Customer Reviews

No Need to Knead: Handmade Italian Breads in 90 Minutes

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

During my two month stay last summer in the LA area, I grew positively addicted to the fragrant, chewy Italian breads produced by a wonderful bakery named Buona Forchetta. Carried by only the finest restaurants and grocery stores, these fresh, crusty breads surpassed anything I had tasted in Italy. As my wife poutingly puts it, I fell in love--with a bakery!

Upon my return to Florida, the dismal selection of supermarket Italian breads left me pining for a loaf of BF's kalamata olive filoncino, or a rosemary encrusted foccacia, or a pane rustico or...and then I would arouse from my wistful daydream to face another day-- without Buona Forchetta!

My depression ended when I discovered Suzanne Dunaway's great new book, No Need to Knead. Suzanne, founder and owner (along with husband, Don) of Buona Forchetta, has written (and illustrated!) a wonderfully lively bread manual in which she shares her wealth of hard learned breadmaking secrets.

I ordered the book from Amazon immediately and quickly found myself mixing up the first foccacia dough of my life. Me, a baker! [See wife skeptically smiling].

But would it work, and could it be this easy? No kneading! Ready to eat in 90 minutes! And most important of all--would the crust and crumb taste like the great Buona Forchetta breads that I had grown to love? The answers are, Yes, Yes and Yes! Plus, it's one heck of a lot of fun. Thank you, Suzanne!

At the time of this writing I have successfully made the foccacia, both the rosemary and kalamata olive filoncinos, crusty dinner rolls, and the whimsical fougasse.

Every one has been a gustatory home run--and my neighbors now love to see me come loafing around on my bread route. If I can do it, you can too! So far I have just scratched the surface of this enticing book. Still to come are traditional breads, pizzas, sweet loaves, bread sticks, specialty breads, and...this is a great idea...bread as leftovers! As in yummy bruschette, soups, mouth-watering croutons, and desserts.

Reflecting on her own upbringing in happy kitchens, Ms. Dunaway has thoughtfully included a chapter on making bread WITH children. Reminds me of the cinnamon sugar pie crust tailings I would bake with my mom.

Obviously I am quite taken with this book. Suzanne Dunaway has distilled a lifetime of cooking and living experience, much of it acquired on the ground in Italy and France, into a first rate bread book. The best part is that her words translate into delectable products that will amaze beginning bakers and please discriminating bread connoisseurs.

Now, all of us can easily replicate the wonderful aromas and chewy bread textures of an Italian bakery right in our own kitchens.

I've been looking for a book on bread making that would teach me how to make "European style" breads--big, rustic loaves with a chewy crust and a "hole-y" and slightly damp crumb. I had heard that one secret was to use a very wet dough, but had not seen a cookbook that used this technique. As I read the introduction to "No Need to Knead," I saw that author Suzanne Dunaway's recipes were just what I was looking for!

I've made several recipes so far and am delighted with the book. The focaccia is the best I've ever made and as good as those I've had in Italy. And it truly takes only 90 minutes to make! The first time I made it, I had a hard time keeping my husband from nibbling it all away before serving it for dinner! Now I'll try mastering the other "daily breads."

One of the best things about the book is the author's approach that takes some of the mystery out of bread making. She tells us that bread dough is forgiving and that bread is NOT difficult to make. I'm particularly happy to give up kneading dough--which I was never good at anyway.

I heartily recommend this book to anyone who wants to make good bread but who may have been put off by thinking it was too difficult. The recipes are excellent, and the author's writing style is friendly and conversational. Her illustrations are charming. I finished reading the book and wished that I could meet the author in person.

The breads turn out just like author Suzanne Dunaway says they will. Focaccia was an outstanding success--enjoyed by family, friends and neighbors. Ciabatta--without a doubt one of the best breads I've ever made.

I've been working my way through the book recipe by recipe--have not had a single disappointment yet. The dough handles just as Suzanne describes it. The proof is in the outstanding breads you can produce.

This conversational book "talks to me"--puts me at ease. It makes bread making "user friendly". I've recommended No Need to Knead to relatives, friends, even a Williams Sonoma Store Manager who used to own a specialty bakery and who now does not have the time to give to elaborate bread making--yet she still wants that old world quality and excellence.

Over the years, I've baked over 2000 loaves of bread made from scratch as well as a hundred or so loaves with bread machines. I have a working familiarity with books including Beard on Bread, Lora Brody, Jacques Pepin, Bernard Clayton, Julia Childs among others. Suzanne Dunaway's book is one I recommend to all: the simplest to follow. It's a no brainer to make outstanding bread following her methods.

I love this book for many reasons. Many of my books on breadmaking tire me out before I get through the intro. While the writers extoll the virtues of baking your own bread at home, they then lead the reader through a complicated series of chefs, levains, & other types of starters that take DAYS, sometimes even WEEKS to bubble & fizz enough to allow you to begin making your first loaf. Enough! It's exhausting just reading about it.

Suzanne's book is upbeat, clear, & definitely makes you want to get started making your first loaf NOW! Best of all, with her recipes you can. I have tried several of the breads, including the fougasse & the ciabatta. Yummy, absolutely yummy, & incredibly easy.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that the author guides you along in a supportive, 'you can do it' kind of way. Her love for bread is totally there & she so very generously shares the recipes that have worked for her & her lucky customers at Buona Forchetta.

Many of my cookbooks gather dust because, while they seemed interesting in the bookstore, they don't prove to be very practical for the home kitchen. Suzanne's book is on my kitchen counter, opened to the basic foccaccia recipe, & covered with a fine coat of flour. And my house is filled with the wonderful smell of bread baking in my oven!

I have baked bread for over 30 years in my home kitchen, and, while I enjoy reading new bread cookbooks from the library, I seldom buy one as my Fannie Farmer does quite well.

This book is an exception. I make bread every day with these recipes, and yesterday introduced my 3 yr old granddaughter to the fine art of bread making ... she made the bread from start to finish (1/2 of the child's loaf recipe) by herself. (I use Pyrex measuring cups as mixing bowls so she has something to hold on to. For this 1/2 recipe, I used the 4 quart size.) She brushed the ready-to-bake loaf with rosemary oil and sprinkled rosemary on top; then I placed the small frying pan in the oven. When the bread was finished, she was excited and happy with her handiwork. It was a delight to watch her smell it, lift it, thump it, and bag it once it had cooled.

Life doesn't get better than this.

I have a bookshelf of cookbooks. I rarely use them. That's because I like the sounds of the recipes but as far as following them...who needs it? I know how to cook. I just a need a concept, an idea, or some background. Or I need a specific piece of information to get certain results. That's how I stumbled across Suzanne Dunaway's awesome bread book. I had eaten some loaves at a reputable bakery about 200 miles from where I live and I wanted to replicate those loaves at home if at all possible. The bakery would not supply me with information on how they got these wonderful holes in a chewy bread they called "Paesano". So, I got on line and found this cookbook. I thought how many Italian breads could there be? I'll find the bread I'm looking for. I got Suzanne Dunaway's book and I've baked a loaf of some bread or other every day since. And I've reproduced the chewy loaf I was looking for using her Ciabatta recipe. The results are incredible. The bread is chewy and light, with lots of texture and eye appeal, (very rustic with the irregular shape and the sprinkle of rosemary). She encourages the use of instincts and discourages complicated techniques and materials. (I especially like her thoughts on tap water and regular flour.) I don't need complicated instructions and impossible ingredients. This is the best bread book investment one could make! I also think it would make an excellent gift for cooks and those just starting out as cooks...(college students, newly married couples...), because success is almost guaranteed.

Aside from the great instruction and appealing recipes. The stories Ms. Dunaway tells are equally pleasing. She is clearly a generous spirit who LOVES to cook and share food. I'm convinced that for those very reasons everything she produces in her kitchens is delicious. Reading her book is like getting to go over to her place for a meal. After the first successes using her recipes, I felt guilty that I hadn't invited her over for a bite, yet!

Dunaway prevides her readers with years of experience in making wonderful Italian breads. This book is simple and it's "easy to make" recipes make these wonderful breads available to anyone. I would definetly recommend this cookbook to anyone no matter how experienced in bread making!

I am a fairly serious baker and have turned out thousands of loaves in my time, but never anything like the foccacia in this book! It was hard for me to believe that anything so simple could have the consistant and marvelous results I get from the recipes in this book.

With the few ingredients listed and a little effort(very little) I have finally turned out the breads of my dreams. With a crispy chewy crust and an inner texture that I can only describe a perfect, with the large holes and beautiful texture I have been striving for. These are the artisan breads that all true bread lovers search for.

But you don't have to be a connoiseur to appreciate these breads. Even my husband(who thinks the only good bread comes from a cellophane bag with red, blue and yellow polka dots...)loves the foccacia. I sneaked a piece on his plate just to see if he'd try it. Later I saw him chewing happily on a HUGE slab he had cut off for himself.

I am absolutely thrilled with this book. I just wish I could give it more than just 5 stars!

I have just finished eating my first loaf from this book and felt that I needed to clarify some of the existing reviews.

I have been baking bread for years and have built quite a collection of bread books in that time (and have made bread using recipes from all of them). This is one that I know I will continue to use.

I didn't notice that the author's tone was particularly annoying as has been mentioned elsewhere. However, I tend to skip the basic introductory information and go straight to the techniques where it may be less evident. The method of not kneading the bread results in a lovely airy bread that also has good flavor. The loaf I just made did require four minutes of stirring by hand which may seem like a great deal of effort to some but, compared to your average kneaded bread, it's fairly minimal. Nearly all recipes have two alternative methods, one that only requires about 90 minutes of time for the dough to rise/proof (in two separate steps) and the other that is a much slower refrigerator process that happens over night. The author explains the trade-offs and allows the reader to choose. For the loaf I just finished, I used the instant gratification version and was not disappointed.

The "no knead" method is not unique to this author and there are other books in my collection that include similar techniques but I am quite impressed with the initial results of this first loaf.

All in all, I think that this book is worth checking out if you are used to kneading dough or if you are just starting to bake bread.

This is a wonderful book that demystifies bread baking, making it possible for anyone to easily make great bread at home. Having moved to the States after living in Italy for 8 years, I found it impossible to find the kind of bread I was used to there, so had to make my own. I learned through trial and error that a wet dough is best, you don't need much kneading, everything Suzanne Dunaway writes about. I've tried many of the recipes in this book and have had great success with them all. As the Italian Food Host @ Bella Online, I even recommended this book as being my best reference for baking good Italian bread.