Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme Breadmaker Review

There is nothing as amazing as the smell of baking bread, and I’ve used my bread maker more times than I can count over the past year. You can’t beat the convenience of any bread maker, but it’s even better when you have a bread maker that can whip up a 2-lb loaf. With the Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme Breadmaker, you can bake 2-lb loaves of bread, quick bread, cake, jam, and more.

This Zojirushi Breadmaker is the only breadmaker I’ve used that makes a loaf of bread that looks and slices like a traditional loaf of bread. It has a large inner compartment with two rotating blades to mix and knead the dough. From start to finish it took around 3 and 1/2 hours to have a loaf of bread ready to eat, and that’s on the basic setting.

After testing it out for a week and enjoying all the bread, I feel qualified to say that this is a pretty amazing bread maker. here’s my look at the Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme Breadmaker.

Appearance and features of the Zojirushi Breadmaker 

The Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme Breadmaker is slightly larger than a traditional breadmaker, and the increase in pan size is so you can bake a traditional rectangular 2-lb loaf of bread.

• Nonstick coated pan so your loaf of bread is easy to remove
• Dual blades to properly knead the dough
• Large window on lid so you can see inside when your bread is rising and baking
• Several menu settings including Basic bread, Quick bread, Wheat bread, Dough, Jam, Cake, light Sourdough Starter, and Home Made Menu with 3 memory settings
• Choose crust colour light, medium, or dark
• Quick cycle will bake a loaf of bread in 2 hours
• Sourdough starter function will create a sourdough starter in just over two hours
• Auto shut-off and Keep Warm functions
• 13-hour delay timer if you want to wake up to freshly baked bread
• 10-minute power failure backup
• Includes instruction and recipe book

Testing the Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme Breadmaker 

Trust me when I say that it’s seriously fun to test out a breadmaker, especially when that breadmaker is the Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme. My issue with my own breadmaker has always been the fact that it’s a 1-lb loaf, and you need to cut the loaf into huge pieces and then cut them in half again to actually eat them.

With the Zojirushi Breadmaker you don’t have to do that. You can pop out your loaf, cut it up into traditional sandwich-sized pieces, and enjoy your loaf just like you would with a loaf you’d buy in the store.

Using the basic bread function 

I started testing the Zojirushi breadmaker by making a traditional loaf of bread with the basic bread function. If you’ve never baked bread with a breadmaker before you’ll be able to see detailed instructions in the included booklet. You’ll find recipes for everything from basic white bread to cake.

I added the ingredients to the baking pan and closed the lid. The breadmaker spent a few minutes heating up, so if you want to speed up the process a bit you can hit the start button while you’re adding the ingredients.

Once the breadmaker is warm, it starts to knead the dough. The dual mixing blades really get to work tossing the dough around. This was the loudest part of the breadmaking process, but it’s really not that loud at all. I would liken the sound to my food processor on low, and it only mixes for a bit before your bread begins its first rise.

With the basic bread function, your dough gets to rest and rise, which is the traditional way of making bread. With the Quick bread function the dough doesn’t get that much time to rest and rise, and you may need to use quick-rise yeast in order to get the same result.

I checked on my loaf periodically, but one of the best parts of having a breadmaker make your bread is that you can just put it all inside the machine and forget about it until the smell of freshly baked bread fills your home. I make bread by hand all the time, and this was definitely a much easier process.

Once the loaf was done the Keep Warm function kicks in, but you can remove your loaf and let it cool off on your countertop. It was golden brown and perfect, and we loved how the slices were the right size. To cut properly, make sure you have a bread knife and a bread knife guide. That way you can get your slices the perfect width.

Using the cake function

I decided to make an apple loaf as a snack for the kids. It was just as easy as the basic loaf, but it took less time. This is the setting you’d use for banana bread or other cake-like breads.

The only real difference between the cake function and the basic function is the ‘add’ ingredient beep. The instructions said to add the apple pieces when I heard the beep, so I stuck around until it did. It came about 10 minutes into the mixing process, and after I added the apples the breadmaker went back to work. You’ll have to check the top of the pan to make sure everything is incorporated because I found a few of the apples were tossed to the top and had to be put back in.

When you bake a cake, the waiting is the hardest part. My entire house smelt of cinnamon and apples, and the bread was so good. It held together without crumbling, and it was easy to slice.

Jam, sourdough starter, and more

This is a very versatile breadmaker, and it more than earns its name “Home Bakery Supreme.” If you’ve ever wanted to try making jam, you can try in your breadmaker. Just follow the instructions and your jam will thicken right up in the pan.

The sourdough starter function will make a light sourdough starter for you. You’ll need to continue to feed your starter for a few days before you can use it, but it’s a good way to kick start the process.

Should you choose the Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme Breadmaker?

Out of all the breadmakers I’ve used, I have to say I like this one the best. I’ve made bread on my own in everything from a loaf pan to a Pullman pan for square loaves, and using this breadmaker is just so much easier than making it on your own.

It really makes a difference when you can make a traditional 2-lb loaf of bread, and I think I’d use a breadmaker more often if it was always this easy to make bread you can quickly use for sandwiches.

The loaves I made with this breadmaker were amazing. With no real learning curve and a great instruction booklet, I think the Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme is a great choice for anyone who wants to bake bread at home. You can find the Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme Breadmaker on Best Buy right now.