Hi,

Just picked up "The Bread Bible"  (or should I say the OTHER "Bread Bible") by Rose Levy Beranbaum.

I haven't been through thoroughly, but recently took it out of the library with an eye toward evaluating it for purchase.  It seems to cover an exceedingly broad spectrum of "breads" and the one hearth loaf I made from the book was very satisfying - fairly wet dough and pleasing flavor.  

I know I won't have the chance to evaluate it thoroughly, so am looking for your experiences.  Does anyone else use this book?  What are your thoughts on it?

Thanks!

MommaT

Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François, who are in the middle of a press tour for their new book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, were kind enough take the time to have coffee with me today.

Some background: Jeff and Zoë's previous book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (ABIFMAD) came out a little over two years ago (Jeff and Zoë did a Q&A with The Fresh Loaf community shortly thereafter). Though the book had been in production for some time, ABIFMAD was released at the peak of the enthusiasm for no-knead breadmaking stirred up by Mark Bittman's article on Jim Lahey's no-knead technique in the New York Times. ABIFMAD quickly became a bestseller, to date selling over 200,000 copies and remaining one of the top selling baking book on Amazon.com. It also spawned a popular blog.

ABIFMAD included numerous enriched doughs but very little about whole grain baking. Jeff and Zoë told me that through the blog they heard from many bakers trying to adapt the recipes in ABIFMAD to work better with whole grains. When the opportunity arose to do a follow up book, a focus on whole grains and healthier baking was the natural place for them to take it.

Thus Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day (HBIFMAD) was born. The technique used in HBIFMAD is basically the same as that used in ABIFMAD: make a high hydration dough with minimal mixing and no kneading, then use refrigeration to extend the fermentation process for up to two weeks.  Then, bake the bread when it is most convenient for you.

Though ABIFMAD rarely used ingredients that most bakers couldn't easily find in the nearest grocery store, HBIFMAD takes a long stroll down the health food aisle. As well as whole wheat breads, there are recipes using flours made from spelt, tapioca, mesquite, soy, rye, sorghum, teff, and emmer. Most of the butter fat has been replaced with olive oil or other healthful options. There is also a large section of the book titled "Breads with Hidden Fruits or Vegetables" which includes breads containing sweet potatoes, beets, prunes, lentils, even broccoli. Jeff, an MD, acknowledged that the current dietary recommendation of 9 half cup servings of fruits or vegetables is difficult for most folks to reach, and he took it as a challenge to develop recipes that would help people hit that target.  Zoë, a pastry chef, enjoyed the challenge of developing great tasting recipes that contained ingredients people claim not to like.

Though not the primary focus, the book also contain a set of gluten-free recipes. Behind whole grain recipes, Jeff and Zoë said that gluten-free recipes were the second most commonly requested item on their site. Again, they enjoyed the challenge of developing tasty gluten-free recipes and they are pleased with the results. Gluten-free breads don't keep as well as traditional breads, they advise, but when eaten while fresh they can be as tasty as the real deal.

As far as baking breakthroughs go, their biggest discovery was the difference that adding vital wheat gluten can make in the longevity of whole grain doughs. "We found we weren't crazy about the result until we started testing our approach with vital wheat gluten," they said, "But with the addition of vital wheat gluten, the whole grain doughs remain springy enough and can be refrigerated long enough to bring out the more complicated flavors that one expects in a fully developed dough."  You may need to order vital wheat gluten online or hunt for it to find it in your area, but if you are baking these types of breads Jeff and Zoë believe it is worth the extra effort.

With all the competing baking books coming out this year, it remains to be seen how well this book does, but the initial response they've received has been positive, and the size of the first print run suggests the publisher also has high hopes for HBIFMAD.

Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day is now available from St. Martin's Press/Thomas Dunne Books. The website for both books is artisanbreadin5.com. Also, the website BigBlackDogs.net is starting a baking group based on this book patterned after the popular BBA Challenge that many community members here are participating in.

This book is about using sourdough starters and yet has very little information on how to make a starter or how to care for a starter.  This is a serious  omission in a book in which all recipes are dedicated to the use of a starter.   I bought the book to learn more about starters and then have a host of recipes.  Unfortunately, this book did not provide the basics for getting a starter going. 

Also, the book seems to have missed a careful editor's eye.  In several recipes, the instructins say use ALL the ingredients, and yet half way though the recipe, you are instructed to add one of the ingredients at this point.  So adding ALL the ingredients is not what the author really meant.

Other instructions are confusing - like shape the loaves as desired, followed by inistructions to roll the dough into a rectangle....

The book is from Australia so most of the weights are gram and ounces, but not all.

I would not recommend this book.  It seems to be written by someone who is probably an excellent bread maker, but needs more practice in writinig cookbooks.   While it is attractive - which is what made me buy it - I'd wait until the revised version is printed to correct many of the flaws and omissions.

Hopefully the revised version will have details on making and using a starter!! 

Just received my copy of "Artisan Breads Every Day", Peter's latest book. I, along with many other TFLers, was a tester. The San Francisco Sourdough, Wild Rice and Onion, Soft Cheese Bread and Chocolate Cinnamon Babka were particular favorites of mine.

Betty

I received today my copy of the European version of Dan Lepards "The Handmade Loaf". This is the paperback version but it's much nicer than what I would call a paperback, and larger with beautiful photos. The thing that attracted me to this book was the post that others have done on a Black Pepper Rye which I made and loved. Unfortunately that particular recipe isn't included in this version. But now that I know about it and have visited the author's web site this is not an issue.

As I page through the book, many delicious and unusual breads are tempting me to be first. This is going to be fun.

Eric

This fall there are three heavyweights releasing books about easy artisan baking: Peter Reinhart is releasing his Artisan Breads Every Day, Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François are following up their Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day with Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day , and Jim Lahey's book My Bread has just come out.

Jim is the founder of New York City's Sullivan Street Bakery and the inspiration for Mark Bittman's famous No-Knead Bread formula that ran in the New York Times three years ago.  My Bread begins with the basic "bread in a pot" no-knead recipe but expands upon it considerably.  He includes formulas (with both weights and measures) for rye, whole wheat, olive, walnut, and cheese variations of the no-knead bread. Lahey was inspired by Italian breads, so his book includes numerous pizza and focaccia recipes.  Other interesting sounding recipes  in the book include "Peanut Butter and Jelly Bread" and a Carrot Bread.  There is a long chapter on sandwiches that include his recipes for fillings such as Rosemary Roast Beef, Citrus Roast Pork, and Marinated Eggplant and Beets.  Soup and panini recipes are included in the book as well, giving you most everything you would need to run a top-notch neighborhood cafe.

Fan of Sullivan Street Bakery or folks who love the "bread in a pot" no-knead technique will certainly enjoy Lahey's book.   My Bread has much to offer other bakers too and sets a high bar for the other upcoming releases.

A copy of Sam Sidawi's new book, My Rustic Sandwiches recently found its way into my hands, so I want to take a quick moment to sing praise to it. It is beautiful.

Sam is the Daniel's Rustic Bread guy, probably best known for the line of DVDs about baking he has put together. I've not seen any of them, but if they are half as well put together as this book then they are worth checking out.

The book is about what it sounds like it is about: gourmet sandwiches, sandwiches that do justice to both the fillings and the breads they are served on. It isn't a huge book, running just shy of one hundred pages, but Sam packs a lot in it. It features over fifty different sandwiches, most with recipes and bread recommendations and all with one or more mouth watering photos. It also includes a handful of basic bread formulas as well as recipes for common spreads like hummus and tzatziki.

My Rustic Sandwiches is the best put together self-published book I've ever seen. The photos are great, the layout tasteful, the printing and paper high quality, even the index is top notch. The coherence and attention to detail here is higher than what is often found in book on major imprints. This isn't "vanity press" self publishing, this is self publishing with attention to detail in the same way an accomplished chef oversees everything from the growing of the vegetables in the garden to the preparation and serving of the meal. I am most impressed.

I'll admit that I've not made any of Sam's sandwiches yet. With a 4 year-old and a 7 year-old in the house and school back in session, there is more demand for PB&J than for Sautéed Dandilion, Camelized Onions, Shaved Radish and a Squeeze of Lemon Juice on Pita Bread sandwiches. But his book is an inspiration and would make a lovely gift for a fellow foodie. I wish Sam great success with it.

I decided to order two english bread books to my uncle's home, who will come and visit us in a couple weeks. Books are probably everywhere cheaper than in Switzerland, this way I will be able to save around 30 Dollars, which is a lot for a student like me.

Now, question: which books? I decided to order for at least 25 $, because otherwise I'd have to pay for the shipping anyway. I rather spend my money for books only. ;)

I've already got Reinhart's BBA and Hamelman's Bread.

I was thinking about one Whole Grain book, either Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads or Laurel's Kitchen Bread book. I'm not sure which one I should take. I'm looking for a good book with interesting formulas. not only american style pan loaves. I do like hearth breads as well. It seems to me that Laurel's Book includes more formulae, but I don't know what kind of bread they are. I don't mind a couple enriched, sandwich style loaves, but I'd like to have some lean doughs as well. Do I find this in Laurel's book? Reinhart's on the other hand seems to have less theory and less formulae, but a section with hearth breads. is it worth it?

Secondly, I'd like to buy a book which includes formulae which consist out of a variety of grains, not only white flour, some sourdough . . . They can be time consuming, but please, not only! I don't want to have three day-projects all the time. A preferment - fine, sourdough - fine, but to fussy recipes don't fit into my schedule. I was thinking about Leader's Local Breads. I know about the errors in the recipes, but I think it wouldn't matter to much for me as I mostly use weight measurements? And I've already got quite some experience with baking, so I hope that I'd be able to correct errors if I find some?

Any other propositions?

I'd be very happy about some help to make my decision. And I promise to post about my baking which will result out of these books. ;)

Salome

Hi all,

I just wanted to share a reminder and a lesson learned: please put your name, and some sort of identifier in each of your books, and make a catalog or database of all of your books.

My home was effectively broken into and all of my books (including all my cookbooks) and entire music library amongst other things were stolen last weekend.  I hadn't ever actually put my name in each of my books because I abhor the idea of writing in a book that I dearly love, but now I'm paying the price.  I'd guessed that whoever stole my property was going to try to sell it (classical cds, cookbooks, scifi/fantasy books) at the huge Half Price Books nearby.

DF and I happened to be passing by, and on a spur of the moment decided to stop in and try to find me a new cookbook to make me feel better about this past week.  I happened to poke around my favourite sections and see a cookbook I knew I had owned.  Picked it up and flipped through it, and there was the business card of my podiatrist in CT, still used as a bookmark! We hunted down a manager and the on-site police officer immediately, to show them.

However, because I cannot conclusively (ie point to my name in the book) prove that each of the books we found belong to me, but they are only possible since I once owned them and the date they were priced matches the timeline, their legal dept will have to sort through it.  We even found one that has my handwritten recipes in it, but because my name isn't in it, it's inconclusive.

Please, please take the time to write your name in your books or stick a label on the cover, since books cannot be resold without a cover. Our beloved cookbooks unfortunately have a very high turnover at the used bookstores, and as we all know, can be very pricey to replace.

Sephie

Hello everyone,

I ordered Dan's book from www.A1book.com on July 19. They told me it was shipped on July 24 and I still don't have it. They say it can take up to 21 days to arrive. It's going from Hew Jersey to New York, not around the world for goodness sake.  So, you can decide for yourselves if you ever want to order from this company just to save maybe a few bucks and wait forever for your book. I certainly won't do it again.

So, while I am impatiently waiting, I was looking at a portion of the appendix posted on Wiley's website and this is my question:

On page 223, there is a formula for PAIN AU LEVAIN WITH FIRM LEVAIN, which shows (using the 5-Qt mixer formula):

Bread Flour: 500 g

Water 180 g

Ripe Levain (not used in final dough): 300 g

This seems to be a very large amount of Ripe Levain that will "not used in the final dough," and I wonder if this is correct.  If it is correct I don't understand why the amount would be so large for something we aren't going to use.

Perhaps Dan will see this and will jump in here.

Thanks.

Mitch