I confess that I have never baked bread but this book makes me think that it would be fun to try.  After all, there is really  no smell as wonderful as that of freshly baked, warm bread.

This cookbook's author tries to lay things out clearly.  After an introduction there is a chapter about the process of baking bread at home.  This is followed by "Master Recipes" and then chapters on breads for everyday, special occasions and holidays.  The master recipes are for things like flat bread and whole wheat bread.  Everyday breads includes cinnamon raisin swirl bread, pita and naan among others, while entertaining has cinnamon rolls, fougasse, soft pretzels and more.  The final section details how to make pumpkin rolls and a cinnamon wreath bread among others. 


This book is packed with information on making bread. There are also helpful photos of the process.  Many terms are defined, equipment is listed, there are errors to avoid and more.  I found this be an informative book but at the end, I was not sure if I would be confident enough to go ahead.  I hope that you might be though!


Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.

Serious bread bakers will appreciate Jenny Prior and her excellent cookbook, Everyday Bread Baking: From Simple Sandwich Loaves to Celebratory Holiday Breads, which not only contains excellent recipes, but also step-by-step instructions and photographs for dozens of excellent breads. This cookbook is essentially a “bible” for those who have a lot of time and want to make breads that are superior to anything most home bakers usually make. The recipes aren’t for dough that can be dumped in an automatic bread machine and done in 3 or 4 hours. Rather these breads begin with basic starters (12-24 hours prep), then special starters (9-12 hours prep) for breads that are definitely a cut above. Prior has added instructions for slightly quicker methods, such as biga that takes only a few hours, or direct dough methods – 1-3 hours. But none of the breads can be done in less than a day. Bakers who expect instant gratification need not try these recipes.

The early chapters explain and show basics, as well as starters, and master recipes for several types of bread such as Challah, Sweet Levain, and Sourdough. A food scale is a must, since the ingredients are weighed, rather than measured. This makes sense, since serious bakers generally weight their ingredients because baking is much more exacting than general cooking. The variety of the recipes which are from everywhere in the world is almost overwhelming – i.e., which mouthwatering loaf do I start with?

One of the positives of this cookbook is there are dozens of troubleshooting questions throughout with good answers so that anyone who is serious about perfecting their bread baking skills can practice and work the recipes until they turn out perfectly.

This excellent cookbook has beautiful photographs that not only help through the mixing, proofing, and shaping processes, but also the finished product. Mine weren’t as beautiful as Prior’s loaves, but with practice and this book, there is hope. Prior has given instructions for baking in high altitudes, but nothing regarding the need to add a little more liquid and revised rising times.

Anyone who is serious about baking over-the-top amazing bread will want to own this cookbook.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

I have a bread machine and I try new recipes daily. So far 70% of them are successful.
I tried two recipes from this book (white bread and one of the sweeter breads) and they turned out great!
Therefore, this book is a keeper!

I liked Everyday Bread Baking I bought it at Amazon when it was on sale. I liked how the author encourages weighing out ingredients as it leads to accurate baking. I have started baking this way as I have found using a scale to weigh ingredients has made bread making easier and ending up with a perfectly baked loaf is almost guaranteed. The downside is measurements are given in metric but this can be worked around as most scales allow the use of either the English or Metric systems.

Recommend.

Review written after downloading a galley from NetGalley. I also purchased the book.

Book has a glossary and lots of background info on the bread process and steps. It also covers necessary tools and troubleshooting. All of the Master Recipes are written using either a pre-ferment or a starter, and there are tips to convert to using yeast but a warning that the flavor will not be the same. Recipes list prep, inactive, and bake times, and tools needed. Measurements are in grams for more accuracy. In the Master Recipes chapter, there are small photos with some of the steps, and they also end with specific troubleshooting tips. Other chapters are Everyday Breads, Entertaining and Special Occasions, and Holidays. I wish there were more photos of the finished breads. This also feels like a book that would work best for a baker who already has some bread making experience - the starters and things seem a bit intimidating to a total beginner.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The author / baker obviously has a genuine passion for baking. It shows. However, this book has a number of anomalies which make it unreadable / impractical for beginners. 1) Unless you are a professional and savvy baker most of the terminology and actions will go through your head. And why would a skilled baker - who already knows how to make different kinds of breads - read this book? 2) The font is too childish. The author should see other recipe books and either make her font style different and bigger or smaller as other cookery books do. 3) Extremely few pictures. It should have been handled as a step-by-step pictorial book. It hasn't been.

Still all the best to the author for her work and publishing future.

So many breads! I loved how the harder breads like Challah had visual steps to guide you through braiding the bread. I found this super helpful. Then for everyday breads, they had recipes for tortillas and Naan. Because you are dealing with fermenting, these recipes aren't for you to whip up today and eat. They're mostly for tomorrow so plan accordingly.

I don't know much about bread and was looking for some simple recipes. Unfortunately, the recipes are a bit more complicated than I expected. Most require an active sourdough starter, so much so that I wish there was a longer explanation at the beginning of the book. But if you're looking for recipes that involve active sourdough starter, this is your book.

I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

For my holiday break I have a list of recipes and techniques I want to nail down -- and bread was on the list, so I was super excited to receive this galley. I'm not a baker by any means (just stubborn) and reading through this book was perfect timing. It's fairly basic (which I need) with a pictures, great Q/A, and just enough numbered instructions for me to follow along. I'll be keeping this as a resource for sure.

Everyday Bread Baking is a tutorial and cookbook by Jenny Prior aimed at would be bread bakers. Released 17th Dec 2019 by Callisto on their Rockridge imprint, it's 203 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a technical baking manual with in-depth discussion of nearly all the aspects of creating bread. The ingredient measures are given in grams because of the differing densities of different flours. A kitchen scale is a useful and inexpensive piece of kitchen equipment. Before getting into a review of the actual content and layout of this book, I'd like to say that out of a *large* collection of cookery and baking books, this one contains one of the best discussions of pre-ferments and starters I've ever seen. I've seen terms like poolish and biga tossed around and never had the slightest clue what the difference might be, and now I do.

The book has a logical format. The introductory chapter (Bread Baking at Home) includes an overview of the scope and practicalities as well as some of the limits on the home baker. The author does a great job explaining the ingredients, covering the techniques involved and necessary equipment. The following chapters contain master recipes along with a plethora of variations linked directly from each of the master recipes. Chapters 3 - 5 contain specific recipes utilizing doughs and ingredients and techniques from earlier chapters, arranged thematically: everyday breads, entertaining & special occasions, and finally holidays.

Each recipe contains yields, prep and baking time, tools and other ingredients, and step by step instructions. Some, but not nearly all, of the recipes have accompanying photos. The tutorials for things like braiding challah bread and 'knotted' rolls are accompanied by clear photos which are small but easy to follow.

This is a very well made guide which, followed stringently, will give remarkably professional results. It -requires- some effort on the reader's part, but there are recipes here for breads which will otherwise be unobtainable unless one lives in a large city with a specialist/artisan bakery. The starters/pre-ferments and specific flours and commercial yeasts will also require some planning and effort on the baker's part. This is not a recipe book for tossing any flour + water + packaged yeast in the food processor to be slung into the oven and creating a passable loaf in an hour from start to finish.

Five stars.