The Book of Bread (Perennial Library)

Rating:
Summary: Mediocre Bread Book
Review: I am not sure if this is a good bread baking book or not. It is very chatty and friendly, which many will appreciate, especially with a subject as forbidding as making your own bread in your own kitchen baked in your own oven. On the other hand, this bread book, like many others, is disappointingly short on bread making advice and proper procedures. Overall, I was more impressed with the quantity than with the quality of the recipes.

Many bread books contain identical oven temperature and cooking times for all the bread recipes, even though the breads themselves vary far and wide. This is a sure clue that the author has not actually successfully made and baked all of the bread recipes, but only did a few prototypes and invented many bread recipes at the word processor. This is one of the few bread books I have seen where all the breads have vastly different oven temperatures and baking times, telling me that the author actually tested and tweaked all of the recipes, not just a select few. This is even more impressive because of the wide variety of different breads contained in this book.

On the negative side, this book is more prominent for what it does not have. Instructions on how to tell when something is properly kneaded, fully risen, or how to form a loaf is notably absent. Also shameful is the lack of accurate measure of flour: the author uses cups, does not give weight equivalents for the flour amounts, and never specifies how the flour is measured (dip and sweep, spoon and sweep, etc.). Most troubling are the generally lax and incomplete recipe instructions; if you have not done them before, there may not be enough detail in some of the recipes.

The chapters on whole grains produces its share of heavy and inedible bricks suitable only for constructing a wall; healthy and nourishing indeed. On the other hand, I produced many fine loaves of bread, although the quick breads were better than the yeast leavened ones. It also has several rare and valuable recipes for doughnuts and its cousins.

Some of the recipes call for unusual things such as: flour mill, ceramic baking bell, and ingredients that are impossible to find (even in a large, well stocked market in a major city).

It has chapters on the following bread types: history, basics, white, whole grains, rye, wierd flavors, rolls, sweet, quick, muffins, fried, steamed, griddle, flat, funny shapes, en croute, and holiday.

Rating:
Summary: A worthy addition to one's collection
Review: I bought this book when I was searching for a specific recipe. This title happened to have that which I was seeking at the time, and I brought it home. I will confess, it is not a book I use often, as I prefer a different style of bread than many of the recipes presented in it, but it still is a good volume with good recipes.

I am a bread baker who likes a plain, "honest" loaf of bread, not enriched with a lot of fruit, vegetables, nuts and cheeses. If I want that kind of bread, I make something like cinnamon buns or a stollen or something. This book is full of recipes that use a variety of these ingredients, and that is a style to which I personally do not adhere. There are recipes that require such things as pumpkin, carrots, and other things not normally found in regular loaf breads.

That said, the recipes in this book are top notch. I have made a few of the more "plain" recipes, and the results have never been less than exceptional. Even if I do not bake in the style presented in this book, I cannot fault the recipes. It's a style issue, not a quality issue.

The book is full of very interesting and informative tidbits that make this book an interesting read in addition to being a cookbook. One section describes the origin of doughnuts (and specifically, the hole in the middle). Another describes an interesting account of where Anadama bread gained its name.

This book has no photographs. Rather, it has lots of pencil drawings to go along with many of the carefully written recipes. The instructions are easy to follow, but the drawings add a nice touch that make the recipes even more complete in many places.

Overall, this book is very well written and organized.

This book has an exceptional recipe for Monkey Bread, the best I have used so far.

If you want a large collection of "plain" recipes, I recommend you look at something else instead of this book. However, if you like variety and you enjoy recipes that make use of unusual ingredients for bread (at least as far as normal loaf bread is concerned), this book will serve you exceedingly well. It's a great book for the adventuresome baker.

Rating:
Summary: Great range of bread recipes for the bread baking purist
Review: I have baked my own bread (usually only in winter--when the temps drop below 90)for nearly 20 years and am always on the lookout for versatile bread recipes. This is a great compilation--from basic white and wheat loaves to a wonderful corn bread that has the texture of cake. Great for the baker who is happiest making REAL homemade bread without the assistance of a bread machine. Lots of varieties to try--buy a big bag of yeast and different flours and roll up your sleeves.


Rating:
Summary: In a 250+cookbook library, this ranks at the top.
Review: I have cooked (and baked) professionally for 20 years. I have amassed a library of 250+ books and this book continuously gets more use than any other. Primiarily because I love to bake and trust The Book of Bread recipes.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Bread Book I Have
Review: I've used this book for 20 years and love it. My brother has taken up bread baking and this book is his Christmas present. I was delighted to see it was still in print. This is a great book for a beginner or any baker.

Rating:
Summary: Practical and delicious
Review: Judging from the contents, this is a book of execellence. It contains over 200 recipes on a wide varieties of breads. Unlike other bread or baking books I have, the recipes here are easy to follow, correct in measures, and most of all, taste fantastic. It also contains many bread-making tips/techniques that made a huge difference in the results. If you make bread by hand, or are attempted to try, this is the book. The best $20 I ever invested. Warning. No color photo. Only hand drawings.