Zojirushi BB-CEC20 Review
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With the nickname Home Bakery Supreme, is there anything the Zojirushi can’t do? Zojirushi is the king of bread machine brands and its BB-CEC20 is the king of bread machine models. Just like its brother the Zojirushi BB-PAC20, the stainless steel bread machine features a plethora of pre-programmed settings, highly customizable rise, knead, and bake settings, a 13-hour delayed timer, a dual kneading blade removable baking pan that makes 2-pound bread loaves in about 2 hours, and a large viewing window. When you buy the machine, it also comes with a measuring cup, measuring spoon, and instruction manual, and recipe book with hundreds of recipes.
One thing you will notice on all Zojirushi machines compared to other brands is the detail. Since it’s a Japanese made product, there are very specific instructions that are recommended to follow. Despite the over-attention to detail, you will get perfectly baked bread each time if those instructions are followed. Everything you need is in the instruction manual and recipe book. So even if you are an amateur baker, you will be able to bake delicious bread easily with Zojirushi bread machines.
Our Zojirushi BB-CEC20 Review
Zojirushi is known by home bakers as makers of quality bread machines. So if you end up buying a Zojirushi bread machine, you’ll appreciate the thought and technology they put into their machines. That said, how do you know which one you should buy?
If you read our BB-PAC20 review already, you will notice that it has everything you would need in a bread machine. It bakes a traditional loaf, it’s quiet, it’s highly customizable yet it has many pre-programmed settings, it has a removable bake pan with dual kneading blades, it handles any type of bread nicely, it has a stainless steel design, and it’s beautiful. Actually, the BB-CEC20 has exactly these features too. We’re not sure why Zojirushi made two almost identical machines. If anything at all, these machines only differ in the design and one other thing: the BB-PAC20 has a “revolutionary” heater on the top of the lid that makes a browned crust at the top of the bread. Some people who own the BB-CEC20 have complained that their crusts don’t crisp up at the top. So if this matters to you and you don’t like soft crusts at the top, get the BB-PAC20. Otherwise, the BB-CEC20 is the cheaper of the two, and you can choose from black or white. It’s really up to individual preferences, but we would pay more for the BB-PAC20 because we like that little heater feature and we like the design more.
Another thing we would like to mention is that the Zojirushi BB-CEC20 can handle thick gluten-free dough really well. In fact, if you read recipe books they would recommend using Zojirushi machines for gluten-free bread. We think that when it comes to gluten-free bread, Zojirushi has an unmatched advantage.
Zojirushi BB-CEC20 Rating
Summary
The Zojirushi BB-CEC20 is a really smart machine and is particularly good at making gluten-free bread. You can rely on this bread maker to produce Zojirushi’s signature bread.
Zojirushi BB-CEC20 Features At A Glance
- Makes a classic horizontal 2-pound loaf
- Bakes bread in 2 hours, and has a 13-hour delay timer
- Stainless steel design
- Has a large viewing window
- Has a wide range of pre-programmed settings: basic bread, wheat bread, dough, cake, jam, “home made”, etc.
- Comes with instruction manual, dvd, recipe book, removable bake pan, measuring spoon, and measuring cup
Concluding Thoughts
As you now know, the Zojirushi BB-CEC20 and BB-PAC20 are strikingly similar, and after testing both machines we prefer the BB-PAC20 because it has an additional heater on the lid and it has a nicer design in our view. But again, the BB-CEC20 is cheaper and it comes in two colours that you can choose to match your kitchen. We think that both machines are great when it comes to bread baking and would definitely recommend the BB-CEC20 to anyone that wants to bake a tasty, traditional loaf of bread!
Are these machines still the machines of choice? It looks like these are old reviews and I am in the market for a new machine.
I currently have a Cuisinart, it has been my bread machine for years and is just now starting to fail. I am researching new bread machines.
I also have a zojirushi rice machine and I would not buy any other brand of rice machine. I have bought one for each of my girls. Great rice machines.
Pamela Brandt
Hi Pamela, we use nothing but Zojirushi rice cookers too! Have a look at the Zojirushi BB-PDC20 Virtuoso Plus bread machine, we think you’ll like it: https://www.breadmachinepros.com/zojirushi/zojirushi-bb-pdc20-review/