Zojirushi Virtuoso Plus Review

The Zojirushi Virtuoso Plus is the best bread machine we've gotten our hands on and the only one we tested that makes all four types of bread that actually taste good. It comes with 15 functions and 51 recipes but is extremely large and heavy.

Performance Comparison

White Bread

The white bread made by the Zojirushi Virtuoso is one of our favorites. It looks great right out of the pan, with a high dome creating a practically perfect sandwich bread shape. Consistently through our testing, the crust came out a lovely golden brown, evenly on all sides. Though the top crust was a tad thinner, the rest of the crust was an excellent texture, with just the right amount of crunch to it.

Cutting into these loaves revealed a soft and pillowy interior. The slightly denser portion near the crust was just one-quarter of an inch thick, giving way to a mostly even mixture of air pockets throughout. There were still a few larger air pockets, but they didn't impede our ability to cut or use this bread. Across the board, our panel of blind taste testers loved this white bread, with its delicious crust, flawless fluff, and just the right glutenous structure to hold all kinds of sandwich ingredients.

Wheat Bread

Not to be outdone, the Zojirushi also made fantastic wheat bread. Again, its shape is the most like a traditional loaf of sandwich bread, with a consistently domed top and just the right width to easily fit in your hands. The crust consistently came out a medium color, though it was a shade lighter on the top compared to the sides and darker in the centers of each side vs. its edges. Cutting into these loaves uncovered a thicker, crunchier crust than most other wheat breads.

The Virtuoso wheat bread density contained a nice mixture of differently sized air pockets that turned out to be much softer than their appearance. Near the edges — but not the bottom — the density of the bread increased, creating about half an inch of denser bread along the side crusts. Despite this unique appearance, our taste testers enjoyed eating the crust and the bread. For some on our flavor panel, this wheat bread was one of the favorites of the bunch.

Gluten Free Bread

The Zojirushi is the only contender in our testing to produce a gluten-free bread we enjoyed. The gluten-free loaves came out looking just like their glutenous cousins, with a semi-domed top and a large enough size to use for making sandwiches. The crusts of these loaves exhibited excellent coloring, with even the top achieving a pleasant medium brown color. Though the crust wasn't crunchy, we didn't find a single model that could make a crunchy crust on a gluten-free loaf of bread.

The interior of the Virtuoso gluten-free loaves offered a mixture of differently sized air pockets evenly distributed throughout, though none so large that they impeded its ability to be easily cut. It felt more firm than we'd liked, but we didn't find this to translate into chewiness when we ate it. Many of our taste testers noted a vinegar smell to this bread, which contained a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. Still, our panel members found the taste to grow on them.

Convenience

We really enjoy the user interface of the Virtuoso Plus. It has a decently sized screen nearly twice the size of most of the rest we tested. At first, we found its controls to be less user-friendly, but after busting out the manual a few times, we easily got the hang of it. It comes with many little details not found in its competitors. Such features included are arrow buttons (so you don't have to scroll through the entire menu again when missing a function), a resting off option that warms the bread, and a timer that shows you how much time is left. It comes with 15 functions, including one called “homemade” that you can customize.

On the other hand, the Zijorushi only makes 2-pound loaves of bread and is the only model we tested not to allow you to change the size of the loaf. The appliance itself is massive, eating up a huge amount of counter space and weighing a hefty 22.7 pounds, making it the largest model we tested.

We adore this machine's separate operating manual and recipe book. It's easy to select recipes, troubleshoot challenges, and find sugar and salt-free recipe options. With a whopping 51 recipes inside, the Virtuoso offers more variety and options than any other bread machine we tested.

Yeast Free Bread

Once again, the Virtuoso Plus makes a great loaf of bread, this time in a metric that only some scored well in. The Zojirushi pound cake recipe proved to be the best-looking and one of the best tasting yeast-free breads in our testing. The crust turned out with even coloring along the sides and bottom, with a modestly domed top just a shade lighter than the rest. The thick crust cut away to reveal a soft interior with a good balance of air pockets throughout.

Our taste tester panel enjoyed the moisture found in this pound cake. Though it's less fluffy than a pound cake perhaps should be, we still enjoyed the flavor and texture of this yeast-free option. When adding mini chocolate chips, this thick recipe had no problem holding them in, uniformly mixed, even without any automatic fruit and nut dispenser. We're not so sure it would do as well with a more dense recipe, but the pound cake was a dream.

Should You Buy the Zojirushi Virtuoso Plus?

The Virtuoso is an excellent option if you want to make a variety of breads and make them well. It's one of the most expensive options we tested and is probably overkill for most bakers. But if you like trying new recipes and love making all kinds of different baked goods, the Zojirushi's versatility and excellent performance across the board will not disappoint.

What Other Bread Machines Should You Consider?

The Zojirushi Virtuoso Plus is the best bread machine we tested. It excels at making every major kind of bread — something no other model came close to matching. Though, it is very expensive and takes up a ton of space. If you're looking for something a little more affordable to make traditional white and wheat breads for delicious sandwiches, we recommend the KBS Pro MBF-010. But if you want nothing but the best and most versatile bread machine on the market, the Virtuoso is the one for you.