could handle this type of flour. I also love that it has a few different quick settings for when you need bread but are on a time crunch!

Settings: Zojirushi Home Bakery Virtuoso Plus Breadmaker Review

Here are the 15 settings on the Zojirushi Virtuoso Plus Bread Maker:

White
Whole Wheat
European
Multigrain
Gluten Free
Salt Free
Sugar Free
Vegan
Rapid White
Rapid Whole Wheat
Dough
Sourdough Starter
Cake
Jam
Homemade (3 memory options for your own recipes!)

Cons: Zojirushi Home Bakery Virtuoso Plus Breadmaker Review

After making multiple loaves in my Zojirushi there are very few cons that I have found! However, here are a few to consider:

Price: The Zojirushi is much more expensive than a lot of bread makers. I saved up and carefully considered this purchase. I wanted something that was reliable and would last for years, but the price is definitely something to consider if you’re on a budget.

Size: Because the Zojirushi Virtuoso bakes 2 lb. horizontal loaves, it is quite a large machine. However, it still fits comfortably in my small kitchen and is worth it due to the delicious bread it makes!

Parts: The Zojirushi has removable paddles which make for easy cleaning but I often forget to put them back in when making a new loaf! It is nice, however, that you can easily remove them after a rise prior to making to have smaller holes in the bottom of your loaf!

Included Accessories: Zojirushi Home Bakery Virtuoso Plus Breadmaker Review

The Zojirushi Virtuoso Plus Breadmaker comes with a few accessories to make baking bread even simpler!

It comes with a liquid measuring cup that has the levels that you will regularly use marked. It also comes with an easy-to-use measuring cup and tablespoon/teaspoon.

My favorite accessory that came with my Zojirushi Breadmaker is the included recipe book. I tried a recipe that I found online first, and it didn’t turn out very well. I did some research and learned that it is best to start with the recipes that have been tried over and over again for this specific bread machine.

My second loaf was the basic white bread recipe and it turned out phenomenal! It was easy to make, just took a few ingredients, had a perfect crust, and a soft interior! I have use this recipe over and over again, and my whole family loves it.

Recommended Ingredients to Buy for Your Bread Maker

The ingredients you need will depend on which Zojirushi recipes you decide to try, but here are some basic ones to get you started!

Bread Flour (this one is my favorite!)
Dry Milk
Honey
Sugar
Instant Yeast
Baking Salt
Vital Wheat Gluten
Whole Wheat Flour

Other Supplies You May Need to Go with Your Zojirushi Breadmaker

If you’re going to be baking bread at home a lot, you’ll probably need a few more accessories! Here are my recommendations:

Using Home-Milled Flour with Your Bread Maker

As I mentioned above, one of the reasons I went with the Zojirushi is because a lot of experienced bakers said they have found a way to use it with home-milled flour thanks to the Homemade setting.

I tried this recipe from Grains & Grit. While it tasted good, it didn’t rise and was pretty dense. I think this was partially due to old yeast plus differences in our climate. I’m going to keep trying and will update you when I find a recipe that works for me!

If you want to learn more about home-milled flour and all of the health benefits, read this post!

I use the Nutrimill Harvest Grain Mill to mill my wheat berries from Azure Standard.

Other Bread Maker Models I Considered

Yes, I decided to go with the top-of-the-line model for the reasons listed above; however, it was a really tough decision. Spending nearly 400 dollars on a bread maker is a huge investment. While I don’t regret my decision, I did thoroughly consider the models listed below due to their excellent reviews.

Cuisinart Bread Maker – Current Price $119

I narrowed it down to the Cuisinart Bread Maker and my Zojirushi Virtuoso. The pros of this machine are that it also bakes 2 lb. loaves, although they are vertical and look less like a traditional loaf.

This bread maker had excellent reviews and was significantly cheaper than the Zojirushi. It had less settings and I wasn’t sure if it would be able to handle home-milled flour, so I ultimately decided on the Zojirushi. However, from my research, this is an excellent model that is much less expensive!

Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme – Current Price $319

This is the older Zojirushi model. It had excellent reviews too, but it doesn’t have as many settings or the top heater. I decided to invest a little more for the newer model, but if you are wanting to save and still get a Zojirushi–the Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme is the way to go!

Zojirushi also offers another less expensive bread makers that make 1 lb. loaves. Find it here.

Amazon Basics Bread Maker – Current Price $73

I didn’t research this machine extensively, but it had good reviews especially for the price. Lisa from Farmhouse on Boone has used this machine and had good things to say about it! If you want to make most of your bread by hand but are in a time crunch occasionally, this could be a good option for you!