It is an excellent bread maker. The double mixing paddles in the bottom have given me excellent mixing with both thick and thin viscosity batches. It was the right choice. I like the variety of preprogrammed methods, and the window for watching what is going on and how it is progressing.
I followed the recipe but the bread is very dense and not puffy at all.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Response from zojirushi.comBy Zojirushi Customer Support, January 8, 2024
We appreciate you sharing your experience in your first baking with the breadmaker. Dense loaves are almost always due to the ratio between the wet and dry ingredients being off. We first recommend baking a basic white bread recipe and measuring all the ingredients by weight. Doing so will ensure all the ingredients are measured accurately so that the breadmaker can knead and bake it into a beautiful loaf.
Here is a link to one of our most helpful blog posts that helps with baking: https://www.zojirushi.com/blog/common-bread-baking-problems/
If you have any questions or need further assistance, our customer service team is always happy to assist you: https://www.zojirushi.com/app/customer_service/entry
I am in love with this appliance. It almost does it all for you, just minus the slicing and cleaning. If you're on the fence about purchasing this bread maker, just do it. It does all the work for you and comes out perfectly each time. Clean-up is a breeze. No regrets and it's being used weekly. (Oh and it looks good on your counter too)
If you're reading this, it's likely you're in the market for a bread machine. If you're in the market for a bread machine, this is the one you want to buy. The whole wheat bread we make with the Virtuoso Plus has entirely replaced the wheat bread we used to buy at the store. We have used it every 2-3 days since purchasing it 5 months ago and it does a phenomenal job. The pan is easy to clean (5 minutes) and it takes 10 minutes to throw in the ingredients for a standard loaf. The timer function is wonderful; we throw in the ingredients in the evening and set the completion time for 7 am and we have fresh-baked warm bread waiting for us at breakfast. The bread is delicious and has an excellent texture - better than bread from other machines that I have tried. Also, as a family of four, we greatly appreciate the larger loaf size. The only criticism I could have for the Virtuoso Plus is that every now and then the loaf comes out lopsided. It still bakes well and tastes excellent, but the shape is a bit sloped. But considering it's a machine that uses two paddles to make a 2 lb loaf, I'm amazed at how often the loaves turn out perfect and couldn't be better even if I had shaped them by hand. Definitely one of the best purchases we have ever made.