With the kids home for the summer, I pretty well abandoned my bread baking/learning routines but school is coming and I'm ready to get down to it again.  Meanwhile I got some birthday book money (the only way I get to buy books these days) and am looking to order two books.  Trouble is, there are four on my list. I'm hoping you folks can help me.  Which two would be the best combination for a wanabe whole grain bread/sourdough bread baker?

Peter Rinehart's Whole Grain Breads

Peter Rinehart's Bread Baker's Apprentice

Dan Lepard's Handmade Bread

Mark Hammelman's Bread

With the kids home for the summer, I pretty well abandoned my bread baking/learning routines but school is coming and I'm ready to get down to it again.  Meanwhile I got some birthday book money (the only way I get to buy books these days) and am looking to order two books.  Trouble is, there are four on my list. I'm hoping you folks can help me.  Which two would be the best combination for a wanabe whole grain bread/sourdough bread baker?

Peter Rinehart's Whole Grain Breads

Peter Rinehart's Bread Baker's Apprentice

Dan Lepard's Handmade Bread

Mark Hammelman's Bread

Hello to all,

I've read book reviews here, on Amazon, and other places about apparent errors that were noted by readers in Jeffrey Hammelman's and Daniel DiMuzio's otherwise wonderfully rated books. Both of these books are published by Wiley, and I was surprised and bothered that Wiley hadn't posted Errata pages for either of these books.  Dan's book only came out this past February so one can possibly excuse the fact that there isn't an Errata page for that one, but Jeffrey Hammelman's book was published in 2004, so it's hard to find an excuse for that.

I contacted Wiley and after several emails back and forth they essentially told me that there weren't Errata pages because no one had brought any errors to their attention. When I pushed them on this they elaborated somewhat further and this is what they said:

"Thank you for contacting Wiley Technical Support.

When errata is reported by a customer we escalate the issue to the editing department of that title. It is the decision of the editing department to post an errata page, or to update an errata page that is already posted.

We appreciate our customer feedback when an error is identified. If you have any errors to report please use the "Ask a Question" section of our customer service website to report the error."

The Wiley URL for doing this is:

http://wiley.custhelp.com/app/ask/

So, if you want to take the time and trouble to do this, surely it will benefit all of us who are struggling with what we may not realize are errors in these or other bread baking books published by Wiley.

Of course it remains to be seen whether or not Wiley will actually follow up on such information or if they were just paying me lip service.

Best regards,

Mitch

...I just purchased from Amazon are worth noting.

Baking Artisan Bread by Ciril Hitz, ISBN 1-59253-453-8, $16.49...List $24.99...SUPERB. I wouldn't like to be without this one.

The Cheese Board: Collective Works, Fwd. by Alice Waters. ISBN 1-58008-419-2... $14.93...List $21.95...Very good, nice Bread recipes throughout.

This morning, I bicyled down to the Corvallis Winter Market (which is a lot of fun -- it's amazing what local farmers harvest here during thw winter -- greens of all sorts, leeks, potatoes, onions, squashes, spinach, sunchokes, beets, turnips, fresh eggs, stew hens ... it's fun), and I saw a booth with Kiko Denzer's books, among other things, for sale. Kiko's book, Build Your Own Earth Oven is a guide to building a cheap and easy wood fired oven out of cob. In fact, he's built his entire home from cob.

I asked the woman behind the table whether Kiko was teaching any classes, and she said, "Well, you can ask him. That's him behind you!" And so it was!

He's a very nice man, quiet, with the look of a college professor. He had an oven on display that was about the size of a small shipping box. He said it's big enough to bake in, though it's difficult to get the fire really roiling inside, due to the small size. But he got me thinking, "No need to build a big oven. I could just build a small earth oven, big enough for a pizza and a couple of loaves.

So, maybe I will. Anyway, it was fun meeting someone I'd admired from afar for quite some time.

My wife was very good to me on my birthday (Dec. 18).  She gave me a copy of The Taste of Bread.  What an amazing book.  I had borrowed a copy of it from the local library and had started reading it, sorta' rushing through the science to get to the baking.  Now I can take my time reading while I am out for the Christmas break (I teach high school drafting).  Right no there is a 70% hydration French dough in its primary fermentation.  I'll let y'all know how it turns out!

 R. Alan "Doc" Kinsey
"Better a dry crust with peace and quiet,
than a house full of feasting with strife."

Floyd, I just noticed the link to the TFL Amazon Storefront. I don't know if it was there before or if it's part of the upgrade.

Anyway, what I'm wondering is: does the site get a benefit if we make purchases that way? I'd like to know, because if it helps you, I will make all of my Amazon baking book purchases through the link. And I'm sure others here will want to do the same.

Phyl

I think I need a whole grain book.

I have no clue what to get. The books I currently have are Reinhart's BBA and Beranbaum's Bread Bible.

I was wondering about King Arthur Flour Whole Grains Book or even Reinhart's. Or any other suggestions other people have?

And yes, I did busy myself searching but oh...I'm sooo confused. I don't know if I can afford both but who knows.

I haven't even really started using Beranbaum's Bible yet so...I'm a veritable newbie.

 maybe i should get this (laurel's kitchen)

I know that Christmas is almost upon us, so I'm not advocating that you run out and buy anything that you may already have requested as a gift.  However, if you are shopping around for one or more specific titles, take advantage of any used book stores that may be in your area.  I was fortunate to be rummaging around in one this summer and found The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Berenbaum and The Bread Bible by Beth Hesperger, each in excellent condition.  I took them both home for a little under $20, total.  And no postage, either!

My ideal bread book is one that doesn't even acknowledge the existence of refined flour.  The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book fits that description (I think - there may be a place or two where AP or bread flour is mentioned).  All other whole grain books that I have found still seem to think that whole grains can't carry a bread.  Even Peter Reinhart's latest book has "transitional" loaves.  He's forgiven because those are in the minority.