Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wow, a Big and Very Useful Book!, October 28, 2006
I got this Big Book of Bread Machine Recipes and my first ever bread machine, a Sunbeam breadmaker 5891, from Amazon almost a month ago, and I am SO pleased about these purchase decisions!
Such a BIG and USEFUL book! There are 600 recipes from the author's previous 5 books: Bread Machine Cookbooks 1, 2, 3, 5 (Favorite Recipes from 100 Kitchens), and 6 (Hand-shaped Breads from the Dough Cycle)--this book is so informative for this first-time bread machine owner, has so many different types of recipes/preferences, and is so useful that I simply had to share the "goods" here.
Recipes with/without starters or sourdough, pizza crust, bagels, cheese, nuts, whole wheat, rye, cornbread, rolls, coffeecakes, doughnuts, toppings and fillings, international recipes, etc., etc... Unbelievable, I've never had so many recipes-to-try stickers attached to a cookbook! I've baked Pistachio Raisin Bread (twice; used butter), Whole Wheat 1 (once; used milk and honey; added pine nuts), Ricotta Bread (thrice; also added 1 tbl. of unsweetened cocoa powder), Almond Bread (once), and Apple Chunk Bread (twice; used butter, substituted homemade apple sauce and added 1 egg; increased yeast by ½ tsp and decreased salt by ½ tsp; hand shaped & oven-baked). Next, I'll be trying the Hawaiian Sweet Bread. So far, all the loaves have been VERY yummy. My husband, the big-time bread gobbler, and I, the newly no-fuss-just-wipe bread machine baker, have both been sighing with contentment.
Regarding the other reviewer's comment about the format of this book--the format is fine. Here is a book that is very functional and will be used FREQUENTLY. (Such straightforward recipes/ingredients producing such delicious bread--wow!) This hardcover book not only has widely diverse recipes/choices, it also has a sturdy {I have the hardcover version} moisture-resistant and wipe-able glossy cover. The recipes are listed for small (1 lb.), medium (1 ½ lb.), and large (2 lb.) loaves. Furthermore, the recipes are not "crammed onto the pages" as the other reviewer claimed; as far as photos go--the last loaf of bread baked by a bread machine tends to look like the 1st loaf, regardless of the recipe/ingredients.
Tip: If you want the "looks", or if you enjoyed a bread-machine loaf so much that you're curious about its oven-baked possibilities, don't be afraid to hand shape, let rise in the oven with the oven light on, and then oven-bake the loaf. The loaves made from the Ricotta Bread and the Apple Chunk Bread recipes were so good that I braided part of the dough into four 5 oz. mini-loaves and one large break/pull-apart loaf, brushed with egg-milk glaze, and baked at 350F until golden brown. The oven versions have very thin crusts and a very soft texture. I do like the oven-baked version better than the bread machine-baked version, but not by that great of a margin--considering the work and clean-up. I'd probably only use the oven-baked version for presentations (as gifts to friends).
Conclusion:
The inspirational recipes and choices really make this book worth its price. If you like to bake/eat a VARIETY of breads with a small amount of fuss, this book (and the bread machine) gives you the freedom to do just that. All the flavors and possibilities--this is a must-have book; get it and enjoy.
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lots of recipes, but maybe less is more?, September 10, 2005
I spent some time comparing two bread machine cookbooks as I recently purchased a Zojirushi BBC-X20 bread machine and wanted some recipes besides the ones in the manual that came with the machine. This was one; the other was "The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook" by Beth Hensperger.
This book is really a dazzling array of recipes and I like the fact that there are many that include unusual combinations and unusual grains like millet. There are also a large number of interesting ethnic bread recipes. Recipes are given for 1, 1.5 and 2lb loaves, but I will probably only use the 2lb amounts.
The recipes are good and the price makes it a good value. It is a hardcover book, which is nice for durability's sake. My biggest gripe is the layout. I might not have been bugged by it, but Beth Hensperger's book is a visual delight, so this one looks kind of cheap in comparison. These recipes are crammed onto the pages and there is nothing in the way of photos of the recipes, or even any real drawings. Perhaps, with 600 recipes, there just wasn't any room for niceties.
That may be a small thing and the recipes are good. But when push came to shove, I went for the other book...I'll add this one to my collection later. If you can't afford that one or don't mind the visual issues--and many people may not--this is still an excellent collection of bread machine recipes.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
VERY good recipes, July 3, 2006
Book was recommended to me and it has met all my expectations.
Warning! There are a lot of calories in these breads.
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by Linda Rehberg
