Zojirushi BB-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.

Like many others, I already own the Zo Bread Machine for 2lb loaves -- and I use it at least 4 times a week for bread and quick breads/cakes with great success. Now that it's just me and my husband at home, if I make a 2lb loaf of bread that is the right size/height for toast and sandwiches, it is far too big for just 2 people to eat before it goes stale. If I decrease the recipe and make a 1lb loaf in the huge pan, then the loaf isn't tall enough for regular sandwiches or a toaster.The loaf in this "mini" machine bakes up to normal height -- but slices into only a few pieces (about 8 thin slices, or 6 "Texas Toast"-size pieces.) No chance of bread going stale, no wasted bread, and every other day we get a fresh, warm loaf.The bread machine I owned /before the big Zo-2lb, used only 1 mixing paddle and a smaller format pan than the Zo-2lb; this was excellent for kneading pasta dough -- something I really enjoy making. The big Zo-2lb machine, with its huge pan and 2 paddle system was a complete failure at pasta dough.This little machine not only gives me back my fresh pasta and makes bread the right shape and size for 1 or 2 people, it also has the "delay" feature, mysteriously absent from the big Zo-2lb, that lets you add ingredients to the machine just before going to bed -- and then bakes the bread in time to be hot and fresh for breakfast (or lets you add your ingredients in the morning before you leave the house, and then bakes it to be ready for dinner.)Absent from the Mini-Machine however, as noted by many reviews, is the ability to program the machine manually. The name on the machine says PROGRAMMABLE, but it means you can program it to delay the start of the pre-sets -- NOT that you can select specific actions (mixing, kneading, resting, baking etc) and program how long that action will operate before going to your next selected action.This is a big difference between the 2 machines. The little one lets you delay start time (the 2lb doesn't); the 2lb machine lets you create custom programs (the mini-machine doesn't.)Being able to create a "bake only" program with the paddles removed lets me use the 2lb pan and prepared dough to create things like monkey bread, cobblers with a biscuit crust, or braided loaves.It is also possible, with the Zo-2lb machine, to use the dough-setting to mix things like meatloaf -- then remove the paddles from the pan, pat the meatloaf-mixture down into the pan, and re-program the machine for a specific bake-only time. (I learned this when my oven went out.) The bread pan makes a casserole-for-2 (or 4) and bakes it as well as any big oven could. Lasagne, tamale pie, mac and cheese, chicken pot pie, tuna-noodle cassarole, au gratin potatoes, quiche, spinach souffle, baked cheese grits etc. I've even set a couple of baking potatoes down in the pan (wrapped in foil,) and had excellent baked potatoes. I suspect with a little experimentation, it would work equally well for a small boneless beef roast or pork tenderloin with veggies. Maybe even a small chicken! At its heart, a bread machine is just a small, self-contained oven, so using the programming feature that lets you just bake for a specific amount of time is a great tool for 1 or 2 people. All these custom programs for other foods are not possible with the Zo-Mini.And explains why both are now in my kitchen. Small, fresh loaves for breakfast and pasta dough are enough of a reason to have both.I'm a little curious why Zo (or some other clever company) doesn't make a bread machine with more than 1 pan. Other companies have tried (and failed) to make a machine with one mixing/kneading pan that could be traded out for a choice of baking pans before the rise and bake cycles. I've even seen one that would bake (or try...) small individual loaves. There is an idea here that should be picked up and at least tried. These 2 Zo machines will eventually stop working (though my last one baked for nearly 16 years) and I'd love to replace them with a single, more-options machine.One note of caution about both the Zo machines. The non-stick coating on the interior of the pan and on the mixing paddle is very easy to scratch. Enough scratches, and your breads and cakes begin to stick and become more difficult to remove from the pan (cakes tear up into a pile of cake crumbles.) The pans are available to be replaced, but they cost about half the price of the whole machine (which is a lot for just a bread pan!) So -- best to just be very careful with the one that comes as original equipment. No metal utensils, no scrubbies or even soft bristled brushes -- just a good soapy hot water soak and a sponge.