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333 of 340 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ideal book for a very specific audience, September 5, 2007
This review is from: Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor (Hardcover)
Let me make a couple of things clear up front. First, this book is not for the casual baker who likes to toss a recipe together on short notice, throw it in the oven, and be done with it; Reinhart goes the extra mile of effort to extract every last ounce of perfection from whole grain breads.
Second, it is entirely possible to make delicious whole grain breads without using his complex methods. I've done it using the recipes in both the King Arthur Flour Company's "Whole Grain Baking", and "Secrets of a Jewish Baker". If you are the aforementioned casual baker then I highly recommend picking up one (or preferably both) of those books instead.
However, this is the perfect book for the cook who's always fiddling with their recipes trying to make them Just Right. It's the ideal companion for the home baker who's willing to go the extra distance to get not just delicious and enjoyable whole grain bread, but perfect whole grain bread. It isn't the right book for everyone, but for the right audience I can't imagine a better read.
Do be sure to read the first few chapters, which explain the history and science behind Reinhart's methods. Not only is it fascinating stuff, but it's necessary to give you the understanding you'll need to make the most of the recipes. Unlike simple recipes where you can just follow a few steps and be done with it, these methods require you to have a feel for the doughs. The amount of kneading required, for example, can vary so much depending on which grains you've used, how you've kneaded them, and so on. If it weren't for Reinhart's "windowpane test," which has you test the gluten development of a bread by gently stretching the dough and seeing if you can stretch until it's somewhat translucent (illustrative photos are included), we wouldn't have known that the difference in airiness between the loaves we made was entirely due to kneading. But because he armed his readers with that knowledge, we were able to make a loaf of super-high-fiber oat bran bread that was fluffy. Yes, I did indeed just describe a whole grain high-fiber bread as fluffy.
No matter the grains you want to try in your breads, you'll find a formula to use them in here. Quinoa? Cooked rice? Bran? Doesn't matter--there's a recipe in here you can use. Reinhart has also included a number of `transitional' breads that use part-white flour and part-whole grains so as to ease your transition to whole grains.
The recipes do involve a certain amount of flipping around from section to section, and you need to start them the night before. (In the case of those recipes involving a wild yeast starter--which he does tell you how to make from scratch--you'll need to engage in even more advance preparation.) The book is complex in ways that normally I would hold against a cookbook. However, in this case I won't. These aren't unnecessary complexities at all.
Reinhart set out with a very specific goal in mind--the creation of the perfect whole grain loaf of bread--and did everything he had to do in order to achieve that goal. Through playing with the recipes I'm convinced that everything he has you do is, in fact, integral to achieving his fantastic results. It may take you a few tries with any given recipe to make it come out perfectly as you learn how to gauge the feel of the doughs, but with practice... well, let's just say I'm going to take a break after this review to go back to the fridge for some more oat bran bread. Surprisingly yummy, fluffy oat bran bread.
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47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best and Easiest Whole Grain Bread I've Made, January 12, 2008
This review is from: Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor (Hardcover)
As others have said before, this may not be the right book for beginners.
As most regular home bakers know, practice is the best teacher; no one book has taught any of us how to get the best oven spring, to know when the bread is finished rising, etc. Great bread books only serve as great "Teaching Assistants" to our own paths towards learning how to make great bread at home. And Reinhart's earlier books were some of the best TA's I had.
But this book is really something different. My family consumes a lot of bread, and I prefer to make sure that it's whole grain, organic and healthful. So while I still turn to a variety of bread recipe books for making authentic-ish French baguette, or an Italian corn/rye bread, this is the one I've turned to week after week to make the staple bread on our table.
The formula used in the book really creates an outstanding, high-quality loaf of bread - in texture, taste and beauty - while capitalizing on the hard work of enzymes and the natural yeast, and yes instant yeast, and minimizing my time in the kitchen.
Here's how it works for me. Before and after work on Thursday and Friday, I refresh my starter (5 min each time). On Saturday, I mix the soaker and the wild yeast starter (15 minutes). On Sunday afternoon I assemble the bread (15 min), do the usual two risings and bake. I never feel like I have to hover over the bread. So other than needing to be around the house (happily doing other things) on Sunday afternoon, the only real time commitment is the actual baking.
This book is not without some problems (like somewhat strange measurements (5/8 teaspoon, 501 grams, etc.) That said, once I got my brain and hands around the method, it has quickly become my favorite bread book for my weekly loaf of whole grain bread.
As I write this, I'm happily ignoring the makings of muligrain Straun (one of my favorite recipes in the book. I'm going out for lunch and feel great about rolling back around after 3 and making great bread before dinner. I would also put a plug in for the High-Extraction Flour Miche, similar to the wonderful Poilâne bread.
Peter Reinhart, thank you for this book. I was lucky enough to be a tester and worried about how complicated the method might become, but you've done a great job. I get to bake beautiful loaves that nourish my family. What more can a baker ask for?
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200 of 234 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Whole Grain Bread with a Twist, February 11, 2008
This review is from: Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor (Hardcover)
I have been baking bread for many years. I also like to read about bread baking practice and theory, so when Peter Reinhart published his new book, I was eager to try it.
On the positive side, I like the fact that the recipes focus on whole grains. The photographs are done well throughout the book. I also applaud Reinhart for thinking out of the box, trying new techniques.
Essentially, Reinhart's technique is to prepare two mixes the day before: a sourdough starter or biga, and a soaker or mash. This advance preparation coaxes out the flavors in a relaxed way, so that the following day, you combine both parts to flour, salt, and yeast, and then proceed with traditional timing. Reinhart refers to this amalgamation as epoxy glue, an unfortunate image.
Because the purpose of this book is to promote whole grains, I find it counterproductive that practically every recipe includes quite a bit of sugar, brown sugar, honey, or agave nectar. The complex, tantalizing taste of a freshly made whole grain bread should be plenty reward for most.
Reinhart explains in great detail the attributes and construction of using a soaker and a mash. However, out of a total of 55 bread recipes, only 4 recipes utilize the mash.
Some of the recipe quantities are curious: 1/2 cup plu 2 TB water or 5/8 tsp salt. Bread baking is not an exact science because so much depends on variables, such as type and age of flour, humidity, etc.
I am hesitant about recommending this book. If you are a first-time bread baker, you will find the techniques advanced. And, unless you like to read about bread, you may find reading the very long personal narrative gratuitous. Finally, baking hints, rather than organized by topic, are placed sporadically throughout the text.
In sum, Whole Grain Bread: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor is a good concept, but, for me, at least, I found redundant recipes with ordinary editing.
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