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Summary: Bread for Foods, Foods for Friends
Review: All the friends lined up and said
We will make a delicious bread
The toiled and worked but all for none
They had no food when the day was done
But then a friend revealed this book
And from it's many recipes took
Knowledge of bread beyond all bounds
They clapped and dance and made joyous sounds
They howled like hounds unto the moon
For their bread would be done very soon
The bread turned out and they claimed their stake
"Delicious bread is what me make!"
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Summary: Rose has done it again... created a classic, that is
Review: Cookbook author/humorist Ann Hodgman once wrote, of Rose Levy Berenbaum's masterpiece The Cake Bible, that perhaps The Gideons should leave this "bible" in hotel bedrooms instead of that other, better-known one. Hodgman has a point. I have baked extensively from both of Berenbaum's previous "bibles," on cake and on pastry, and have yet to come up with a dud.Since we're talking about bibles here, clearly Berenbaum finds that God is in the details. She gives clear, concise explanations of the "whys" of baking without ever getting tedious. I have been baking regularly for nearly thirty years, and yet in my first read-through of The Bread Bible, I learned at least a dozen facts that I hadn't previously known, and yet made perfect sense. For example, the inclusion of Wondra bleached, granulated flour (not a typical staple among serious bakers) in her Butter Popovers eliminate the resting period that the batter typically must undergo before baking. Her books also inspire: A round, Gruyere-spiked cheese bread baked in a souffle dish--which Berenbaum whimsically names, "The Stud Muffin"--will send me out today on a quick trip for a couple of necessary, missing ingredients. Berenbaum's recipes run the gamut from simple "quick" breads to more time-consuming (but hardly more difficult) artisanal loaves. She also provides sources for ingredients and equipment. This tome, with its gorgeous photographs and numerous line drawings, might intimidate some fledgling bakers, but don't let it! If it does, I suggest The King Arthur Flour's Baker's Companion. However, true breadheads are justified in wanting both. Rose Levy Berenbaum's passion both for detail and for routinely spectacular results reminds me of Maida Heatter, whose equally comprehensive and delightful baking books inspired beginning bakers like me more than twenty years ago. Heatter's books have withstood the test of time. I'm sure Berenbaum's Bread Bible will become as annotated and batter-spattered as Heatter's books are in my kitchen. There's no higher praise than that!
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Summary: the proof is in the bread
Review: I bought this book after making pesto bread from The Herbfarm Cookbook (also an excellent book). When I took my pesto bread out of the oven, tapped the bottom, and heard the hollow sound that indicated the bread had turned out correctly, something grabbed ahold of me, and I knew I had to learn more about baking bread. I couldn't explain the excitement I felt at the abilty to create something delicious from such mundane ingredients. it's like magic! that being my sole attempt at bread making (excluding homemade pizza dough, which I put in a different catagory), Rose's book was a bit overwhelming at first. I read through all of the preliminary chapters on the hows and whys and all the different stages, feeling the same tingling fascination I had felt when I first started learning calculus. I guess I hadn't realized how mathematical and precise the "art" really is, or how appealing that would be to me. armed with all that knowledge, I decided to jump right in, and tried her cheddar loaf. her directions are laid out in clear, numbered steps, with instructions for both hand and machine mixing. ingredients are given by volume and weight, and each recipe is full of tips about when to add more water or flour, and what the dough / finished loaf should weigh. she has clear explanations and diagrams guiding you through any shaping. I never felt confused or at a loss, and even her descriptions of what the dough should feel like at different stages (something inherently difficult to convey without a physical demonstration) were incredibly helpful. basically, I felt informed, guided, and confident at every step of the process, and the end result was marvelous. the crust was golden and tasted intensely of cheddar, and the inside was crumbly and soft, just like bakery bread! even for a novice like me, this book delivers. I just finished making her cinnamon raisin bread, and even though I know you're supposed to cool it for an hour before you eat it, I impatiently sliced in at ate some right out of the oven. it, like all the other breads I have tried from this book, was fantastic. I can't wait to eat it for breakfast in the morning, and the second loaf may not make it to the freezer. I highly recommend this book to anyone interesting in learning more about making bread at home, with one caveat - these recipes are time consuming. not so much in the actual, hands on work, but in the rising and baking time. so they're perfect for a day spent working or lounging around the house, when you can keep an eye on the dough as it lazily rises.
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Summary: Best White Bread ever
Review: I got this book for the white bread recipe. It is perfect! None better. I tried the recipe using the maximum and minimum times and preferred the minimum (8 hours). I also appreicate the extensive preparation details and recommendations.
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Summary: Bread baking class - in a book!
Review: I had virtually no bread baking experience before I purchased this book. I was not looking for a book of recipes, but one to help me understand the process - so that I could explore and that is what this book does. After a quick read-through of the overview chapters. I made breads from each of the sections. Each one has turned out beautifully! I was not really expecting that. But by my third bread I was feeling pretty confident... but I was ill while I was making my fourth. I did practically everything "wrong". Since I had read the chapters on techniques though, I did not panic. And even though I added the salt too late, let the rise go too long, and forgot to lower the oven heat until much later than I was supposed. The bread came out delicious!! Rose, thank you so much for this class on bread-baking in a book!
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Summary: You call that "real jewish rye bread"?
Review: I have all of RLB's books and turn to The Pie and Pastry Bible and The Cake Bible fairly often. The first recipes I tried from The Bread Bible were for Flakey Scones and Cinnamon Crumb Surprise. Both were easy and excellent. The Focaccia also is a winner. Having said that, I have to take issue with the Jewish Rye Bread recipe. First let me say I am a native Manhattanite so I know what Jewish rye bread should look and taste like. I, like the previous reviewer, also noticed the error in the recipe where it says to add rye flour to the flour mixture but does not mention rye flour in the ingredient list. Having just read Beranbaum's correction I have to wonder how she can justify calling it rye bread when it contains a mere 3.3 ounces of rye flour in a 1 3/4 pound loaf. I am a professional bread baker of wood-fired loaves and this recipe will not produce anything resembling New York Jewish Rye nor any other kind of rye bread as it merely ends up tasting of caraway seed. And yes, I did make it as written against my better judgement. I still look forward to trying many other recipes in this book although not the Sourdough Rye as it doesn't contain a rye sourdough starter and uses a very small percentage of rye flour. Don't you like the flavor of rye, Rose?
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Summary: very good, but ...
Review: I have been baking bread for a very long time, and my collection of bread books is large. While I have not baked a large number of recipes from this volume, I have tried a few. The results are very tasty. I do like the slow techniques she uses as well as the advice on where the process can be refrigerated. I find that the amount of liquid tends to be a little low, at least when measuring the flour (recommended brands only) by weight in all of the ones I have tried. This is not a serious defect for myself, but it could be a problem for a less experienced baker. My larger complaint is the index. When browsing to find a recipe, it is difficult to find the recipe from the index since it is listed under the type of bread rather than the name of the bread. Perhaps the index was shortened to fit the pages, but a more extensive index would have improved this book.
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Summary: Too complicated
Review: I have been baking bread for over 10 years and sourdough for 3 years. My sourdough bread is my families favorite and I can make it without throwing out 3/4 of the starter. She is always throwing out the starter and it just isn't necessary. I didn't even try her sourdough's because the directions were so complicated they made my head spin. I tried four recipes. Two were the best I have ever tasted and two were inedible. I have never had to throw out bread before, but I did with this book. The good recipes are worth the price of this book. However, I can't but think there must be an easier way to make those as well. I can't even do some of things she requires, like but a cast iron pan on the bottom of the oven to throw ice in. That's where the heating coils are! Twice, I miss the place where she said to add the salt because it's in such an odd place(which explains why ONE of the recipes came out badly) I think I will return this book and keep looking for that perfect bread book.
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Summary: Best bread I've EVER made...
Review: I have been baking bread for over 30 years and while I've always enjoyed my efforts, when I made the white sandwich bread from this book, all my previous efforts faded into oblivion. Perfection. Yes, you have to read through the recipe before starting to know when to add what. Yes, you have to do a little deciphering here and there. But the time it takes to do this, is rewarded with some of the best bread you've ever tasted. I recently tried the sourdough bread and I did have to really study the book for a few days to figure out what she was talking about (here's one of those occasions where some pictures would have helped), I finally tried it and I have the most amazing sourdough rising as I right. (these rather confusing directions are the ONLY reason I haven't given it 5 stars) I would not recommend this book for a beginning bread maker, nor a person interested in baking bread once a year, but as I make it every week for my family's needs, this book is indeed my "Bread Bible". Thank you, Rose! Rebecca
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Summary: love it
Review: I have learned so much about bread making. She includes all the little tips that a recipe usually leaves out. I use this book every week and haven't bought a loaf of bread from the store since it arrived.
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