Hamelman's "Bread" book - some questions and observations

Alan,

I have found it quite thorough, and the recipes easy to follow.  It's by no means state of the art by today's standards, what with, e.g., Tartine, Josey, and Forkish, but it's still my preferred book after all this time (hah--I've only been baking SD since January), perhaps because I've had good success with it, I really like the recipes, and it was my first book baking SD (I already had BBA, and found his SD explanation bewildering).  I'm not sure why recipes end up being, say 347.5 g of ingredient X.  That's silly on its face.  I've penciled in gram measurements for recipes I use.

Mixers: p.12 has a conversion for which kind of mixer you have.  I have found it works well.

As to your other questions yes, he does leave some things out.  I do not worry about my starter hydration, and simply feed it from the fridge 1-4 times before using it for levain.  Like any other instructional book, I use it only as a guide.  For questions that remained, I researched here and elsewhere, with great success.

I hope you end up enjoying it!

Phil

neophyte.  I finally got it after getting my confidence up.  I am a small home baker.  I will ordinary bake every other week usually 4 loaves, about 1 1/2 pounds each.  I often use his book.

Before I go further, your loaves are gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My thoughts

1. yes I think it's geared to the professional.

2. nothing indicates in the early pages for whom it's written.  The recipes include scaled down amounts for us home bakers though

3. He has a long section on mixing and mixers: Beginning at the bottom of page 9, (skipping page 10 which is about autolyse) and continuing on page 11 to 12.  It's a long section and he mentions many kinds of mixers.

4. I cannot really address your 4th issue, as I don't understand it.  Seems to me your pictures demonstrate to perfection what he intends in his recipe.... Yours are gorgeous!

5. I agree about his steaming technique.  Though he does mention 3 different things: the ice, the mist and the lava rocks all to be used on the same bake.

6. I have not made that bread but have made many in his book. Mostly in the sourdough section, and the Swiss Farmhouse bread also.  Every one has been really good.  Some great.

My biggest complaint about his book are the essential sections where the publisher printed a thin font on a medium blue background.  It pains my eyes to read those sections.

hester

I have baked more bread from this book than any two other books I have, combined.  Period.  Yes, it is geared to professionals, with only a "nod" to the home baker.  If you read some of the threads here on TFL, you will find that many have come to this conclusion over the years since it released.  You should also know that there may even still be some errors in the book, but you can find the errata sheet posted here on TFL as well.  This book has been "gone over" pretty extensively here on the site.

I had a lot of trouble with the recipes as well.  Since I bake with metric measurements, I generally base my baking on those measurements in his formulas.  Those formulas, however, are definitely in industrial quantities.  I started out by penciling in the 1/10th batch quantities next to the grams measurements, but that rapidly did not work out well. In the end I have created a "Hamelman Bread Scaler" workbook in Excel.  In it I have all the recipes I bake from most often, with the original formulas "below the line" out of site.  Up where I work with them I have a few data entry fields and some formulas that will scale any of the "industrial" size batches to n units of x grams each.  I just decide what I want to bake, how much this time, and set it up in my workbook.  Print ranges are already set, so I just print the current page and head for the kitchen. 

At the back of the workbook I have some conversion pages set up to help me quickly figure out how to take "x" grams of one of my starters and render "y" grams of levain at "z" hydration for a given bake.  Saves me a lot of time, and mistakes, and has allowed me to get great use out of what I consider a great book, taken as a whole, shortcomings and all!

On the flip side, I too have had my share of frustrations trying to figure out how long to mix something on my "not a two speed spiral mixer" that is also not a Kitchen Aide.  As I have gone along though, my feel for the dough has greatly improved and I now just watch the dough and ignore the clock.  His mixing instructions are generally speaking,  for professionals who need repeatable and bankable timings in order to manage their overall baking.  For me as an amateur, a couple of loaves is far less of a challenge and I can just keep an eye on it.

I really hope you will give the book a chance.  There are a lot of really great breads in there.  And, as your pictures attest, you can bake!

Best of luck with it
OldWoodenSpoon

There is definitely a "home" column in all his formula that gives the quantities for baking at home. He did this in ounces presumably because 1) he lives in the US 2) the conversion in metric is really simple (add a couple zeros and make it grams). Converting the US weight system is not as easy. This is why I use grams/ml for bread baking even though I live in the US and everything else in my life is pounds and ounces.

He does favor a mixer, but a kitchen aide type is fine. He does give hand kneading instructions if you look at the "Hand Mixed White Bread". But the mixing times for different machines are given in a section called "Mixing Guidelines"

There are several sections like that one that you come across that give you bits of information (the ones in blue). A lot of what you mention is contained in those sections, but it can take some hunting. He even states in one that the steaming technique is just one possible way and if you have one that works better, use it.

It is not a perfect but it has a lot of good information and the formulas give a lot of details on what to do. Plus the formulas usually work out quite well. I personally love having it around even though a lot of the info can be found on the Internet (and especially at TFL).

I suggest you read through the book more and see how you feel after that. It might be possible that after all the bread baking you have done, it is too basic and you need something more.

But, like others it is my go to book. I also have Bread Bible by Rose levy Beranbaum (my fav multigrain is based on her 10 grain torpedo), BBA, whole grain breads (PR), FWSY, Tartine. however, whilst I have learnt much from these and have favourite recipes in each, TFL gives much much more than any one of these. Visual inspiration, queries answered and much more. I count your posts among my group of favourites - so thank you so much for what you give but do read Hammelman, there is a lot in there. His recipes are so easily scaled using the metric column.

Leslie

stick in tabs to my book and I write in all the margins, just about.  In red.    ...and blue   and pencil.   I started reading it before baking with it.  I think you can look up just about any recipe in it on TFL and find comments.  See what others have done and said and get a feel for the recipe before baking.

Na ya, and here I sit without my book but I have TFL and you all.  That's pretty potent baking mojo.  

Mini

Bread is a great book, with valuable general explanations of the many facets of bread baking (and those discussions, while spread across the book, address some of what you seem to be looking for in the formulas you've looked at).  It is definitely my go to for well developed formulas.

But sure...no baking book is exactly what I always want.  And in Hammelman's case, I really don't appreciate the listing of the 'home' quantity versions of his formulas in cups and oz.'s.  I just go with the baker's %.

The main thing that has me bewildered is not being more clear (and repeating this over and over because it is completely ambiguous) is about what he means by 'bread flour'.  For professional bakers ordering 50lb bags of flour, 'bread flour' is moderate gluten (~11.5%), or what home bakers and grocery store flour bags refer to as 'All Purpose'.  Meanwhile, in the industry 'Hi-Pro' is the term for stronger flours, or what is referred to as 'bread flour' in grocery stores.  I know this may not be news to very many, but when this was explained to me while I was at SFBI, my jaw dropped, and I'm still shaking my head at how completely confusing this naming scheme is.  'Bread flour' is a completely ambiguous term in the world of bread baking, and I think Hammelman could have done us all a favor in doing more to clear up the matter.  This, of course, really does show who the target audience is - professional bakers (which is just fine by me).

He does address the issue in a not-so-clear way on p. 146, but the term 'bread flour' is not in the glossary, or in the index (under either 'bread' or 'flour'), and his discussions of flour and its many types (spring, winter, red, white, hard, soft, patent, clear) don't clarify the term he uses throughout the book (at least not that I have found).  I think this is an oversight.

So it's not perfect for me...still a great book and my main reference.

Hi.

Having baked from Hamelman's "Bread" for a few years, I've figured out a few thinks that might provide perspective. Maybe even help.

Yup. The book is written primarily for professionals and experienced ones at that. It offers a wide variety of breads from which a baker could select according to his/her own customers' tastes and some novelties to offer customers "something different."

I am sure you can figure out the scaling of the formulas for 30 Kg's of dough, but here's what I do: Take the metric formula and divide all the amounts by 10. No calculations otherwise. This gives you two reasonable-sized loaves, generally. I few formulas give you 3 loaves.

The formulas themselves are all telegraphic. Even though Hamelman is primarily talking to pros, the introductory chapters and the introductions to each section of the book have all the other information you need, and then some. Hamelman has admirable skill in expressing fairly complex stuff clearly. There is still so much depth that I learn new stuff every time I re-read these materials. Just do it.

The procedures like mixing, steaming, baking temperatures and times are all addressed to the commercial bakery environment and commercial equipment. We all know how much variation there is in the performance of mixers and ovens and in the atmosphere (temperatures and humidity) of home kitchens. You have to learn how to translate and adapt. For example, I found I need to double mixing times given by Hamelman, when I am using my KA mixer. But then I discovered an extra stretch and fold (sometimes two) achieves an even nicer result. YMMV. "Steam: 2 seconds" means something in a large, steam-injected deck oven. For my home  electric convection oven, it means nothing. There's not even a conversion that makes any sense. 

The issues bikeprof raised about the need for clearer definitions of flour types are certainly valid for the home baker. Again, I think the definition of "bread flour" to the professional is probably something like "hard red wheat flour with protein content of 10.4-12%." It's not hi-gluten (as used for bagels and highly enriched doughs) or low-gluten flours used for pastry and cakes.

Anyway, them's my 2 cents. As my grandmother used to say, "A bargain at half the price!"

Happy baking!

David

Full disclosure, I haven't read the book yet but I have viewed many of Hamelman's YouTube videos and purchased his Craftsy video "The Baker's Guide to French Breads". If you are looking for a Hamelman tutorial directed at the home baker I would recommend this video. He is using standard mixing bowls, a countertop, his hands and a home oven with a cast iron pan for steam.

From what I gather, Jeffrey Hamelman has been a production baker nearly all his life. It is no wonder, at least to me, that his writings would be in alignment with his experiences. With that said, a cover note mentioning that the book was intended for production bakers would likely cut book sales dramatically but I do not want to make any assumptions here. 

I think your criticism regarding the directed audience is fair. Looking at the first few pages via Amazon I do not see anything that specifies his audience, and from you comments I will assume that this is not a "beginner's book". 

In about a month I will have the great fortune of attending a 3-day class with Jeffrey Hamelman and James MacGuire entitled "Survey of Classic French Breads". At that time I will purchase a signed copy of his book and may ask him directly about its intended audience.

Alfonso, you bake beautiful bread. I have followed your writings and watched your videos too. I am envious of your gringe but I still cannot master mixing dough while wearing gloves :-)   Thank you for your contributions.

Hamelman, so i'll leave that alone. 

But I seriously love your baguettes. The spring is always so explosive. Lovely, lovely, lovely! 

Hope you end up enjoying the book :) And if not, well i suppose that's the worst that can happen! LOL! 

Thanks for sharing your bakes with us. 

Happy baking, 

Ru

I've been reading this thread since Alfanso's initial post. I have to say finally that I did not find Hamelman an easy book to follow at first. Bread is the first text I had.  I had more help here on the forums than I was able to glean from Bread.  Definitely that was my level of experience or lack of.  I do think that you need a rudimentary knowledge to really benefit from the textbook. 

The book is set up in such a way that you have to jump around for reference points. But I have also found that even though I have to look for it, it's there.  It is a very different presentation than Tartine or FWSY, both of which are more or less spoon-feeding.  They are directed to the home baker and are clearly sold as such.  Hamelman offers a much broader experience. 

I have always questioned the term "bread" flour as being somewhat ambiguous and do appreciate the definition above. If Hamelman defines it I haven't found it. I also find his columns confusing.  The production being in kilograms makes sense but the switch to ounces for home bakers makes no sense at all to me. What's wrong with grams?

In closing I would say I like all the textbooks I've collected. They all offer something -  just differently. Bread is a wonderful reference for much more than sourdough baking and provides a wonderful resource for the usual and the less than usual bake. 

Something to keep in mind as others have already pointed out is that Bread is a textbook, and as such, a lot of the information you seek is found in the text, rather than repeated over and over in each bread formula. I highly recommend reading all those sections at the front of the book, and at the top of any chapter you're baking from. Perhaps even re-read some parts from time to time. Having said that, what Hamelman means by "bread flour" is explained on page 146:

The recommended white flour in the formulas (and the flour of choice for all the levain builds) is winter-wheat bread flour of medium strength --- 11.5 to 12 percent protein, and with an ash content of about .5 percent. Stronger flours are not necessary, and with few exceptions high-gluten flours should be avoided. In doughs that have lots of heavy grains to hold up, high-gluten flour might be beneficial, but for the most part, bread work-up and flavor are better with lower-protein flour. Spring wheat with the same protein and ash content can substitute for the winter wheat.

So, how is the home baker to know which brands and types make suitable "bread" flours? Unfortunately, it's not as simple as looking at the label of supermarket flours, because some (not all) that are labeled as Bread Flour have higher than 12% protein, and some All-Purpose flours are lower than 11.5%. If you've been a subscriber to Cook's Illustrated or have access to back articles, look up All-Purpose Four: Does the Brand Matter? (May & June 1999). I don't know if the major mills are still milling to those same specs (I suspect they are), but here are the protein levels that were given for unbleached AP flours at the time (and applications they placed first at in the baking tests):

King Arthur [hard red winter]:  11.7%  (pie pastry, and biscuits)  -  best all-around

Pillsbury [hard and soft red winter]:  10-11.5%  (not first at anything)  -  2nd best all-around

Gold Medal [hard red winter]:  10.5%  (choco chip cookies, and yeast bread)

Heckers/Ceresota [hard red winter]:  11.5-11.9%  (tied 1st for icebox cookies)

Hodgson Mill [hard red winter]:  11%  (muffins)

The rest were bleached all-purpose flours (best in the cake test, and tied for icebox cookies). I hope this helps clear up some confusion. Only two out of the five fall in the suggested protein range for bread flour, so one can't just substitute any all-purpose. One that is not included is Bob's Red Mill. I don't know the protein content of that one, but their flour is milled from hard spring wheat. Or, at least the regular whole wheat is, so I assume the all-purpose is too. I could be wrong.

All the best,
dw

The Canadian bread flour of choice in bakeries I've known is Robin Hood's Keynote 45, "strong baker's flour" and listed on my most recent 20k bag as having been milled by Ardent Mills, Brampton ON. I believe the equivalent at the supermarket is Robin Hood's flour called Best for Bread, which they describe as a homestyle white. Their Keynote 39 is the one bakers would choose for bagels and pizza, no retail equivalent. I'm lucky to have access to both at a store called Wholesale Club, operated in my home town of Victoria by the Loblaw chain. Target market is professional - restaurants, bakeries and such - but the public can shop there, too.

There are other brands and types of flour, of course. One of the best, imo, sadly is not distributed much outside of Quebec and Ontario: Milanaise organic flours. Usually sold in 1k and 2k bags in supermarkets. So far, I've tried and love their whole wheat bread flour, rye, and whole spelt. Guess what I bring home whenever I visit Montreal!

As for the main topic of this thread, I have to echo what others said. Most of what you need and want to know is actually there in the book, somewhere. It's not a recipe book in the usual sense, more a text that needs to be studied. But that's the way I've always gone at cookbooks, so it works for me.