Zojirushi Bread Machine Tip – The Add Beep
Last Updated November 19, 2024 – Originally Posted November 23, 2014
The other day I was looking up a cycle time in the manual that came with one of my Zojirushi bread machines when I noticed something for the first time. Do you see it?
How about now?
OK, here’s what I spotted . . .
Do you see how all the raisins are at the edge of the bread? That’s what happens when you add the raisins at the add beep.
When a recipe calls for raisins or other dried fruit to be added, I put them in at the beginning to avoid this problem. What I mean is, I add the raisins, dried fruit or whatever just after I’ve added the flour to the bread pan.
It works great!!
Check out the raisins in the above photo of banana raisin bread. Lovely!
I once saw a comment (I don’t know what site) that the guy froze his raisins before putting them in his bread. He put them in the beginning, not at the beep. He said it worked out great, I kept forgetting to try it. I could see where it might break them up. It would be worth a try though.
I have a VERY old Zojirushi, model # BBCC-X20. It has served me so well for well over 25 years now, & I only last week had to order paddle replacements from Amazon as the metal on the old ones kept sloughing off (!) Over the years I’ve made quite a variety of breads that have additions such as walnuts, raisins, dried cranberries, & caraway & fennel seeds – I always add them about a minute after the beeps start & those additions have always been well mixed into the bread. I should also say that for nuts, I usually use Trader Joe’s “Raw California Walnut Baking Pieces,” so they’re already broken up properly when I put them in so it doesn’t strain the motor or hurt the lining of the pan.
Needless to say, I love my ZO! I mainly bake whole wheat, rye, & oatmeal breads, but one of my all-time favorites is my mother’s recipe for Challah: she didn’t have a bread maker of course, but I still use her recipe (it has honey & extra egg yolks to make a wonderfully tasty & rich dough) – I make the dough in the Zo, then take it out & do the shaping. And I ALWAYS use organic flours, either King Arthur or Bob’s Red Mill brands.
With reference to adding raisins and walnuts I take the dough out if the machine at the beginning of the first rise and add a cup of chopped walnuts and a cup of cranberries. I work them in really good then return the dough to the machine to complete the baking cycles. Works great for me because I love lots of walnuts and cranberries.
How do you pause the bread machine, while taking dough out? I m using Zojirushi BB-CEC20
I have a “set it and forget it” approach, so I just drop everything, making sure it’s in the correct layering, and so far no issues I have added raisins, cranberries, and pumpkin seeds. Because I live in a very dry area, I always make sure to either add a bit extra liquid, or soak the fruit in liqueur (yum!). Looking at the reviews, I see I lucked out– my friend gave me the discontinued Virtuoso, and it’s amazing.
If you dredge your berries, nuts or seeds in flour then shake off excess and add to bread pan they won’t sink. In this way your fruits & nuts will distribute evenly throughout your loaf.
I found the same issue with my Zojirushi so after the first time using the machine, I have always added raisins, etc. along with the flour.
It works so much better doesn’t it?
Have you ever heard of a bread machine which does not have an ‘add-on’ facility?
I haven’t, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they exist.
They do – mine does! It is a Tefal Pain Dore and I wish I had never bought it. The recipes it provides are rubbish, I have had to search the net for recipes and nowhere is there a facility to indicate it is time to add anything! It was not cheap either.
My new Zo BB-PDC20 also doesn’t beep and I missed adding raisins. It also did not beep at the end. Page 9 of Operating Instructions discusses Beep and Silent but doesn’t say how to go from one to the other.
Good to know about adding raisins in the beginning.
The first time I used it, it was very noisy. The second time I made sure the pan was well seated and it was quiet.
I am extremely disappointed that I can control the add beep option on my Virtuoso. It’s annoying and intrusive especially considering how long it beeps. After spending as much money as I did on this I can’t believe it doesn’t have the ability to control the add beep option.
Have you tried lifting the lid while it’s beeping? I have the Virtuoso and that stops the noise. I’m not sure if it works on the Virtuoso Pro though.
We got the new Zo BB-pdc-20 for Christmas. It’s noisy, the pan shows signs of wear and the add beep doesn’t work. Disappointing in such an expensive bread maker. No help from the manufacturer either. This is our second and last.
🙁 I’m so sorry. I’ve had about four different Zojirushi machines and they’ve all been great.
The add ingredients beep does not, well, beep at all. Yes, we checked the manual and checked with Zojuroshi – who referred us back to the manual. We tried timing when to add ingredients without success. Either the cinnamon chips end up on the sides of the bread if added too late or pulverized if added too early. Please oh please help us out of our non-beep dilemma and advise how to turn it on. One million thanks.
Yikes! I’m not sure which model of Zo you have but in all of mine (I’ve had about four different models) the add beep just worked. There hasn’t been a way to turn it on and off.
Suddenly my add beep didn’t beep. I checked the manual for my Zojirushi virtuoso plus and found that if you plug it in and hold the timer down for 3 seconds you can turn it off and on. It will beep once or 3 times. Unfortunately I’m still trying to figure out which is on. Trying it with 3 beeps tonight to see if it beeps at the add ingredients time. My raisins do okay when I add at the beep.
Mine doesn’t seem to work on the preset courses, but if I use Homemade, it works.
Hope that helps you.
Just all be aware that adding hard ingredients like raisins that are very dried out, nuts and possibly other things that are hard, you will be subjecting your pan to additional wear and tear. I’ve baked about 55 loaves in my Zo Plus and I have wear below the paddles where the nuts are trapped when the paddles turn. If you are a 100 loaves in the lifetime of your machine baker, that shouldn’t be an issue. However if you plan to make more than 500 loaves in it, be aware that sometime you may be purchasing a new pan if the teflon wears enough to allow the bread to start sticking to the pan. Happy baking y’all.
Good point!
Soak them in part of the liquid first and add them on top of your flour.
However, I noticed that if I add my cinnamon at the add beap (and double what the recipe calls for), it makes a beautiful looking swirl of cinnamon, nut, raisin bread!!
Yum! I’m gonna try this!
Can I add bake time to a loaf in progress?
I don’t know of a bread machine that does this. There might be one, I just don’t know about it.
Ellen, I use a Hamilton beach 2lb and there is a 60 minute bake cycle so I can stop a cycle and start the bake cycle and set a timer for the amount of time I need.
Sometimes when I do a rapid cycle it doesn’t get brown so I will use the bake cycle for 20 minutes or so.
Wish I had thought to look for this information before I made my loaf. I never heard the beep and added sunflower seeds about eight minutes before the end of the dough cycle. Now they are sitting on top of the bread! Oh well I can scrape them off if they burn. I’m going to study your site for more tips. Thanks!
That add beep . . . such a good idea, but it doesn’t really work for me either.
This gets a “Me too!” But I’m not sure what you mean by “add at the beginning.”
On my trusty Oster the “add beep” goes off 10 or 15 minutes before the end of the second knead cycle. (Depends on the bread type chosen.) I add my extras at the very beginning of the second knead cycle instead and that works without the add ins getting pulverized.
Hi Rick, I add my raisins or whatever at the same time that I add the flour and the rest of the ingredients.
I have yet to hear the add button, about when does it beep on basic?
It goes off about 45 minutes after you start the machine.
It is a bit of a joke around our house. When the add beeps sounds, if we are around, we look at each other and say “Hey, how about some pickles and marshmallows in that bread? How about liverwurst and tomatoes? Watcha think?” We have come up with interesting combos, but we don’t add at the beep.
Too funny! 🙂
Finding this was perfect timing as I just got my new Virtuoso Plus and have been avidly researching different recipes! I’ve never been very satisfied with raisin amounts or distribution in my 20+ year old Zo, so I’m hoping this approach will yield a better result in my new Virtuoso Plus. Thanks!
You’re so welcome! Glad I could help!
Does anyone know how to turn the add beep off? I feel like it carries on for 20+ minutes!
I don’t think you can turn it off. However, on some Zojirushi models, the beep goes off if you lift the lid after the beep starts.
I always add raisins, nuts, cranberries, etc at the start, however, I do feel that they tend to get smashed up into smaller pieces when I put them in then. But that is the trade-off for a better mix I suppose. Other than this issue I love my Virtuoso!
By the way, great blog and thanks for all of the great info!
Thanks so much for your kind words!
I’m going to try it again today your way…..I love this machine (VirtuosoZojirushi BB-PAC20BA BB-PAC20), but I hate that the raisins all at at the sides or bottom when I add them at the beep…….so thanks for all the great recipes and the advice on the fruit. I’ll keep you posted.
Sounds good. Let me know how it goes!
Very smart idea for raisins. Harder fruit like apples should beat their way into the dough correct?
After my experience with raisins, I tend to put most ingredients in the machine at the beginning. If you put in apples at the add beep, I’d be interested in hearing about your result.