The next best thing to having a master baker in your kitchen

books:

	• Secrets of a Jewish Baker: Authentic Jewish Rye and Other Breads George Greenstein Crossing Press, 1993 - 384 pages average customer review:based on 22 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

5th Generation Jewish Baker Says This Book is the Real Deal

My family has been in the baking business for at least 150 years, and I grew up in the sort of bakery that Greenstein describes. Our bakery produced all rye and pumpernickel breads, kaiser rolls, onion rolls, and other items, including the fabulous wonder cake much as Greenstein describes them in this book. If you are into more artisanal baking or have no interest in replicating authentic and age-old bread formulas, then this book is not for you. If, however, you yearn for the rye than you gnawed in your mother's arms, smelling the fermenting dough, and listening to the clank and craw of machines as they mixed and molding hundreds of thousands of loaves of rye, then this is book for you.

Greenstein offers home versions of many types of baked products, all formulated to be kneaded either by hand, cusinart, or stand-up mixer. I've tried many of the formulas and have made good rye and pumpernickel. I have a few issues, however. I use a wetter, 1:1 ratio of rye flour to water for my sour, as we did in our bakery. This makes for a wetter dough, one much easier to work by hand.

Also, my wife loves the Black and Whites from this book. What better endorsement can I offer?

To get the best results, I would order the proper white rye and clear flours from King Arthur. Also, if you bake the rye in a preheated covered pan like pryex, or a cast iron frying pan, you will get that professional crust. This allows you to skip the often infective tossing in of ice cubes.

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Too Much Sugar & Commercial Yeast - Too Few "Secrets"

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Secrets? Vat Secrets?

It is really quite simple to make a loaf of bread. The greatest challenge for professional and striving artisan home bakers is to be able attain consistency; to factor in and accommodate specific needs of that day's dough, be they changes in ambient temperature, humidity, ripeness of poolish or biga or sourdough, and the tolerance of dough during fermentation.

I purchased this book with the expectation of finding baker's percentages, generous use of specialized pre-ferments, in addition to a heavy reliance on naturally leavened indirect methods. I also rightly expected professional "secrets" as the title implies.

Jeffrey Hamelman, author of BREAD remarked that he used to marvel at his ability to make acceptable loaves one day, and then wish he could hide his loaves the next. Secrets of a Jewish Baker is a book of practical, empirical, and intuitive information that uses packaged yeast (as many as three packages per recipe), volume measurements (cups and teaspoons), and will not contribute much to bakers aiming to expand their knowledge beyond today's flooded bread book market.

I should have known better than to fall for come-on titles like, "Secrets of a ......." yet I was still annoyed when his "secrets" such as the one for producing a rich mahogany-colored rye, is the addition of coffee, cocoa, or molasses. All of which impart their own alien flavors along with the color benefits they provide. In the case of selecting molasses for bread color, that ingredient also contributes considerable sweetness that is uncharacteristic of traditional sour rye.

Unlike Nancy Silverman's bread recipes using baked potatoes to great result, Greenstein's potato breads rely on boiled potatoes. Aside from the tendency of boiled potatoes to become gooey, they also contribute inconsistent quantities of hydration to the already vague formula: "a small or medium potato".

This 1993 title would have been far more conducive to my needs today if the author remained true to his original bakery formulas, provided actual "secrets" to his readers, and did not re-write his methodology to over simplify his recipes and production techniques for non-bakers.

The added sugar content in food (vegetables, breads, entrees) is often a regional and ethnic preference. I was born in Los Angeles and as such, I disfavor added sugar in my foods, particularly breads and vegetables. This book uses far more sugar and commercial leavening than is acceptable to my preference.

Overall, this book's content which also includes many quick loafs is very disappointing.

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Still the best after 10 years

I bought this book over 10 years ago. I've been making bread at home for over 25 years, and have dozens of bread books. This volume is the one that I return to again and again. Every recipe comes out great, and the tips are invaluable. The New York-style specialty breads are the jewels of the collection in this book. My Brooklyn-native husband was floored when he tasted the rye bread made from the recipe in this book - he said that it tasted just like the rye from the local bakery on Brighton Beach. The challah recipe is terrific, as are the bagel and bialy recipes. After all, who can find real bialys outside of New York? The ones made from the book's recipe taste truly authentic. If I could only keep one bread book, this would be the one.

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The next best thing to having a master baker in your kitchen

I've had this book for over 8 years and simply put, this is the one bread book all bakers should have in their homes.
There are other books on bread and they certainly have their places, but this is the one you'll come back to time and time again.

The well laid-out organization, the amazing variety of bread recipes, the fairly easy-to-follow recipes, and the short but insightful introduction & suggestions preceding each bread recipe all serve to make this a solid book for home baking.

But what puts this book above the rest are two things:
1). Each recipe is specifically tailored (retailored) to work well in the home kitchen.
2). The "baker's secret" tips added and highlighted in particular recipes make the difference between a good bread and an outstanding one.

Perhaps this isn't a perfect book (ring-bound and laminated, please) and for those who may care, it doesn't cover cakes and the like; however, the baker knows his craft intimately well and laid it all out.

The delicious results are a testament to that.

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Even a beginner can bakelike a pro with this book!

I am not a person with an aptitude for baking-to put it mildly. But when the cooking guru in my family bought this book, I was so impressed with the variety of recipes that I decided to try baking one of the easy ones. My first project was Adele's low-fat bran muffins- and they were perfect on the first try. Then I went on to bake many other items successfully, gradually building the skills to do yeast breads and fancy items. I mention this because if I can do it, anyone can! The recipes cover many well-known and popular bakery items, and some that are lesser known but equally delicious. The instructions are clearly written, and there is plenty of good information on using the right types of flour, as well as baking tips that only a professional would normally know. Another bonus is that the author often gives several variations of some of the recipes, depending on the quantity you need, and the method you will be using i.e. hand-mixing or using machinery. Although the title sounds like this is only about Jewish-style baking, other traditions are honored too. My favorite recipe from this book is the Irish Soda Bread - three variations, all of them great;).

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Professional baker George Greenstein reveals what the home chef has suspected all along--professional bakers get great results because they use dozens of little tricks that make the difference between ordinary loaves of bread and spectacular ones. Here are secrets, tips, techniques, and instructions for everything from yeast breads to whole grain loaves to biscuits to croissants. Illustrated.

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