Hi!

I would like to buy a book that is in the spirit of Michel Suas's ABP and Hammelman's Bread (which I already have), but with the main focus on pastry. I'm not sure if pastry is the correct term in English though, because what I mean is specifically yeasted (or doughy) products such as rolls, buns, croissants  - not cookies or macarons or other kinds of cakes.

I'm thinking of recipes and techniques for shaping and other trade secrets :), and if the recipes make use of levain, well then I'd be in heaven!

Thank you

Interesting point of view; does this Dr know what he's talking about? Or just trying to sell books.

The Dark Side of "Healthy" Wheat Modern wheat isn't really wheat, a
best-selling author explains
http://www.rodale. com/wheat- free-diet- 0

Jim

My plan to do a book review as a baker of “Inside The Jewish Baker”, has taken a turn. After reading the thread titled “Join the ITJB Challenge” and seeing the activity and enthusiasm generated by the book,  I’m disappointed by what I will have to say.  It is obvious that there is much interest in replicating  the breads of old. Now that I have had a chance to look more carefully, I’m shocked that this book is loaded with so many errors. Point taken that every technical book has errors. This one certainly fits nicely at the top of that list.

A few examples;
On page 12 at the bottom, the author  says, "follow the recipes exactly as printed". This should be the first change on the errata list. Page 62 has a formula for a quick rye sour. It calls for ¼ tsp of Instant dry yeast, or 3 grams. In my kitchen a teaspoon of IDY has always weighed 3 grams. That’s a significant difference which would change the outcome if I followed the metric weights.  

Other  examples; page 73, 1-1/2 tsp of IDY weighs .6 Oz or 18g. On page 103, the same item and amount weighs half that at .3Oz. and 8g.  On the same page, 2 large eggs weigh 4 Oz or 100g. On the prior page (101) a single egg weighs 1.3 Oz or 35g. I understand eggs are hard to scale but the book should use the same weights for the same ingredient throughout. A 30% variation in the amount could make a difference.

On Page 73, a Tablespoon of table salt weighs 6 grams. Really, my teaspoon of table salt weighs 6g. Elsewhere in the book the weight of this common item changes back to other amounts. Not to pick apart every recipe but for me to be able to trust the book as written or for that matter even with the “errata”, there needs to be consistency in each recipe as to what the ingredients weigh. I looked at the errata and I didn’t see any changes in the weight columns that reflect an error in calculating based on volumes. So these errors are not noted in the errata sheet. The reader is left trying to make sense of the recipe when the values may be considerably off.

On page 74 the Old School Jewish Deli Rye is a bread I have made and most recently with the Tzitzelbroyt changes. It’s  delicious bread that turned out wonderfully using the grams column. The bakers percents listed with the recipe are totally confusing. Each of the prep stage recipes use percents based on the finished product rather than that particular build. It would have been much more helpful to show an overview of the total recipe for the purposes of building a larger batch. Showing 7% as the weight of the water in a pre ferment isn’t very helpful IMO. They seem to get it right on more simple 1 day recipes but the more complex, multi stage recipes are needlessly complicated.

The above examples are but a few of many inconsistencies and errors I found in just a few minutes. Yes, there are some recipes that are printed so they work. Yes there are some beautiful breads that can be baked using some common sense and experience or by trial and error. The fact that these errors exist is evidence that it is hard to publish a good book.

The question then is, would I recommend or give this book to someone wanting to learn about these kinds of baked goods?  Knowing  that many of the recipes cannot be baked as written  or without digging through a long list of errors and, knowing about the inconsistencies, I’d have to limit the recommendation or gift to non bakers who would enjoy the history lesson for what it is. If I wanted to help a friend learn to bake Jewish breads, I would look to Glezer or Greenstein for an introduction to this arena.

Eric

Dear Folks,   Was just going to bake something from ITJB and thought I'd check for any errors and misprints since my book is a first edition.   Yikes all to crimminiy---there are 3 pages of them!    Here they are as of 12-28-11: (if this doesn't format too well you can fine these erratas at  (http://www.insidethejewishbakery.com/files/IJB_Errata.pdf)

INSIDE THE JEWISH BAKERY - ERRATA
(Revised recipes in bold)
"[No cookbook] is perfect. Even [Julia Child's] iconic Mastering the Art of French
Cooking had corrections well into the fifth printing." – Joan Nathan, Tablet,
12/16/11.
Page Recipe/Ingredient Replace With:
28-29 Rich Sourdough Barches Ingredient quantities See following pages
63 Rye Glaze 2 Tbs./1.40 oz./40g of
cornstarch
2 tsp./0.5 oz./15 g. of cornstarch
65 Black Bread Makes one 42 oz/1.20kg
loaf or two 21 oz./600 g.
loaves
Makes one 40 oz./1.15 kg. loaf or
two 20 oz./570 g. loaves
67-68 Rustic Pumpernickel
(Sitnice)
Ingredient quantities See following pages
75 Old-School Deli Rye 1½ cups White rye flour 2½ cups White rye flour
75 Old-School Deli Rye 1¾ cups - 2 Tbs.Hot (108°
F./42° C.) water
1¼ cups Hot (108° F./42° C.) water
76 Old-School Deli Rye Step 8. … bake for another
25 to 30 minutes …
Step 8. … bake for another 10 to 15
minutes …
103 New York Egg Bagels Ingredient quantities See following pages
104 New York Egg Bagels -
Step 6
"Take out only as many
chilled bagels as you can
bake at one time and
plunge them into the
boiling water"
"Plunge the proofed bagels into
boiling water"
109 Sweet Egg Dough Ingredient quantities See following pages
123 Bialys Artisan flour Bread flour
134, 142,
143
Open/Closed Pockets Step 1 … a 24 x 12 in./60 x
30 cm. rectangle …
Step 2 …a dozen 4 x 4
in./10 x 10 cm. squares…
Step 1 … a 20 x 15 in./ 50 x 38 cm.
rectangle …
Step 2. … a dozen 5x5 in./13x13
cm. squares …
138 Blitz Puff Pastry (Step 3) add the
remaining butter
add the shortening
151 Bun Dough Ingredient quantities See following pages
152 Bun Dough (Step 3) Egg/water and
flour additions reversed.
Switch to flat beater, reduce the
speed to low (KA 2) and add the
water in three stages, adding the
flavorings with the final stage. At
this point, the shortening mixture
may separate from the water. Don't
worry; this is normal. Slowly
incorporate the flour, ¾ cup at a
time, and instant yeast into the
dough blending thoroughly before
adding the next portion.
155 Horseshoes Step 4 Omit
156 Horseshoes 5. Stretch each strip to a
length of about 6 in./15
cm. and twist it …
4. Cut each strip into fourths.
Stretch each piece slightly and
twist it …
156 Horseshoes Steps 6,7,8 Re-number to 5, 6, 7
156 Coffee cake dough 1/3 cup Water 2/3 cup Water
163 Babka dough Bread flour 11.0 oz/310 g. Bread flour 12.0 oz./340 g.
163 Babka dough 2 large Eggs, beaten 0.1
oz./2g/ 0.4%
½cup Eggs, beaten 4.0 oz/115
g/20.0%
163 Babka dough Ground cardamom 12.0% Ground cardamom 1.0%
181 Sour Cream Cake Baking soda 10.0 oz./285g Baking soda 0.1 oz./2 g.
181 Sour Cream Cake Sour cream 0.1 oz./2 g Sour cream 10.0 oz./285g
198 Orange Chiffon Cake Granulated sugar ¾ tsp Granulated sugar ¾ cup
218 Mini-Schnecken 1 cup/2 oz./55 g. Unsalted
butter, melted
¼ cup/2 oz./55 g. Unsalted butter,
melted
221 Black and White Cookies 1¼ tsp Baking Powder 4 tsp Baking Powder
244, 246 Passover Almond Horns Cornstarch-free powdered
sugar
Kosher for Passover granulated
sugar
271 Buttercream Shortening Unsalted butter
271 Buttercream Butter flavoring Butter flavoring (optional)

Thought you folks might be interested in this review of ITJB from The Jewish Week. http://bit.ly/rFaneV

Not only does it talk about the book, but also about TFL and the role it played in bringing Norm and me together, the role of TFLers in the testing .... even the Challenge that's going on now.

As I've said so many times before, without TFL, none of it would have been possible! Thanks so much.

Stan
www.nybakers.com

i have "The Breads of France" by bernard clayton, jr. - 2002 edition

is this an update or a reprint of the 1978 edition

thanks

mr toad

Ok, so i've heard of this book since i began baking a few years ago, and i see that there is an updated version.  Anyone have any first hand knowledge and comparisons with the original?  If i recall correctly (based entirely on reading about it, i have never seen the book), the original contained unnecessary amounts of yeast, as well as being entirely volume based, so just curious as to whether or not it has been changed in any way, perhaps to relfect our greater awareness of technique.  Basically, does it contain the same recipes, is it the same book with simply new photos, or is it just updating what is sometimes regarded as a classic, or all, or none? 

And i'd also be curious to know how the non-bread recipes are, because i like my sweets.  Plus, I know how to make good bread at this point, i'm looking to expand my repertoire...

Before I buy a new copy, wondering if anyone has AB&P and wants to sell it. If so, please let me know.

I just posted this review to my blog at The German Foodie.

“The Bread Baker’s Apprentice”, Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread by Peter Reinhart

“The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” is published by Ten Speed Press, (P.O. Box 7123, Berkeley/CA 94707; http://www.tenspeed.com). 2001. ISBN 978-158008-268-6, 304 pages, hardcover. List price $35.00 plus shipping.

If there is one book I would recommend hands-down for anybody who wants to learn bread baking the right way, then it is “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice”, lovingly called “BBA” on some bread baking forums I frequent.

Reinhart begins with an overview over gear and ingredients, including why some are to be preferred over others. My favorite aspect in this part of the book was the instructions on how to make improvised proofing bowls (p.36). I own several proofing baskets myself and am keenly aware how insanely expensive they are, so this is a good, low-cost alternative.

Most people will be tempted to skip the part about baker’s math (pp. 41), but I would urge them to read on. Baker’s percentages, while odd to get used to, are still the best measurement system when it comes to bread. After using them for a while, just looking at the percentages will tell the artisan baker all he/she needs to know about the general characteristics of the dough.

For anybody who has been wondering about general classifications of certain kinds of bread, pages 46 and 47 contain a graph listing the most popular breads and where they fall, from dough characteristics to rising method. More important to the novice baker, however, is the explanation on the twelve stages of bread, starting on page 48.

I am a strong autodidactic learner, and every good how-to (cook) book should include a section like this. Armed with this knowledge, if you cannot churn out amazing bread afterwards, you should maybe consider another past-time – it does not get any more comprehensive than this.

In this context, BBA includes some very helpful photographs on shaping bread (pp. 72). The one criticism I have here is that Reinhart’s way of shaping pretzels (top of page 80) is – sorry to say it – PATHETIC. I have never seen such a sorry excuse for a pretzel; children can do a better job than this. I would strongly recommend a complete redo of the related photographs.

Yet, this is the only real sore point about this book, which I otherwise love. The formulas are clearly written, and while I would have appreciated a column with grams included in the recipes, at least BBA is listing both volume and weight (the latter albeit in decimal ounces, when most smaller scales I have seen will give them in fractions – but hey, it is a start).

Unlike “Crust & Crumb” (featuring an awkward two-column layout), the recipes are listed in one large column with a tiny side column containing commentary, baker’s percentages and tips. The formulas are written out in clear paragraphs organized in ordered lists, and the first sentence of each paragraph starts with bold letters giving you the first idea of what is coming. Many recipes also include “grace notes” at the end, often disclosing the kind of information you would have to hunt the Internet for, like making your own herb oil for focaccia (p. 163).

Also, many recipes are accompanied by “how to” photographs as appropriate, for example when it comes to shaping the bread a certain way. And speaking of photographs, the majority of pictures included in the book are really nice and in color, unlike “Crust & Crumb”, which relies on awkward drawings for most of its illustrations (with the exception of some color photographs in the center of the book).

It seems inevitable, though, that every cook book contains a few recipes which, for the life of you, will not work, no matter how closely you follow them. BBA is no exception. Just like you would buy a CD for the one single and a handful of other songs you really liked, and accept that the other songs were not really your cup of tea, I guess one has to accept that the same applies to recipe books.

There are a few recipes in this book which I have not been able to replicate ever, no matter how faithfully I stuck to the letter of the formula. Neither have other people I have talked to, which would indicate an inherent issue with the recipe itself, not operator-related error. For some this only meant that some aspects of the method were erroneous, like using a stamp for making Kaiser rolls (p. 177). Interestingly enough, the photograph featured on page 176 shows rolls that have been hand-knotted or (dare I say it?) machined – but there is no way they were baked using a stamp. I should know, because I bought a stamp following what I read in BBA, and more or less tossed it the first time I tried it out. What does yeasted dough do when it is proofed, and later baked, after being stamped? Even when it is placed, as directed on its face for proofing? Exactly.

Other recipes that did not impress me very much were the one for pumpernickel rye (p. 246) or the one for ciabatta (p. 136). But most of those are outweighed by the parts that make this book indispensable in every serious bread baker’s collection – both regarding what I have outlined above, and by some other formulas in this book, like the one for lavash crackers (p. 178) or Vienna bread (p.261).

Get baking! :)

First of all, hello all - I finally decided to stop lurking and start posting, having enjoyed reading all your tips and advice for a while.

I wonder if you kind people could give me some advice on my next bread book to buy, please. I've been putting my Christmas wish list together, and had narrowed my choice down to Secrets of A Jewish Baker by Greenstein, with How to Bake Bread by Emmanuel Hadjiandreou as a close second. However, reading the reviews on Amazon and a few comments on here have put me off the Greenstein title a little, due to the seemingly vague directions about how much flour is needed (as in say, 2-4 cups).

To give you some context, I already have Laurel's Kitchen Bread book, Bread Matters and Artisan Baking by Gleezer. I rarely use the latter, as it's seemed too complex for me in the past, but I've started looking at it again as I feel up to improving my skills a bit now. I dabble with sourdough, but am hardly competent with it; generally bake wholegrain but am not averse to unusual white breads and am looking for breads, not cakes etc. I love German and Scandinavian bread. Oh, and I'm in the UK, in case that has any bearing.

Any comments would be great, many thanks!