Artisan Breads

by Eric W. Kastel

An illustrated guide for anyone who wants to master the art of baking delicious artisan breads at home

This addition to The Culinary Institute of America's "At Home" series is perfect for home bakers who want to go beyond the basics to create delicious artisan breads. Backed by the CIA's expertise, Eric Kastel leads readers through simple and challenging recipes from Baguettes, Peasant Bread, and Ciabatta to Cheddar Onion Rye Rolls, Coffee, Cake, and even Sourdough.

In addition, Artisan Breads at Home provides thorough explanations of ingredients-including flour breakdowns and chemical reactions-easy-to-understand terminology and definitions, and a detailed equipment guide.

Includes tips, troubleshooting answers, and nearly170 full-color photos of techniques and finished breads
Covers the basics of bread making as well as advanced techniques-from lean dough breads and rolls to flat breads and enriched doughs

Author Eric Kastel, CMB, CHE is now Senior Manager of Bakery Projects at Panera Bread and a former associate professor of baking and pastry arts at The CIA. He has also been the head baker for Whole Foods and Bread Alone.

Artisan Breads at Home is the ideal resource for home bakers who want to take their baking to the next level of complexity and taste.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 20, 2010

Reviews

[Erin L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another book in my weird quest to bake better bread. Some people buy a ridiculous car in middle age, I bake. Well, and there's that pilot's license thing, but that doesn't involve a lot of books yet.

This book has the same information you'll find in a lot of other books - flour, water, salt, yeast - Why? How? What, exactly, are bakers percentages and what does that have to do with me? So, there isn't a lot new here, although each author has had their own opinions on things like hydration levels and baking methods.

But I can't say there's nothing new here. Because I found the section on sours to be quite intriguing. Most books have limited creation of a sourdough starter to a single recipe and you're done. In this book, we start with a white sour. Once it's developed, you can then feed it in different ways (rye? whole wheat?) and change some of the percentages to affect the flavour and texture of your finished bread.

I was ready to get started with a new starter - I started my last one with rye flour and that probably wasn't the best starting place for a beginner. But that could really be the tagline to my life: Go big or go home! so this is nothing new.

In addition to a pretty comprehensive lesson on levains (sourdough starters), this book also includes a good number of recipes including some flavored sourdoughs and holiday breads like challah and hot cross buns.

[Roger Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first 12% of this book is a good review of the theory behind making bread; the second part, taking up the remainder of the book, is a great number of recipes. Either the book has not been well edited or the author cannot convert measuring units. He claims that all profession bakers go by weight of each ingredient as a percentage of the weight of flour. Seems like a good way to easily make up different quantities of bread. However, using these numbers, the dough can be anything from soup to cement. Ingredients are also listed by volume and weight, the latter both in grams and ounces. In most of the recipes there is no correlation between these numbers. I found that I used his measurements as a rough guide and then added flour and water until I arrived at the correct consistency for the dough. I then had to experiment with the flavourings, flour mixes, and other ingredients until I arrived at a good mix.

If you think this book will teach you how to make bread, forget it. If you want to try experimenting and developing your own recipes based on the ones in this book, then have a go.

[Caroline Mathews · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've killed a friends gift of sourdough starter (potato) and two of my own (trying to catch wild yeast). This bread book is like the others. I believe the experts thrive on esoterics and on ambiguous directions. I will say this. When I mix my next batch of flour and water, this is the book that I am going to follow. It spells everything out even though we know that wild yeast has a mind of its own.

[Kara Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

So good, and there are so many good and simple recipes. What I really liked though was the fact that the book explained why we do what we do. What purposes the ingredients serve and the time and effort are worth it. I have made a few- some simple, some complex and they were so good. I have eaten way too much bread this week.

[Liz De Coster · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't doubt that this is a good cookbook, but I think it's aimed towards people who are pursuing bread baking as a serious pursuit rather than a subset of other cooking or baking interests. There's a lot of specialty ingredients and equipment discussed, whereas I was really looking for baking-stone-appropriate recipes.

[Lakshmipriya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book in terms of explanation and food photography.

I never knew so much went into bread making, it's definitely an consumable art.

The various methods and techniques of fermentation, glazing, kneading and knoting techniques are wonderful and I fell in love with bread making after reading this book.

[Nora · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not for the inexperienced baker! Lots of history for different types of bread. Only one recipe really caught my attention & I won't make it, because I don't like the excessive use of Barley in these recipes.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best bread book ever! There are some really tasty recipes in here.