Book Reviews

Books are where amateur bakers get most of our information about how to bake. We are fortunate, because there are a lot of wonderful bread baking books out there, with new one's coming out each year. Whenever I get a chance to read another bread baking book, I read and review here. There is also a forum for site members to post their book reviews [1]. If I am missing your favorite baking book, please, post something about there! The links to my reviews, each with a teeny synopsis:

• If you are looking to buy your first artisan baking book, Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice [2] is it.
• Ciril Hitz's Baking Artisan Bread [3] is a new entry in 2008.
• Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day [4] takes the no-knead technique to a whole new level.
• Jeffrey Hamelman's Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes [5]. A good book for the advanced baker.
• Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads [6]. An excellent collection of over 300 bread recipes from around the globe.
• Beth Hensperger's Bread Bible [7]. Similar in format to Clayton's book. The tone of much of the writing annoys me, but there are some excellent recipes in here.
• Peter Reinhart's American Pie [8] is a good one if you are interested in pizza.
• Peter did a Q&A with us about his most recent book, Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Bread [9].
• 6000 Years of Bread [10] is an interesting history of bread.
• Bread Science: the Chemistry and Craft of Making Bread [11] is an excellent self-published book on the science of bread.
• Good Bread is Back [12] is an interesting read for a Francophile.
• Maggie Glezer's A Blessing of Bread: The Many Rich Traditions of Jewish Bread Baking Around the World [13] is an excellent book on Jewish baking traditions and the winner of the 2005 James Beard Award for best baking book.
• Her previous book, Artisan Baking Across America [14], is a beautiful book and a favorite of many bakers I know.
• Joe Ortiz's The Village Baker [15] is the book credited with launching the artisan bread movement in America.