Customer Reviews

Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is s dream come true for bakers of all levels. The detail provided will expand your knowledge and the proof will be in the baking. The loaves of artisanal quality bread that you will produce will astound. This book is a must for anyone who loves to bake bread, or anyone who has a desire to learn what will truly produce a good loaf of bread. Page after page of mouthwatering recipe will lure to you to bake. Enjoy it - it is a jewel!

Jeffrey Hamelman is the head baker at King Arthur flour. This is a comprehensive bread book with easy to follow recipes that do not fail. It is one of my two indispensable bread books.

many recipes here, a little knowledge of baking does help or you wont get the work. You do need to prepare things ahead of time on many recipes, but GREAT bread book

This is the second copy I've bought of this book. This one was a gift for my son-in-law who has started an artisanal bakery as a small business. I've been using my copy for about a year. Just did the Olive Levain, which was truly excellent. My Jewish rye is based on his recipe, a bit revised (I use more sour than he does). This is the one that I turn to, of all the bread books we've bought.

Only downside from my point of view is the English measure (lbs and ozs) instead of metric. Easy enough to convert the recipes to metric measure, though. The real artisanal bakers love that his recipes are also shown in 25 lb versions, in addition to the standard two loaf recipes.

I love this book.

I gave this edition of the book five stars because it is a very well written, detailed and thorough education on bread baking. It is like a major baking course right at your fingertips but for a whole lot less money than actually going to baking school.

I do and have often recommended this book to any serious home or pro baker who wants to delve deeper than just following a recipe and getting nice bread at the end. The recipe section, in this case some 80+ recipes long, is well laid out and thorough in its explanation of the process. However, the real "gold" in this edition is the first part of the book which, likely, most people will skip over to get to the juicier bits (the recipes) and get baking right away. However, there is a wealth of information given in the Ingredients and Techniques section (as well as the Appendix) which make this book invaluable and will expand any reader's knowledge of the bread making process.

There are comparatively speaking a lot less photos in this book than most bread baking books (i.e. Reinhart's Bread Baker's Apprentice) so you will not be enticed by luscious pictures of bread at every turn. PLEASE don't let that turn you away from this chance to really learn the intricacies of the baking process.

Is this book or everyone? No, certainly not. The casual bread baker will find it much too technical for their occasional foray into breads and besides, there are other excellent books for this group. But if you find yourself a little more intrigued by the craft of bread making, this is certainly a book that would be well worth picking up.

Note that there is a new edition of this book available as of December 2012 which is an expanded version of this 2004 publication. There are 30+ new recipes, a few more photographs and an expanded Ingredients and Techniques section, as well as tweaks throughout.

The best book I have ever read about bread!!! I all my life wanted to make bread I bought a lot off books about it but I learn just a little bit, and the results so disappointed until I bought this book change all my life!!!! the best.... in this book you will learn the steps to make all kind of bread, the techniques and the results after you read it you will be the happiest person in the world because your bread will looks and taste like a professional artisian baker I am soooooo happy for this book!!!! thanks a lot to the autor Jeffrey Hamelman the best baker ever!!!!

A well crafted blend of recipes, instructions and explanation that results in better bread making. Now rather than baking by rote and speculation, I do it with a clearer understanding. When substituting what I have for what is specified or when conditions are not as they should be I can alter the recipe more successfully.

A veritable fountain of knowledge for any type of bakers - this book has it all. And, if you are really into breadmaking, this is the book to have. Well Done!

I am a home baker, admittedly a bit obsessed with baking bread, but of all the bread books I've read, and that's many many, this is my absolute favorite. The recipes are all flawless, the techniques great, and because of this, I've make bread better than most bakeries in my mid-size city. It has a range of recipes, both including yeast and starter, french, rye, challah, special doughs - pretty much the whole range. This book isn't for everyone, but I like it far better than the Reinhart series, and it is truly the one bread book I couldn't live without.

Contrary to the one negative opinion, this book is suitable for all bakers. It is far and away the most important book I use and has been so from day one. My first book was Reinhart's BBA which provided an adequate primer. Within a couple of months I purchased Bread- what a revelation! Thank you so much Mr. Hamelman for your wonderful contribution to amateur bread bakers everywhere.