Making Artisanal Bread

I cannot recommend Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast more highly. It's a great book for new bread bakers.


Thread on the topic: LINK

Pictures sadly gone because Tiny Pic sucks. Use Imgur for your pics!

I have Flour Water Salt Yeast, yet to dive into it though.

In the meantime, my first bread baking foray was a no-knead bread in my Dutch Oven. Delicious and incredibly easy to make.

quote:

---

Forkish get a little crazy with the levain building and uses way too much flour for at home recipes.

---

Ken now admits that his levain directions in FWSY isn't good for the home baker.

Good criticism.

Reading the reviews on this book as well. Seems pretty highly rated.

quote:

---

Ken now admits that his levain directions in FWSY isn't good for the home baker.

---

I was going through flour like crazy and knew something was off. He should issue an edit or an updated version.

quote:

---

I have both.

I liked FWSY better when I first began.

---

I think i'll go with FWSY first. Have they updated the book to address the over flour issue?

Forkish, great book. Also check out Peter REinhart's Artisan Breads everyday. I like that book.

I don't know the Norman book, but Forkish and Reinhart are the gold standard. Forkish has very workable timetables for people won't aren't home all day, the Reinhart book has a bunch of excellent info for beginners on wheat, how dough becomes bread in the oven, etc. The aforementioned Tartine book is great, but not laid out in the most logical or concise fashion--but the bread is so.damn.good.

A truly excellent resource is online at www.thefreshloaf.com A whole slew of amateur but serious bakers hang out there, and a few pros, too. You can ask for help troubleshooting a recipe, a technique, an ingredient: chances are, some bread obsessive on TFL will offer up their own experiences/knowledge.

Also, the King Arthur Flour website is a good place for beginners. Lots of solid recipes, and best of all: a real helpline, answered by humans who know how to bake. They can talk you through a recipe failure.

There are a few SHBs (serious home bakers) here at TD, too.

Other books to consider (check the public library first):
--Dan Leader, Bread Alone (nice regional Euro recipes)
--Bread, by Jeffrey Hamelman, former head baker at King Arthur Flour. A serious, solid book, with baker's percentage formulas rather than recipes. Fantastic step up once you've nailed the basics.
--Jim Lahey, My Bread. The no-knead loaf cookbook that started the craze, still the most downloaded recipe from the NY Times food section.
--Myrvhold's Modernist Bread....the bread version of Modernist Cuisine. Gorgeous photography, but at times wonky recipes written in odd formats. Worth a look if your library has it, $500 if you want your own (yes, I bought it)

quote:

---

I am a $500 round trip flight to the nearest grocery store

---

quote:

---

you might want to take a look at this break maker. Amazon Link for Bread Maker They also have a two lb version (my sister picked up one recently after hearing me rave about mine and she loves it).

---

While I don't have a breadmaker, that Zoji gets rave reviews. I prefer a mixer (Ankarsrum) to a breadmaker, but they're great tools for anyone who doesn't like kneading. Too many people get stuck on not liking the in-machine baking: but you can set a dough cycle and take the dough out to shape, rise, & bake however you'd like.