Many people loved their old V20 and looked forward to its successor, the Zojirushi BBCC-X20. But has this new bread machine lived up people's expectations and is it the best bread machine currently on the market? The answer isn't so simple. The Zojirushi BBCCX20 is an expensive appliance and before parting with nearly $200 many potential customers want to be sure they're getting value for money. Well, it is a very good bread maker. It has a true horizontal pan so the finished loaf looks exactly as you expect a traditional loaf to look like. Its construction feels sturdy and will probably last years. The viewing window, though smaller than other brands, is larger than its predecessor, the BBCC-V20.
Here are some of the major improvements that have been incorporated into the Zojirushi bread machine.
There's no longer any safety switch so you can open the lid at any time without the machine shutting down. This is good as you can inspect how the kneading stage is going at any time.
The old Zojirushi BBCC-V20 had only 1 custom program; the new BBCC-X20 comes with 3 custom programs.
There's a longer first rise of up to 24 hours compared to the 2 hours with the older model.
The bread maker comes with bake protection, meaning you can't turn the machine off in the bake part of a cycle.
As wells as the additional custom cycles, there's an additional light sourdough starter. Very few other brands can offer this feature.
A fantastic new improvement is the ability to turn off the preheat part of the cycle off. This saves time if the ingredients are already warm.
However, there are some caveats with some of the new improvements.
The larger viewing window is still pretty useless as there's no light inside; you can't really see anything once the lid is closed.
The control panel has been modified slightly. The buttons are now smaller, which make using them a little less easy.
Although you get two more customs programs it would have been a lot better if there had been more. This machine is aimed for those who take baking seriously, and those that do definitely like to use their own custom settings and usually have many they have developed over the years, so more settings would have definitely been better.
The light sourdough starter isn't really that good. Zojirushi claim you can make a light sourdough starter in 2 hours but this mode isn't all that swift. It's more like doing a custom program with a short kneading with a 2 hour rise. And, because the Zo recipe calls for commercial yeast it isn't real sourdough (which contains no commercial yeast). It's more like a sponge that is allowed to sit and ferment. While this cycle works ok it will be a disappointment for serious home bread makers. Zo should have made the BBCC-X20 with a program for a real sourdough starter and bread.
If you have an old Zojirushi BBCC-V20 bread maker and were thinking of upgrading, you would be better advised to keep your money in your pocket. But if you don't have a bread machine, or are looking to upgrade to a more sophisticated machine, then the Zojirushi bread machine is definitely one of the better models on the market.
Follow the links for the Zojirushi bread machine and bread machine reviews on leading models like the Oster, Breadman and Cuisinart bread machine.
