Customer Reviews

Bread Baking: An Artisan's Perspective

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This a great book for those who want to understand the science of bread-making rather than just follow a recipe. Daniel DiMuzio first gives a brief history of bread, and then walks the reader step by step through the bread making process. Each chapter covers an aspect of the procedure, beginning with ingredients and their characteristics, followed by mixing methods, fermentation, division and shaping, proofing and retarding, and finally, baking. Additional chapters instruct the reader on topics such as baker's math and how to use it to create formulas or modify batch sizes, and rich and laminated doughs. DiMuzio also includes advanced topics such as flour composition and milling technology, advanced baker's percentage, controlling fermentation, and creating decorative showpieces. The book contains formulas for some exceptionally good bread, in particular the bleu cheese & toasted walnut bread, and a fantastic pizza crust, as well as color pictures of finished loaves and some truly stunning showpieces. This book is excellent if you want to not just learn how to bake a loaf of bread, but to have an in-depth understanding of everything that goes into making that loaf. Additionally, it will give you the knowledge needed to be able to take a finished loaf and troubleshoot it; you will never go back to grocery store baguettes after reading it.

Honestly, I didn't know what to expect out of this book. I was turned off to other books due to the reviews saying things like 'the formulas are all wrong!' and 'the author comes off way too excited and egotistical!' So, I decided to purchase this relatively new book with only a few glowing reviews.

However, once it arrived, I was pleasantly surprised. This book has everything you could possibly need to learn about baking bread. It goes through each process involved with baking the bread, and even has extra chapters devoted to a further understanding of these processes. I found the writing to be clear, concise, and illustrative. Usually, the author gives a desired result (say sourdough), the process involved in getting there (let the dough sit), and the science behind it (the bacteria are developing in the following ways...).

This book gives you the knowledge to make a loaf and actually adjust all the parameters to your liking. It even has a whole chapter devoted to creating recipes for your own bread. It really is much like a class in a book.

Certainly, this book doesn't teach you *absolutely everything* (like how to shape the perfect baguette), but no book can. He even says at a couple of points in the shaping chapter that you're better off learning from a teacher because it's an action that you just can't show in pictures and words.

Finally, most chapters end with a lab / experiment, and review section to make sure you comprehend the chapter. One lab, for example, shows the differences between 1 and 3 hour periods of fermentation. It's really eye opening and illustrates the principals of the chapter you just read.

Anyone looking to learn more about the science of bread and it's practical applications should without a single doubt pick up this book. It's a book you'll read once, then constantly go back to easily found sections and re-read parts to refresh your understanding of what you are doing, or perhaps even give you inspiration to try something different. The recipes are varied enough to cover everything talked about in the book.

This book is the perfect text for an artisan bread course, as well it should be. It is written as Chef DiMuzio teaches: clear, consise, and exactly all the information necessary to understand the bread baking process from flour to yeast and beyond. I wish we'd had this book as our text when I was his student. The formulas are tried and true and the bagels are one of my favorites.

This book is great for a novice or veteran baker. Easy to understand and follow, the book is written in laymen's terms and has something for everyone. Not only do you get the history behind the art, you get the knowledge on how to create your OWN recipes...it doesn't get better than that!

Bread Baking: An Artisan's Perspective, is a text book that is actually interesting. Whether you are a beginning bread baker or experienced, you will learn to bake better bread. Not only are good recipes included, but the "why" of doing what you do is explained. The chapter titles are:1) The History of Bread Making, 2) Ingredients and Their Effects, 3) Basic Baker's Percentage (Baker's Math), 4) Mixing Methods, 5) Fermentation, 6) Division and Shaping of Loaves and Rolls, 7) Proofing and Retarding, 8) Baking, 9) Rich and Laminated Doughs, 10) Creating Dough Formulas.
This is followed by four advanced topics and an appendix of formulas. Overall, the book makes it easy and enjoyable to become a better bread baker. If you are serious about bread, or wanting to learn, I recommend this book.

Yet again we have what could have been an excellent book, poorly edited in one of its key features - bread formulas. With a cover cost of $45.00, I would expect that a publisher such as John Wiley & Sons would have taken the time and the care to show a minimum respect for their consumers. An important part of the value of this book is the formulas Mr. DiMuzio provides in it. Accuracy in weight or volume are key in baking; the conversion from metric to US measure on page 57 is so off that forces you to wonder what else is wrong: 600g are converted into 2 lb 2.0 0z instead of 1 lb 5.3 oz and so it goes for the rest of the formula. Will we have to double check every formula? American bakers usually use pounds and ounces not kilos and grams.

This is the first, recently published, bread book I've purchased. primarily due to author Dan DiMuzio's interview on The Fresh Loaf website, and his continued contributions answering questions and giving advice therein. Written like a textbook, (including worthwhile student exercises) serious home bakers should find this book instructive in both basic, and advanced topics, e.g. Baker's Math. It contains formulae for most or all of the most popular artisan breads many home bakers are making. A very minor caution: a few of the formulae have numerical errors. The author has solicited user's input re found errors, but the publisher has yet to publish/post an errata list.

I purchased a few more bread-books since buying this one, but it remains one of the top two I turn to for guidance, information, and, of course, baking good flavored breads.

I purchased this book for an artisan bread baking class, and I have returned to it numerous times since then. It gives you the science behind the process, various techniques and lots of recipes. Well worth the money.

I bought this book for my class on bread baking at the Art Institute. The class I was taking was part of my degree program, and I wanted to make a good grade. Since we had no designated text book. my instructor used many different books. The one that explained the science behind the ingredients was this one. I finished out the course using this book for studying for mid-term and finals. I did well, passed the class, and would recommend this text for anyone in a culinary degree program. Especially people that are majoring in baking and pastry. I can't say enough about this textbook. AWESOME buy!

I'm into bread baking this year and am actually collecting baking cookbooks relating to it as much as I can. I actually learned from here 2 helpful tips which I didn't get hold of in the other books I have.