Baking By Hand: Make the Best Artisanal Breads and Pastries Better Without a Mixer

by Andy King, Jackie King

A & J King’s humble storefront and artistically quirky interiors belie their status as top bread makers in the Northeast carried by some of the best restaurants and gourmet stores in the country, including Whole Foods.

Authors Andy and Jackie King believe you make better bread at home without a mixer, using the same folding technique they use to make their amazing bread in the bakery. It doesn’t require big muscles or more time and the baking process is more rewarding using their four fold kneading technique.

Andy and Jackie feature their best one hundred recipes including their regionally famous sourdough, a perfectly chewy and crusty olive packed ciabatta, and an earthy, healthy and wonderful multigrain loaf. And that’s only half the story. They claim to make the best croissant you will ever eat, which made James Martin from the UK Cooking Channel exclaim, “I haven’t seen baking like this since I worked in France,” while filming a segment on the best bakeries on the East Coast.

With all of Andy and Jackie’s innovative methods and best recipes you’ll be able to cook incredible loaves and treats at home and truly by hand.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food

242 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 18, 2013

Reviews

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would be nice if they could include a section on scaling down the portion for the home bakers. Overall an enjoyable read.

[Ian Chadwick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rather disorganized and a little too much is cut-and-paste repeat. But the worst is the quantity: most recipes make FAR too much for a single person or small family. No advice or recipes for making single loaves: the minimum appears to be two LARGE loaves, often three or more.

There are many more practical bread books on the market.

[Milo · Rating 2 out of 5]

several typos and incomplete instructions make for a very frustrating experience, if you actually want to bake some of these recipes.

[Desiree · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very cute book that I went through in an entire sitting. It was very informative without getting too deep into technicalities. I learned about bread and am now very inspired to try some recipes! The book provides a wide variety of recipes and has great pictures. My only negative criticism is that at times it is difficult to follow the technique being described, but it is also hard to teach someone how to make bread without showing them. I definitely gained something from reading this

[Lmichelleb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm trying my hand at sourdough again and found this book at the library to help me. This is an excellent guide with gorgeous photography and many recipes that sound delightful. I only tried the one so far (the basic sourdough) but I hope to try several more. I am new to the idea of using instant yeast to create an overnight ferment of sorts to then bake with the next morning, so I'd like to try one of those breads. I think the cinnamon raisin recipe will be next. Yum!

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have a mixer for a reason.

[Kelly Bakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super informative book. I've always thought that baking by hand makes you a better baker and while I've only begun to dive into this book, I'm certain I'll come out more knowledgeable on the other end of it. The headnotes are fantastic for explaining processes and baking terms that may be unfamiliar. I also like that it's seperated by the time of day one might bake things (ie: The Morning Baker) so that I don't start a recipe only to realize I can't do it all in one day. I'd definitely recommend this one!

[Ariadna73 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very nice pictures, great paper quality, great recipes. It made me want to buy an oven. I wish I had the waistline to be able to afford making my own bread. To see a couple of pictures in my spanish blog, go here: http://lunairereadings.blogspot.com/2...

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

The recipes in this book sound delicious. I can't wait to try some of them. I like that this book covered breads and pastries. There were a lot more recipes than I anticipated, which means there are a lot more that I want to try.

[Shoshana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't tried any of the recipes yet, so the rating is obviously conditional. But it made me really want a heat lamp and a bread stone and various other bead-making tools, to improve my bread-baking!

[Marlee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it! Want to try everything with this different method/though to baking bread.