The Practical Step-by-step Guide to Baking Bread Paperback – Illustrated, 31 May 2011

Down to earth worthy advice and tips in plain English. Good size not too large/heavy for counter top use, loved the 'what went wrong page'

I was lucky enough to pick up a digital copy of this for my iPad on the iTunes store several weeks ago and let me tell you, I'm impressed. I've been baking bread for more than fifty years, so believe me when I tell you that The Practical Step-By-Step Guide to Baking Bread is chock-full of advice and instructions - every word right on the money - that will have even the most inexperienced baking bread in no time.Better yet, this does not duplicate other books. Many of these recipes are for breads that we hear about on this side of the pond but rarely actually see a recipe for, including a number of breads from the Middle East and India. The Missi Rotis on page 122 (iBook digitals are exact copies of the print version) - spicy whole wheat and chickpea flour flatbreads - have quickly become a favorite in my house.Measurements are in metric,ounces and cups, so you'll find this book easy to use no matter where you live, and the book is extremely well laid out and illustrated.The Practical Step-By-Step Guide to Baking Bread is a book I cannot recommend highly enough. Whether you are a bread baker or just want to be, this is a book you will treasure. Two thumbs up!

I was looking for a book with some nice basic brown bread recipe's, this didn't have what I was looking for. It had the picture of what I was looking for but no recipe to go with it! A bit disappointed.

This is a book I was looking forward to reading. I thought it would possibly introduce me to styles of bread that were new to me.In the past, I've had some superb successes but also some disappointing outcomes with sourdough loaves, so I turned to the recipes for German and San Francisco sours, hoping to pick up some tips and perhaps find recipes I'd want to add to my regulars.My initial enthusiasm turned to disappointment when I saw that the German one wasn't what I'd call a sourdough at all. It resembled the sort of "sourdough" churned out by large-scale commercial bakeries in that the rising was being produced by the use of fresh yeast rather than from a sourdough starter. It would have been more honest, in my opinion, to have described this loaf as being made with "old dough" or perhaps "pain au levain".I allowed this initial disappointment to put me off the book and, as a result, it now lies, unused, on a shelf. Others may not be as easily disappointed as I was.

Love this book.

As the other reviewer mentions, lots of unusual recipes here. Breads from all parts of the world, and more common ones including pita and English muffins, crumpets, etc. Lots of pics, all in color, on every single page, and multiple photos at that. Each recipe has a pic and most have 'how to' illustrations as well. The recipes are approachable and don't have a huge list of ingredients or instructions; and the instructions stick to one page or less. The recipes make use mostly of bread flours, but included are whole wheat, barley and buckwheat flour and cornmeal to name a few. Most amazingly, there is nutritional info at the bottom of the page for each recipe--listed are calories, carbs, sodium, fat, cholesterol, fiber, etc etc.. What bread book does that for you?The only negative I have is that All but a few recipes use FRESH yeast. There is nothing anywhere giving conversion measurements of active or instant yeast to fresh yeast. I have never used fresh yeast nor is it easy to find. I checked other bread books and sites online and found that you cut back on dry yeast about 2/3, some sites say 1/2, so it's an experiment in progress. I am surprised that this is the only area the author ignored when everything else was done up to the nines, considering that yeast is not a small part of breadbaking. Yet, A scant few recipes DID use dry, not fresh, yeast--why the switch? No idea. Despite that, this book makes up for this oddity in many more positive ways.I have tried three recipes so far and all are keepers. Made the Pane al cioccolato (chocolate bread) using 1/2 dry yeast to fresh yeast, it proofed in the time the book said. Very easy to make and tasty to eat. Today made the Poppy Seed Roll, cutting back 2/3 dry yeast to fresh. To die for. Makes a HUGE, long loaf on only 3 cups of flour. I made the poppy filling a day ahead to make it even easier. I couldn't be happier with the results. The "Buchty" from Poland/Germany came out like clouds, soft and delicate pull-apart rolls. I experimented and put pearl sugar on top of some, left others plain. They work well as either a snack/dessert roll or a dinner roll that way. I even messed up on one of the process steps and after rebounding from that snafu, STILL had great results. That speaks volumes. I had never heard of this one before, but b/c it has a beautiful illustrative photo like every other recipe, it called my name. There are not just yeast breads in here. There are recipes for tortillas, cornbread, breadsticks, piadine, Virginia Spoon Bread, rotis, pooris, chapatis, naan (uses yeast), lavash, and others.All in all, a lot of good things to say about this book with a good assortment of recipes that made me stand up and pay attention. I hope the weather keeps cool so I can keep trying more recipes from this book.

Apparently it was exactly the bread making book she wanted - her mother has a copy she was looking to steal. I guessed well!