The Bread Bible

Okay, so I did break down and buy this book after vowing not to, and would change my review to 4 stars if I could. I'm glad I purchased, but as I said before, it's not a book for the beginning baker (or the impatient!). It does contain a wealth of technical information and very specific start-to-finish instructions for each recipe, which to a more advanced bread baker might sound oxymoronic but actually is not. I believe Beranbaum wants us to achieve optimal results from our efforts, thus the great detail in her instructions. Just be sure to read your recipes through thoroughly before starting, as her directions, although detailed, do tend to be confusing, especially when it comes to adding ingredients. I have had great success and compliments from several of these recipes, among them being the raisin pecan bread, the Tyrolean ten-grain torpedo, and the olive bread. Even I have not had the patience to attempt the very involved sour recipes (yet!), but am looking forward to trying them.Here is my old, 3-star 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.

If it puts it in context, I was inspired to come write this review while biting into rolls made out of the books "mushroom bread" recipe. One bite filled me with so much joy, I felt it necessary to share how wonderful they were and had to think how best to do it.There's a lot of information out there about why this book is great, so I'll run down what I particularly like about it from my perspective.-She uses weights! I cannot emphasize how important this is to me, as you really truly can't measure flour consistently by volume, and it annoys me how many books there are out there that assume I won't bother to buy a $20 scale even though I've just bought a $20 book about bread baking. She has volumes too, which is particularly useful for the very small quantity ingredients that I can't measure with any accuracy on my scale. It'll also help if you're in a pinch and don't have a scale, but if you're going to shell out for the book, you might as well get the scale.-Compared to a few other high-rated "serious" bread books out there, this one is not snooty enough to assume only traditional breads are what should be covered. I love that this covers non-yeast breads, sweet breads, sour doughs, even biscuits and scones.-The book allows for tons of versatility, beyond the number of recipes she already has. She constantly lists alternate ways of doing things- kneading by hand or by mixer, cooking ahead and finishing later or cooking the day of, quicker or slower "ultimate flavor version", and all kind of variations on different breads be it different shape options with their related cooking times and how to add additional goodies of different types. If you really read her recipes and the other information she gives you, you can really start to get a feel for how these recipes come together and how different ingredients and techniques effect your bread. And if you're scared of experimentation, she's excrutiatingly detailed in her recipes so you're not really required to take any risks.-She elaborates on EVERYTHING. I am very scientifically minded, and it is fantastic to me that there's so much information in here. She even has an invaluable discussion about ingredients at the end.-The author LOVES bread. You can feel it in the way she writes about it, and it makes you feel excited about the bread before you've even made it. She gives wonderful introductions that give you a great feel for what to expect of the bread- her descriptions are reverent and accurate and often give some context that makes you feel her personal connection to the bread. It's like getting a recipe from a close friend or family member.-The bread is incredible! I've yet to be disappointed in anything I've made, and the hearth bread has become my standard. I've had the benefit of being very close to a bakery, but I can still tell you nothing beats being able to eat the bread still hot out of the oven.Happy baking.

I am actually not an avid reader (really) but I have read a good part of the book in a couple of days. What may tell that the book has interesting information.Indeed the book has a bunch of precious information, and what I liked most was the fact that it has been delivered in a kinda technical way which I find very interesting.Comparing to other books that I have started reading (about the same subject) I found the Bread Bible more useful and trustworthy, because I feel comfortable when I get an explanation about why certain things happen and at what circumstances that are not explained deeply in other books, what makes me feel the writer do not know that information deeply (or the book is designed to other level of customers). It makes bread bible a little bit more informative.On the other hand, when this section of information is finished in the book it starts to be a recipe book with some insights along with the recipes. What I personally found a little bit confusing because when I have to double check for some information, I can’t remember if I saw this in the explanation section of the book or in a specific recipe (then in which of the hundreds recipes is that information).As I said in the title: I recommend the Bread Bible book because it has shown more things related to what I was looking for and my objective.

Fantastic! Now I know EXACTLY what went wrong with all my bread recipes that went wrong in the past. And I'm loving it. A great addition to any bread lover's library.

Excellent

O livro é uma delícia de ler e seguir as receitas. Rose é uma mestra nos pães. Explica com simplicidade como fazer pães dos mais simples aos mais complexos. Vale cada centavo!

This is a really really good book. I would recommend for sure!