The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Bosch Mixture and Raymond Calvel French book translated Taste of Bread

ryaninoz's picture
ryaninoz

Bosch Mixture and Raymond Calvel French book translated Taste of Bread

Hello all have a few questions that I should separate into two forums but decided to just have a go in one.

 1. What is the best Bosch Mixer model for heavy duty bread making? I have a kitchen aid professional mixer but it at times struggles with heavier doughs, especially the fig bread I recently made from a much scaled down commerical version. My kitchen aid is the largest capacity and power they make, so I am seeking another solution. I might seek a Bosch mixer as a christmas present and wondered if I get one, I want it to meet my needs for the next many years and be heavy duty. Are there any that are suitable for both Home and light commerical work?

 2. Does anyone have Raymond Calvel's book translated from the well know french version "Le Gout Du Pain" (I swear I have to learn French to at least read these great books) into an English version titled 'The Taste of Bread'. I have read that it's a fantastic book with some of the most complete and thorough explanations. I've also read it's a very poor edited translation. If anyone has this book and can make a recommendation I'd greatly appreciate the input, due to the cost of this book.

 

Cheers to all responses,

 Ryan in Sydney

 

 

breadnerd's picture
breadnerd

1) Sorry, I'm not familiar with the Bosch mixer. I do have the DLX, which I find happily kneads heavier doughs (as well as wet doughs). Hopefully someone with a bosch will respond too.

 

2). I've read 'The Taste of Bread" and enjoyed it. Like you I wasn't able to read the french, and didn't want to shell out +$80 without seeing it, so I was able to get it via an inter-library loan. Not sure if you have that in Sydney?!

Anyway, I liked it, but I'm a breadnerd :) It's very technical, and very french-bred centric, if that makes sense. There are a few formulas for other breads, but the main thrust of the book is explaining, and sometimes almost justifying, why french bread and his techniques are the best. Also keep in mind that although the english version was published in 2001, the original is from quite a few years ago. A lot of his discussion is how the overmixing (done by the wonder bread industry to speed up the fermentation process) is wrong. Of course, most of us know this which is why we are baking with artisan methods already!

 

I don't really if the translation is very good, since I don't read much french and didn't have the original to compare. I did find the writing style kind of funny at times, there are back-handed compliments to americans and other non-french cultures, which I attributed to the author's bias but could have been the translators.... I guess I just recongnized a strong bias when I read the book (which I agreed with, by the way) which it made me read the book with a conscious awareness that it was a little dated and opinionated.

It does look like the price at amazon is coming down, so I'd say it's a good additional to a bread library if you could get it for a reasonable price. For me, the library was a good option. It was a fascinating read, but probably not something I would use repeatedly for formulas, etc.  Hey--google books has several sample pages up, I just found that by mistake by googling the title.  That might give you a feeling for the book.

 

- breadnerd 

staff of life's picture
staff of life

I have the definitive answer to both your questions. :)

If you visit epinions, you might change your mind about wanting a Bosch.  I opted for an Electrolux.  It is noisy (it sounds like a vacuum, which makes me wonder), but it was a great improvement over my Kitchenaid.  I could finally make a good amount of bread at a time.  I currently use a 20 qt Berkel mixer, as I have a commercial op, but I know they make smaller models (of heavy-duty planetary mixers) , and I think they would be worth every penny, if that is an option for you as well.  The only drawbacks in my opinion to the Electroluxes are the noise level (but I am very sensitive anyway, and the KAs bothered me too) and the fact that you can't add all the flour your dough needs all at once.  I still have held on to mine though I don't currently have a need for it. 

I do have the book in question, and am currently reading it.  I have a couple of loaves going into the oven soon that are experiments on things I learned in the book.  It's pretty slow reading for me, as I feel I must understand a concept backwards and forwards before I'll proceed on to the next chapter, but I am enjoying it.  There is a lot of technical info in there you won't be able to find anywhere else.  And though I took 6 years of French, I don't think I would be able to understand some of the concepts if I were reading the French version.  I agree with Breadnerd; some of the phrasing in the book is interesting.  He talks about bread having an 'agreeable' taste.  In French, 'agreable' has a bit more punch to its meaning than our English equivalent.  If money's not a problem, I'd spring for it.  There's so much info in there, it's worth buying as opposed to borrowing.

SOL

ryaninoz's picture
ryaninoz

Thanks for the information. It's very helpful. I have gone ahead and purchased the book from an Amazon dealer, so I should have the book in 2 to 3 weeks here in Oz. I am looking forward to reading the book. I have already looked into french classes and have signed up to start in January. (I gone to France every year the past 6 years, so might as well start learning the language!). If you come across any other interesting words that have more variation of meaning, please let me know at r_propst@hotmail.com. I am like you, tend to want to understand the details thoroughly before proceeding to a new concept.....the devil is in the details they say. I greatly appreciate your feedback though. What type of commerical Op do you have? I've never heard of the Berkel's and don't think I need one of that capacity but we do have a good Chef/Catering store here that I might browse to see what's available. I would prefer something heavy duty that will last me but that I can add the dough all in. If there is an issue with not adding all the flour to the Electrolux, that could be a pain in the long term.

Ryan Propst

Sydney, Australia

staff of life's picture
staff of life

I can't speak for the Bosch, as I don't have one, so I'm not certain or not if you can all all the flour at once or not.  Maybe someone else here knows.  I did read that the Electrolux has a more durable build than the Bosch.  My Berkel looks like an over-grown, very heavy duty KA.  Hobart is the company that makes (or made, I'm not sure) the KAs as a smaller version of their planetary mixer.  Several years ago, they let the patent expire on their model, so a lot of smaller companies copied their style of mixer.  One of them was Berkel.  A couple of years ago, the Hobart company bought out Berkel, so now they make also the Berkels; the previous model of Hobart becomes Berkel's current.  I did my research--both on the net and with bakers and equipment dealers.  The Hobart is the gold standard, but the Berkel comes very close, with a much smaller price tag (I paid $1650 new for mine, a Hobart would have been at least twice that amount).  My understanding is that the Hobart outshines the Berkel when making stiffer doughs, but since I don't make stiff doughs, I opted for the Berkel.  They do make smaller models, but I can't remember the size.  If you google it, I'm sure you can find out.  It will be more expensive than a KA, but probably near the equivalent of an Electrolux.  I enjoy being able to add the flour all at one time and being able to answer the phone while the mixer is running, something I wasn't able to do with the Electrolux.  And because the volume of bread that I was producing was growing, I really needed to go the commercial route.

And to answer your question about the sort of operation I have, I have a licensed/insured/inspected home kitchen where I bake anywhere from 300-350 loaves a bread a week to distribute to a local, twice a week farmers' market, and also a gourmet shop near where I live.  I started very small last year and things ballooned from there. 

SOL