Rating Explained:
+++++ = highly recommended for purpose stated
++++ = pretty good book for purpose stated
+++ = generally positive, check it out before buying
++ = might be slightly useful or enjoyable
+ = of limited usefulness to me
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Recommend: have on-hand or not
For: what purpose
Level: skills required to use
Audience: who might want this
Rating: usefulness/enjoyment index |
Bread Class Recipes
by Don Dickey
Over 100 recipes optimized for speed to make in under 3 hours, start-to-finish. Includes tips from 35 years experience. Sections for beginners, sweet doughs, finger breads, batter breads. whole grains, international, rustic Italian, authentic sourdough, FAQs, scoring diagrams, and more. |
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Recommend: Buy
For: Reference
Level: Beginner > Advanced
Audience: Enthusiast
Rating: +++++ |
Breads from around the world and how to bake them at home by Christine Ingram and Jennie Shapter
The comprehensive reference guide that follows is a fantastic visual catalogue of the breads of the world. Over 100 recipes and variations have been tested and adapted where necessary so that you can bake them easily at home. |
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Recommend: Buy
For: Reference
Level: Intermediate
Audience: Enthusiast
Rating: ++++ |
The Good Cook: Breads Techniques & Recipes
by Time-Life Books
Good book for beginners, with lots of photos to show step-by-step techniques. Includes a wide range of bread types: yeasted, quick, and also unleavened, sweet and savory, basic and enriched. |
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Recommend: Buy
For: Reference
Level: Beginner > Intermediate
Audience: Home cook
Rating: ++++ |
The Italian Baker
by Carol Field
Knowing the regional specialties and the stories behind them is like taking a trip through the Italian countryside. Putting the recipes on paper as Carol Field has done is like preserving the villages in the Italian hillsides. |
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Recommend: Buy
For: Reference
Level: Intermediate
Audience: Enthusiast
Rating: +++++ |
Flour Water Salt Yeast Fundamentals of Artisan Bread & Pizza
by Ken Forkish
Forkish translates his obsessively honed craft into scores of recipes for rustic boules and Neapolitan-style pizzas, all developed and tested in his home oven, which yield top-quality artisan products. |
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Recommend: Buy
For: Reference
Level: Intermediate
Audience: Serious Amateur
Rating: ++++ |
Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day
by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois
"The secret" of this book is high-moisture doughs that can be mixed in large batches, then stored in the refrigerator for up to two weeks, ready for shaping and baking a loaf at a time. |
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Recommend: Buy
For: Reference
Level: Intermediate
Audience: Enthusiast
Rating: +++ |
Confessions of a French Baker
by Peter Mayle and Gerard Auzet
This book includes a story, secrets, tips and recipes by the author of A Year in Provence. |
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Recommend: Borrow
For: Pleasure
Level: Any
Audience: Any
Rating: ++ |
Bread Making: A Home Course
Crafting the Perfect Loaf from Crust to Crumb
by Lauren Chattman
This book covers just about everything from ingredients to the chemistry of bread to how to make a good loaf. Contains lots of useful info for beginners and seasoned bakers alike. |
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Recommend: Buy
For: Reference
Level: Intermediate
Audience: Serious Amateur
Rating: ++++ |
Brother Juniper's Bread Book by Peter Reinhart
As an award-winning baker and member of a religious brotherhood, Peter Reinhart skillfully blends the two aspects of his life in this eloquent guide to creating wonderful bread. |
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Recommend: Borrow
For: Reference
Level: Advanced
Audience: Serious Amateur
Rating: +++ |
Artisan Breads Every Day by Peter Reinhart
This book explores how to use a refridgerated fermentation cycle to build the complex flavors usually associated with pre-ferments. Start bread at night, refridgerate, and bake great bread the next day! |
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Recommend: Borrow
For: Reference
Level: Advanced
Audience: Serious Amateur
Rating: +++ |
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Recommend: Borrow
For: Reference
Level: Advanced
Audience: Serious Amateur
Rating: ++++ |
52 Loaves by William Alexander
This curious book details how the author tried to recreate some peasant bread he had in New York City. His planned to bake 1 loaf per week for a year. Making bread from scratch starts with planting wheat! A wonderful read... hard to put down at night. |
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Recommend: Borrow
For: Pleasure
Level: Any
Audience: Any
Rating: ++++ |
Whole Grain Baking by King Arthur Flour
Bake delicious whole grain treats, from tender cookies to flaky piecrusts, high-rising cakes to soft sandwich breads. King Arthur shows you how in this ground-breaking new book. |
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Recommend: Buy
For: Reference
Level: Any
Audience: Health-conscious
Rating: +++ |
200th Anniversary Cookbook by King Arthur Flour
Over 200 years of history went into King Arthur Flour’s "200th Anniversary Cookbook." This volume is a quick peek into American culinary history. Contains over 400 recipes, for anything you can bake with flour. |
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Recommend: Buy
For: Reference
Level: Any
Audience: Home Cook
Rating: +++ |
Essentials of Baking by Williams & Sonoma
One of my favorite go-to references, this one has beautiful photographs that show you what the finished products should look like. The recipes are excellent as well. |
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Recommend: Buy
For: Reference
Level: Intermediate
Audience: Enthusiast
Rating: +++++ |
No Need to Knead by Suzanne Dunaway
Useful information and recipes for many of the author's favorite breads including classic Italian Focaccia, Filoncino, and Pane Casereccio and also traditional American breads like Skillet Cornbread and Sourdough Biscuits. |
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Recommend: Buy
For: Reference
Level: Intermediate
Audience: Enthusiast
Rating: ++++ |
Beard on Bread by James Beard
A classic! This book was the author's best seller in his lifetime and is a must-have for any bread maker. It was reprinted seven times in its first year and sold more than 264,000 copies. |
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Recommend: Buy
For: Reference
Level: Any
Audience: Enthusiast
Rating: +++ |
Bread by Beth Hensperger
Nice softcover book with good recipes and great photographs. Includes recipes she made for a restaurant and her homemade breads. One of the author's first books. |
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Recommend: Buy
For: Reference
Level: Any
Audience: Enthusiast
Rating: ++++ |
The Garden Way Bread Book
by Ellen Foscue Johnson
Recipes are organized by month, with each month featuring some special breads for holidays or ingredients of the season. Each month there are recipes for basic breads, like sprouted-wheat, quick breads, as well as treats like waffles or doughnuts. Kind of "crunchy." |
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Recommend: Buy
For: Reference
Level: Any
Audience: Any
Rating: +++ |
Quick & Delicious Breads by Johna Blinn
This is a collection of easy-to-follow recipes for quick yeast bread and short-cut breads (made from prepared mixes) are included. |
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Recommend: Buy
For: Reference
Level: Any
Audience: Any
Rating: +++ |
Sunset Breads by Sunset Books
Choose from over 150 Sunset-tested recipes, ranging from basic yeast breads to quick breads, classic favorites to exciting new creations. 1984 version |
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Recommend: Buy
For: Reference
Level: Any
Audience: Any
Rating: +++ |
Cookbook of Breads by Sunset Books
Choose from over 150 Sunset-tested recipes, ranging from basic yeast breads to quick breads, classic favorites to exciting new creations. 1980 version. |
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Recommend: Buy
For: Reference
Level: Any
Audience: Any
Rating: +++ |
Bread Winners by Mel London
Ever make a recipe in a cookbook and have less than perfect results? That's what happened when I tried the beer bread in this book (its author forgot the salt). Made it hard to invest any time in the other recipes. Nuff said. You may have better luck! |
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Recommend: Borrow
For: Reference
Level: Any
Audience: Enthusiast
Rating: + |
The Tassajara Bread Book by Edward Espe Brown
This book has been a favorite among renowned chefs and novice bakers alike for more than 30 years. Look for a newer edition with 2-loaf recipes (the original edition recipes make 4 loaves). |
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Recommend: Buy
For: Reference
Level: Any
Audience: Enthusiast
Rating: ++++ |
