... for the correction!

hi Rick,

let me take your questions in order:

1. no worries if you're a hand-kneader: bakers, both Jewish and otherwise were baking long before mechanical mixers were invented. hand kneading is just going to take a lot longer and *won't* work for extremely slack or rich doughs like danish and babka, that require 15-20 minutes of machine mixing for the gluten to form. otherwise, no difference whether you hand-knead or use a machine.

2. substitutions. we prefer that you follow the recipes as written, meaning that the ingredients be those specified. we recognize that some of the flours may be hard to come by locally, which is why we're offering a 10% discount on those ingredients at nybakers.com. if you can find them elsewhere, more power to you; we're not insisting that you buy your ingredients from any vendor in particular. however, we do ask that you follow the recipes -- ingredients, quantities and techniques, as closely as possible. otherwise, we won't know if we're being clear enough.

having said that, we're also writing the recipes such that we're keeping "exotic" or hard-to-find ingredients to a minimum. the idea is to make these products both authentic and accessible. when substitution is possible, we call that out.

rather than winging it, we prefer that you decline testing certain recipes if you don't have the wherewithal or patience.

we'll be sending out more detailed info, including ingredient lists, toward the end of this week.

thanks for your questions,

Stan and Norm

Hi, daysi.

Photos of the recipe test results can be found here: NYBakers/Norm's Book - Recipe Tests

Enjoy!

David

With all due respect, I think that if I am asked to volunteer for something, I do it withouth expecting anything in return.   

NOw, let's suppose that I volunteer to do something and this something involves a lot more commitment than I thought - I can always drop out if that's the case.

At least, that's how I see it.

I believe Stan has expressed his gratitude.  For me and seemingly others here that verbal thanks is enough.  The promise or hope of a discounted book was never a prerequisite.  Also, note that Stan is giving a 10% discount to the test bakers (so there's your small showing of gratitude)---I don't think that's limited to the ingredients for the recipes but you can always check.  Just my thoughts.

zpak,

we do recognize that you guys are doing something for us and our goal is to recognize that in as many ways as possible. one is with the 10% ingredient discount; a second is with acknowledgement in writing of each tester's contribution to the finished product; and lastly, discounted copies of the book (author's cost) before publication, if our publisher goes along with that latter point -- which we expect he will -- a point we made in one of our earlier communications with testers.

that having been said, there's a quid pro quo here: yes, everyone who's agreed to test our formulas will have to pay for their ingredients. they also get to eat the fruits of their labor (and so far, most of the reviews have been good), and also have the opportunity to learn and/or practice techniques and formulas that they may never have otherwise been exposed to. we, in turn, benefit from the collective skills and experience of every one of our testers, so that each recipe we publish will be the best it possibly can be.

this is not a one-way street: hopefully, everyone benefits in different, but mutually satisfying ways.

as someone here pointed out, this is entirely voluntary and you can leave at any time, as much as we'd like you to stay.

Stan & Norm