Zojirushi Virtuoso Plus Bread Maker review: An easy and hands-off way to make fresh bread and baked goods

The Zojirushi Home Bakery Virtuoso Plus Breadmaker has 14 settings to help you make dozens of baked goods. It's also simple to set up and use.

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I like to make my own bread, but when I'm particularly busy, I find that a machine is an excellent tool for getting the job done and it's more efficient. It still allows me to customize my loaves and I don't have to keep setting reminders to knead the dough, punch it down, put it in the oven, and bake. Now, the main fuel for the best toaster can be homemade bread.

The best bread machine I've ever come across is the Zojirushi Home Bakery Virtuoso Plus Breadmaker. The Osaka, Japan-based company with more than a century of history has really developed a reputation for high-quality kitchen appliances, earning a spot in our guide to the best bread machines and the best rice cookers. Here's why we love the Zojirushi Breadmaker and how it works.

Specs

The Zojirushi Virtuoso Plus is unique because it has two kneading blades instead of just one, resulting in an airier and more combined dough. There are also two heaters installed in the unit — one at the bottom of the main compartment and one in the lid — for even heating and baking. 

The large LCD display is easy to read, and there is a viewing window in the lid so you can track the progress of your loaf without taking off the lid and disrupting the rise or bake temperatures. 

Set-up process

First, you rinse out and dry the bread pan. Then, fill it with ingredients, plug in the Virtuoso Plus, and select the course depending on the recipe you're using. The directions are intuitive, and there are dozens of recipes that spell out exactly what to do with step-by-step directions. The whole process from the moment I opened the box until we had the ingredients for white bread in the machine took about 15 minutes, and most of that time was spent carefully measuring the ingredients.

We started with a simple white bread as a baseline test. After about 40 minutes of idling, it started kneading the mixture. I had always let my bread rest when I was baking it manually in the oven, but didn't assume I had to do the same with a machine too. Plan accordingly for a long rest period, which is meant to stabilize the temperature of the ingredients.

Once you set the course on the Virtuoso Plus, it will tell you precisely when your loaf will be ready. And when it's done, just remove the bread pan carefully by the handles using oven mitts.

What makes the bread machine stand out

There are 14 different courses to choose from, like gluten-free and sugar-free bread, and even other baked goods like cake. You can also create your own custom course, for which there are several recipes in the accompanying book. For instance, with the dough course, you can make doughnuts, butter rolls, breadsticks, bagels, and more.

Following the recipe book, I made basic white, rapid white, Italian herb, honey, chocolate, and light sourdough breads, as well as pizza dough and pound cake. The flavors for each were relatively subtle, but they all tasted great.

The 2-pound loaves produced by the Virtuoso Plus are quite large, and because you're slicing it by hand as opposed to a machine, the slices will usually be much larger than what you'd expect from a store-bought loaf too. I tried halving a recipe to make more reasonably-sized loaves, but the bread didn't come out as delicious and was a little too small.

I like that I never have trouble getting the bread to come out of the pan. Thanks to the nonstick coating, it slides right out after a couple of bumps on the countertop. The blades and pan are also easy to clean, though you'll want to scrub the blade shafts to get the last bits of bread off.

Cons to consider

On our first attempt making bread with the Virtuoso Plus, we learned the hard way that you need to be careful that you keep the yeast away from moisture — or at least remind your kids that.

We added the ingredients in order according to the recipe, but my kid was kind of making a game out of getting all of the ingredients wet, so this messed with the yeast and made for a dough-y bread in the end. The directions clearly say to be careful about getting the yeast wet, so if you're careful and your child doesn't play with his food, this shouldn't be a problem.

What are your alternatives?

In our guide to the best bread machines, the Virtuoso Plus came out on top. The main differences between the two units are that the Virtuoso Plus has four more courses – and thus can make more recipes – and all the recipe times are slightly shorter. For alternatives, I'd suggest:

• Oster Expressbake Bread Maker: Another inexpensive option, the Oster bread maker is versatile and user-friendly. However, there are several reports of the machine "walking" across countertops when kneading large loaves.
• Breville BBM800XL Custom Loaf Bread Maker: We think this is the best machine for making unique loaves. There's an automatic fruit and nut dispenser, 13 pre-programmed settings, and four loaf sizes. But, there are durability concerns, and this unit is loud.

The bottom line

I've used a few bread machines in my time — mostly secondhand units — but the Zojirushi Virtuoso Plus blows these bread machines away. It's so easy to make a wide range of baked goods, and the results come out consistent and yummy. Clean-up is also a snap.

When it comes to simplicity, I much prefer a bread machine over hand making the bread. If there's a difference in quality, I haven't noticed it.Overall, the Zojirushi Virtuoso Plus is your best option if you want homemade bread with minimal hassle.

Pros: 14 pre-programmed bread courses, comes with 50 recipes, dual kneading blades, heated lid and pan for even heating, see-through lid window, easy-to-read LCD display

Cons: Expensive, must be careful to follow directions closely to get the best results