I bought a Zo from Irwin at Delta Rehab last January, and it has never
performed correctly. Every loaf of bread I made in the machine has done fine up
until the second rise and the bake cycle. Then the loaf falls, and the final
result is a loaf with a soft dimpled top, and air space between the top crust
and the bread. Also, every loaf and the machine has the same strong yeasty
off-odor and taste. (IE, the yeast is over-proofing.)
Even though I had had much success in a different Zo earlier, I accepted that
perhaps the machine was fine, and that I was doing something wrong. Zo flat out
refused to return my calls, and to this day, they will not honor their
warranty. Irwin asked that I do some tests for him before he would replace my
machine. I spent 9 months testing for Irwin, and making the same recipe over
and over again, varying the liquid, the yeast, the flour, using conditioners,
measuring loaves, etc. (And if I *ever* see Donna German's Italian Bread again,
I will scream! :-) )I did these tests primarily in my machine, but also in
others (including a different Zo and other brands). And guess what? The *ONLY*
failed loaves came from my Zo.
I compared the temperature of my machine with another Zo, and, indeed, the
temperature of my Zo during the second rise is 10 degrees hotter.
So, now we've proven that the machine is the culprit, but I am unable to get in
touch with Irwin so he can replace it. He has not responded to any of my email
and phone calls for the past several months. And I don't understand this,
because early on, Irwin was very supportive and responsive.
I am reporting this to you as a caution: make sure before you purchase any
machine that your source will stand behind the purchase and will replace it
swiftly if it is defective.
And I also hope that in short-order I can report to you that my machine has
been replaced and that I am finally baking bread!
--
Ellen C.
ellen@brakes.elekta.com