Rating: 
Summary: One of Several that are Necessary...
Review: The Bread Bible is an excellent book; one of several that you should purchase if you are serious about baking breads in your home. I particularly like Rose's section on equipment that one should buy - just make your purchases prior to beginning the bread baking journey. The other feature that I find invaluable is her dual presentation - measurements in both weight and volume are presented. The formatting of each recipe is excellent and of real value during the baking process. I've tried two recipes from this book; both were good, but not the best that I've found. I'm still of the opinion that if I could only purchase one book, Bernard Clayton's would be the volume of choice.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Reference, but Caution Needed!
Review: This book is a great reference for anyone who wants to know more about bread-baking. Her introductory chapters are terrific: She goes step-by-step through the bread baking process, providing excellent information on (for example)different mixing methods (food processor versus hand mixing versus stand mixers etc.) or the difference between a poolish and a levain are all very helpful. I also lvoe her detailed information on ingredients and tools. My main problems are actually with her recipes. For one thing, this author is known for being very precise with measurements and directions, which comes in handy when baking cakes (as in her Cake Bible) or making pastry (as in her Pie and Pastry Bible), but which is less helpful when it comes to something like bread. Although her aim is to demystify and (I'm assuming) simplify the bread baking process for novice and intermediate bakers, her excruciatingly precise directions might actually do the opposite. For example, she frequently specifies that a certain flour brand is the ONLY brand that should be used when making a particular recipe (and these brands vary by recipe!), and she rarely if ever gives a measurement "range" (for flour, for example) as most bread books do. First of all, bread is NOT nearly as temperamental or difficult as she leads people to believe. Certain brands might be ehr preference, but the recipe will still turn out if different brands are used. Furthermore, different baking situations (humidity, freshness of flour, temperature in the kitchen, etc.) mean that flour measurements tend to vary a bit when baking bread. In one recipe, RLB actually states that "3 cups + 2 Tbsp" of bread flour is required....these kind of precise measurements are silly, and they lead people to believe that bread will be ruined if these ionstructions are are not followed to a T. In fact, I find that her recipes tend to overestimate how much flour I need, so I usually add liquid as I go along (I've added up to 3 cups to her recipes, due to this need). The trick is learnign what bread is supposed to "feel" like; you just can't be a slave to precise measurements.
Another problem: For some bread recipes she only includes instructions on how to mix/knead the dough with a single technique (i.e., ONLY using the food processor or ONLY using the stand mixer). Again, although some recipes might eb betetr suited to using a food processor for mising, I personally only have access to a wooden board and my own two hands, and I imagine that many people are in my situation. If you have a bit of bread baking experience you can obviously try hand kneading using your past experiences as guidance; however, since she is so precise when it comes to measurements, and since it seems as though she is targeting this book to novices who feel anxious about making bread, it seems appropriate for her to include directions on ALL mixing/kneading methods for all of her recipes. (Or, at least, give the instructions for mixing/kneading by hand in addition to the machine methods).
Rating: 
Summary: Lights Up the Mysteries of Bread Baking
Review: This book really lives up to its name. 'The Bread Bible' could be the only book you will ever need if you wish to bake bread at home. This is almost a shame, given the number of very good recent books on bread baking by Peter Reinhardt and Nancy Silverton, just to name two of the better known author / bakers. The chapters covering types of bread deal with:Quick Breads (Muffins, Biscuits, Scones, and the like)
Flatbreads (Pita, for example)
Soft Sandwich Loaves (Pullman loaves, for example)
Hearth Breads (often what one thinks of by the term Artisan breads)
Sourdough
Brioche (on the boundary between bread and cake) The recipes in these sections follow the same precision Ms. Beranbaum has shown in her earlier books on cakes and pasteries. All measurements are given in both volume and weight (imperial and metric). Great care is also given to specifying the type of flour. We are not dealing with your everyday AP Gold Medal here kiddies. Everyone with a passing knowledge of things culinary knows there is a big difference between cooking and baking. In most cooking, the quality of ingredients varies greatly from item to item. Two steaks laying next to one another in a meat counter are invariably different, needing a bit of adaptation and attention from the cook. Cooking is very experimental, constantly observing and tasting the product in the course of mixing and heating. Baking is much closer to the theoretical, where one needs to very closely follow a formula to derive the result you wish. One thing this book clarifies is that while bread baking is still very different from, for example, meat cookery, the picture is not as simple as the one I described above. First, while ingredients like flour and water are much, much more uniform than pork chops and New York strip, there are still variations, and one dimension of quality in flour is uniformity from sack to sack. There are, for example, major differences in all purpose flour from maker to maker, even if you ignore the differences between soft and hard wheat, i.e., White Lily versus King Arthur. Second, baking is highly sensitive to conditions in the baking environment, most especially to humidity and ambient bacterial flora. The first factor is familiar to almost every pie maker, who must titrate the amount of liquid they add to pastry dough to reach just the right moistness. The second variable is most important to the artisinal bread baker. The greatest value of this book to all people interested in bread baking is that it succeeds in explaining the mysteries of bread and why things work out and why they sometimes don't work. It explains why the baker cannot take their ingredients for granted. While they do not have to deal with the great variety in tomatoes from month to month, they do have to deal with much more subtle differences. Old flour and old eggs may simply not produce the desired results, and you may not know this for 24 hours after you start the bread. This brings up the point that time is a very important ingredient in bread baking, especially artisinal bread baking. Although one can make really good quick breads and sandwich breads and flatbreads in two to four hours, a respectable baguette cannot be done in less than 12 to 16 hours. The impression that bread baking is not for the faint hearted has a grain of truth to it. But, even if you plan to never bake a baguette or brioche, this book is simply a very good read for foodies interested in knowing about bread baking. The first chapter on the 'Ten Essential Steps of Making Bread' is worth the price of admission. The chapter on quick breads will pay for itself at the next bake sale. The appendices on ingredients and equipment is exhaustive and informative. I finally know now where I may be able to find the elusive malt extract I've been looking for. If the Norton Copy Editor for this book is checking in here, I have to point out that the only mistake I found is when the text states that Wondra flour and yeast dissolve in water at two different places in the text. The proper term is 'suspend' or 'go into emulsion'. But then, almost everyone makes this mistake. Get this book for the baker on your Christmas shopping list.
Rating:
Summary: missing ingredients
Review: This is a good book,I have used the Cake Bible for years,however if you want to make rye bread from this book good luck.On page 326 the amount for the rye flour is missing,for step #2.I can only hope that the other recipes from this book are complete,that is why they have proof readers read books...
Rating:
Summary: Very good book!
Review: This is a very good book.It is one of the very few books that clearly shows how to braid bread using numbers to identify each rope of dough.Also the sourdough starter instructions are pretty clear and attainable.Great book!
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Summary: A True Bread Baker's Textbook
Review: This is a very technical book, just like a textbook. You do have to read the recipes and know why you are doing, what you are doing, at the time you are doing it. It is not a Betty Crocker's Cookbook that tells you what to do blindly. You should not memorize the recipe, but be an artist and master the techniques. This means mistakes are inevitable, but with more practice it begins to make sense. This book gives you the technical know how to go on to bake bread creatively, just like an artisan.
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Summary: Let's Eat Cake!
Review: This is one of the best written cookbooks I own, with instructions that are concise and specific. Levy Beranbaum's style is so efficient that in my nervousness, I sometimes think I have missed something.
But everything I need always turns out to be in there-- I was just too fretful to see what was plainly before me! While there are some recipes in this book that I never intend to try, I am convinced that Rose Levy Beranbaum's version of all the types of cakes she covers is the best available.
Overall, it's a great feel-good type of book. Just like my new beverage of choice called s o y f e e. It's made from soybeans that you brew just like coffee. Caffeine-free, you'll find it at www. S oycoffee.com.
Every cake I have made from this book has been a success. Thanks Rose!
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Summary: The bread baker's book
Review: This is really for advanced bakers. This book was written for people who have baked bread & are SERIOUS about baking. If you've ever wondered why your bread didn't come out as you hoped, this book will have the answers. If all you want is a book with recipes for different breads, you should choose another.
Rating: 
Summary: 3 Stars Is Pushing It A Bit
Review: WOW! I'm not sure how to begin this review. First, the book is quite heavy (literally) and there is just soooo much information, that myself as a home cook/baker just was overwhelmed. I love to bake bread but I really have been doing fine without all the scientific stuff. The ingredient and equipment list would cost a small fortune. The author obviously does not live on a middle income or less yearly budget. Some recipes she says to use Gold Medal flour or bleached, others she says Hecker's ONLY, and others she says White Lily and still others she says unbleached! I don't have that kind of room in my kitchen. And if I had the All-Clad pans and clay pans she uses, I'd have someone else baking for me! I was disappointed, you may not be. I bought this book for a good deal through my book club, but I will not be keeping it.
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