Book Reviews

Excellent book. I now own it along with "The Blessing of Bread" by Maggie Glezer.

Gordon
keen de'el yeshuati

My first bread baking book was: "Home Baking, the Artful Mix of Flour and Traditions From Around the World" by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. I truly enjoy this couple's cookbooks due to the wonderful recipes, photographs and stories. This book is certainly not a first bread-baker's book recommendation, but it is a nice addition to a cookbook collection.
pincupot

Don't forget The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book. Their "loaf for learning" chapter is one of the best-written beginner's guides I have seen, and of course their discussion of whole wheat and other whole ingrediants is unmatched.

sPh

Does anyone know of a really good book with focus on whole grains, instead of whilte?

Thanks

Srishti

Oh wow,

Thanks a lot for the info....

I'll check these out

Srishti

For those bakers who are ready to move beyond first steps and understand more about artisan breads, The Bread Builders: Hearth Loaves and Masonery Ovens by Dan Wing and Alan Scott is an exceptional read. Dan, a physician, is really good at explaining the chemistry and biochemistry of breads in ways that are accessable to the amature. This is not a recipe cookbook but a book about artisan breads and traditional ovens.

I also happened to be able to take a two day workshop with Dan at King Arthur a few years back and found him to be as good in person as he is in print.

Paul Kobulnicky

Baking in Ohio

 Looking for a pastry book By Bo Friberg ~ Not sure of the name*But I bought it back arround 1990 -1991 ~ Was small in size but thick ( I think ) Lost it when moved from FLA. back to PA. Lost a whole wooden crate of "professinal" books (about 20) - Have replaced almost all of them (13)- of the ones I have not replaced 3 are out of print - Have been searching for the " Bo" book - Think it was called* " The Pastry Chef or The Professinal Pastry Chef - was a first edition if that helps .

Any one with info - it would be great to hear from you.

P.S.S. yes I do know this is a "Bread site" LOL but it never hurt to ask

 Thanks . 

 Slidething

No Need to Knead, by Suzanne Dunaway

Now tragically out of print; used copies on Amazon rather overpriced at $70/copy.

The underlying philosophy/approach is well-hydrated doughs, gluten development through folding, and maximizing the crust:crumb ratio.

Well worth obtaining if you can find it at a reasonable price -- I think the $40 I spent on a very good used copy was certainly worthwhile.
[and so do my family & colleagues ;7) ]

- Richard

www.oldwithoutmoney.com

I have been making bread from a Barm I started Nov 2001 and refresh on a regular basis.

May 2nd my 96y.o. mother in law gave me the book "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois.  "I" having made this Barm and over the years might have used 500 pounds of flour to keep it alive all but turned my nose up at the concept of mixing all the flour, water, salt, and yeast together at one time letting it rise THEN put it in the refrigerator over night. Now when you want to BAKE some bread you take out a pound or two depending on how muche you want to make.  You stretch the dough fold it under rotate stretch it again fold it under form a ball and set it on your peel.  THATS IT! You don't knead it, pray for it, or beg it to turn into bread.  After it comes to room temp in about 40 min you bake it and EAT IT!.

CAUTION!  I have to give some caution here.  Even starting with "The Master Recipe" make sure the container that you put it in is 8qts or more in size.  Thinking that "I" knew the volume for flour, water and yeast expansion put "my" first batch in a 4qt container.  Well let me just say that it was NOT big enough.

The bread came out great each time I baked a loaf.  To get the crust that "I" wanted I increased the oven temp to 500*.

I still have and feed my Barm but along side that in a much larger container I have the makings of some very good bread.

I currently own 4 books on bread, and apart from Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Bread, there are

Bread from Ciabatta to rye by Linda Collister.

Exceptional Breads by Dan Lepard & Richard Whittington

The Handmade Loaf by Dan Lepard.

This last book has an idiot proof method for leaven (sourdough starter) It worked first time after I'd had 2 failures with Peter Reinheart's method.

I can recommend them all.

Hi, I hope some one can help me. I doubled my recipe for cinnamon buns and when it has risen twice I punched it down and let it rest for 15 minutes.  I then rolled out 2 of the four rolls all went perfectly but when I went to roll out the 2nd and 3rd they would not stay put but kept shrinking back. Consequently, the rolls were much too thick.  Does anyone know what happened here, I sure would appreciate any help.  Thanks  Mary

This was the second bread book I read, and there's a huge amount information in this book, including various yeast conversions, what to do to substitute sourdough starter for a commercial yeasted recipe, etc. I didn't see this one mentioned in this page, I thought I would.

Currently, I'm reading these three books:

River Cottage Bread Handbook by Daniel Stevens (great book for an enthusiastic beginner).  It covers bread with dry yeast, wild yeast and without yeast.

Crust: bread to get your teeth into by Richard Bertinet

Local Breads: Sourdough and Wholegrain Recipes from Europe's Best Artisan Bakers by Daniel Leader

And I'm going to get more :)

Love this book.  Although too expensive to buy, I borrowed from the National Library.

I tried the crackers - good for youngsters, got more 'teeth' to chew

I tried on the pitas - very good.  I did 2 variations : rye and wholemeal.

Thanks for the recipe.

(or view from http://column01.wordpress.com)

of a Jewish Baker by Greenstein.  With little fuss he gets down and does a wonderful book of explaining several methods of achieving wonderful results.  The methods are using a food processor, flat beater mixer, baking machine or strictly manual.

Worth checking out !

don't forget The King Arthur Flour Baking Companion, the $35 price is drastically discounted at places such as Costco and BJs (maybe Sams as well, or online). It offers a wonderful section on breads, including sourdough, as well as other baking goodies.

I am one of the newer newbies here, I've posted a question or two I think but this I had to jump in and give my two cents.

When I do something I do it all the way and needless to say since I've been learning how to bake bread I've bought a ton of things and that includes books.

My first book was "Bread" by Daniel Lender, and as far as I was concerned he was a 'Bread God'.. then coming onto here I was introduced to Peter Reinhart and I so far have three of his books. But I have to say, that as a newbie to the Bread world that his last book "Artisan Bread Everyday" is a must have for any new bread baker who has a passion and the 'want to' to learn like myself.

The recipes are easy to follow and the results are wonderful! Peter's techniques were the answer to a lot of questions I had about why my bread wasn't coming out as I had hoped. Now my breads have come out so beautiful and the crumb is near perfect. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is starting out.

I have made the 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich bread, the croissants, the danish rolls, and several other breads from this book. I can't wait to go make each recipe in this book!

Good Luck! Have fun! and Happy Baking

Virginia C

Here's an article from NPR this morning that mentions, among others, Peter Reinhart and Rose Levy Beranbaum.

The 10 Best Cookbooks Of 2009

One of my favorites is a find from Amazon UK. Artisan Bread by the Swedish baker Jan Hedh and photographer Klas Andersson has a wide range of recipes and beautiful photography.

Originally published in Swedish, this English edition from 2007 uses the metric system for measurements. The directions are straightforward for the experienced baker. 

I highly recommend this book for those of you who already own books by Leader, Ortiz, Silverton, Hammelmann, and are seeking new inspiration. It is a fabulous addition to any bread baker's library.

Book of Breads -     Was able to get a used version from Amazon. What a super book, so many items I remember from my childhood in Germany. Cannot wait to try some, will start with the ones using almond paste (even gives a recipe how to make).

Regretably no photos but sure worth having the old recipes in one tome.

Anna

I'm looking for the bread book that will help me with the chemistry of baking, which has good writing (by which I mean, not too folksy and very straightforward and exact), and which provides a manageable variety of breads.  I've been baking bread for several years and I feel like I'm ready to take it to the next level.  I have been torturing my family with experimental breads for several weeks now (I bake weekly, bi-weekly, all our bread) and some have really been... hardly worthy of the name "bread".  Your recommendations are welcome!

 For me , Carol Field's The Italian Baker,; La Brea by Nancy Silverton; and Bread Alone by Daniel Leader are tops

Maybe this is unreasonable, but I am a little bit disappointed because of some doubts about authenticity of recipes in Daniel Leader's book, which I just got yesterday. 

I bought the book primarily because I thought the title and the reviews,  promised authentic European recipes with perhaps suggestions for adaptation to the baker's local conditions. However, looking at only two of the recipes ("Vingchter" and German Pretzels) which I know a little about, he apparently took the decision to adapt the recipes without describing what changes he made. 

This is particularly in relation to his recipe for "Vingchter", a type of roll which I became obsessed with on a trip to Alto Adige. Firstly, there's no such thing as a "Vingchter" - they're "Vinschgauer" or "Vinschgerl" or "Vinscher Paarlen" or "Vinscher Fladenbrote" and originate in Vinschgau. Is "Vingchter" a misguided attempt to anglicize the name, or sloppy spelling? I would have thought Vinscher Flatbread is reasonably easy to pronounce. 

As with other baked goods, there's certainly no single authoritative recipe. However, any online post, blog or encyclopaedic entry about this regional specialty will refer to the fact that the key flavouring ingredient for  Vinschgerl is "Brotklee", a ground herb from the fenugreek family (specifically, blue fenugreek).

Now, you may not be able to buy it in the USA, let alone in Australia, but , I'd still like to know that this is a key ingredient in the original recipe.  Did his Austrian baker not tell him about the ingredient? He only mentions fennel & cumin as flavourings, when any Austrian recipe I've ever read call for fennel, coriander, and caraway (Kümmel) -  not cumin (Kreuzkümmel), which is not very common in Germany/Austria - as well as anise seeds.

The other recipe which I take issue with is German Pretzels. He describes boiling the pretzels in a baking soda bath. However, even the most cursory research will tell you that baking soda (NaHCO3) is a substitute, not a great one, for the lye (NaOH) which is actually used. He doesn't even mention that the baking soda mixture is a variation for home bakers and is not likely to give the same result as using lye. Might have been worth an FAQ entry or something at the end of the recipe. 

Anyway, not that I'm really surprised. I suppose I should put this down to well-meaning adaptation for his US audience. rather than just another example of German breads being disregarded.

Visit a German bakery and then visit a French or Italian one - the difference in the sheer range of breads offered in even a small village German bakery is astounding. Yet German breads are always treated somewhat cursorily in baking books. (Am I whining? I'll stop now) 

Anyone have any thoughts on Bread by Richard Bertinet?

Hi Mini

Yummy white-sliced English pap or some authentic 100% rye?

You choose

Where are you at the moment?

Andy

I always wonder why - with a majority of Americans claiming some German heritage - not much of German cooking went into the main stream, only sauerkraut and pretzels (foods I eat probably once a year, if at all). Whenever I see a sign: "German Bakery" on a road trip through New England, I'll go in - usually to find nothing but the usual - squishy, pale loaves losing their last bit of crust (if ever there was any) in plastic bags.

I brought several boxes of Brotklee or Schabzigerklee (blue fenugreek) from Germany, it is a green powder with a very strong aroma. Yesterday I prepared Vinschgerlen dough (Vinschgauer Pairs = a South Tyrolean specialty bread) and the whole house was filled with the Brotklee smell. I do not know whether blue fenugreek is available in the US, but it's worth a try - bread made with it tastes wonderful.

download free from here:  http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/13923

Lovely bread recipes are but a small part of this inspiring and educational book.

I recently bought two of Bertinet's books - "Dough", his first book and "Crust" (but I didn't see "Bread" on the shelves)  Each books comes with a DVD of his kneading methods, one on sourdough and one on sweet dough and how to shape batard and a boule.  I also purchased Peter Reinhart's Artisan Bread every day.  I may never be able to follow a lot of the recipes in there but it's still a good read with lots of nice pictures and the books keep me movivated.  I've only just started reading but I find that his method is quite different from conventional techniques that taught by other bakers. He doesn't "knocking back" nor does he knead his dough with the heel of his palms. With the books and posts from TFL, I'm going to have a very busy summer.   I've also signed up for a pizza dough class in Aug. and I hope I can find some good tips and recipes from TFL to prepare me for the class.

I am a newbie to this journey of bread baking.  I stumbled on KAF website, which sparkled a desire to bake easy rolls, quick breads and foolproof recipes.  This eventually opened me to the world of bread baking and more specifically artisan bread...and that was barely 3 weeks ago.  In my search for a good baking book, I came across the name of Peter Reinhart.  For most of you, that name is synonymous to that of a "sommite" (ie the expert, the summun); to me, it meant nothing, until I bought his latest book - Artisan Bread Everyday.    Beautiful....just beautiful.  Well written, delicious pictures, easy recipes (have only tried one of them so far but I can already tell that Reinhart has gone through a lot of trouble to keep his recipes easy and foolproof and his method efficiently friendly - especially for a clueless baker such as myself).  I will not stop at only one recipe, and surely, I will not stop at only this one book.  Reinhart has ignited a craze in me to bake more, to learn more, to perfect an art that I thought I could never touch as I was intimidated by the veils of words such as yeast, rising, proofing, flour scale....

Merci Reinhart for the grace of this book, for your passion for dough, and for sharing your savoir-faire to others in something so earthly as baking.

Can anyone recommend a book on artisan bread that gives formulae for large volume recipes?  I'm hoping to find something that starts with 25lb. doughs instead of the usual home kitchen recipes for 2-4lb. volumes.  Or do people just start with a small scale and multiply the volumes?  Does the yeast take particular accommodation in ramping it up?

I am surprised to not find in this listing--nor the comments--the amazing Tassajara Bread Book. In fact, it's this book that relieved me of my failures with whole wheat bread (for years I just made white flour based breads because of how dense my loaves were - no more!). It made me understand the yeast and bread process so easily, and the language with which Edward Espe Brown writes is just tantalizingly simple and carefree. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to learn easy but satisfying techniques that can be easily reapplied to many of your own bread recipes. Probably a bit too easy for the more experienced artisan bakers, but definitely an excellent stepping stone.

My road home on a recent vacation took me through the wheat growing area of Kansas and in particular, to Marienthal, home of Heartland Mills. Ever since, I've had a curiosity about the growing of wheat and the process of milling wheat into flour. This morning's search through Amazon turned up some professional books but nothing at my level, that of home baking enthusiast.

I'm ready to delve into something that goes a little deeper than my bread baking books but not into those pricey professional tomes. Are there such books available or am I going to have to look at the used books stores around Kansas State University?

.... by Daniel T. DiMuzio (Amazon.com listing here) is a textbook, but the chapter dealing with how to develop your own bread formulas was educational, comprehensive and understandable for an amateur like myself.  Worth the price of the book in my view.

Could the person who put this list together please please add Dan Lepard's The Handmade Loaf book to the list?  It is such a hugely important book amongst sourdough bakers.  It is the book so many have started their Starter from as it has a really good step-by-step recipe for it.  It's how I did mine.

The book contains hybrid & yeast recipes but has sourdoughs too.  He travels Europe and makes up recipes inspired by the ones he sees on his travels.

When he brought the book out 2004 if was the first of its kind with sourdough recipes for the home baker, it was also the first one to show you the "folding technique" which is now so widely used by other bread book writers.

azélia

"Breads of France" is one of those books that took me a while to get to. The local library didn't have a copy and the regional library system didn't have a copy in any of the associated libraries in NE Kansas. The hardcover version was originally released in 1978 and reprinted in 1984. It was also printed in paperback with the most current printing that I've heard of being in 1986. I didn't expect to find it at the local Barnes& Noble bookstore either.

So I finally went back to the library and requested a state wide search for a copy, knowing that it might take a while to go through the system. A copy was located in McPherson, KS and I began my wait. After nine weeks, the book finally arrived. It was a 1978 copy. The book is part travelogue recounting Mr Clayton's vacations in France to research material for the book and part recipes. D Leader's "Local Breads" followed this format. The recipes were gathered in different areas of France starting in Paris and heading out to the borders and coastlines. There are a surprising number of recipes that utilize rye flour.

My first reading left me puzzled at times and critical of his seeming overuse of active dry yeast. After second and third readings, I gained a better grasp of what Mr Clayton was doing and my appreciation of his work increased. So much so that I decided to try to find and buy a used copy of the book. Amazon had copies of both the hardcover and paperback but the prices were high, bordering on ridiculous when a used hardcover edition was priced at $80US and paperback editions were close behind. Fortune must have been smiling on me when, through persistent searching on the Internet, I located a paperback copy at Good Will Books for just over $9US+S&H. I was expecting a used copy that would show signs of use but instead received an essentially new copy that looked better than some "new" books I've seen in book stores. Someone had penciled in the price on the first page but that was the only detracting aspect that I found. I'll live with that.

I've come to enjoy the book and the format that Mr Clayton chose. The ingredients are listed in volume measurements but that's no surprise given the era when it was written. There weren't many "artisan" bakeries in the early to mid 1970s and even fewer home bakers that were recreating those loaves at home. After first attempting the Gallette Persane bread, I don't expect to have too much trouble with the recipes other than I never bothered to learn how to use a spreadsheet. It will take time to do the conversions and baker's math with calculator, paper, and pen. I guess I'm more of a troglodyte than a Luddite in this situation.

I'm looking forward to working on the recipes as projects for this year and will share my successes here and on my blog.

http://chaosamongstthefloursandflowers.blogspot.com/

Hey guy, I am living in Viet Nam, and I am trying to practice all kind of delicious breads in order to open my own Bakery store in the near future, so thats why I love cookbook you mention here and I love some of them, but this time I am gonna try "Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes" by Jeffrey Hamelman's published in 2004. But I can not find it on Amazon, so Can you show me where I can buy this book online.

Thanks you guys so much.

I found this book in the new releases section of the Platte City, MO MCPL branch and spent a few weeks reading it. I think it's worth buying to add to my collection of baking books.

Mr Forkish's approach in this book isn't simply a rehash of material from FWSY. He made the point of not treating pizza dough like bread dough very early. Mr Forkish wrote with clarity and style of his travels through Italy to get a better understanding of pizza in Italy so I found the book to be both entertaining and informative. The recipes are geared towards the home baker who has baked at least a few loaves in their time.

If you haven't got room in your house for another book, borrow a copy from your local library system and spend some time reading it. People who like a good pie will enjoy the read.

I read Trevor’s book entitled Open Crumb Mastery by Trevor J Wilson 

 http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/54193/open-crumb-mastery

 The information is unique. I’ve not seen this kind of detailed information dealing with open crumb in anyother resource. I’d say anyone that is seriously interested in rustic type breads with very open crumb would benefit greatly by reading this work. Others that I know who have read it seem to agree.

It is currently only available in PDF format. It is not intended for new bakers. Trevor advises intermediate bakers.

Dan Ayo

Has anyone tried Emmanuel Hadjiandreou's new book? I'm very tempted but I've got 30+ bread books....

SOURDOUGH by Lugg & Fjeld is really well written and has beautiful photography too. I have already made several of the breads and they all turned out well. I have about 20 SD book and this has become my go to book!

What book would you recommend to give a novice bread baker?

Thank you!

Can anyone recommend their favorite bread baking book focusing on technique and tips for those new to bread baking.  Thank you. 

Sourdough by Science: Understanding Bread Making for Successful Baking, by Karyn Lynn Newman

If you’re looking for science, look elsewhere. Despite the title, the science in this book is minimal. The author says, for example, that rice flour will prevent dough from sticking “for some reason.” That’s hardly science. I really wanted to read about the science of baking, but this isn’t the book for it.

She mentions the “gluten proteins” in flour without naming them (glutenin and gliadin), describing how they interact to become gluten, or even how gluten networks develop with hydration. She says salt is needed for “gluten structure” without explaining why or how, or even what percentage is optimal or too much in dough. Sugar and its effects on yeast growth are not even mentioned. Nor is oil and its uses mentioned.

Nowhere does she discuss the amount of protein in various types of flour, the amount required for bread or that the protein level in American all-purpose flour varies by brand and region. Differences between hard and soft wheat are not mentioned. Her description of vital wheat gluten doesn’t explain when to use it or how much.

The scientific name of yeast is never used. Lactic acid bacteria are mentioned once, but not by the proper name. Nowhere is the symbiotic relationship between yeast and bacteria described, nor what each brings to the dough. There’s nothing on how to maintain a proper pH level in your starter.

There is nothing on the biochemistry behind fermentation, about pH levels, alcohol, CO2, or the esters created. The Maillard reaction - a crucial part of the development of the crust - isn’t mentioned. She mentions the autolyse period without explaining the science behind it.

Nowhere does she discuss the physical reasons bakers use steam in their ovens or how the crust can gelatinize. She mentions diastatic malt without but not how it works, when to use it or how much to use.

There is nothing on the different types of oven, the advantages or disadvantages of, say, convection ovens, the physics of heat conduction in different materials and how they affect baking, or different baking times required between pre-heated or cool materials. There’s nothing on using a proofing box.

Even the baking part is weak: she refers to a “proofing basket” without using the name “banneton” by which bakers know it. She does not mention other methods for holding proofing dough, like a baker’s pan or Dutch oven. She “highly recommends” using a silicon spatula or dough scraper for mixing dough without saying why (or what material the scraper should be). 

She has only one recipe using milk, but does not explain how milk and its proteins and sugars affect the loaf, whether powdered milk can work, or the difference in results using skim vs whole milk. She doesn’t explain what eggs and butter do, either, although her brioche recipe uses them. Or what amount of salt is beneficial and when it becomes a deterrent to yeast growth. This is basic stuff you can find in many other books.

At one point she suggests that a typical cup of flour weighs 120g (which is what King Arthur flour uses for conversion). But other companies suggest varying amounts, depending on brand and type. You can find figures ranging from 116g to 170g per cup online. (Emily Buehler uses 110g). But the weight of a cup can vary according to age, type, brand, humidity, milling, packing, storage, and sifting. Using cups to measure flour is very inaccurate and can significantly affect hydration.

Nothing about using bread machines and sourdough, either.

The bulk of the book is in the recipes, which are okay, but nothing you can’t already get from a dozen other, more comprehensive sourdough books. And as for science, I highly recommend Emily Buehler’s book, Bread Science (15th-anniversary edition or later). I cannot recommend Newman’s book, however.

Anyone tried A Passion for Bread by Lionel Vatinet?  His Bakery is reasonably close to where I live, and everything I've had from it has been ever so good.

I should learn more about baking and probable publish my own book :P

Has anyone read or purchased the Sue Becker's book, "The Essential Home-Ground Flour Book"? Instead of using grams for weighing and measuring, she uses milliliters? I thought that very strange.....

Thank you for your article, this is really a useful book for me in the kitchen.

 You can also find more books on the website https://horbuchkostenlos.de/