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| The Bread Bible | 
 enlarge | Author: Rose Levy Beranbaum
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Category: Book
List Price: $35.00
Buy New: $19.98
You Save: $15.02 (43%)
New (47) Used (14) from $19.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  93 reviews
Sales Rank: 7760
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 640
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4.9
Dimensions (in): 10.1 x 8.4 x 1.8
ISBN: 0393057941
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.815
EAN: 9780393057942
ASIN: 0393057941
Publication Date: October 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Wonderful book, odd reviews November 28, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I find myself confused and surprised by some of the reviews already here. Myself, I have had perfect success every single time with this book, and I have made a great many of the breads -- some, like ciabatta and baguette, a great many times. So I read a bunch of the negative reviews to see if I could figure out where the problem lies. I have a few guesses.
First, this is a book on making bread her way, which means obsessive precision. If you do exactly what she says, in my experience, you will get spectacular results.
Second, you must discard your presuppositions and prior preferences. If you want to make bread the way you already make bread, this book will be quite irritating. If you want perfect success by doing it her way, this is the book for you.
Third, you really do have to read the text. I'm sorry, but I have no sympathy for people who get halfway through a recipe and discover that "rising time" refers to something quite specific, whereas there is an earlier period of preliminary rising that takes longer. Why didn't you read the recipe in advance?
Fourth, if you do read the text, you can very quickly start adapting and altering recipes to your taste. It means sitting down with a pencil and paper and calculating out altered weights in order to keep it all together. But once you've done it, you've got a new recipe that will work.
One thing I notice in many negative reviews is the word "should." Bread baking SHOULD be simple, or SHOULD be easy, or SHOULD require minimal fussing, or whatever. Why should it? This is what I mean about preconceptions: if you have strong preconceptions about how bread baking should be natural and flow from your hands or something, you're going to hate this book. If you want good bread and the hell with the myths, you'll like this book. But you do have to pay attention.
I started baking from this book because I was surrounded by "handmade organic artisanal whole-grain bread" that was leaden, tasteless, and expensive. Bread like that is made by people who think it's all about being natural. I have had perfect success with Birnbaum, and find that I can always plan things around the schedule she proposes, contrary to the negative remarks about timing and such: make the biga, sponge, poolish, or whatever, the night before; mix and go in the morning; shape and raise in the afternoon; bake in the early evening. What's so hard about that?
Anyway, ignore the negative reviews. Get this book, read the text, don't start a recipe until you've read it carefully and thoroughly, and do what she tells you. The results will be wonderful, every time.
For the love of bread, get this book! November 10, 2008
I started off my journey with the Cake Bible and was enchanted with that collection of recipes - and the background information provided so that I could truly understand what made each recipe tick! And then came the Bread Bible - a lovely Christmas gift from my niece. I've been happily baking my way through the book ever since!
Cinnamon Raisin Loaf is a favorite among family and friends (a thick slab is sitting in front of me as I write this review - it's swirled with a sweet, gooey ribbon of cinnamon and sugar and studded throughout with plump raisins - I use brown sugar and more cinnamon than the recipe calls for, by the way), Cranberry-Banana Walnut Quick Bread is to die for. My husband, who brews his own beer, often contributes his homebrew and malt powder (a must, I think, for this recipe - available at any homebrew store!). It has an amazing, crisp crust that crackles as it cools. The rich depth of flavour and moist crumb contrast with the crust for one of the best breads I've ever had - I may have to go start a loaf, just thinking about it!
I should say that I am by no means an expert baker - more like an enthusiastic novice. I love the educational information Rose provides so that you can understand why you do what you do as you explore bread baking. I started by following the recipes carefully and now feel comfortable enough to "Depart the Text" and make the recipes my own. She has wonderful tips for success with each recipe and offers suggestions for optional additions to the loaves. I'm happy to have a pizza stone, which now stays in my oven most of the time. I will often bake the loaves directly on the stone which has been preheated for 45 min. to an hour at the temperature recommended for the recipe.
One word of advice, though - please read through the recipes carefully before you begin!! I know another reviewer mentioned this already, but it's worth saying again! Some of the recipes take more than one day to make (I often make the biga or starter the day before I bake or allow for an overnight rise/rest in the fridge) and her recipes are broken down in a unique way so that you will sometimes find additional ingredients on a subsequent page. There are often duplicate sets of directions - one for hand kneading and one for your KitchenAid stand mixer and a dough hook. Once you get used to the method she uses to write/organize her recipes, it will feel more comfortable to you - but it is different from most other cookbooks I have used and I had a couple of false starts the first couple of times I tackled the recipes.
I can't say enough about this book for it's education, recipes and most of all for the hours happily spent elbow deep in flour and yeast. If you've ever been curious about baking your own bread, give this one a try - I don't think you'll be disappointed!
 Disappointed September 27, 2008
As a seasoned bread baker, I am disappointed that a 640-page bread cookbook contains only two whole grain recipes. She could have at least included a section on whole-grain, but one has the impression that Beranbaum doesn't like the taste of whole-grain. Her methods are good, but, considering that part of the reason to make a sponge is to soften the whole-wheat flour, it surprised me that her sponge-based recipes do not contain any. This is a good cookbook if you want to learn the sponge method of bread baking, but as a source for a variety of bread recipes, I wish I had purchased a different one.
 Found it great to use and have had excellent results September 27, 2008
I liked the Breadmaker's Apprentice a lot better than this book, not enough colour plates and I thought more complicated, but after following the receipes to a tee, great loaves came out of the oven. The Pugliese bread is excellent, but please sit down and read the tips she gives first, as they really work in a non commercial oven
Predictable Results Every Time September 18, 2008
As an enthusiastic amateur bread-maker, I have tried for years to get reliable results - unsuccessfully. Then I discovered The Bread Bible... The author's explanations are thorough and comprehensible, and best of all, the end result matches what she predicts.
With all the other books I have studied then worked from, my husband would comment that the authors must have left out some important key piece of information. My loaves were too flat, or too dense; if I had a success, I was unable to reproduce it a second time. Frustration reigned. Those days are gone, thanks to this book and the author's work.
I have made baguettes from The Bread Bible three times in three weeks - the resulting loaves have huge chewy holes, fine flavour, and blistered crisp crusts.
Two other loaves I've tried have been equally successful.
I am most grateful to the author, and encourage anyone with a passion for bread-making to get this book.
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