Customer Reviews

How To Bake Bread

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

 

 

On the market for only two days, already reviewed in the Sunday San Francisco Chronicle Food Section!(November 8, 2009). The book has found its way to Amazon and the book distributor called ATLAS BOOKS in Ohio. (1-800-Book-Log is their ordering number. Discount Code HBT1109TX reduces the list price from fifty to $35 for the holiday season.)

HOW TO BAKE BREAD contains all the bread recipes Chef Mike Kalanty uses in his intro bread baking course at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, plus many more.
The writing style is conversational, just like the chef is talking to you. The recipes are written in the style of professional bakers. yields are for 2 loaves for KicthenAid mixers; Best of all--Chef shows how to make all the breads completely by hand, too. (There are bulked up yields for 20-quart mixers, so you can use these recipes in professional kitchens, too.)
How many photos are in this book! It is like the Jacques Pepin La Technique and La Methode books from the day of Julia Child.

When you're not in the kitchen, read the chapters on Fermentation, Proofing, Baking, etc. They are clear and easy to read. There's lots of small stories about pretzels, the Italian panettone (chef tells the story of a panettone tasting he was part of), Italian sandwich rolls, Challah, and Philly Sticky Buns. His intro story about when he apprenticed in France is inspiring and makes you want to start baking right away.

Can you tell Kalanty is in love with bread? In love with teaching? This book will make you want to enroll in his course. Plus, the breads are really tasty. (Apparently chef is a master taster and develops baked goods for national manufacturers. The recipes taste like it!)

I bought this book since Chef Kalanty was teaching my breads class at CCA in SF. Little did I know I would be one of the very priveledged to learn from one of the best in the artistry of bread baking.

Every step is outlined perfectly for someone who hasn't baked bread but has always wanted to.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking to become a master in the craft of breads.

I have been a Culinary Arts instructor for over 20 years, and far and away, the lesson that has consistently been the most difficult to deliver effectively was yeast breads. There are several reasons. One is that hardly anyone bakes bread at home anymore so few students were blessed enough to be able to observe fresh bread production at home. Secondly, most culinary arts textbooks barely scratch the surface, or the crust. They provide the bare basics and little else. Lastly, trade books on artisan breads assume a significant amount of prior experience and knowledge. Chef Kalanty's "How To Bake Bread: The Five Families of Bread" has done for the subject what Antonin Careme did for sauces by codifying them into a manageable five grand or mother sauces. But, Chef Kalanty did the "King of Chefs" one better. In his book, he breaks the learning down into small, discernible segments, complete w/ illustrations, tips and other learning aides.
Until recently I had only seen Chef Kalanty's book in manuscript form. Several years ago I received three chapters from the publisher to review. While I did a standard peer review, I d, instead of the chapter from our standard general culinary textbook. It was also the first time I had taught the subject to high school students. The results were a surprise (pleasant)to me. At the end of the yeast bread unit, the level of student understanding surpassed that of any group of college students that I had previously taught. Their products were consistently good to excellent. More surprising, several of them still bake yeast breads at home on a regular basis. If you want to really learn to bake bread, if you want to be comfortable with baking bread, this is a must have book.

I'm a culinary student and this book is recommended by the school.

I love the way it's laid out, and you feel like he is talking to you. It easy to understand and I am making many successful breads! Last year, I was learning by trial and error. I have to bake my own breads because of my soy allergy. I'm delighted to have a great selection of tools for bread baking right the first time!

I highly recommmend this book to everyone interested in baking their own breads whether you are in school or not.You'll be surprised at how quickly you will make great breads!

Learning the do's and don't's makes a big difference.

Dianne Gregg
[...]

If you really want to learn what is behind baking bread in detail, read this book, and then, only then indulge in so many other great books out there to expand on your repertoire.
Very well explained - to the point that you require some patience since it won't allow you to jump in the kitchen and start baking - no, you have to read quite a bit beforehand.
Excellent and instructional.

A chef for 20 years, plus nearly 10 in education as both faculty and administration, this is the best book on ANY single topic in culinary arts I have come across.

A master work we still still read in 100 years, it sits proudly next to Le Guide Culinaire (which I rarely use)!

Thank you Chef Kalanty for taking the staff-of-life and giving it back to us in a way we can both teach AND continue to learn.

Chef Bennett
Denver, Colorado

I am a bread-baking fanatic, and I eagerly await any new bread book that comes to market. This book seemed so promising, yet I was gravely disappointed when I received it.
This book presents an extremely one-dimensional view of bread making. The author insists that all breads are based on five basic families, each with its own set of techniques. These five families may represent commercial, mass-produced loaves, but not artisan breads.
The book makes absolutely no mention of advanced baking techniques: no preferments or sourdough, no various mixing methods, etc.
I found the instructions far too long, and the formulas rather boring. I do not see myself ever baking out of this book, nor will I be using it as a reference. There are far better books out there.
The bottom line: if you are interested in learning how to mass-produce mediocre bread, get this book. If you are interested in understanding bread and creating excellent tasting artisan loaves, I would skip this book.