Rating: 
Summary: buy this book,
Review: i spent more than 2 years of my life working in bakeries and left when i realised i wasnt learning anything about bread, or really even baking, but only how to work in a bakery. not once did they teach me anything about yeasts, wheat strains, gluten or anything that actually makes bread tick. i even remember once asking the head baker "why does wholemeal bread take longer to bake than white bread?" the answer he gave me: "because it just does."this book told me everything i wanted to know but could never find out at work. professional baking... what a joke. if you really want to know how to make good bread, buy and study this book.
Rating:
Summary: Enlightenment
Review: I'm compelled to post a "me too" review. I've been baking for a very long time and only came across this wonderful book about 9 months ago. It's ALL there. It's just ALL there. I now make better bread (baguettes, bagels, sourdoughs, enriched or plain, challah, everything) than I CAN buy, and I live in Brooklyn Heights (probably the best place to get bread in the US.) My only complaint (and it's a meager one) is that his weight measurements are in ounces not grams. (Hey, I had to find SOMEthing.)
Rating:
Summary: A Great and Educational Book
Review: I had the pleasure of learning under Chef Reinhart (a very kind and knowledgeable man) at Johnson & Wales University a couple of years ago. A lot of the formulas in this book are the same ones we used in class and I can say they are delicious. Reading this book was like being back in class without the grades! Reinhart gives informative step-by-step guides and descriptions in this book so you know exactly where you should be at with each bread you are making. Buy this book -- it will give you a great education on bread making without the hefty $$$ tuition.
Rating:
Summary: Best.Bread.Book.Ever
Review: This is the finest book on bread baking - - -ever. The only better way to learn about breads, grains, and all aspects of making bread would be to go to The Culinary Institute of America. The author writes about professional methods of mastering the art - - - and it is an art - - - of extraordinary bread. These methods are not available in any other book.
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Summary: Just starting out? This book is amazing...
Review: ...So I've got this friend of mine, Patrick, who is an artisan bread guru. You know the type: someone who brings all his "mistakes" to the party and everyone greedily gobbles them down? Patrick took me under his wing to teach me a few "basics." He has a bookshelf full of books and this is the single ONE he recommended. And he was right. Peter Reinhart does the equivalent of holding your hand and talking you through every single step of how to pull off amazing breads. Yeast breads, sourdough, enriched (dessert) breads, the whole she-bang. Reinhart does an amazing job of introducing you to the variables that can go wrong, and how to avoid pitfalls in the process. Every time I had a "but what if" question, all I had to do was continue reading...the answer was there. Now *I* bake artisan breads for my own gatherings and people think *I'm* a bread guru...Ha! Thanks, Peter Reinhart!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Book
Review: I highly recommend Mr. Reinhart's book. I have been baking cakes and breads for close to 10 years and love to find books like this that include not just recipes but science as well. This book, in my opinion, does for bread bakers what Rose Levy Bernbaum's book The Cake Bible, does for cake bakers. Both provide you with great recipes and the explanations behind them help you to become more technically proficient and confident with each recipe tried.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent intermediate-to-advanced book
Review: Peter Reinhart outstrips his previous works in The Bread Baker's Apprentice. It is, in one volume, a guide to the science and art of great bread, an account of Reinhart's journeys and experiences in the professional baking world, and finally, a collection of some very good bread formulae. The book's greatest successes are in European-style hearth loaves. His whole wheat bread is great, to be sure, and his cinnamon buns deliver, but for truly excellent work turn to the ciabatta, French bread, pain de campagne, and other lean-dough recipes. (Also worth a rave is his foccacia, which left me wondering why they hadn't had anything this good when I was in Italy.) A few things to be aware of: 1. As has been true with all of Reinhart's work since Brother Juniper, patience is the key to these wonderful loaves. His delicious rendition of Pane Siciliano, not even a sourdough, takes three days from start to finish! The majority of the recipes in the book require work on at least two separate days, and rising times are longer than in many other books due to smaller amounts of yeast. 2. While many of the ethnic-style breads are very good, they are often Reinhart's personal renditions and are not what I would call "authentic." The most obvious oddity, to me, is the presence of milk in the dough of his New York Deli Rye. Reinhart reminisces about eating roast beef on this bread in several of New York's kosher delis, where Jewish dietary laws prohibit the admixture of dairy and meat products in a single meal. On a less urgent note, I'm surprised that this recipe doesn't call for first-clear flour, also called common flour, which is usually considered essential for good Jewish rye. 3. This is not a beginner's book. Unless you already have an electric mixer with a dough hook, you'll want to know how to knead dough by hand, and Reinhart does not explain this rather basic skill. In addition, the formulae can be a bit on the intimidating side, and may confuse people who are not inclined to read through the rather scientific introduction to the process of bread baking. Many books are available which can give you the basic tools to make perfectly good bread before you tackle some of this material. Despite these obstacles -- one cannot really call them faults -- this book is an invaluable part of my collection, and I use it regularly to great praise from my family and friends. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book for bakers
Review: Ever want to make a braid bread that didn't look like three worms in love? Wonder why your rye bread was hard as a rock? This book is full of tips and insights that will help you be a better baker.
Rating:
Summary: PERFECT
Review: Peter Reinharts' books are top notch. This is one of the jewels in a bread bakers collection. Nothing more needs to be said.
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Summary: The best Bread recipes
Review: This is the best bread baking book I have come across in many years. The recipes in this book give amazingly good results that makes you want to go back over and over again. I tell my students that the Sticky Buns are the perfect gift for anyone you want to fall in love with you.
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