Customer Reviews

Artisan Baking Across America: The Breads, the Bakers, the Best Recipes

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

No one book stands out as the definitive manual for artisan bread baking, but this is definitely one to go alongside the other classics on your bookshelf: "Crust and Crumb," "The Village Baker," "Breads of LaBrea," "Bread Alone," etc. For me, Steve Sullivan's recipe for his rustic baguette was worth the price of the book. Anyone who has been to Acme and tasted one of those baguettes will attest, it doesn't get much better. I took my family there for breakfast while on vacation, and for as much bread as they have tasted in my kitchen, they knew they were experiencing something special. And, with the exception of his chapter in the Chez Panise cookbook, Steve doesn't appear to make his recipes known. Ms Glezer's instructions are a little confusing, but I figured it out and had great results the first time out. Now, on to some of those other recipes.

After seeing this book at my local book store, I mentioned to my wife that it would make a wonderful Christmas present, knowing she usually takes this hints. However, I could hardly wait until Christmas Day, yes I received it, and almost bought it because I could not wait to get into it. This book is fabulous and has not dissappointed me in anyway, just the opposite. That is why I say it is inspiring. I have had it for a little over one week, have read most of the book, and tried about 6 receipes. All with wonderful results. What I appreciate most is the detail on why I am doing what I am during the baking process and how it affects the end results. Both my family, and friends who have received loaves as gifts, like the results as well. Highly recommended.

First, a warning: I am interested both in baking delicious bread and understanding some of what's happening in my bread in the process of making it. And I bake almost entirely sourdough.

I thought that parts of this book were interesting. It certainly has gorgeous pictures of delicious looking bread. The descriptions of bakeries were wonderful. What I found odd was that the descriptions of why some things are done (especially in the sourdough and rye chapters) seemed a little weak. And I didn't think that the recipes were very interesting.

The take home parts of this book were, for me: (1) the descriptions of how the bakers operate, what they do to their bread. Those gave me ideas to try on my own bread. (2) It is a beautiful coffee table book. I've seen none better on bread..

However, if I wanted to learn more about BREAD, I would go to something like Bread Builders by Daniel Wing and Allen Scott or some analogous book for yeasted breads.

I've been baking bread for fun for about 20 years, and spent
a wonderful vacation week baking various recipes from this book.

The strength of the book is that the recipes almost all produce
an interesting bread -- one you'd want to sample in a bread store
just to see how it tasted. Many recipes, such as the roasted
garlic bread and the potato pizza are outstanding.

The one nuisance is that, for all its focus on precise
measurements (one recipe calls for 1 and 3/4 cups water plus
three tablespoon) often the proportions are a little off (even
if you weigh carefully). Also, the rising instructions often
focus on elapsed time and don't describe well enough how the
dough should look.

I wanted a book about artisanal baking so that I could learn from the masters, so to speak. Up until now I'd only baked a dozen or so loaves from recipes gleaned from the internet so at first I thought the baking instructions would be too advanced for me. I plunged in, however, starting with the baguettes,and really loved the results. My most recent endeavor was the Focaccia, which was a big hit with my family.

The author is very exacting in her measurements and clear with her instructions, which I need. (I'm sure, however, that as I become comfortable with baking and read books by other artisanal bakers, I'll relax a bit and trust my own creative process). This book is a great teacher as it goes through explanations of flours, interviews with bakers about their methods and tools, and descriptions of how doughs should look and feel. The book is a fine guide to bread baking and certainly isn't relegated to mere coffee table status in my house!

I've tried them all and have given most positive reviews. Those reviews were primarily a function of the fact that each book had some wisdom to impart. Most had recipes for at least one decent bread, but I had found none that were consistently excellent. That is, until Maggie Glezer's "Artisan Baking...". This is a must have! The ciabatta bread and foccacia bread recipes are first rate and as good as anything you'll purchase at your local bakery. Instructions are clear and measurements are given in both weight and volume. Furrther, Ms. Glezer describes the consistency of various doughs in layman's terminology, allowing even the novice to produce excellent results. If you are serious about your baking, then this is a must have. The size is, admittedly a bit large, but that does allow you to have all your instructions in plain sight and eliminates having to turn the page with messy hands. Throw away your Peter Reinhart texts, this is the ultimate for home-based artisan bakers.

I have gone through almost all serious bread baking books that have appeared in print in the last 20 years. Most are useful and instructive, very few are inspiring and quite a few are ridiculously pedantic. Only one book became a trusted companion, consulted frequently and used regularly, Carol Field's Italian Baker. Maggie Glezer's will be the second such book for me. A great combination of excitement, practicality and information plus terrific photography. If you buy only one bread baking book, get this one, and if you are an italophile, get Field as well.

I cannot understand the reviewers who said that this book is not good for beginners, that the instructions are not clear enough. It went into great detail, describing how the bread should look and feel throughout the process, of great import for me as I have almost no experience with bread baking. I am however, experienced with reading recipes. That's all the skill and experience you need to make the highest quality bread using this book. The big pages minimize the need to turn pages during baking. The steps are sectioned out so that the baker can clearly see what needs to be done when. It also offers instructions for mixing by hand, by mixer, and by food processor, which many bakers will find extremely helpful. The large pictures show you what the results should look like, and if you follow the instructions carefully, your bread will mirror the pictures closely. I disagree strongly with the reviewers who criticised the teaching merit of the book. Take a look at the pictures I've posted and you can see the results for yourself. If you follow carefully the instructions and your instincts, this is will be the bread making book of your dreams.

The homebaker can shop for the same flours which are available to the trade, in order to bake artesian breads, and get them in small amounts, altho' it seems to have been a well kept secret not listed in the Sources section of the baking books.
To me, it was like a miracle to find heartlandmill.com. They are a small farm in Marienthal, Kansas and will ship the grains or special baker's flours in whatever small amounts the home baker wishes to order. Their prices don't have a lot of overhead built in and to top it off their products are organic! It is a joy to shop from them.
To get the special flours is no big deal, you don't have to be in the trade!
You can do the recipes in all the fabulous books on artesian baking: Artesian Baking by Maggie Glezer, Crust and Crumb and The Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart, Nancy Silverton's Breads from the LaBrea Bakery, Bread Alone by Daniel Leader,..... without struggling or compromising.

This is the best cookbook I have ever read. Be warned, once you make a few loaves from this book you will never be able to go back to eating Wonder bread again and will scoff and imposter artisan breads.