The dual blade Zojirushi BB-CEC20 Home Bakery Supreme bread machine makes a traditional shape 2-pound bread loaf that does not look like it came out of a tin can. The Zojirushi BB-CEC20 has a control panel with buttons and LCD for selecting the crust shade, time delay, bread, cake, jam, dough or programmable homemade courses. It is more expensive than most bread makers, but it might be worth the high price tag. Here is my review of its features, questions, advantages and disadvantages.
Zojirushi BB-CEC20: Key Features
- Accessories: measuring cup, measuring spoon and instruction manual with recipes.
- Audible signal reminds you to add fruit and nuts.
- Automatic 60-minute keep warm cycle at the end of the baking cycle.
- The Homemade course lets you customize the bread making steps according to your own preferences.
- Horizontal shape bread pan that produces a normal rectangular bread loaf.
- Household use only.
- It runs on 120-volt, 60Hz AC electrical current.
- An LCD shows selected settings and the time remaining until completion of the program.
- Operation light shows you that the bread maker is in operation.
- Power usage: Heating element (600W), motor (100W).
- Preheat function for warming ingredients before mixing and kneading (it can also be turned off).
- Select course button for choosing the baking or dough preparation program.
- Start/Reset button starts course, starts timer or cancels course if held down until it beeps.
- Timer button delays completion of bread or dough program by up to 13 hours.
- Two kneading paddles for thorough dough kneading.
- Viewing window for checking on progress without opening the lid.
Control Panel
Depending on the settings and what the bread maker is doing, the following things might be shown (not all at once) on the display screen: small black indicators for course and crust color, preheat, knead, rise, bake, complete, keep warm, memory 123 and time remaining.
You press the select course button to choose between the following bread making or dough and jam preparation functions:
- Basic
- Basic Wheat
- Basic Dough
- Quick
- Quick Wheat
- Quick dough
- Jam
- Cake
- Sour Dough Starter
- Homemade
Press the crust control button to select a light, medium or dark crust color. Please note that the crust color only works for these four courses: Basic, Quick, Cake and Homemade.
The delay timer only works for these course selections: Basic, Basic Wheat, Basic Dough and Homemade. Do not use a recipe that contains ingredients such as milk or eggs which might get bad if left in the baking chamber for a few hours.
The Zojirushi BB-CEC20 has a delay timer that is similar to other bread machines: you repeatedly press the timer button to advance the time in 10-minute steps. The maximum delay time is 13 hours. The delay time returns 10 minutes if you press past 13 hours. There are no up or down buttons for the timer, so be careful not to go past your desired delay time, or you will have to go around again.
You press the start button once to start the bread machine. The operation light will turn on, but nothing might happen because the bread machine has to preheat the ingredients in the bread pan. To cancel your selected settings, or to stop the keep warm cycle, you press and hold the start button until the bread machine beeps.
Homemade Course
Keep pressing the select course button until you get to the homemade courses. There are three programmable homemade courses. All the homemade bread making cycles are set to OFF by default. Press the cycle button to select the preheat cycle. Use the time button to set the time (it advances one minute at a time). Press the cycle button again to get to the next cycle.
Here is a list of all the cycles that can be modified with the homemade function:
- Preheat (1 to 30 minutes)
- Knead (1 to 30 minutes, more than 5 minutes to activate mix-in signal)
- Rise 1 (1 minute to 24 hours)
- Rise 2 (1 minute to 2 hours)
- Rise 3 (1 minute to 2 hours)
- Bake (1 to 70 minutes)
- Keep Warm (60 minutes)
Programming the homemade courses, as well as erasing the settings, can be a little complicated. You might want to study the manual for a more detailed explanation.
Zojirushi BB-CEC20 Manual
It is very important to read the instruction manual for the BB-CEC20 Home Bakery Supreme closely before embarking on your first bread making experiment. It contains useful information about important safeguards, machine parts, control panel, how to use the timer, how to measure ingredients, useful tips, recipes, how to use the homemade course, cleaning instructions, abnormal conditions and a troubleshooting guide.
The manual contains two gluten-free bread recipes for people with a gluten intolerance or celiac disease: gluten-free brown rice bread and gluten-free raisin bread. This is just to get you started. If you want more gluten-free recipes, then you apparently need to call Zojirushi customer service. Too bad the extra recipes are not simply included in the manual with the rest.
You can also use mixes that you bought from a store, or you can buy a gluten free-bread machine recipe book and experiment with those recipes.
Does it make whole wheat bread?
Yes, there is a recipe in its in instruction manual for 100% whole wheat bread. You need water, whole wheat flour, sugar, dry milk, salt, vital wheat gluten, butter and bread machine yeast for the recipe. You have to use active dry yeast when you select the basic wheat course. You need to use rapid rise yeast for the quick wheat course.
Please note that the basic wheat course starts with a 40-minute preheating step to warm up all the ingredients before the first kneading. The quick wheat course has a short preheating step: only five minutes long.
Can it make 1-pound bread loaves?
Well, it might, but I do not recommend it. The Zojirushi BB-CEC20 is made to make only 2-pound bread loaves. It does not have a loaf size button like most other bread machines. On the contrary, I recommend the Zojirushi BB-HAC10 mini bread maker for making 1-pound bread loaves.
Is it possible to turn off preheat function?
You can turn it off if the ingredients you use are already at the right temperature. Keep in mind that turning off preheating might have a negative influence on the rising if the room temperature is very cold.
First, select the course you want to use. The jam, cake and homemade courses do not have preheated cycles. Now, press and hold both the time and cycle buttons (homemade buttons) for about 3 to 5 seconds until the display shows the words “PREHEAT OFF”. The bread machine will start kneading right away after pressing the start button.
Can it bake bread with a sourdough starter?
Yes, but first you need to make the sourdough starter. It consists of water, bread flour and active dry yeast.
Follow the sourdough starter recipe directions and prepare it in the bread machine with the sourdough setting. It takes 2 hours and 10 minutes to complete.
There are two sourdough bread recipes in the manual: light sourdough and traditional sourdough.
The light sourdough bread can be made right after the starter is completed. You remove the baking pan, add the extra ingredients, replace the baking pan and then select the basic course.
The traditional sourdough bread cannot be made immediately after the starter is finished. It needs to be kept at room temperature for up to 10 days. You may also program the 24-hour “Rise 1” step of the homemade course to keep it at the right temperature if you live in a cold climate. After 7 to 10 days the starter will be ready. You may prepare it, along with adding extra ingredients, for baking using the basic course.
You do not have to use the baking pan for keeping the starter. You may transfer the sourdough starter to a glass or stainless steel bowl. The baking pan can then be used for baking other types of bread.
Are the paddles removed before baking step?
Some people prefer to remove the kneading paddles so that it is not baked into the bread loaf. The Zojirushi BB-CEC20 has no audible alert for paddle removal. Timing it just right to remove the paddles could be awkward, but might be possible after the last stir down and during the last rising step. Consult the instruction manual for the times of the stir down and last rise for each menu course.
Zojirushi BB-CEC20: Advantages
- Homemade Course for programming your own knead, rise and bake times.
- It is a fairly quiet bread machine.
- It makes a good whole wheat bread.
- Likewise, it makes a large 2-pound traditional rectangular shape bread loaf.
- Preheat function can be turned off.
- It is heavy: might not move around on the counter while kneading.
Zojirushi BB-CEC20: Disadvantages
- Great quality machine, but you pay a high price for it.
- One side of the horizontal loaf tends to rise and bake slightly higher than the other side.
- Two kneading blade holes in the bottom of the bread instead of the usual one.
- You cannot change the loaf size, it only bakes a 2-pound loaf.
- The top of the bread crust can often be lighter than the rest of the bread as well as unevenly browned.
- It does not have a bake-only course, you will need to program a homemade course to get a single baking cycle.
Conclusion
Do not expect the Zojirushi BB-CEC20 bread maker to be perfect in every way just because you paid a high price for it. It does have a few minor issues, such as the uneven browning of the top crust and its slightly lopsided appearance. You might have to even out the top of the bread dough with your hands just before the baking cycle starts so that the top crust is completely level and not lopsided.
If the uneven and light browning of the top crust is too much of an issue for you, then you might prefer to use the Zojirushi BB-PDC20 model (read my full review). It has a small heater built into its lid to solve the problem of the uneven crust color.
Nevertheless, the construction quality is good. It might last for a few years of frequent baking. The kneading paddles and baking pan are not difficult to clean, but do not put them in the dishwasher or immerse the baking pan in water. Use a soft sponge, water and liquid detergent to clean the inside of the baking pan.
To sum up, the Zojirushi BB-CEC20 Home Bakery Supreme makes good bread, it can be programmed with custom cycle times, and the majority of owner reviews are positive, even though some owners dislike the preheat step (check price on Amazon – paid link).