Best Bread Book for beginners?

I have found Jeffery Hamelman's book "Bread" to be very helpful and informative both when I first started baking bread and still even now I go back to it for tips and reference. Definitely worth picking up. 

I found Hamelman very intimidating at first. I would recommend

The Handmade Loaf Dan Lepard

My bread Jim Lahey

or The Bread Maker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart

THEN go to Hamelman, my bible.

although I think any of Peter Reinhart's books are good for beginners (of which I am one -- I started there).

What kinds of breads are you interested in? Whole wheat? Rye? Classic French bread with an open crumb? Sandwich loaves for the family? Sourdough starter or yeast breads? Everything?

My first was Dough by Richard Bertinet and it's the simplest, easiest basic dough - 500f, 350w,10y,10s - and I still use it after 10 years.

After that Bread Ahead is good, as is the Bread Baker's Apprentice

you read / buy Hamelman's Bread.  It assumes quite a bit of knowledge and is very complete.

Unfortunately I don't have a beginner book to recommend you.  I used Ken Forkish's book but it wastes a ton of dough....

Also, this site you are on right now, TFL has very nice and helpful people. 

For your first loaf try here: http://www.wildyeastblog.com/my-new-favorite-sourdough/

I guess what i'm trying to say is that you might not need any book for a while... if you ask questions lots of people here will help you out.

This got rave reviews: https://smile.amazon.com/Artisan-Sourdough-Made-Simple-Handcrafted/dp/1624144292/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1532986934&sr=1-1&keywords=sourdough+b...
 

good luck

hester

I think many of Peter Reinhart's books are good, with lots of explanation as well as good, varied recipes. "Artisan bread every day" is a particularly good one. Also, America's Test Kitchen's "Bread Illustrated" has a ton of information and good illustrations (of course!).

Don't worry too much about trying all kinds of recipes and techniques until you get good at the basics of dough handling and fermentation (proofing). Find a good book and work your way through it, trying to avoid too many other distractions!

Eventually I acquired The Bread Baker's Apprentice (excellent discussion of technique), Flour Water Salt Yeast (great recipes and also technique), Tartine Bread (great story, but not for a beginner), and Bread Illustrated (from the creators of Cook's Illustrated and an excellent book for beginners), but ... my first book with bread recipes was British Baking by Paul Hollywood.  The reason I suggest this book is because it got my hands in the dough, and from that I began to develop a feel for the dough, which is an essential skill for building confidence in handling dough.

Along with a basic Irish soda bread, he includes a crusty Swansea (easy and simple), a wholemeal seeded loaf, and other breads.  The book contains photos of him working with the dough in some instances.  By starting with this book, I was not aiming too high for a beginner (I got the book for the recipes in general, which go far beyond bread, but a side-benefit was the level of the bread recipes).

Everybody (apparently) wants to create loaves that evoke oohs and ahs, but that takes practice, and jumping into that area directly is asking a bit much at times.  If you can produce a decent soda bread or Swansea, you will have accomplished something, and the experience will help you appreciate the process of making breads that require more.

Just a suggestion.  If you want a pure bread book, then get The Bread Baker's Apprentice.

@plevee mentioned s weonderful book - the handmade loaf by Dan Lepard...another greato ne is Artisan brread by Mafggie Gkezer which never gets enough kudos. having said that Bread by Hamelman and the Bakers Apprentice by Reinhart are great. Id go for Bread first.