Peter Reinhart's "Artisan Breads Every Day" - One man's opinion
For those of us who feared that Peter may have nothing left to say, the wait is over. He has much left to say and it is very interestng. While retaining (his) personal favorites (pain a l'anciene, Struan, retardation, pizza), he has brought them forward with the addition of the stretch and fold technique (first encountered by me in Mike Avery's post with video right here). I tried the stretch and fold after encountering Mike's post here and loved it. I am delighted to see Peter embrace it as it brings us closer to the dough (actually 'into the dough'). Anyhow, back to the book. It is well orgrnized and should be in every bread maker's collection. After reading it, the amateur baker might well reconsider the need for expensive mixers and such. Peter shows that, as earlier bread masters did, you can produce world class bread with only a few simple, inexpensive tools and a contemporary home ktchen. Thank you, Peter, I can't wait for the next one.