Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes

Very large and comprehensive book on baking bread, extremely detailed on process, technique, the science behind bread and a great many recipes. Not a simple book, and not a book if you just want recipes, this is an instructional volume that'll help you understand why the ingredients and methods are important and the effects they'll have on the final bake. I'm not sure I'll ever get to make every bread listed here, but I'm enjoying the journey this book presents.

This is a wonderful book giving in depth information on the techniques and role of ingredients used in bread making, plus many inspirational bread recipes of all types - sourdough, regular yeast breads, decorative breads, brioches, bagels, breadsticks, etc.... the list goes on. There are diagrams to give guidance on folding, shaping, scoring breads etc.. and some colour photos of breads to inspire further. The recipes (in lbs/oz and also grams) are given in quantities for those baking in very large batches, and also quantities for the home baker only wanting to produce a couple of loaves. A very good reference/recipe book for enthusiastic bread bakers.

I have been baking at home for a number of years. Like another reviewer here I was impressed by a series of YouTube videos showing Hamelman at work so I had to get his book. It is no exaggeration to say it has had the greatest influence on my ability to produce consistently good bread. It is not aimed at the beginner, so previous experience in the recognition and handling of good dough is important, but Hamelman’s explanation of every stage of the baking process influencing all succeeding stages was a revelation to me. His text is clear, you can refer to those YouTube videos if his diagrams don’t do it for you, there are lots of recipes covering a wide variety of breads. Yes, Hamelman uses quaint imperial measurements, but metric quantities are given. (Sadly, temperatures are only in Fahrenheit.) Even so, I have no hesitation in rating this book five stars.

I imagine that for a person with some bread baking experience, this would be wonderful. It would join the dots together, and make them a better baker. Some people with little or no experience of baking really want to learn ALL about it before setting foot in the kitchen. This book would also be a very good base for them. This might be a personality trait, or this preference may apply to some people with specific ways of learning, autistic traits or dyslexia. The book explains things from a basic foundation and yet not in a way that would bore an experienced person either. However, for a non-bookish person who just wants to go and make the simplest bread as their first effort, this isn't the place to start. It would take a couple of hours to work out which recipe in there might even be the simplest. It took me a while to deduce that "kneading" is just what this book calls "mixing". Kneading means you do it with your hands and mixing you can do with a machine, and once you have a mixer you don't need to do any kneading if you don't want to, (hooray!). It's all in there though. If you want to knead, this edition has a section on exactly how to do that and why you will need to do more "folding" if you haven't used an electric mixer. The recipes are very short. This really works because there's a section on techniques at the beginning. It explains the process of making bread step by step and detailed explanation of terms and techniques so that needn't be repeated within the recipes. But some people will not take the time to read this book from the beginning, and those will be baffled if they flip to a recipe and encounter quite abbreviated instructions and terms. It'll say something like "Fold twice depending on dough strength", which means the novice has to turn back to page 13 and read 3 pages all about folding except if you haven't even glanced at the first 3 chapters you are going to be disheartened and just google a recipe instead. So yeah, great book, but if you bought it for a novice, they couldn't just flip to a recipe and get going. This is an American book, so talks mostly in ounces and Fahrenheit. Each recipe has a table including metric measurements but only for bulk amounts so a home baker will need to divide by 20 or convert from the avoirdupois (it turns out american ounces are the same as imperial, thank goodness he doesn't use fluid ounces). And each recipe requires a quick conversion of temperature when your oven is marked in Celsius.

This is a great reference book for bread bakers. Written and published in the US it concentrates on US (Imperial) commercial baking quantities, but also has metric and home baker alternatives. It also gives baker percentages and so it is pretty easy to work out what ingredient quantities to use for any of the recipes. This was a snip on special offer, but not to be dismissed if you want a good reference book with a wide variety of bread recipes using al in one mixers, through overnight sponges and sourdoughs.

Excellent book for every baker! For amateurs and for professionals as well. Maybe a bit difficult to understand when reading for the first time especially if English is not your first language. If you have passion for bread this is the book! You don't just follow a recipe but you also learn why you are doing every step, from mixing to cooling and also how every ingredient affects the final product. If you are not interested in all these details and you just want a simple book with recipes then buy some other book!

I have bought many books on bread making, and this is by far the best one. It works if you are a novice, or a professional, it is clear and very helpful. And written by a bread maker with a passion for his craft. I wish I had bought this book first - all the others are gathering dust now.

This is the most comprehensive book about bread making that I've come across. It is clearly written and covers all aspects of the process of making breads and doughs - both the mechanics and reasons for doing things and the chemistry behind them.

This is a great book for those who have some knowledge of baking breads.

Me ha gustado mucho el libro, porque va directo al grano y sin embargo no se deja ningún detalle importante sin comentar. Aunque está orientado al panadero profesional, el aficionado puede extraer muchos consejos valiosos. Creo que es obligatorio leer este libro para cualquier persona que le guste hacer pan.

はい、いい本です。 作者をご覧になれば☆５つも納得でしょう！ ・・・・・しかし、これって 日本語になっていて しかも根性で読み倒した私のパンの本のバイブルの一つでした。 英語堪能な方にお勧めですが 日本語で出ていますのでそちらをお勧め致します。

Receitas incríveis, bem explicadas e todas com as quantidades para fazer em casa, bem como, as quantidades para produção em larga escala. Para quem quer elevar o nível das suas produções caseiras ou partir para a panificação profissional. Recomendo!

Non è un libro da sfogliare distrattamente e con cui deliziarsi passando da una fotografia all'altra. E' un vero manuale approfondito sulla panificazione, per cui bisogna concentrarsi nella lettura (in inglese) e fare a meno del supporto delle immagini (certo, qualcuna in più non avrebbe fatto male!) Ma per chi si avvicina alla panificazione con serietà e spirito di approfondimento è certamente consigliabile, perchè spiega nel dettaglio il perchè di certe tecniche di impasto, formatura, gli ingredienti, il lievito e tutto il processo dalla a alla z. Segue una ricca sezione dedicata alle ricette (con percentuali e schede molto pratiche delle quantità richieste, nonchè il procedimento da seguire), anch'essa priva di foto ma ricca di varianti di pane; infine, una sezione dedicata agli intrecci fantasiosi per le brioche e pagnotte particolari. Un libro fatto bene, pieno di sostanza.