Best and Easiest Whole Grain Bread I've Made

books:

	• Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor Ten Speed Press, 2007 - 309 pages average customer review:based on 37 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

A Pioneer Guide to Whole Grain Baking

If you are determined to introduce your family to 100% whole grain products (and I am in that category) and if you want to refine your baking skills to master whole grain bread baking, this is the book for you. If you want to learn how to bake whole grain artisan style loaves, this is a great book to start with. You do not need a lot of experience to successfully make these recipes. I was not an experienced baker when I bought the book in September 2007 and I have been successfully baking two loaves two or three times a week since then. However, patience, attention to detail and a willingness to experiment while refining the breads you make are necessary skills if you want to get the most out of Peter Reinhart's latest work. On the other hand, these breads do not require a lot of tending or a lot of kneading because the dough sits overnight after mixing, which develops the gluten and the flavor as well.

While other bread books (which I will leave unnamed) have suggestive titles that might make you expect recipes that are made mostly (at a minimum) of whole grain, most of them do not deliver on that promise. Their recipes use over one-half, sometimes two-thirds or even three quarters white bread flour, along with too much fat and sugar, honey or maple syrup. With these baking books the health benefits of whole grains are much harder to come by. Most of Reinhart's recipes use 100% whole wheat, rye, cornmeal, oats, flax and so on. By and large, the breads are quite lean--the recipes use less oil and butter than other similar cookbooks. (There are a few recipes that use the one-quarter cup of oil or butter that is found in most other whole grain bread recipes, but only a few, and Reinhart makes it clear that the use of oil is optional.) I generally limit my use of oil to one tablespoon in a recipe, and find that my breads are still delicious. Taking a hint from his recipe for potato rosemary breads, I use fruit or vegetable purees to keep the breads from being too dry.

Along with the health benefits of whole grains, the flavor that results from most of these recipes is outstanding because the doughs rest overnight before final mixing. My favorites are the struan (I make mine with white whole wheat flour and get quite a light loaf), the potato rosemary bread (outstanding with roast garlic and a little black pepper), the whole wheat cinnamon raisin bread, the Poilane-style miche, oat broom bread, power bread, the foccacia, the whole wheat pita bread, pizza and the naans and chapatis. The power bread is denser than some of the other breads, but is utterly delicious. The struan has a lovely crunchy crust and makes excellent toast. The cinnamon raisin bread is like dessert; the chapatis are better than any I ever made from an Indian cookbook because the dough rests for twenty-four hours after mixing.

Highly recommended to those who want to master this aspect of the bread baking craft.

for more information click here

Great Follow-Up

It's a great follow-up to the The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread but it does up a little short, by comparison. I feel like it was rushed as the explanation lacks the certainty and clarity of the original. That being said, the book really does continue the thorough education given in the first book to really teach the reader how to make great bread. Finally, the recipes are as wonderful as the first, producing beautiful and consistent results everytime.

for more information click here

Best and Easiest Whole Grain Bread I've Made

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?

for more information click here

Another Great Bread Book by Peter Reinhart

For me, this has been another great bread book. I own a bakery and over our 13 years of business we've made a lot of bread. In the early days we stumbled onto Peter's Brother Juniper bread book and that gave us a great start in bread making. Later I bought the Bread Baker's Apprentice and made the best Sourdough bread I'd ever made, first try. I've never made a great whole grain bread before this week, after reading this Whole Grain book. The first batch I made (I made four loaves rather than the one in the recipe) blew my mind. It was so soft and delicious that I was really amazed and pleased. There is much to like about this book. I would agree that it is not probably the best book for someone who just wants to make a quick loaf of bread, but if you want to make whole grain bread and take your bread making to another level, this might be a great book for you. All of the recipes include the recipe and a baker's formula, which makes expanding your production fairly easy if you're a bakery and need to make many loaves. I've got 16 loaves in the works as I write and will have some more great bread tomorrow.

for more information click here

Thank you Peter Reinhart!!!

I have been a sometimes baker of artisan breads for the past ten years or so, using the methods of Nancy Silverton among others. Recently my husband and I learned we must give up eating all products made with white flour, so I went in search of a baking book which focused solely on whole grains to accompany the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book which I already own and use. I just pulled my first loaf made from one of Peter's recipes from the oven, and the results were fantastic--the best loaf of whole wheat bread I have ever made! Although it is a two day process to make most of these breads, the first "day" only requires mixing some of the ingredients, with the rising, shaping and baking taking place on the second day--only slightly more complex than a basic loaf. Besides, Reinhart is a wonderful writer--the directions are clear and easy to follow. I would recommend this book to anyone who has some basic baking experience and wants to focus on working with whole grains or artisan breads.

for more information click here

reviews: 1, 2, 3, page 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

hot

not?

What's your opinion?

Write a review and share your thoughts!

search for books
peter reinhart's, breads, extraordinary, flavor, grain, reinhart, techniques, whole

Impressum / about us