The Zojirushi Virtuoso Home Bakery bread machine boasts a host of enhancements that build on Zojirushi's tradition of making the finest bread machines on the market. The biggest change is an additional heating element in the lid of the baking chamber, ensuring perfectly-browned crusts and more uniform baking every time. The baking pan in the Virtuoso has large handles on each end, making it much easier to lift and handle the pan, especially when it's hot. And for the first time, there's a pre-programmed gluten-free course, for baking wheat-free bread. The revamped LCD controls are easy to read, and simple to understand.

The Virtuoso kneads and bakes a large, traditional, rectangular, 2 lb. loaf in your choice of three crust styles, light, medium or dark, using two separate paddles for thorough kneading..The Home Made Menu function includes 3 memory settings so you can enter and store your personal favorite bread recipes, and the Sourdough Starter function prepares a light sourdough starter rin a little over 2 hours. The Quick baking cycle prepares bread in under 2 hours, and there are pre-programmed settings for dough, cake and jam. Additional menu settings include Basic, and Wheat bread. Whatever you bake a large viewing window allows you to watch the baking process and a 13-hour programmable timer gives you fresh-baked bread on your schedule. The Virtuoso includes an easy-to-follow instructional DVD, as well as a printed manual, a recipe booklet with over 100 recipes, and a measuring cup and measuring spoon.