Rating: 
Summary: Too much for me
Review: I mistakenly bought this book when I was wanting to buy "The Bread Baker's Bible" I had seen at a friend's house. I have been a bread baker for more than 30 years but, while I love to bake and cook and do not shy away from complicated recipes, I do not care to invest the time and effort into bread making this book calls for. The editor's review is very accurate and had I known what I was really purchasing when I ordered this book and had read that review, I would not have gotten it. I think I'll put it on the shelf until all my kids are grown and I have more time to work at these recipes.
Rating:
Summary: Too much for me
Review: I mistakenly bought this book when I was wanting to buy "The Bread Baker's Bible" I had seen at a friend's house. I have been a bread baker for more than 30 years but, while I love to bake and cook and do not shy away from complicated recipes, I do not care to invest the time and effort into bread making this book calls for. The editor's review is very accurate and had I known what I was really purchasing when I ordered this book and had read that review, I would not have gotten it. I think I'll put it on the shelf until all my kids are grown and I have more time to work at these recipes.
Rating:
Summary: packed with information but in dire need of a better editor
Review: I rarely feel the need to review, but having tried two recipes in this book, and feeling misled at some point in both, I feel a warning is in order. First, let me say that I am quite an avid bread baker, and that this book, while chock-full of technical information, is definitely not for the neophyte, unless he or she is just interested in the science of breadmaking. Next, let me be specific about my complaints. Although I read a recipe through before I attempt it, I don't tend to memorize it; I just get an idea of the steps involved, decide if it's worth the effort, and go from there. My problems in the recipes both involved ingredients being mentioned in a list, and then the author not being specific enough about when they were to be added. To wit: in the "Heart of Wheat Bread" recipe, she lists salt as one of the ingredients in the "flour mixture." Below that, she says to combine the ingredients for the flour mixture and add to the sponge (in bold print). Only several sentences farther down on the page did I notice that the salt wasn't supposed to be added until four hours later. I don't know how much of an effect this had on the finished product (which was good but not great, considering the effort), but I feel she should have been more specific. I encountered almost exactly the same problem when I made the "Touch-of-Grace Biscuits," where self-rising and regular flour are both in the ingredients list (although not one right after the other), but again she is not specific in her directions; she simply instructs you to whisk together the flour, etc., etc. I included both types of flour and then discovered on the next page that the second amount was supposed to be used to shape the biscuits, not added to the dough. Again, the recipe came out okay, but I was disappointed that the directions hadn't been clearer. As a result, this book, which I had seriously considered buying for my collection, will be returned to the library and probably not renewed. There are plenty of more comprehensively-written bread books out there, and I don't need the aggravation of this one! I only gave it three stars for the technical information, and I completely agree with another reviewer about the fact that having to have so many specific types of flours, pans, etc., on the shelves in your home to use this book properly will be a big turn-off for all but the most dedicated bread bakers.
Rating: 
Summary: Possible error?
Review: I was disappointed because the baguettes beginning on page 335 failed to rise enough and when baked they were what you might call mini-baguettes. One possible source of my problem is that I used a Canadian high-gluten bread flour instead of the specific brands of unbleached all-purpose flour insisted upon on p.338 of "The Bread Bible".
ARE THE FLOUR QUANTITIES FOR THE "DOUGH" ON PAGE 338 CORRECT?
The bread flour I used is described as "White Bread Flour" at: http://www.rogersfoods.com/
Rating: 
Summary: THIS BOOK DESERVES MORE THAN 5 STARS
Review: My husband, Bob, who makes the best breads I've ever consumed, told me: "If I could have only one book on bread baking, The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum would be that book." This, coming from a guy who has over 500 culinary books in his home library, got my attention. "Is it really that good?" I asked. "YES! It is," was his reply." I asked him what, in his opinion, makes this book better than others. He explained that the author, an internationally known and highly respected baker, offers, in her book, all the facts necessary for a person to aquire an adequate foundation of bread baking knowledge including instructions to aid beginners in developing their skills (skills developed thorugh practice...making doughs and baking breads). This book is thorough, but not to the point it will bore or confuse a beginner or the occasional bread baker, and if a person likes good recipes, those contained in this book work.
Rating:
Summary: CORRECTION FROM THE AUTHOR
Review: Re the rye bread, on page 326, step 2, delete the words 'rye flour.' (the rye flour is used only in the sponge on page 325.) Also, on the chart for the flour mixture, the 2 1/4 cups of bread flour weigh 12.3 ounces.
Hope you are enjoying the recipes. If you haven't used the instant yeast before, you're going to love the ease and reliability of adding it directly to the flour!
Best bread baking,
Rose Levy Beranbaum
Rating:
Summary: Truly Worthwhile
Review: Rose does a fabulous job explaining exactly how to bake bread. Each recipe details ingredients by both weight and volume. The recipies are divided into high-level steps. At each step, Rose first tells you what the goal of the step is (i.e. "shape the loaf") and then gives details instructions on how to do it. Once you've made a recipe, you only need to read high-level steps the next time. You'll also appreciate how Rose gives hints for success, including pointers about how you can make a long bread-rising schedule fit to your schedule - you can shape, rise, and bake the bread when it is convienent for you, not the bread. The cinnamon-raisin-swirl bread is heavenly! I've learned how I can bake bread over several evenings instead of needing to be home all day long. Thanks Rose!
Rating:
Summary: Wow - I really can make great artisan breads myself
Review: Since I moved to a rural area, I haven't had access to a good bread bakery so I decided to try making it myself. The only bread I had ever made prior to buying the book was using a bread machine and the results were less than spectacular. But with the Bread Bible I am learning the techniques used to make breads with substance and character and I still can't believe how good they are. I love this book and enjoy trying different recipes from it each weekend.
Rating: 
Summary: Best explaination of technique
Review: So far the recipes I've tried have been terrific. While you have to read carefully on when and where to add some of the ingredients, if you are careful, you get wonderful breads. And yes, you can move the bread up one level in the oven, and put your cast iron skillet the one below it and everything will come out just fine.
Rating:
Summary: teach a man to bake and you'll feed him...
Review: The BB is a spectacular book for what it accomplishes. I'd give it five stars if it weren't for the fact that it takes so much discipline and effort to use effectively. Then, that might say more about bread-baking than about writing a good bread-baking book.
I bought the book not having ever baked bread before -- at least not successfully.
The first 10 or so breads I made from the BB were just awful. The good thing is that after a while I started to get what Mary's going after -- it's really written to be instructional and much less a collection of recipes, kinda like 'good-eats' but in a book.
In that respect it makes sense to use the book as a guide to learning how to make good bread, not as a resource for recipes.
For me it means I've gone from making rock-hard doorstops to my own sourdough, start-to-finish with my own starter, and it comes out great every time even though I don't use a recipe -- just a scale, the ingredients, and the 'dough percentage.'
If you just want recipes, though, know that there is a whole lot of information, a whole bunch of words, in each recipe, and that it can be difficult to extract the essential (or even simple) directions from the mess of words you see. They are there, for those of you who read closely, lurking in those fat paragraphs, but for must of us they're hidden until the fifth or sixth pass.
So, in short, I'd say approach the book as you would a course or a difficult hobby. It will take discipline and effort to make even a simple bread properly, and it won't come out right the first five times you try. But it's fun, instructional, and will no doubt make you a better cook in general -- and at the end of the day you'll have picked up a nifty skill that you can eat.
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