Best baking books according to redditors
We found 2,190 Reddit comments discussing the best baking books. We ranked the 549 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 2,190 Reddit comments discussing the best baking books. We ranked the 549 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
![Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza [A Cookbook]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51mgUbcbXIL.jpg)
![Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza [A Cookbook]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51gg46QoJXL.jpg)
I strongly recommend The Science of Good Cooking, a cookbook with explanations of why certain things work and how to improve some aspects of your cooking by making small changes before the food enters the pan all the way through serving it at the table. The Maillard reaction is one of the 50 concepts they go into.
You don't hate healthy food, you just haven't found ways to eat healthy that you like. Look, I used to feel exactly the same. Then I got myself some cook books and learned how to cook beyond the "college" level (ie very rudimentary cooking skills).
It sounds old fashioned, but buy some cook books. Eating healthy does NOT have to mean (and shouldnt mean) eating boring, bland food. I have been eating quite a healthy balanced diet lately, but it doesn't suck and I enjoy everything I eat because I cooked it and it tastes really good. I am a pretty proficient cook now because I've learned enough from cook books that I can create something tasty on my own if I want to. But for the most part, I'd say I still follow recipes very frequently, mostly because a) I know it will turn out really well unless I royally screw up like forget an ingredient an b) I'm not that creative when it comes to meal planning - I'd prefer to flip through my cook books and pick out new recipes to try for dinner this week.
If you do take my advice and go the route of cook books, I will make a few suggestions below. You will notice that all of them are America's Test Kitchen. There's a reason I suggest mostly their books--they are totally idiot proof. Their recipes are thoroughly tested (it IS americas TEST kitchen after all...) They rarely have recipes that call for unusual or hard to find ingredients, and rarely call for unique appliances (like, most people probably do not have an immersion blender). Their recipes are very simple (I've come across a lot of books from other publishers that have incredibly drawn-out steps, or just countless steps, or a lot of unusual ingredients) and easy to follow, and they also include brief scientific explanations for something about every single recipe (example, why you would want to brown your butter when making chocolate chip cookies) which I have always found interesting, and theyre meant to help you build your knowledge in how to cook --ie its often concepts that can be applied elsewhere.
ATK/Cooks Illustrated The Science of Good Cooking
ATK Cooking School
ATK's The Make-Ahead Cook - great if youre into meal prepping
ATK Cooking for Two - great if you are alone or just cooking for yourself and significant other, and dont like having leftovers
ATK Comfort Food Makeovers - turns traditionally unhealthy foods into healthy meals
ATK Slow Cooker Revolution - if you have a crock pot, you NEED this book. I've made a ton of recipes out of here and every single one has come out great.
They have a ton of books out there, many of them for specific things (pressure cooker, paleo, gluten free, vegetarian, mexican recipes, etc.) but you may be saying, "Hmm, none of those books said "Health cooking/eating healthy/buzzwords about health" - they dont need to say that. Quite a lot of their recipes are generally healthy. I haven't encountered many things (outside the dessert chapters, that is) that I've said "oh, I don't think I ought to eat that, it's just not healthy" --but if youre a bit narrow minded in terms of what constitutes a healthy meal (and I find that is common with people who struggle to eat a healthy diet--this is because they think there's a very small amount of "healthy" foods out there) , then maybe these books arent for you. But if you mostly eat intuitively, and know that you should be getting a decent amount of vegetables and fruits in your daily diet, and a good amount of protein, and not an overwhelming amount of starch and net carbs, then youre golden. Get yourself a cook book and learn to cook. Once you eat food that's been properly seasoned and cooked, youll realize that eating asparagus doesn't have to be a boring, unpalatable experience. Brussels sprouts don't have to be awful. I used to hate brussel sprouts...until I had properly roasted sprouts. Holy shit, they are good!!! Peas can be tasty! Baked chicken breast doesn't have to taste bland and dry as hell if you learn about brining, seasoning, and proper cooking times.
TLDR - eating healthy doesnt have to mean eating bland food. You admit your cooking skills are rudimentary, so it's no surprise you are not enthused when you try to make something healthy. A lot of "healthy" foods (veggies, etc) are bland when you don't properly season them or pick the right cooking method. Get yourself a cook book or two and learn how to cook. You won't have a hard time eating something you previously thought unpalatable--like filling half your dinner plate with brussels sprouts and broccoli--when it's seasoned and properly cooked!
So a few off the top of my head:
From Isa Chandra's cookie cookbook, recipe also found here.
For the topping:
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the cookies:
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
3 tablespoons almond milk (Or your preferred non-dairy milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon chocolate extract (or more vanilla extract if you have no chocolate)
1 2/3 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Mix the topping ingredients together on a flat plate. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, use a fork to vigorously mix together oil, sugar, syrup, and milk. Mix in extracts.
Sift in remaining ingredients, stirring as you add them. Once all ingredients are added mix until you’ve got a pliable dough.
Roll dough into walnut sized balls. Pat into the sugar topping to flatten into roughly 2 inch discs. Transfer to baking sheet, sugar side up, at least 2 inches apart (they do spread). This should be easy as the the bottom of the cookies should just stick to your fingers so you can just flip them over onto the baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, they should be a bit spread and crackly on top. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Comments:
I couldn't find chocolate extract, so I used extra vanilla, they were still very chocolaty. I baked them for 10 min, they do spread a lot (mine all ran into each other). The end result was crispy on the outside and fudgey in the middle, with the heat from the cayenne coming in at the end. They were really good! My only suggestion is: depending on how you feel about cayenne, you might want to cut it in half.
Here's a great book
On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of Cooking
http://www.amazon.com/On-Food-Cooking-Science-Kitchen/dp/0684800012
Cooking for Geeks
http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Geeks-Science-Great-Hacks/dp/0596805888/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=14FPMEDBMV4EW2MS7PBR
*The Science of Good Cooking
http://www.amazon.com/Science-Cooking-Cooks-Illustrated-Cookbooks/dp/1933615982/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=14FPMEDBMV4EW2MS7PBR
The Science of Good Cooking has pretty much every answer to those types of questions and comes with a crap ton of recipes
Link: https://www.amazon.com/Science-Good-Cooking-Illustrated-Cookbooks/dp/1933615982/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1550078105&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=the+science+of+good+cooking+by+cook%27s+illustrated
I mean, honestly it's hard to take your question seriously. You very clearly simply haven't looked at what's available, but still wanna come here to laugh at the stupid americans that don't know bread.
You're just wrong. Crusty bread is everywhere in the US.
Walmart sells rye flour: https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=rye%20flour&cat_id=976759&typeahead=rye%20fl and spelt flour: https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=spelt%20flour&cat_id=976759&typeahead=spelt
They also sell baguettes and some other rustic style loafs, though in general for more artisan style bread you'd be better going off going to someplace other than walmart. Walmart is all about cheap and high volume stuff.
This is one of the most popular bread cookbooks in the US: https://www.amazon.com/Flour-Water-Salt-Yeast-Fundamentals/dp/160774273X
I've been to Ken's bakery many times, and can assure you they have nice very crusty bread: https://kensartisan.com/bakery
Here's another regional chain that's popular up here: https://www.instagram.com/grandcentralbakery/
As you can see, plenty of crusty breads of all styles.
You'll be able to find similar bakeries in any city larger than about 50k people, and pretty often even in smaller towns.
Sliced sandwich bread exists for that exact purpose: it's easy to toast, and is a great for making some styles of sandwiches. Crusty rustic loaves are not somehow universally better, that's just *your* preference.
I have a 5-year old son who has been breast fed/vegan since the womb. You are in some sense lucky it's an allergy, because the social aspects are the hardest. Being able to say "I'm Allergic" is MUCH easier than "I'm vegan".
Some things my son likes:
If you are doing a birthday party, or otherwise need desserts, let me HIGHLY recommend the book, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. You will absolutely not miss dairy from this book, I promise!
I didn't pay attention to the OP's question before I started to make a list of non-fresh items. But since I already did so, below are some of my kids favorites anyway:
Hope this helps.
Check out this book, it will completely change your mind!
You don't need a bread machine you have an oven. Bread has 4 ingredients: flour, water, salt, and yeast. The variety of breads you can make by varying the ratios of these ingredients, the length of the ferment, and cook time is staggering.
Highly recoomend: Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza [A Cookbook] https://www.amazon.com/dp/160774273X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_YlgXDbTMY87DP
Check out the Bravetart cookbook if you want to dig into cakes! She also has a lot of great recipes on Serious Eats. I've learned so much about why we do what we do when baking.
Name: Paul
Age: 25
Location: Minneapolis
Pics (of you, pets, whatever etc.,) http://i.imgur.com/yi0rf7P.jpg (It was for grindr and my only recent pic, please don't judge!)
Instagram/snapchat/other social media: https://www.instagram.com/morelikebrocialism/
What are your plans for Valentine's day?
Is there anything you're looking forward to this month?
What TV shows are you looking forward to having come back on for the spring?
What's one good recipe you would like to share?
What are you currently listening to/watching/reading?
In your opinion, what is the superior pet?
What is one subreddit you think everyone should check out?
It's a little daunting at first but there are lots of very helpful resources out there so you can jump right in! I just started my own starter this week and I've been following this guide: here.
​
But you don't need a sourdough starter to start with bread. If you have a dutch oven then you can start with straight doughs and learn proper folding and shaping while you wait for your starter to grow!
​
There are a few books that are highly recommended by this sub the most popular seems to be Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza (FWSY as you will see it mentioned as here) by Ken Forkish which he shares his own starter recipe and lots of fantastic straight and sourdough breads.
​
If you're not ready to take that big of a dive in yet online there is Jim Laheys No Knead Bread recipe which is a straight dough, super simple, and really quite delicious. I did this one and it was my gateway bread which quickly sent me head first into FWSY and starters.
​
Most importantly, don't be disheartened if things don't turn out, just share it with us, do some research, make some changes and try again.
My sister got me Cook's Illustrated The Science of Good Cooking, http://www.amazon.com/Science-Cooking-Cooks-Illustrated-Cookbooks/dp/1933615982, for my birthday a few years ago. It's an amazing book that does a lot of what you described, including experiments that test different recipes or methods to see which give the best results. They also do a good job explaining the science behind why certain methods or recipes are preferred over others.
Admittedly, it's not a masters-level food science textbook but it's definitely one of the most scientific cookbooks I've ever seen.
Edit: I should also add, about half the book is the science behind cooking methods while the other half is about baking.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007SGLZH6
Can you boil water? Can you scramble an egg? Can you make a frozen pizza?
If yes, you can make essentially any meal recipe.
I'd recommend google searching something like "5-ingredient recipes" or "5-ingredient crock pot recipe"
If you're the type who likes books, I recommend the "101 things to do with 'x'". Like this one about ramen noodles. There's 101 casseroles. 101 crock pot. 101 rice. 101 meatballs.... it just goes on and on, depending on what suits your tastes and equipment. These are cheap little books, or get them from the library. Can probably get a kindle version for $4 each or so (or download the kindle book for free from your library)
Recipe and techniques taken directly from the ever-popular FWSY by Ken Forkish. This was my first attempt at the Overnight Country Blonde, and I was really happy with how this loaf turned out!
Nice loaf! People are also often referencing the Ken Forkish book called “Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast.” 🍞🥖
These are from the BraveTart cookbook. There’s a similar recipe on the website but it’s not precisely the same. They were delicious!
This book is so good. I don't think the recipe is on the serious eats.
She did....but she's a pro and her recipes are trade secrets. I don't even know what they are.
I can tell you how she made it though.
The cake was four layers, so she baked 2 9 inch cakes of each of the three types. One was a dark chocolate cake, one was a white chocolate cake that was dyed bright red, and the third was red velvet.
While her recipes are secret, I can tell you she uses the cake bible as a reference quite frequently. I don't doubt that you would find what you are looking for in there. One of the big tricks is that these cakes are more dense and firm than box mixes, which lets you cut and handle them without them falling appart. She also chills the cakes in the refrigerator before cutting and stacking to help keep them together.
So she baked all 6 cakes, then took a paper template I created of the concentric rings in inkscape and used it to cut each cake apart. Then it was just a matter of reassembling the rings in the right order to get the color pattern right.
For the bark, it's a chocolate butter creme with stout in it. I can't tell you much more than that because I'm not sure what she did. She just gets these ideas, wings it, and good stuff happens.
So she coated the outside with the butter cream, then added chocolate bark she made by tempering chocolate, pouring it onto wax paper, rolling it up and freezing it. It makes these chocolate curls that she broke apart to add the flaky bark texture.
The top was homemade marshmallow made with maple syrup. Again....not sure the process or the recepie. I know you can find general marshmallow recipes online or in candy making books. She started with one of those and modified it to use the maple. Anyway, she smoothed it over the top while it was soft, textured it a little, then torched it to add the color.
It sounds like a lot of work....and it kind of was....but it also wasn't too bad. Mainly just time consuming to make all the cakes, level and cut them. You also wind up with a ton of scraps from this method....enough rings to form into another full cake (but with a more boring pattern). So you will have A LOT of cake.
I hope that was helpful and I hope you have fun making it. And happy early birthday!!!
He might also like Cooking for Geeks, The Science of Good Cooking and On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen.
I've only read the first, but I've heard good things about all three.
Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza [A Cookbook] https://www.amazon.com/dp/160774273X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_Hn7IDbF2MEGRN
Edit: it mostly focuses on bread
To help you with that baller response, buy this Cook's Illustrated cookbook. Read it. Cook with it. Love it. If I look on allrecipes, I frequently see the suggested alterations to a recipe fall in line with the recipe in this book.
Table of contents for your perusal
For their points:
Chapters
18
3-7
30
36 (did you know to add mustard to mac and cheese to keep the oils from separating? Everyone needs a good mac n cheese for winter, bro)
38-47
My number one tip for baking is to measure ingredients by weight, not volume! It's more accurate, easier, and more convenient than using measuring cups. A cup of flour can weigh anywhere between 4.5 to 6 ounces depending on how it’s scooped, and that kind of variance can make a big difference to whether your baked goods turn out well vs. hard, dry, and tough due to having extra flour in them. So that could be a potential reason for past baking projects turning out to be hockey puck-esque.
A lot of American recipes only include volume measurements, but some good online sources that do include weights are the King Arthur Flour website and Serious Eats. Weights are also used in BraveTart by Stella Parks and everything by Rose Levy Beranbaum. I would recommend using those sources (or others that are trustworthy) as you're starting out, rather than finding recipes via Pinterest or random blogs.
Temperature is another factor that makes a big difference in baking. Ingredients that need to be at room temperature will not work the way they should if they’re cold. Trying to cream together cold butter and sugar will produce a dense cake instead of a light, fluffy one, and trying to make a frosting with cold cream cheese or butter will produce a clumpy frosting with chunks of unblended cream cheese/butter.
Likewise, ingredients that need to be cold will not perform the way they should if they’re warm or at room temperature. For instance, if pie dough gets too warm, the butter in the dough will melt and turn everything into a sticky mess. It’ll also obliterate the layers of butter and flour/water that produce a light, flaky texture for your crust.
So a change in seasons, which you might not ordinarily think about in this context, can really affect your baking and require adjustments. Serious Eats has a writeup on winter baking adjustments, and King Arthur Flour has a blog post on winter-to-summer adjustments for yeast baking.
For the most precision possible, you can use an instant-read thermometer to check the temperature of your ingredients, but you can do fine without one. Just make sure to plan ahead and warm up/cool down your ingredients as needed.
Oven temperature also makes a difference. Most ovens are not properly calibrated, so even if you think you’re baking at the right temperature, your oven may run hot or cold. Use an oven thermometer to check! Baking at too low a temperature will produce a gummy, pale cake, while using too high a temperature will produce a dried-out husk. If a lot of your baking efforts have turned out burned, that might indicate your oven runs hot.
Follow cues, not suggested times, when baking a recipe. Obviously, use the times as a guideline, but it’s the cues that really matter. So for instance, if a recipe says to bake a cake for “one hour, or till a toothpick comes out clean,” start checking before your hour is up. If a toothpick comes out with some crumbs attached at the one-hour mark, leave your cake in the oven till the toothpick comes out clean. (This is another reason your baking projects might have turned out burned - if your oven runs hot and you only start checking right at the time given in the recipe instead of beforehand, then naturally things will get burned.)
Finally, any beginner should follow recipes as written and not experiment with any modifications that aren’t suggested. For instance, if you think a cookie recipe looks too sweet and reduce the sugar, that won’t just make the cookies less sweet, it’ll also make them softer and puffier (sugar makes cookies browner, crisper, and increases spread). If you do a 1:1 substitute of whole wheat for all-purpose flour in a bread recipe, you’ll end up with bread that’s drier and denser (whole wheat absorbs liquid more than all-purpose and contains bran, which cuts through gluten and prevents it from rising as much). So until you have a solid understanding of how different ingredients work, just follow each and every instruction in a recipe as-is (which, as you might have noticed from my points on weight/temperature above, isn't always as simple as it might seem!).
To wrap up this extremely long comment - for information on "correct fail safe methods," the King Arthur Flour blog and Serious Eats both have good tutorials and tips, and Rose Levy Beranbaum's books have a huge amount of helpful details on, well, everything. Good luck!
Nothing particularly good in this bundle.
If you want take up cooking and treat yourself, I would give my highest personal recommendation to The Food Lab and Bravetart. They are great because they go over technique and fundamentals and provide a good base that you can build from once you get more comfortable in the kitchen. Once you hit that point The Flavor Bible is also a great resource for experimentation.
Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World
Just because you are vegan doesn't mean you don't want a god damn cupcake every now and then.
Try Ruhlman's ratios too. It provides with the "fishing techniques" you mention: not how to make one bread, sauce, cake but the ratios to make any bread, sauce, cake you want.
Here you go. That's not my blog.
I highly reccommend picking up a used copy of the Milk cookbook (I wouldn't do the Kindle version), you can find it for under $15 shipped if you're in the US. Probably a little cheaper if you look around. It goes into detail on technique, ingredient/equipment specifics, and is just totally worth buying. So far, I've made the brownie pie, confetti cookies, chocolate chocolate cookies, peanut butter cookies, and now this cake. Her "All About Cake" book is en route to me, and I will definitely be using some of her recipes for my Christmas dessert spread.
It looks awesome, not sure why you say it needs work. It looks like the cover of Flour, Water, Yeast, Salt.
One of the teachers at the school I work at let me borrow her book 'Science of Good Cooking'. I highly recommend it!!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1933615982/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1421217158&sr=8-1&dpPl=1&dpID=51gFO54YaUL&ref=plSrch
Read about building flavor profiles.
There are a couple of good books on the market: The Flavor Bible and The Flavor Thesauraus. They both have a lot of information on what ingredients go well with each other.
Also, learn by doing. Try things you think may go together well, even if it's not conventional. Even if the things you try don't come together, you can still learn from it. Try to understand WHY it didn't work (cooking method, flavor profile, preparation all have an affect), think about what you can do to correct the mistake, then implement that the next time you try that dish. I don't own a copy of it myself (yet), but Cook's Illustrated Magazine's The Science of Good Cooking would probably help in that regard.
In general, I consider Alton Brown, Cook's Illustrated/Cook's Country, America's Test Kitchen, and Julia Child to be very reputable in the information they convey.
Hooray! I love cookbooks!
I don't know if they're into making ice cream, but it's really easy and fun:
Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream, The Perfect Scoop, and Ample Hills are all great.
Ah! You're too kind. It's called BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts, you can find it at your favorite local bookstore via IndieBound, at Barnes & Nobel, or Amazon! Hope you enjoy!
i use the Tartine country-loaf recipe. https://www.amazon.com/Tartine-Bread-Chad-Robertson/dp/0811870413/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_img_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=YXAYK1048K6F72877BPC
Shirley Corriher, who was the science expert on Alton Brown's Good Eats has a book that might be right
Followed the recipe in Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day book.
The cookbook is called "Good and Cheap" - it's available as a free ebook or PDF. The author, Leanne Brown, also has a website with those recipes and more (I see I'm not the only person to link it). There are really good recipes!
My wife and I use them a lot. Last week I made her chana masala recipe for my lunches, cost $6 total for all 5 lunches. I admit it got old by the end of the week, but for the first couple days it was really tasty!
Another good resource is budgetbytes (I see someone else also linked that one).
A couple broader "principles" (you may already know them, though):
But a lot of these depend on how much time you can commit to food prep. If you're limited on time then your strategy will change a bit.
Using the Overnight White recipe from Flour Water salt Yeast.
Flour Water Salt Yeast. I just received my copy this afternoon!
I make my own bread about once or twice a week and then can store the dough in the refrigerator for up to about 2 weeks. Whenever I'm craving some I whip up a batch on the baking stone and its good to go. I will never go back if I can manage not to. All you need is flour, water, yeast (you can culture your own or keep little bags in the fridge), and salt. I generally add olive oil and whatever else I am feeling inquisitive with at the time. Last week I made some with chipotle salsa mixed in. I have a kitchenaid mixer, not cheap but IMO worth it that simplifies the process immensely. I love making my own bread and people would be surprised at how easy it is. If you are interested in the way I learned check out the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day
Ok, so I'm a student at USC and I've just started cooking chinese food this summer. For a recipe book, you want anything by Fuchsia Dunlop. She's got three books out: Land of Plenty (四川菜), Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook (湖南菜), and Every Grain of Rice (a compilation of the other two). Hands down the best authentic Chinese cookbooks that are written by a westerner, while remaining true to the original recipes.
Finding a good Chinese market has actually been my biggest problem, which is a little ridiculous because it's Los Angeles and I know all the old 阿姨s have to shop somewhere. I'm not sure what the situation is over in Westwood, but the only chinese grocery store that I've found that really has everything is the Ai Hoa market, just a block away from the Chinatown metro station (Cluttered and unorganized, just like the markets over in China! But they really do have everything). I've also heard good things about A Grocery Warehouse. But I haven't really explored K-town or Little tokyo, so there may be some good grocers there. Please share if you find some, and report back if you find some Korean/Japanese grocers that also sell Chinese food!
The secret to the stretchy dough is actually two separate things, and as a home baker you can really only (reasonably) address one:
**So to sum up a nice, happy tl;dr:
Both of these factors contribute to the discrepancy you are seeing between your dough, and serious pizza dough. I have had some great success at approximating the good stuff when using bread flour, it simply requires a higher level of hydration for the flour. If you like, I can provide the recipe.
Alternatively, you can (and should if you want to get a better sense of bread-baking) buy pretty much the best bread-baking book I have found for a home-baker, which is where I adapted my pizza recipe from. You will notice a lot of similarities between different recipes: focaccia is very similar to pizza dough, which is very similar to ciabatta, which all end up working out very differently depending on how you handle them. Although it may be that your bread recipe is very similar to pizza dough, the difference is in the fermentation and handling process.
Let me know if you have any further questions, I'm pretty new to this subreddit.
Nu am vreo rețetă, per se, fiecare pâine e diferită, recomand o carte gen: Flour Water Salt Yeast. Dar ca idee:
Faină albă (12% proteine) + făină integrală + secară în diverse proporții, de obicei 20% albă, 70% integrală, 10% secară, dar mereu schimb.
Apă 65%-75% în funcție de făina folosită.
Sare 2%.
Preferment făcut cu 2 zile înainte, între 50%-80% din aluatul total. 65%-100% apă în funcție de faină. 0.02% drojdie uscată. Dospit 12-14 ore.
Aluat făcut cu 1 zi înainte, 0.2% drojdie uscată, dospit ~6 ore. Sare 2%. Îi fac folds la 20 de min în primele 2 ore, din ce în ce mai gentil.
Proofed în frigider pentru încă 12 ore.
245°C+225°C 30min (abur) +25min (uscat).
Alternativ dacă fac pâine într-o singură zi fac o autoliză de 2-3 ore.
Alternativ pot să fermentez în frigider și să proof afară din frigider.
You'll wanna go ahead and buy this book: FWSY
I am not sure this would be exactly what you are looking for but Michael Ruhalman's book Ratio seems sort of up your alley.
>I'm trying to be more scientific in my selection of spices, instead of just (more or less) randomly adding stuff. Are any other spices multipurpose? Are there any general guidelines for what works well together?
I feel like this strange obsessive need for people (especially technical people) to try to apply rules/laws to cooking is silly. I am not saying that knowing why something like Brining works isn't a good idea. Understanding the underlying science to cooking is definitely important. But that is like expeting that by knowing the science behind making paints you will know how to paint. Knowing the science may make you a better painter but it won't teach you to paint. I would say learn about flavor profiles and what kind of things taste good together (salt + sweet or Fatty + acid)
TL:DR Cooking is more art than science just go with what tastes good. If you want science check out baking it is functionally chemistry
A lot of people here will recommend "Flour Water Salt Yeast" by Ken Forkish:
https://www.amazon.com/Flour-Water-Salt-Yeast-Fundamentals/dp/160774273X
I bought the book and it's helping me change my understanding of time, hydration, temperature, etc. It's taken about a dozen loaves, but mine are starting to look like his loaves he has in his book.
FWSY:
https://www.amazon.com/Flour-Water-Salt-Yeast-Fundamentals/dp/160774273X
Highly recommend the book Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish. It's my favorite and I've gotten a ton of compliments on the breads :)
It's from this book. I just got a copy and have only made one recipe so far, but it turned out great. I'd recommend it.
I'm currently reading this and there are a TON of science-based cooking hacks!
My workout yesterday was pretty damn good. I officially decided to stop taking hormonal birth control, and I'd like to focus on getting down to 170 lbs sooner rather than later so Plan B can be a real option for me should I need it. I was still in the BC induced depressive funk yesterday, but was mostly able to rationalize my way around it. I went for a 20 minute walk in the sweltering heat during lunch. Everything in me was screaming not to run yesterday, but I did so as usual (Hamilton soundtrack was def helpful there). I also tried upping some of my weights just a tad and cutting down on rests between sets. Since I've been focusing on losing weight for almost exactly a year now, I do a program my friend designed me that's low-to-moderate weight, moderate-to-high rep, doable with mostly dumbbells. Did my squats at 40 lbs for 3 sets of 12, supersetting with 40 lb bench press, with almost no rest. It's been a long time since I felt like a I might vomit during a workout, but for some reason it was really satisfying? And I was done with lifting and cardio in a little over an hour which gave me so much time yesterday evening to get other stuff done. A few months ago, it literally took me 2 hours from the time I walked in to the gym to the time I left. Really excited to be getting more efficient.
​
Unrelated to fitness, I saw over on r/Breadit today that Ken Forkish's Flour Water Salt Yeast is on sale for Amazon Kindle (don't have to have a kindle, there's a free app!) for FOUR DOLLARS. I've been wanting to get into bread baking for a long time now, and this book is one of the best and most popular to learn all the things about artisan bread baking (and pizza dough!). It's also usually pretty pricey, so I absolutely jumped all over that sale. I even updated my iPad for the first time in... a few years just to download the Kindle app. I'm going to start reading it on my lunch break in an hour. So, you know, RIP my macros.
Read the book Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes. Super easy and really good bread. You can probably google the base recipe and it gets better as the dough sits in your fridge. Makes a bunch of dough at once. Want some bread tonight? Cut a piece off, let it sit on counter, and throw in oven.
Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day
Sample recipe
Thanks for all the comments! This is basically a beer bread with thyme (so, yes, it is thymey-wimey).
I just made up the recipe on the spot, but here's a rough simulacrum of what I did:
Toss everything in a bowl and knead it all together (make sure to add the salt after the yeast has already been mixed in). You may need to add more water or flour to get the right consistency - you don't want the dough too wet, but you don't want it to be too firm either or it will be difficult to shape. Toss it in an oiled bowl, put oiled plastic wrap over it, and let it rise for about an hour.
After it has risen, take ~1/4-1/3 of the dough and separate it into about 8 chunks for the tentacles. Shape the rest of the dough into an oval, and begin adding the tentacles, working from the bottom to the middle of the oval/face. If you have trouble getting the tentacles to stick, you can moisten the ends with water before sticking them on. Slash the dough to define the sides of the head and forehead creases, and add eyes of some kind (I used two cloves of garlic). Let this rest for 15-30 mins. Finally, put it into a 450 F oven for 10 mins, then turn down the heat to 350 and cook for another hour or so, until the bread reaches ~200 F on the inside (I used a meat thermometer to check). When you go to bake it, you can also toss a handful of ice cubes into the bottom of the oven to add moisture and help give it a crispier crust.
If you're interested in learning more about making bread from scratch, I'd highly recommend checking out the Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. It's a little pricey, but it includes tons of great recipes, and (more importantly) explains how and why bread making works, and what does what. It's helped me get comfortable enough that I can now throw bread recipes together and actually have them turn out well!
Hope this helps!
It's Stella Parks' baking book: BraveTart. She's the SE baking guru.
I can highly recommend either of Fucshia Dunlop's books, Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook and Land of Plenty, as excellent recipe and instruction books for Chinese cooking. In the front matter she lists the equipment you'll need to get started as well as goes over the techniques. I cook out of both of them several times a week.
I purchased my wok and cleaver from the Wok Shop and was very happy with their prices and service.
The last apartment I lived in had an electric stove so I picked up a cheap butane stove from the local asian grocery store for ~$20 that worked fine. It's nowhere near as powerful as a high-end gas stove or a turkey fryer burner but it gets the job done. An electric stove will not work for Chinese, you need something with a flame.
Edit: I also own a rice cooker which is well worth the $20 I spent on it. I'd pick one up if you're serious about Chinese.
I learned using The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart. I found it useful in several ways. It has a great section on what materials and tools you'll need and will use, what the quality of your ingredients will need to be in order for the end product to be a certain way and so forth. Also, each recipe has great instructions, and a bit of the history of the recipe. Overall, a great book for the beginning Artisan Bread Baker.
I've also heard that Rose Beranbaum's The Bread Bible is a great resource, but haven't had time to look into it myself.
Site your sources. Jeeze.
This sounds like an extension of Ruhlman's book, Ratio which mostly talks about the foundation recipes of meals (doughs, batters, sauces, meat mixtures, etc.) I do think that the cultural history would be quite interesting. There is a lot of history hidden in our food, I would read about that.
Vegan Cupcakes Takes Over The World is awesome.
I recommend The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart. Reinhart is passionate about making good bread, and he's good at explaining why things work. The book has a lot of baker's secrets, such as delayed fermentation. That's pretty much his big thing. This book made me excited about making good bread, and it also vastly improved my bread. I've got a few other bread books now, but this is my favorite.
The Bread Bakers Apprentice is a fantastic starting point, with a ton of explanation about yeast, gluten chemistry, etc. I have a few baking books, but this is my goto bible
http://www.amazon.ca/Bread-Bakers-Apprentice-Mastering-Extraordinary/dp/1580082688
Hi. I'm Pikul, but this expansion I've been playing Clovenshield because fuck DPS queues. That may change in the near future. (Sorry RoD members who saw the rest of this post in the subreddit).
I run the Raid of Disapproval, coming back after an 8 month hiiatus. We killed Jin'rokh last week, died to Horridon trash, and got trolled by horridon. I'm cautiously optimistic for this week! I'm also a moderator.
This is me and my wife. We have been married for almost 6 years. Although that's not a good picture of me any more since I had LASIK about 2 years ago. This is a better one. I hate most pictures of me since they accentuate both of my chins as seen here
We have a house in Falls Church, VA. If anyone is ever in Washington DC, send me a message and we can grab a beer.
I work here in the Office of Fossil Energy. Not a surprise if you google my name. My office is halfway between the Washington Monument and the Capitol building. I can tell you all about coal plants and EPA Regulations, but don't ask me since I start to ramble on. The only work things worth mentioning are I'm a Six Sigma Black Belt, last year I wrote a paper and presented it at PowerGen International in Cologne Germany, and in 2011, I was on detail over to the Executive Office of the President so I got to say "I work at the White House." Looks good on a resume as well.
My wife works here as a horticulturalist. She maintains the Bishop's garden and it is beautiful.
Graduated from Penn State about 6 years ago as a Mechanical Engineer, and now I'm a grad student at Johns Hopkins , working on a Systems Engineering degree. While at PSU, I went to about 2 football games and have hardly been back since graduating.
Grew up here It's a shitty little town that's claim to fame was the highest grossing wal-mart for 2006. Although, they are on top of a large shale gas formation, which has brought tons of economic development to the area. My wife grew up near there too
These are my pets Tavi the Corgi, Gabriel AKA Pinky the Oriental Short Hair, and Sampson the Bengal). The cats are 11 years old, the puppy is 9 weeks old. He is very demanding and a large part of why I stopped playing for 8 months. Pinky does not like the puppy.
Here I am underwater. The Mrs. and I got our advanced scuba certification last summer - deepest I've been is 100 feet. We are totally spoiled by caribbean diving, which is really warm and crystal clear. The Atlantic is cold and murky. I recommend the ABCs for diving - Antigua, Bonaire, and Cozumel. Cosumel especially - we had a wonderful drift dive and saw a massive Eagle Ray. I want to get better at underwater photography.
I'm an internet ordained minster. I officiated the wedding of two of my best friends. Afterwards, we met up with some other friends and went rafting in Colorado on some Class V rapids. That was fun.
This is some beer that I made. I got really into home brewing over the past year and love to share my craft with other people so I get less fat. I also have a blog but it's not very interesting. Mostly some recipes, one photo journal, and a few sundry items. Most recently, I bought some kegs and got all the gear and shit to put it in my minifridge (or "lagering cabinet). That was fun, but I don't have enough people over to drink it. I have been told on two occasions that "this is the best beer I ever had". I entered a brewing competition last year, and got a 28/50 on my Strawberry Wheat beer. I've gotten better, I might try again later.
I have a guitar that I've been meaning to start playing. I will set a new years resolution for both "play my guitar" and "go to the gym", but I fully intend to break both of those. Homebrewing counteracts any gym activities anyways.
I own a bright green Mazda 2 so I never lose it in a parking lot...unless I park next to an SUV. Then I can't even see it because it is a super tiny car.
In the kitchen, I bake bread from scratch and got pretty good at it (simple techniques make amazing bread), roast my own coffee with a popcorn maker, and really love baking desserts. I'm not too great at decorating or presentation, but boy do I love carbs and sweets.
Faust is a real life friend of mine. If he doesn't post pictures, I can put one of his 6 facebook photos up.
Last, here's a bonus video of when we painted our Horde banner. I thought it was cool since we had to paint it from underneath. It prevents large drips/drops of dye and looked really cool from above.
I think that's about it. If someone knows how I should motivate myself to go to the gym let me know.
Ok your turn.
(And Vote for Pikul)
I typically use Earth Balance original spread to replace butter in recipes; for eggs, it depends. You can use oil, flax seed, Ener-G egg replacer, soy yogurt, etc. I really like the Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar cookbook for making cookies. The recipes are great, and it goes into all of the different substitutes for non-vegan ingredients!
Moorhead has a community education program including an Artisan Bread Class
My advice would be to buy a copy of Flour Water Salt Yeast and make every loaf in the book.
Got myself the book "Flour Water Salt Yeast" the other day. Been making bread when time allows. In his book, Ken Forkish explains how he uses the Finger Dent method to determine when a dough is at its optimal proofing stage.
Check out the video and pick up his book. I highly recommend it.
Happy baking!
Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast. A very pretty bread cookbook. :)
Yep! It's really great, and way easier than you'd expect. I don't make my every day bread, but anytime I'm having people over for dinner or making something special I bake bread. And sometimes I do it just because! I'd recommend checking out Flour Water Yeast if you're definitely interested, or check out some of the beginner bread recipes on the King Arthur Flour site. There is probably a bread subreddit too... Actually, not sure why I never looked.
Bonus: bread from scratch is a gateway to making pizza from scratch, so you can't go wrong!
I've found Cook's Illustrated's The Science of Good Cooking to be really helpful. Each section focuses on a different concept where they explain how the science behind it works, then they have experiments to compare different modifications of the same recipe (e.g. what temperature of butter leads to flakier biscuits).
Cook's Illustrated - The Science of Good Cooking is pretty phenomenal.
https://www.amazon.com/Science-Good-Cooking-Illustrated-Cookbooks/dp/1933615982
"Flour Water Salt Yeast" by Ken Forkish (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/160774273X/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_aJ1sybPYAT05H) gets consistently good reports here.
I'd also recommend "Dough" by Richard Bertinet (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1856267628/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_AH1sybKH7YCJG)
and Paul Hollywood's "Bread" (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1408840693/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_-F1syb7TKQJWA)
America's Test Kitchen just put out a book called How Can It Be Gluten Free where their goal was to find gluten free recipes that would be acceptable to everyone. Might be worth checking out.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1936493616/
Its a book, also
https://www.amazon.com/Flour-Water-Salt-Yeast-Fundamentals-ebook/dp/B007SGLZH6
My grandmother's. Or this. https://www.amazon.com/Land-Plenty-Treasury-Authentic-Sichuan/dp/0393051773
Recipe used was Rose Levy Beranbaum's 'butter dipped dinner rolls' (From this book: http://www.amazon.com/Bread-Bible-Rose-Levy-Beranbaum/dp/0393057941)
Here is an online source for the recipe, not sure if it has been changed at all, as I'm at work and can't comparel with my copy: http://www.starchefs.com/chefs/RBeranbaum/html/butter_dipped_r_beranbaum.shtml
And this is how to shape them: http://www.finecooking.com/item/35591/how-to-shape-knotted-dinner-rolls
Edit: recipe is the same, but here are some photos of the ingredient lists as they're also listed in grams for better measuring accuracy: http://imgur.com/a/LV9XP
Is it from this book?
https://www.amazon.com/BraveTart-American-Desserts-Stella-Parks/dp/0393239861
They're referring to this book: https://smile.amazon.com/BraveTart-American-Desserts-Stella-Parks/dp/0393239861/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=3MCXVKNSF59X7&keywords=bravetart+cookbook&qid=1554760772&s=gateway&sprefix=bravetar&sr=8-1
VEGAN S'MORES CUPCAKES
This recipe is from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero
Makes 12 cupcakes
Cupcakes:
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup Canola oil
2 tbsp molasses
1/4 cup soy yogurt
1 1/4 cup soy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup of graham cracker crumbs, plus more for sprinkling
Frosting:
1/2 cup nonhydrogenated shortening
1/2 cup nonhydrogenated butter
3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup plain soy milk or creamer
Toppings
Vegan chocolate chips or shavings
Graham cracker crumbs and whole pieces
Vegan marshmallows, toasted (I just toasted mine over my gas-burning stovetop.)
Instructions:
To make the frosting, beat the shortening and butter together. Then beat in the rest of the ingredients until fluffy. Or you can always get an accidentally vegan frosting at the store.
ETA: Read your labels as most graham crackes have honey in them. I used Nabisco Original Graham Crackers because they are accidentally vegan. Health food stores may also carry vegan crackers.
Anything written by Isa Chandra Moskowitz is fantastic, the Veganomicon and Vegan with a Vengeance are already mentioned. Here are her two dessert books as well.
Also, you can buy egg replacer, which is often just tapioca flour, for using in any waffle, pancake, french toast or baked recipe.
Soy Milk can be used in place of cow milk almost 100% of the time, only if whipping the milk does it not work.
Margarine sticks can be used in place of butter in every recipe I've ever seen, I don't want to say its infallible, but the dishes have at least turned out fine, if not identical.
One of my favorite meals, and my own recipe:
I did the "Overnight White Bread" recipe in FWSY. /r/Breadit turned me on to the book, and its worth checking out if you're into longer ferment times. Several great recipes and lots of insight.
The general recipe is:
Bulk fermentation is 12 - 14 hrs, or until nearly tripled. (Fold 2-3 times in the first hour or two.)
Divide in half, shape and proof (about 1hr.)
Preheat oven with dutch ovens to 475F.
When proofed, flip dough into hot dutch ovens and bake with lids on at 475F for 30 mins.
Uncover and continue baking for an additional 15 - 30 mins to desired color.
Turn out onto racks and let cool.
Edit: formatting
The two main books seem to be Tartine and Flour Water Salt Yeast. I have FWSY and think it's a great resource. I still will do other kinds of bread and don't only stick to this.
To get that nice crust you're looking at a dutch oven, just keep your eyes out for a sale on them. Beyond that a scale, a bowl, and an oven.
/u/p3n9uins's video is pretty nice shows everything for free. :D
Modified Ken Forkish's pure sourdough recipe from his book Flour Water Salt Yeast taking inspiration for quantities from this recipe and this recipe. Needs more and smaller choc chips but otherwise I deem this experiment a winner winner chicken dinner!!
I may be late to this thread, but as someone who is also on the same journey as your girlfriend but quite a bit further along, I hope you read what I have to say:
Many people have recommended McGee's Food and Cooking and I certainly concur, but it can also be incredibly overwhelming. You might want to save that till you find she's asking a lot of questions in the kitchen. It is very much a food textbook. It's dry and contains very few recipes. It simply gives you a wealth of information about various ingredients and techniques.
lastly, I'd recommend Ruhlman's Ratio book because it, more than any other cookbook, will help her understand what a recipe really is. All of the above books, save McGee, will give her a core set of recipes to work from. Ratio will give her a core set of bases to create new recipes. Definintely go for it.
http://www.amazon.com/Ratio-Simple-Behind-Everyday-Cooking/dp/1416566112
Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.
It's worth it.
The Bread Baker's Apprentice is a fantastic book.
If you want a good book on the subject, you need "Flour Water Salt Yeast".
Got me making bread I was very proud of in a very short amount of time.
Try some of the recipes on the left sidebar here: http://www.breadtopia.com/ As already suggested, the ATK (cooks illustrated) one is great.
I also got a lot of great recipes to try from the book that I checked out from the library: http://www.amazon.com/Flour-Water-Salt-Yeast-Fundamentals/dp/160774273X
and I just use regular gold medal or king arthur unbleached flour.
I wouldn't say it's an exaggeration to call it life changing. Has completely ruined me on store bought bread, and it's changed the way I eat, and spend my time, and probably has helped with mental health too (it can be really meditative)
These are the two books that got me going.
https://www.amazon.com/Flour-Water-Salt-Yeast-Fundamentals/dp/160774273X
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0811870413/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480822865&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=tartine+bread
If you want to learn bread (trust me, you do), Flour Water Salt Yeast is amazing. Very in depth of why each specific reaction occurs, what will happen if you do x instead of y, etc. Also, the ebook is only like $3.
Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza https://www.amazon.com/dp/160774273X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_H8zKzbEDERZ01
Awesome. You'll have to let me know how it goes so I can maybe do it for my gf. This was bachelor night for me, which means gluten goodness.
Have you seen/heard/tried this cookbook? Someone recommended it to me this weekend. Seems like it has pretty good reviews.
My entire family has Celiac and the best cookbook I’ve found for baking is Cooks Illustrated Gluten Free Cookbook: https://www.amazon.ca/Gluten-Free-Cookbook-Revolutionary-Groundbreaking/dp/1936493616/ref=pd_aw_fbt_img_2/143-9845871-2979353?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1936493616&pd_rd_r=0cbff1cb-efc9-438f-8a56-e230ef71a7d8&pd_rd_w=fnNEG&pd_rd_wg=lVr5r&pf_rd_p=184450c5-56c0-4a4b-b705-45437db4a29b&pf_rd_r=PH8WXJ9PYFBERKN3PMNJ&psc=1&refRID=PH8WXJ9PYFBERKN3PMNJ
I cook mostly Asian food, although I'm not Asian. Here are several cookbooks I couldn't live without...
Real Thai (McDermott)
I have David Thompson's epic Thai cookbook, but that's more for special occasions. McDermott's book has excellent recipes from many regions of Thailand. The homemade curry pastes are really worth the effort.
Chinese (Sichuan): Land of Plenty, Dunlop
Chinese (Hunan): Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook, Dunlop
I can't recommend Fuschia Dunlop's cookbooks highly enough. You will have to search for some ingredients, but these days this is pretty easy.
General Asian: Complete Asian Cookbook (Solomon)
Charmaine Solomon's book is hit or miss sometimes, but it has so many recipes in it that it's worth it, from Sri Lanka to the Philippines to Japan, etc.
My favorite new, specialty cookbook is
Cooking at Home With Pedatha (Giri & Jain)
which has delicious Indian (specifically, Andhran) vegetarian recipes.
Recipe here. I hate having my computer/books out while i'm baking (flour gets everywhere), so I write my recipes on a chalkboard in my kitchen.
Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions!
edit: Recipe is courtesy of The Bread Bible
edit 2: Thanks to /u/breadbandito for the temperature/slashing tips!
It's from Stella Parks' cookbook, Bravetart: Iconic American desserts
> The tartine method?
Dude who runs a San Francisco bakery wrote a book about high-hydration sourdough baked at home in a dutch oven, came out in 2010 and changed the game.
Read this blog post for one guys perspective: http://www.breadwerx.com/embarrassing-problem-tartine-envy/
Unfortunately, there are few recipes that are actually fool proof, as bread baking is more about technique than ingredients. Understanding the fundamentals of the bread baking process such as mixing, gluten development, and fermentation will really help increase your bread baking proficiency. A lot of people start out with no-knead recipes, but I don't think that helps anybody actually understand bread baking.
Learning how to make a great sourdough starts with knowing the basics. There's seriously a lot of great information in the sidebar, and I would check out the Recommended Reading and FAQs page as a starting point.
Once you get your toes wet, there's some great books out there including the aforementioned Flour, Water, Salt Yeast as well as Jeffry Hamelman's Bread.
I have a lot of bread books, and I will recommend Hamelman's Bread until I die. And then I will be cremated with it.
I've been baking bread professionally for 6 or 7 years and it is, by far, the book I reference the most. Accessible for beginners, but substantial enough for a professional. The levain (sourdough) section is wonderful and informative.
I rarely recommend Tartine for beginners. Chad's high hydration doughs can be really unforgiving for some and will quickly deter the less... determined. That being said, if you find yourself enjoying the pursuit, Chad Robertson is the king of artisan bread in the States, and that book does have a lot to offer. I do love it.
Also, I generally suggest avoiding Peter Reinhart when it comes to learning sourdough.
For baking I would recommend Ratio by Micheal Ruhlman. It not only explains the how of baking but the why as well.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0307720497/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1569559142&sr=8-1
Fuschia Dunlop also wrote a cookbook, Land of Plenty: A Treasury of Authentic Sichuan Cooking. It has recipes but also plenty of information about the history of tastes, ingredients and techniques used in Sichuan cooking. I believe this is exactly what you're looking for.
Without a doubt, Land of Plenty by Fuchsia Dunlop.
She was the first Westerner to graduate from the Sichuan Institute of Higher Cuisine and spent a couple of years cooking at some of the best restaurants in Chengdu. This may be the best cookbook of any type that I've ever used. The recipes are spot on, authentic, and amazing. Her follow up Hunan book is good as well, but Sichuanese style is where it's at!
I would suggest sticking with one region at a time since cooking styles and pantry items are so different. A Chinese cookbook with multiple regions is like having a singular European cookbook with chapters for British, French, Italian, and Greek. You're not going to learn much and I doubt the recipes would be that good.
Chengdu is in the Sichuan region/province and Fuschia Dunlop has written a great, accessible book about Sichuan cooking: https://www.amazon.com/Land-Plenty-Treasury-Authentic-Sichuan/dp/0393051773
​
Also, here's a recipe from Anthony Bourdain's Sichuan episode, contributed by Fuschia: https://explorepartsunknown.com/sichuan/recipe-pock-marked-mother-chens-bean-curd-mapo-doufu/
​
Good luck!
As an engineer "Cookwise" is pretty cool for the science of WHY you should do certain things while cooking. (Linky)
I am in the same position you are in. Love cooking, no formal training, but love the science, theory and art behind it all. I have a few books that I find to be indispensable.
And mentioned in other threads, Cooking for Geeks is a great book too, On Food and Cooking is WONDERFUL and What Einstein Told His Chef is a great read as well. Modernist Cuisine is REALLY cool but makes me cry when I see the price.
Yep. I had it backwards. I went to look it up in Cookwise ( an excellent book if you don't already have it ) and came back to orange envelope.
Another book that I would recommend is Cookwise by Shirley Corriher.
If you want to dive deep into irl breadmaking check out the Tartine recipe book!
So this isn't exactly in line with what you're thinking... but by far my favorite use of my dutch oven has been making bread. Tartine Bread is a fantastic book that teaches how to make some of the best sourdough bread I've ever had and it very much hinges on using a dutch oven.
I'm not sure I would exactly call it a cookbook as it really only tells you how to make one thing... but that one thing is incredible.
If you are really interested in baking bread I would suggest getting the starting Bread book and the cast iron pan it recommends in it. The bread really isn't a ton of work, tastes great and is much better than anything you can make in a bread machine.
https://www.amazon.com/Tartine-Bread-Chad-Robertson/dp/0811870413
The book Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking Michael Ruhlman
>Ruhlman, offers an illuminating read on the magic numbers that lie at the heart of basic cookery. He divides the book into five parts (doughs, stocks, sausages, sauces, and custards). In each section he explains what essential properties make the ratios work and the subtle variations that differentiate, for instance, a bread dough (five parts flour, three parts water) from a biscuit dough (three parts flour, one part fat, two parts liquid).
Vegan here. If you do want cupcakes then this book is for you:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vegan-Cupcakes-Take-Over-World/dp/1569242739/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1463343569&sr=8-2&keywords=vegan+cupcakes
I never found being vegan an issue, as I always cooked most things from scratch, but if you want advice on any recipes or on egg/dairy substitutes that work let me know. Sounds like you have all under control though :)
I’ve been experimenting with multiple bagel recipes over the last couple of weeks using a myriad of different flours, yeasts, and techniques.
The Serious Eats bagels (left) created a slightly tighter crumb that did not fall so much. Otherwise, I can’t say there was a huge difference in overall chew. Stella Parks uses a Japanese technique called “yukone” that is supposed to aid in preservation and longevity.
I cannot seem to prevent the Chefsteps bagels (right) from losing height in the boiling and baking process. These bagels have a fantastically chewy texture but the crumb is not as tight as I was hoping for. The flavor is very good though.
Edit: I’ve also made bagels according to The Bread Baker’s Apprentice that were perfectly good bagels but not as extraordinary as I’m hoping for. The article describing professional bagel shops did encourage me to buy a special high-protein (14%) flour and Stella Parks made me start questioning the yeast I’ve previously used so I’ve been experimenting with instant dry yeast. I’m planning to try the method produced by ATK using vital wheat gluten but I don’t know if this step becomes moot since I already have a high-gluten flour.
/r/Breadit
As others have said, bread is surprisingly easy. In my opinion, in terms of effort-to-payoff it is probably one of the best things to cook. Loads of fun with lots of room to develop, practice, and perfect too.
I'm a big advocate of The Bread Baker's Apprentice as a beginner's resource for learning the fundamentals of baking, why things are done in certain ways, and so on. It's also full of just about any bread recipe you could want.
My boyfriend's mom loves the Bread Baker's Apprentice. It's definitely... thorough. I feel like you Really have to be into bread to follow it. It's not for beginners.
We were given a bread machine so that really takes all of the artistry out of it but it's consistent and easy and fast so I'm a big fan. As I said elsewhere, I'm not a big baker so I don't get the joy of baking bread, it's just a pain in the ass to me.
i've made a lot from http://smittenkitchen.com/recipes/#Bread
a good chunk of them come from peter reinhart's the bread baker's apprentice
the potato rosemary bread is pretty great.
I started by going through the Bread Bakers Apprentice. I don't really use any of the recipes in there anymore but it gave me a good starting point and it's still a good reference for terminology and methods. Like, it got me really into ciabatta bread from that book. I'm still tweaking my recipe to perfect it.
Starter is a whole different beast. I've used the method found in this youtube series to make mine. He's got a series on sourdough bread, but that channel's non-bread content is pretty fantastic as well.
If you don't have one, I'd highly recommend a kitchen scale. Recipes using grams is so much easier/better than using volume. Also, don't buy those little packets of yeast at the grocery store if you're planning on making bread more than twice a year. You can find two pound bags of dry active yeast on amazon for ~$10.
I'm just here for more food
He is basically my role model and its a great book he really explains how and why everything works in a simple way and also has pictures and diagrams to help you understand.
Here, here, here, and here.
Honestly, I think most foreign students will be all right; college campuses are their own unique environment, and in most major cities (which is where I'm sure you'd probably want to study), foreign students are pretty common so there'd be nothing to really worry about. I could see Arab students having some worries, but even then I think it would be a bit of a stretch in most parts of the country.
----
Favorite cookbooks:
Those are the three I use pretty regularly. I have a few more but I use them for specific dishes or as reference for flavors (Ratio being a fine example of this).
Favorite dishes (I'm restricting this to ones I can cook myself):
Check out this book. You'll need a dutch oven (I've also used a pizza stone and upside down pot), kitchen scale (absolutely necessary for bread making) and some mixing bowls.
The recipes in the book will make two boules each, You can scale to one or three or however many you want. I make two, once they're cool cut each in half and freeze what I won't eat. I find the bread will last about a week on the counter either in a plastic bag or wrapped in a towel. I toast it though so if you're looking for fluffy soft bread maybe this isn't your thing.
/u/buddyguything knows what’s up. My starter did this once and I started a new one simultaneously with only dark rye flour. I slowly blended the two together when the rye starter was about 7 days old because I didn’t want to loose that unique tang my original girl had. It worked far better than I had hoped and she bounced back like crazy. I now use a 50/50 mix of dark rye and unbleached white flour (just for taste preference) with dechlorinated water to feed my girl. I like the flavour the dark rye gives the loaves and because of its lower gluten content I find it’s much easier to mix up. Check out The Perfect Loaf. His method is what I used and he has a great section on how to start and maintain a wicked starter. Or better yet borrow or get yourself a copy of FWSY if you don’t have it already. Combining the methods those two bakers use has really upped my starter and sourdough game. Let us know how it worked out!
I'm definitely no pro, but I make a few loaves every month (and use a ton of the dough I make for pizzas). I swear by This book. Everything I've made from it has been great, and it has good sections on basic techniques.
Otherwise, follow this no-knead recipe.It really doesn't get any easier than that, and the bread that comes out is fantastic.
Because I dislike seeing food w/o a recipe: Crust is from Ken Forkish's FWSY, allowed to age/ferment overnight in the fridge, and sauce is my own version of Serious Eat's New York Style pizza sauce. A little olive oil in the bottom the pan and the crust is perfectly cripsy.
If you have done any lurking on Breadit, you'll notice that the community is a big fan of Flour Water Salt Yeast (FWSY), and the Kindle edition is only 2.99. He does a great job explaining the keeping and care of sourdough starter, as well as different flour combinations that make for a tasty starter. It's also nice because he gives examples of how to play with recipes and starter to really make it your own, as well as explaining (with pictures) about folding, and mixing.
His book is also great because it gives you some a variety of recipes that include all sorts of fermentation, so you can practice with something that is a little easier and work your way up to a full sourdough style bread. I'm also pretty new to sourdough bread and it's been a very helpful piece of literature as I've been experimenting with my bakes.
https://www.amazon.com/Flour-Water-Salt-Yeast-Fundamentals/dp/160774273X
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0owQi_U44c
I really like Water Flour Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish: http://www.amazon.com/Flour-Water-Salt-Yeast-Fundamentals/dp/160774273X
It’s a recipes book called Flour Water Salt Yeast. It comes in pretty highly recommended by r/Breadit
Sure! That's the final product. Recipe follows:
I followed the Saturday White Bread in this book.
1000 grams of flour
780 grams of lukewarm water
4 grams of instant yeast
22 grams of sea salt.
Combine the water and flour loosely. Let sit for half an hour.
Then sprinkle the yeast and salt over it. Fold it gently three or four times.
Then let it rise for 5 hours, folding two more times during that time. Just make sure to not fold the last hour.
Then take the dough out. Divide and shape into two loaves. Throw those in proofing baskets. Let them proof for an hour and 15 minutes.
20 mins prior, preheat the oven to 475 with the dutch ovens in.
Once its ready, place the loafs into a dutch oven each. Bake for 30 minutes lid on, then 20 minutes lid off. Done!
EDIT: For those who are thinking of getting the book, be warned: it's not really for beginners. Which I am. So there were a lot of really frustrating loaves before I got the hang of it.
Keep away from the commercial yeast. Your starter is probably not active enough, and your gluten not strong enough.
A lot of people, including myself, had success using the recipes and techniques in Flour Water Salt Yeast. You’ll see many posts talking about “FWSY” — it’s this book. Give it a try!
I posted a few more pictures on my page here. I should have taken more pictures of the dough making itself. You can get the book from Amazon here
or PM me for snap shots of the recipe from the book.Update: okay, I finally got the recipe loaded to imgur.
Vakar baigiau Mąstymas, greitas ir lėtas. Labai rekomenduoju kam įdomu kokiu būdų veikia mūsų pačių mąstymas.
Sekanti eilėje Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza
Beautiful. I also appreciate that you bring in the Maillard reaction. I think you would enjoy The Science of Good Cooking by Cook's Illustrated, but I think you might work for them.
http://www.amazon.com/Baking-Bible-Rose-Levy-Beranbaum/dp/1118338618/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419978179&sr=8-1&keywords=baking+bible
http://www.amazon.com/Science-Cooking-Cooks-Illustrated-Cookbooks/dp/1933615982/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1419978172&sr=8-2&keywords=science+of+baking
I use the one from [Americas Test Kitchen] (http://www.amazon.com/How-Can-Gluten-Free-Cookbook/dp/1936493616/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452011262&sr=8-1&keywords=americas+test+kitchen+gluten+free) It uses their proprietary flour blend with instructions on how to make it, but speaks about some of the other common ones. By far the best GF pancakes I've ever had. I also use super fatty Bulgarian style buttermilk instead of the low fat stuff (if I'm making pancakes damn the calorie count.)
It's a popular book.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007SGLZH6/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
Welcome to the hobby!
I like this book, The Bread Baker's Apprentice. It's got a bunch of great recipes and goes over the history of bread and a number of traditional techniques, with pictures! Other popular books are Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast and The Tartine Bread book.
A dough scraper, a lame (it's pronounced"lahhm", it's French), a banneton, some decent size mixing bowls with lids, kitchen scale, measuring cups and spoons, pizza stone/s, caste iron Dutch oven (for no Knead bread, super easy place to start), an oven I suppose would help if you don't already have one (extra points if it goes to 550*F).
And to save your arms, a good quality mixer. It'll be expensive up front, but I would recommend splurging on a good quality, reputable brand mixer and it'll last you 30 years if you take care of it. The purists will tell you you HAAAAAVE to knead by hand, and it's definitely a skill you should develop, but it's not absolutely necessary and some recipes would be nearly impossible without one. It'll save you a lot of time, effort and headache.
Anyway, all that should definitely get you started. Not all of it is necessary to start, but you seem pretty interested and serious about it, so I want to set you up for success.
Amazon is probably the cheapest option for all the equipment you need.
Here's a bunch of equipment you'll want to grab:
Winco Winware Stainless Steel Dough Scraper with Wood Handle https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0017HUR9E/
10" Round Banneton Brotform https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01MQA0BMT/
Mercer Culinary Offset Serated Bread Knife https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01F35UGWS
Flour Water Salt Yeast: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/160774273X
You'll also want to grab a clear round plastic storage container for your starter. Amazon doesn't have any good deals on them but it seems like Walmart/Home Depot/Gourmet Warehouse may have some. FWSY has a recommendation on a size, can't remember off the top of my head.
Once Flourist opens up it'll be the place to grab your flour from.
Hey,
My girlfriend and I usually just kind of wing it and approximate the ratios. There's a lot of great recipes online, or you could check out places like r/breadit & this book http://www.amazon.com/dp/160774273X
For this bread specifically we replaced the water with half water and half tomato sauce.
Could just be that he made it on Saturday, but might be Ken Forkish's recipe "The Saturday White Bread" from Flour Water Salt Yeast
Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish has given us the best pizza we've ever made. The dough is so effing good. Highly, highly recommend this book.
I saw a recommendation for Alton brown’s Good Eats, which I second.
I highly recommend “The Science of Good Cooking” from America’s Test Kitchen/Cook’s illustrated. It has guides to kitchen equipment, measuring, and other important skills. The book goes through 50 cooking concepts that are easy to learn and you can apply to many other recipes or improvisations. Each concept section has an explanation on the science behind it, and has recipes incorporating that concept. Each recipe has fantastic explanations for why certain techniques or ingredients are used. It has certainly been the most interesting and helpful cookbook I have used.
https://www.amazon.com/Science-Good-Cooking-Illustrated-Cookbooks/dp/1933615982
Edit: I forgot to mention that Gordon Ramsey has a great series of YouTube videos on basic kitchen skills. Good recipes and helpful techniques to learn.
The book you want is [On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen] (http://www.amazon.com/On-Food-Cooking-Science-Kitchen/dp/0684800012/ref=pd_sim_b_11) by Harold McGee, which is a classic for a reason! Start with that one, devour it, learn it, live it, love it.
Once you've done that, pick up a copy of The Science of Good Cooking from the hardworking angels at Cook's Illustrated and then a copy of The Flavor Bible as mentioned by /u/pjdias below.
This recipe came from this book which is amazing!
Lemon Cheesecake
Crust
5oz Nabisco Barnum's Animal Crackers or Social Tea Biscuits
3tbsp sugar
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
Filling
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tbsp grated lemon zest, plus 1/4 cup juice (2 lemons)
1 1/2 lbs cream cheese, cut into 1" chunks and softened
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
Lemon Curd
1/3 cup lemon juice (2 lemons)
2 large eggs plus 1 large yolk
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" pieces and chilled
1 tbsp heavy cream
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch salt
For the crust
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325F. Process cookies in food processor to fine crumbs, about 30 sec. Add sugar and pulse 2 or 3 times to incorporate. Add melted butter in slow, steady stream while pulsing; pulse until mixture is evenly moistened and resembles wet sand, about 10 pulses. Empty crumbs into 9" springform pan and, using bottom of ramekin or dry measuring cup, pressure crumbs firmly and evenly into pan bottom, keeping sides as clean as possible. Bake crust until fragrant and golden brown, 15-18min. Let cool on wire rack to room temperature, 30 min. When cool, wrap outside of pan with 2 18" square pieces of heavy-duty aluminum foil and set springform pan in roasting pan. Bring kettle of water to boil.
For the filling
For the lemon curd
Goat cheese and lemon cheesecake with hazelnut crust (this is what I made)
For crust, process generous 1/3 cup hazelnuts, toasted, skinned, and cooled, in food processor with sugar until finely ground and mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, about 30 sec. Add cookies and process until mixture is finely and evenly ground. Reduce melted butter to 3 tbsp.
For filling, reduce cream cheese to 1 lb and beat 8 oz room-temperature goat cheese with cream cheese. Omit salt.
extraction- making tea or Coffee (you can explain the role of temperature in solvent extraction by comparing the strength of teas made at different temperatures or times)
saturated and unsaturated fats, state of matter and temperature dependence- olive oil and butter
And this book, which has great recipes and explains a lot of the chemistry behind good cooking techniques (for example, how brining beans before you cook them displaces pectin in the bean wall with sodium and chloride ions, allowing them to cook faster).
https://www.amazon.com/Science-Cooking-Cooks-Illustrated-Cookbooks/dp/1933615982
If your meat's not juicy, it's almost certainly because you are overcooking it. As others have pointed out, cubed chicken takes very little time to cook. It's probably better to cook them as larger pieces and then cut them up.
BTW, cooking to correct temperature doesn't mean that long cooking times are bad. For example, when stewing beef or chicken, it's entirely possible (and sometimes required for tougher cuts of beef) to cook for hours at a time - but the key is that this is done at a low simmer.
For burgers, you want to cook them at a relatively high heat so the outsides get a nice brown crust while the center is a nice medium rare. Some people will say "only flip it once", but I think that is a myth. I've flipped steaks and burgers multiple times without any ill effects. In fact, my preferred method of cooking steak is to use a lot of oil, flip it every 30 seconds while basting it continuously in the oil with a big spoon.
Another important point if you are forming your own burgers. DON'T OVERPACK THEM. If you are squishing them together very firmly, you will end up with hard bricks of meat. Just enough pressure to hold them together (at least a half inch thick. I like them thicker) and you will get nice juicy crumbly burgers.
Lastly, let the burgers rest for 5 minutes (longer for big cuts of meat). Otherwise, a lot of the juice will leak out when you cut into it.
Get something like this thermometer to help you cook steaks and burgers.)
Edit: I've never read this book, but America's Test Kitchen is an awesome resource. LINK. I think I'll buy this myself!
I love ATK. The Science of Good Cooking is one of my favorites.
King Arthur brand all purpose gluten free flour has behaved the best for me as a 1:1 substitute for regular flour in recipes.
However, gluten free flour will never behave exactly like regular flour. If you or your friend plan on doing a lot of GF baking, I highly recommend picking up the America's Test Kitchen "How Can It Be Gluten Free" cookbooks.
And here is a reposting of their [recommended GF chocolate chip cookie recipe.]
(https://liagriffith.com/the-best-gluten-free-chocolate-chip-cookies/)
America’s year kitchen flour blend, recipes are great in this book.
https://www.amazon.com/Gluten-Free-Cookbook-Revolutionary-Groundbreaking/dp/1936493616
i cant recommend the The How Can It Be Gluten Free Cookbook by Editors at America's Test Kitchen http://amzn.com/1936493616
they don't have specific high altitude information but there are reviews from a few people saying that the recipes cam out fine with out any alterations. http://www.amazon.com/gp/community-content-search/results/ref=cm_cr_dp_srch?query=altitude&search-alias=community-reviews&idx.asin=1936493616
Heh, Artisan Bread Steve! Best old bread making dude in the business. /u/icyblack introduced me to that recipe! I make that no-knead bread all the time. I also make the Serious Eats pizza dough. I've made both over 20 times each.
Not to get too technical about it, but they are different recipes. The hydration is different and the pizza dough uses oil.
Pizza dough requires more time for gluten production and TBH, flavor production.
If you use the bread process (which is SUPER short for any risen dough) you will get dough that will not be spreadable to fill the pan, it will lack gluten production. It will also lack flavor. The pizza dough needs at least 8 hours. I think the 24 hour dough is even better.
TLDR: No, you can't. You need the 8-24 hours for pizza dough. Sorry.
Also, someone else mentioned /r/Breadit which is an excellent resource.
If you want a real technical explanation of gluten production and baker's percentages, read Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast.
Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast by Ken Forkish was my gateway bread book. Pretty straight forward technique/recipes - good stuff.
Also:
/r/breadit or/and /r/breaddit are amazing.
Good luck!
Yep, Amazon link here. It's written by his pastry chef, Christina Tosi.
You should check out Momofuku's Milk Bar cookbook, it might give you some creative ideas on this topic.
Milk Bar Cookbook
Third cake I’ve made from this cookbook. Many friends said it was the best carrot cake they’ve ever had. I personally like ones that are less sweet and more spiced. However her tip for using fresh rainbow carrots helped the flavor a lot. Her ice cream recipes are AMAZING. You’d never know there aren’t eggs in it. Best ice cream I’ve ever made.
Here is my photo album with different angles.
bottom
crumb
This is my first try at making something other than no knead bread. I followed the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day recipe here and here pretty closely, but added a bit more water to the poolish because I thought it looked too dry. I baked it at 475F for 25 minutes instead of the instructed 20 minutes to give it more color.
I think it came out alright for my first try. I'm surprised that it tastes pretty good - it has a nice crispy, crackling crust that shatters when I bite into it. It's seasoned well too, the salt brings out a lot of flavor. The crumb is more dense than I hoped for - I think it's because I over kneaded the dough. Obviously, I need to work on the shape.
Honestly, I prefer this drier type of bread compared to all of the no knead bread I've been making - it's not so moist and spongy in the middle.
Tips and critiques welcome!
Check out: http://www.amazon.com/Artisan-Bread-Five-Minutes-Revolutionizes/dp/0312362919/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312813772&sr=8-1 and the related books. They have it all figured out.
You may be interested in this book "Artisan Bread in 5 minutes". Essentially, you make the dough on the weekend, break off a piece here and there, shape it, and throw it in the oven.
http://www.amazon.com/Artisan-Bread-Five-Minutes-Revolutionizes/dp/0312362919/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333294847&sr=8-1
I doubly recommend the digital kitchen scale & Cook's Illustrated cookbooks. I also recommend:
If money is no object, how about a promise to a romantic dinner for 2 at a top rated restaurant like Per Se?
I've heard really good things about Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.
Well, I'm half-Chinese. I'll give you two cookbook recommendations which are full of recipes which really resonate with that part of my background:
In addition to the aforementioned Chinese food, I'm just a fat piggy who loves to eat. Here are a few more recs:
Feel free to drop me a line if you need more recommendations. I've got quite the cookbook collection (I love to cook, it's not just cookbook porn) and love to share my thoughts.
Hopefully i can give you a few pointers. To answer your question "How can I learn to cook chinese food" first you need to know what type you're looking for, sichuan is much different from shanghai and both are different from cantonese cuisine for example. Sichuan tends to favor spicy food, while shanghai food tends to be more on the sweet side and then you have your classic cantonese flavors. That being said, these are some of my recent favorite books, I'd startoff with "Land of Plenty" by Fuchsia Dunlop which has authentic Sichuan recipes and which are quite tasty. Another good book is "The Chinese Take-Out Cookbook" by diana kuan, it has a bunch of different recipes that you would usually find in america. The cool part is that with stir frying which alot of recipes use, generally speaking since there's not alot of oil, it is not too high in fat.
The Bread Bible
I run our parish's annual yard sale. The things I can guarantee will be there every year are bread machines and exercise machines (we no longer accept piano's because disposing of those after the sale is too expensive). Obviously there must be people who use them, because they are still being made, but if your wife has a stand mixer, I suspect your gift would be ay my next yard sale. If you want to honor her for baking bread, perhaps The Bread Bible would be a better choice.
If you want the simplest no-knead approach as a foundation for variations, I'd recommend Jim Lahey's My Bread. He's less up-tight about details than Ken Forkish, but the bread is just as great, and there is a lot more variety (e.g. carrot bread, olive bread, cheese bread, coconut-chocolate bread). But it's not a comprehensive recipe book.
If you want a more traditional book of recipes, I'd say check out Reinhart's Bread Baker's Apprentice or Beranbaum's Bread Bible.
I always fall over myself to recommend Bravetart by Stella Parks to people who haven't baked much. The recipes are as close to foolproof as possible. The ingredients and directions are very specific so, provided you follow them, you'll get a good result. Like, a really good result. I can't think of anything in that book that won't knock your socks off, and there are tons of variations - including gluten free versions of basically everything.
Some of the stuff is easier, and some of it's harder - the latter mostly by dint of taking longer or having more steps rather than needing learned technique.
I'm a good cook, though not a talented baker by any stretch. Before that book, most of my tries at baking ended up with me swearing at dough, but that book has let me make all sorts of totally delicious stuff for work bake sales, friends' birthdays and just for my own face on a rainy day.
I wanted to see the book on Amazon, but it didn’t look like anyone else posted the link. Here it is, if anyone else is interested.
Check out www.amazon.com/Cake-Bible-Rose-Levy-Beranbaum/dp/0688044026 The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum, I actually haven't read it, but I have her Bread Bible and it is a great bread baking book. She makes the recipes real easy to understand and gives ideas for substitutions as well.
edit: I fail at interneting and link making :(
Oooh. I would suggest some fancy ingredients like some Nielsen Massey vanilla paste (I have the gigantic 1 quart size myself and it's pretty much my favorite thing ever) or some Valrhona cocoa powder or feves (fancy chocolate chips). Some high quality measuring cups like these ones from All Clad would probably make her over the moon (as others have said, you can never have enough measuring cups and spoons, and heavy-weighted ones like those are a delight to use). You can round out your gift with a few cookbooks you think she might like -- some suggestions are the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook (since you mentioned she makes lots of cupcakes), the Tartine Cookbook (I love this one), and Rose Levy Berenbaum's Cake Bible or Heavenly Cakes.
Cheap but amazing:
The Cake Bible (an amazing recipe book, I have never found a book I like better. Every recipe is amazing, and she'll look forward to trying to get through all of them (she wont) and she'll have a recipe for everyone no matter how obscure their favorites are!) http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0688044026/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1417196517&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SY200_QL40
Piping bags (I like to go to local restaurant shops, like B&W, and get theirs. Personally, I feel the bigger the better for the bags because they make less of a mess, and who cares if you don't fill it all the way?! Just make sure the tips fit the bags (think nuts and bolts fitting each other))
A nice rolling pin (in case she wants to try fondant)
Nice baking mats
Nice cooling racks
All shapes and sizes of cake pans!
Consider a cake stand/travel ware? Something simple and classy so she can use it for everything.
Cute apron
Cute oven mits
Hell, get her a bakers hat. Even if she pretends not to like it she'll wear it when you aren't home!
Stencil cutters are always nice
Sprinkles/food coloring/ingredients
*If you need more ideas I got you!
Expensive gifts:
*Kitchenaid (amazing piece of equipment for everything we do)
Fondant roller
Decorating classes
Huge amount of cake flour (it's not cheap)
*An egg share with a local farm?
If you need more I got you!!
Edit: a pastry blender! http://www.google.com/shopping/product/4899924592550857697?lsf=seller:7815,store:894053743391794104&prds=oid:13439777354151137999&hl=en-US&mcid=PS_googlepla_nonbrand_kitchenfoodprep_&adpos=1o6&creative=39230282269&device=m&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=CjwKEAiA1-CjBRDOhIr_-vPDvQYSJAB48SmEazBJPLQZKYqkB-qNL1ojbaDZ5mYHild4xHPlkHfa0RoCY2Hw_wcB
Second the nomination of Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen.
Good Eats fans with an interest in the science might like Shirley O. Corriher's Cookwise, The Secrets of Cooking Revealed. She was The Science Lady on the Good Eats show.
So a few ideas and I'll put them all in one so you guys can make your own top level comments with the ones you like?
This is the latest in a 30 book series I've been reading for years: http://amzn.com/B00BGCC28Y about Honor Harrington, it's space opera like Star Wars but with a kick ass woman lead :)
I've never read this series, but it's all three books in one: http://amzn.com/B007WE3AFO so not bad for $9.99
The author of this one is amazing, and there's a used "very good' copy for 2.68 + 3.99 shipping that would be great! http://amzn.com/0688102298
But please! WHAT DO YOU GUYS LIKE from my lists? The penguin? The SEAL book? MP3s and some .99c Kindle stuff? I'll be happy with ANYTHING...there's even doggy treats that'll work and Loki will love you forever!
THANK YOU!!!!!
It is the basic country white from Tartine Bread. He uses the recommended cast iron combo cooker and scores it exactly as the recipe describes.
You can read the recipe here or buy the book.
not sure how much I can help...
I've "captured" several starters over the years. I use the pineapple juice and rye flour method described here: https://breadtopia.com/make-your-own-sourdough-starter/ (see the rather long essay linked from that page for a truly in-depth analysis of the process). I really enjoy the result from a whole-grain coarse rye flour I get from a local specialty supplier, but i've had success with normal grocery store rye as well. After about 3 or 4 days of reliable activity, I transition off juice to plain water and a 50/50 white/whole wheat flour "spiked" with a little of the left-over rye.
Once I have a healthy starter, I use the Tartine recipe/process from the Tartine Bread book, but since we don't eat so much bread (only two of us) I usually do a 500g half recipe for a single loaf.
Good luck!!
edit: forgot to mention, i don't really put much stock in the "float" test... I typically just look for lots of bubbles. I also keep my starter in glass or clear plastic which aids in checking for healthy bubbles
http://www.amazon.com/Tartine-Bread-Chad-Robertson/dp/0811870413
:)
https://www.amazon.com/Bread-Bakers-Book-Techniques-Recipes/dp/1118132718
He's got a really great comprehensive section on braiding, even weaving, different kinds of dough. I find it really helpful.
If bread is what you want to learn, I highly suggest buying
Crust and Crumb by Peter Reinhart
Or
Bread by Jeffrey Hamelman
And if you like rye breads I highly highly recommend
The Rye Baker by Stanley Ginsberg
Honestly I can't recommend The Rye Baker enough, it quickly became my favorite bread book.
Personally, I would look into getting this book: Ratio
I am a little biased towards Micheal Ruhlman and a few of his cooking cohorts he teams up with, but this book definitely sounds like the direction you are trying to travel. Not necessarily 'culinary theory', but this book basically gives you a decoder ring to recipes. By starting off with basic ratios to begin your foray into constructing a recipe, you can put away other recipes and play with your own tastes!
Published recently: Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking by Michael Ruhlman
It boils down a lot of foods to their essential ingredients. Not only does knowing the ratios make it easy to throw together something you've never seen a recipe for, it also gives you a deeper understanding of food. It shows how tweaking the ratios changes the quality of the final product or turns it into a different kind of food altogether. You start to see foods connected in a continuum instead of as distinct collections of ingredients.
Ratio provides a fantastic starting point to learning the ratios behind cookies, breads, cakes, and biscuits. The guidelines are in reference to weight, so a kitchen scale is essential :)
Here are some vegan baking tips from Isa Chandra Moskowitz of the Post Pink Kitchen: Vegan baking 101 from PPK.
Another good vegan baking primer from the Kitchn.
I'd say Isa and her co-author Terry Hope Romero are the authorities on vegan baking. Check out their baking cookbooks on cupcakes, cookies, and pies.
For a 1-volume comprehensive vegan baking cookbook and traditional recipes, check out Colleen Patrick Goudreau's Joy of Vegan Baking.
For a vegan baking cookbook with unique and creative flavors, try the Cheers to Vegan Sweets cookbook.
Hope this helped! Happy baking!
Yes, they are vegan. I can only bake 1 thing, and this is it. The recipe is from vegan cupcakes take over the world, which is food porn at its best. The recipe is reproduced here: http://www.chow.com/recipes/10794-basic-vegan-chocolate-cupcake
This was the first time I've made them with almond milk instead of soymilk, because I now totally drink almond milk all the time, and so it's all I had at home today. haha...
Are you vegan? I'm not, but my friend was for 2 years, and this kind of just stuck. I also literally cannot bake or cook anything else.
I love baking :) I mostly do artisan breads and cookies, and homemade pizza (good pizza starts with good crust!!) but every now and then I'll get on a pie or cupcake kick for a little while.
Ciabatta is probably my favorite bread to
makeEat. I also really love homemade pretzels because not only are they delicious, but I can play around with shaping them and make something that is really pretty as well as tasty.My favorite thing ever is This baking stone It's a lot more expensive than many other stones, but it has been totally worth it. I had 4 others before I finally picked this one up that all ended up cracking in half. This one has lasted me 3 years so far, and I can actually WASH the thing without fear of it exploding next time I use it.
mm... I would also recommend This book to anyone interested in learning to make bread. Its really good and easy to follow, and you can really feel the authors passion for the art.
Recipe is from here although I have seen it on some blogs both here and here
I did the EXACT same thing a year ago.
Now my cupboard is stuffed with bread flour, and fridge is full of yeast, and I'm on the verge of baking sandwich loaves every week instead of buying it.
Recently acquired "the bread baker's apprentice", and it's full of win.
http://www.amazon.com/Bread-Bakers-Apprentice-Mastering-Extraordinary/dp/1580082688
That depends on what kind of bread you'd like to make. Are you interested in poundcake type breads (banana bread/carrot cake), quick breads (biscuits, scones), sandwich type enriched breads (sandwich loaves, cinnamon rolls), artisan bread (glutenous inside, crisp crust, high flavor; ie. French baguettes). There's a lot to aim for.
My personal suggestion would be to pick up Peter Reinhart's Artisan Bread Every Day. His book covers pretty much all the major areas of breadmaking (except for poundcakes), using simple, proven recipes that are designed to maximize flavor and texture in the home kitchen. I feel it's a great place to start because the recipes are pretty much bulletproof and filled with just enough detail to explain what's going on without being cumbersome. Think of it as a more simple, advanced-beginner oriented, version of The Bread Baker's Apprentice that is one of the handful of gold-standard breadmaking books (the other being Bread by Jeffery Hamelman).
I've also heard great things about The Breadbaker's Apprentice, although I haven't read it yet. I do like your book's idea of mixing/kneading in the morning and letting the dough sit in the fridge all day.
You should read this. Making a good dough is less about Pizza and more about baking bread in general. If you learn those techniques then you pizza will get better.
First I will point you to The Fresh Loaf, as I once was, if you aren't already familiar with it. There is a lot of information on there, as well as beautiful breads that are posted daily to serve as inspiration.
As for books, what got me started was Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish. I knew not a thing about bread making before buying this book, and I can assure you that it is very user friendly. It is very descriptive and easy to follow, and you will yield amazing results by simply following close instruction.
Once I was comfortable enough to expand my repertoire, I picked up Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day. He's regarded as one of the best authors for bread making books and for good reason. You can tell the guy knows what he's talking about as he provides you with an easy breakdown of what and why you will be doing something with simple steps. This one covers a broader range of baked goods (baguettes, cinnamon rolls, crumb cake and more) so you can have fun experimenting.
Happy baking!
My boyfriend is the baker of the house, and his favorite baking books are all by Peter Reinhart -- this is the book he uses every week to make our house bread. But basically everything from this book is delicious.
Reinharts uses weight in his measurements too. :)
His books are pretty good for getting into some of the specifics more than the show.
http://www.amazon.com/Im-Just-Here-Food-Version/dp/158479559X/
http://www.amazon.com/Im-Just-Here-More-Food/dp/1584793414/
My 6 year old son is HFA as well and loves to bake with me - I've started explaining some of the concepts and he really responds to the science-like nature of the process.
I don't know what your son's reading comprehension level is, but perhaps Alton Brown's baking book would work. He throws a lot of history, science and explanation into his recipes so there is definitely some "teaching" going on.
Another great one is the good old fashioned Better Homes and Gardens Baking Book (whatever edition they're into now). It includes very basic recipes (then graduates to harder ones), easy to follow instructions and lots of pictures. I've had mine for over 20 years and still bake from it frequently.
If you like Alton Brown, try checking out his books.
I'm Just Here for the Food: Version 2.0 and I'm Just Here for More Food: Food x Mixing + Heat = Baking
They also recently released a comprehensive book companion to the Good Eats series which is very good. Here
While baked goods for loosing weight might not be the best idea, I want to give a shoutout to Alton Brown's Book for providing all measurements in imperial and metric weight.
I'm a big fan of the recipe from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. They taste like classic Tollhouse cookies - definitely a good recipe to do the "surprise, it's vegan!" thing with.
Here's a link to the recipe.
> flour, water, salt, yeast
If anybody is interested in trying to make their own
Most breads don't need eggs or butter. Flour, salt, water and yeast is all you need. There's even a cookbook called "Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast"
Not OP, but bread in general with a Dutch oven is super easy. All you need is time (8-18 hour to proof) and 4 ingredients—water, salt, yeast and flour. This is my go to easy no knead dutch oven bread recipe. Note, it is not sourdough. I’ve found that water temp at 113.5F seems to work the best and I substitute APF for bread flour at a 1:1 ratio.
You can then get fancy with a proofing bowl like OP used to get the geocentric circles and also start playing around with different starters/flours. You can use whole wheat flour in the above recipe but remember you can’t substitute whole wheat flour 1:1, the max you can do is 50% whole wheat flour so use 1.5 cups whole wheat flour and 1.5 cups APF/bread flour and increase the water to 1 3/4 cups of water. Check your local grocery store, they may have sourdough starters you can buy.
Experiment and have fun with it. I make bread probably 3-4 times per month. The hardest part is just planning out the time to proof the dough. If you really get into it, you’ll probably like this book Flour Water Salt Yeast.
So most of my cookbooks are either text dense reference manuals or obnoxiously difficult like The French Laundry Cookbook, but here's a few that are relatively simple with excellent photography:
La Cocina - Cookbook from an organization in San Francisco that teaches low income people to successfully grow food businesses. Photos are incredible.
-
The Berkeley Bowl Cookbook - Excellent photos with a lot of obscure produce.
-
Ad Hoc at Home - Thomas Keller's family style recipes with wonderful photography.
-
Flour Water Salt Yeast - Focused on baking bread and making pizza, but a lot of step by step photos and some awesome pictures of the final product.
FWSE. Worth every penny.
What is missing with the bread you are making? What makes it not 'sourdough'? Taste? texture? etc? Do you have any pictures that we could work from?
What's your starter feeding schedule? How long do you feed it before you make bread with it. You shouldn't make bread immediately after feeding it, I have found about a day after feeding it is a good time. Also, how old is your starter, older starters have better flavor (no real hard line, I have a 25+year old starter that always delivers)
How long do you let it proof? Good sourdough needs to proof 8+ hours, Going faster and using instant yeast with the starter will make it a more mild flavor.
I highly recommend this book: https://www.amazon.com/Flour-Water-Salt-Yeast-Fundamentals/dp/160774273X
The levain section covers everything about working with starters.
It is pretty much how flamingbabyjesus said. It is more of a process than a recipe. http://www.thefreshloaf.com/ this is a very good resource. I have Flour Water Salt Yeast wich explains all the steps, and ive heard that Tartine is also a very good book.
p.s A skale is very importaint.
NYT no knead bread - best if you have a Dutch oven (you can get one amazon for like 30 bucks)
Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Rolls - best cinnamon rolls ever, I usually half the recipe. For frosting, hers is a bit too extravagant. I just use powered sugar, melted butter and water/milk til you get the consistency you like
Sourdough Starter Recipe - it cuts out buying yeast and the need to prove it. This will also serve as a catalyst for other types of bread in the future.
FWSY - the Holy Grail of bread cooking books
And as someone already pointed out r/breadit
Also, not sure what country you're in, but try catching the Great British Baking Show on Netflix (streams in US). I've been watching it recently and it's definitely inspired me to bake all sorts of goodies.
Good luck!
salt is critical. Just as important as yeast.
buy and read this book.
baking is a science. You are like god creating a world for your yeast to live in... then you cook their entire world and eat it!
yea i was kidding about faygo. Beer is indeed the best combo for pizza. I prefer newcastle with a double cheese, red pepper, and sausage pizza.
Get the book Ratio. It'll free you from the recipe trap.
edit: If you can, buy the iPhone version of the book. It contains a reference and a calculator.
I highly recommend "The New Best Recipe". It applies a laboratory method to cooking and, backed by America's Test Kitchen, they almost always vet their recipes thoroughly. It's also fun to read when you're not cooking, so that's a major plus.
But to get the best grip on everything, try "Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking".
These two tomes will have you a pro about the kitchen in no time.
Everything I've made from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World has been amazing.
Firstly: Good luck! You're doing well already, and you'll get to where you want to be in time.
Have you got any vegan recipe books? Easy Vegan and 500 Vegan Dishes both have fairly simple but tasty dishes. I don't think they tend to need very exotic ingredients.
Easy Vegan:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vegan-Cookery-Ryland-Peters-Small/dp/1845979583
500 Vegan Dishes:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/500-Vegan-Dishes-Deborah-Gray/dp/1845434161
And do you feel that vegan meat alternatives aren't as easy to buy, or maybe aren't as good, as the vegetarian ones? You say that you eat the Linda McCartney pies, so I guess you've seen other products in that range too. But Fry's Vegetarian is great, and I've recently heard really good things about Vegusto meat alternatives - their Farmhouse sausages in particular, but also their burgers (you'll probably have to order off their website though).
Fry's Vegetarian:
http://www.frysvegetarian.co.uk/
Vegusto:
http://vegusto.co.uk/
I guess you probably know about Holland and Barrett stores? They're good for getting some of the more exotic ingredients, but they also have meat alternatives and such. Also, they have a few microwaveable meals - pasties and that sort of thing - which are quite nice. You can also often get microwaveable burritos, and probably other similar things, in the frozen section.
Also here are a couple of easy meals I like:
(1) Buy refried beans (http://www.oldelpaso.co.uk/products/refried-beans/975cedfc-f177-4eda-a689-192c4ec346af/) and put it in tacos (along with corn, lettuce, tomato, and whatever else you like). (The refried beans are seriously good.)
(2) You can make falafel easily (http://www.alfez.com/moroccan_lebanese_cuisine/products/all-products/falafel.html) and eat it with houmous, because everyone likes houmous.
If you're mainly looking for sweeter things:
Co-operative custard donuts and jam donuts are both apparently vegan (and delicious). You can buy vegan ice cream in the frozen section of Holland and Barrett (and maybe at Tesco or other supermarkets) - Swedish Glace is pretty incredible, and most people say it's as good as ordinary ice cream. You can also get vegan cheesecake in Holland and Barrett, again in the frozen section. Also buy Lotus Caramelised Biscuit Spread and put it on Tesco Oaties (well, that's a combination I like, but I guess you could mix it up...).
Or if you wanted to bake, these are three really good books:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vegan-Cupcakes-Take-Over-World/dp/1569242739
http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Pie-Sky-Out-This-World/dp/0738212741
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vegan-Cookies-Invade-Your-Cookie/dp/160094048X
(The cookie book is by far the easiest, and uses the least exotic ingredients. On the other end of the spectrum is the pie book, which uses things like coconut oil and agar agar - the first of which you can get at Holland and Barrett but the second of which you'd have to order online.)
Also, just by the way: 'What Fat Vegans Eat', a facebook page, gives you a constant stream of delicious-looking vegan food.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/194567900666819/?fref=nf
It does make a difference - baking really is all about chemistry! I too have a family member who is lactose intolorant, and for quite a while I was baking completely vegan. I used recipes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, which is an excellent nondairy recipe book! I didn't tell anyone that the cupcakes I made were vegan and they couldn't "tell" either; the recipes were honestly delicious. Not having any dairy in them was just an added bonus!
The vegan vanilla buttercream frosting in the book is the same as this one, which I highly recommend:
>INGREDIENTS
>1/2 cup nonhydrogenated shortening
>1/2 cup nonhydrogenated margarine (like Earth Balance)
>3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted if clumpy
>1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
>1/4 cup plain soy milk or soy creamer
>INSTRUCTIONS
>Beat the shortening and margarine together until well combined and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes.
Add the vanilla and soy milk, and beat for another 5 to 7 minutes until fluffy.
Just check the labels of the shortening and margarine to make sure they contain no dairy/animal products and you should be good to go. The real trick is to beat it for as long as it states - that's 3 full minutes to combine shortening and margarine, another 3 mins after that, and another 5 to 7 minutes after adding the rest of the ingredients - that's like 12 to 16 minutes total of just mixing alone.
I haven't had a chemistry class in a while but I think the amount of beating has to do with several factors important to buttercream, like it makes it stiffer and gets rid of air bubbles, etc. I skipped out on beating it for the full time once and it was a huge mess - gooey and runny and not as delicious as when I beat it fully.
Hopefully that helps you a bit! Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions or if you try it and it works/doesn't work out for you :) Happy baking!
There is only one place for you to go then, and that's a recipe from this book. I made these during the holidays last winter, Golden Vanilla Cupcakes and Chocolate Buttercream frosting. You can't go wrong!
When I don't have the cookbooks with me I've had great success just doing a google search since the book is popular. Also if you just go on the amazon page, click on the "Click to Look Inside" button, then search for the cupcakes, you should find them. It worked when I just tried it for the tiramisu ones.
Might I suggest Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World? Contains gluten, obviously, but completely dairy-free.
I'll do that. Ultimately, I'd like to dedicate enough of my yard to cut my flour purchases in half. I currently use 5-7 pounds a week baking sandwich loaves, the occasional pizza, and the occasional loaf of of something nicer from The Bread Baker's Apprentice.
Thanks for sharing the story about your grandfather. My grandfather and great-grandfather were both well respected in their community for the quality of goods that from their farms. Although I'm only a backyard, suburban gardener, I can only hope to achieve the same one day.
I highly recommend Peter Reinhart's "The Bread Baker's Apprentice". He's really easy to read and the pictures are beautiful. He teaches about bakers percentages, 12 steps to baking artisan bread at home, and each recipe is in volume and weight. Also, check out The Fresh Loaf. It's a forum for bakers.
Source: I taught a bread class using this book and the students seemed to like it a lot. I also have owned a bakery for the last 3+ years, baking 5-6 nights per week.
The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread is by far my favourite cookbook though it is very niche. I don't have any favourtes in terms of cooking in general and tend to just use google and r/food for ideas.
Ratio
And
The Bread Bakers Apprentice
Are the two I"m always pulling down off my shelf to look at besides the Flavor Bible.
I'm Just Here for the Food. Between that and The Bread Baker's Apprentice I can pretend to be a pretty decent cook.
Thanks to /u/compto35 for the link!
Married + learned a few years ago how to make great dough^1
So I'll take the cheap ETH
_____
Edit - Seriously, if you haven't tried making bread, it's way easier than you think, and the results are almost always beyond your expectations
I've been making bread for a couple of years now. It's a mixture of trial and error, improvising and measuring. It's part art and part science. The Bread Bakers Apprentice is a good starting book as well as Flour Water Salt Yeast.
Since I have a sourdough starter, I'm always looking for bread recipes that use natural leavening instead of commercial yeast. I found this adaptation of Peter Reinhart's recipe from The Bread Baker's Apprentice (if you like to make bread, and you don't have this book...get it) and decided to make them. Needless to say, they turned out amazing (nooks and crannies and all). I don't think I'll be buying them from the store anymore, it's the first time I've ever had homemade English muffins, and it's a world of difference.
If you don't have a sourdough starter, here's the original recipe. If you've never had homemade English muffins, I highly recommend them.
Edit: A note about the cooking temperature with these, the first batch I made, I went with the recommended medium heat, and it was a bit too high. I prefer to cook these on low heat, maybe 2-3, so the insides cook a bit more, because the middle of my first batch was not fully cooked, even after finishing them in the oven per the instructions. I'd rather just get them browned nice on the skillet, and then finish in the oven until the internal temperature is 190-200 F.
I have a cookbook obsession, I have roughly 500 that are somewhat organized so I feel like I can be of great use here. I will break it down by type to make it easier.
Bibles
Bread
Caramels/Candys/Ice Cream
Jack of all trades
Pastry/Pies
Textbooks
I'm sure I am leaving out a bunch of great ones but if I had to suggest just 1 to anyone it would DEFINITELY be The Art of French Pastry. Best for somebody who has done basics already and looking to try a little more. Even as a professional baker I find myself coming back and just reading the little spots like how he burned himself on his caramel. Great, great book!
Check out Peter Reinhart's "The Bread Bakers Apprentice" for the science and an in depth breakdown.
Check here for a shorter version.
Suffice to say that longer, cold fermentation favours the types of bacteria that break down starches and create more complex flavours (nutty, toasty to me). When you're only using three ingredients in a bread, it is your job to illicit as much flavour from those as possible.
Typical bread yeast is engineered to be fast acting, produce tons of carbon dioxide very quickly, and tends to not spit out much in the way of flavours. Hence the need for other ingredients like milk, butter, eggs, sugars, dough conditioners, etc. Great for a tangzhong milk bread, challah, or similar fluffy american white sandwich bread, but not so much for a complexly flavoured sourdough.
Both have their place in a bakers arsenal of flavour control.
Edit: A longer countertop rise would lead the bacteria & yeast to chew through all the available starches too quickly, resulting in a flatter loaf with a more liquid consistency before baking. This is really good if you're making focaccia or cibatta breads but your salt content needs to be much higher to offset and slow the fermentation down.
Get a copy of The Bread Baker's Apprentice, read it. The first half of the book is a pretty in depth explanation of how bread works, and all the stages of making it. The second half is a bunch of great recipes that will be pretty easy to make once you've read the book and come out great. Though, do note that most of them take at least 2 days to make.
Ohh, great contest! My Favorite Book! I'm having a hard time narrowing it down to one... I would have to go with "A Child Called It" by Dave Pelzer. It's the true story of the childhood that the author had to live through, a really heartbreaking first-person look at abuse. He went on to write two more books about his life, they're all amazing but had me crying the entire way through... He went on to do great things, in the later books, but had to overcome so much.
On a lighter note, I would love The Bread Baker's Apprentice.
Two great books about baking bread are The Bread Baker's Apprentice and Tartine Bread. Both will teach you how bread baking works, as well as giving you recipes for many great breads. I much prefer baking bread like this, rather than using a bread maker. Hope that helps.
Also, make fresh bread if you have the time. You don't even need a bread-maker if you don't want to pay up for the machine (I don't use one), although obviously that means more kneading time and work. But really, once you make the dough, the "work" primarily consists of letting it sit. Our family makes bread from this book : http://www.amazon.com/Bread-Bakers-Apprentice-Mastering-Extraordinary/dp/1580082688
And it is fantastic. I am living on my own for the summer and have already made some. Obviously if you're super busy, it's probably not worth the time, but if you have some weekend time or something, fresh bread is the best. And the satisfaction of knowing you created the loaf from start to finish is totally worth it.
If you are interested in more bread recipes, I recommend Peter Reinhart's Artisan Bread Every Day or Bread Baker's Apprentice. These two are great for starting out with bread. They show many techniques, shaping, rolling, baking styles etc. Ive made croissants from 'Artisan' many times, each time more amazing than the last.
Hmm, I'm not so sure about this. I've made bagels many times and read many adaptations, and from what I know, you put non-diastatic malt powder (ideally) or malt syrup IN the dough for flavor.
The baking soda (or, ideally, lye) in the water raises the pH, which accelerates browning on the outside of the bagel as you boil it. It's the same effect as when making pretzels.
So, I think you might be mixing some parts of the process up here.
(Check out Bread Baker's Apprentice for some additional info about bagel chemistry)
It's the San Francisco Sourdough recipe from Peter Reinhart's Artisan Bread Everyday. http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Reinharts-Artisan-Breads-Every/dp/1580089984
Though I did substitute like 50g of bread flower for some rye flour.
Consider buying the book Artisan Bread Everyday.
The basic premise is that you mix up a batch of bread dough, stick it in the fridge, and grab a fist full or two every time you want bread. You let it rise, and bake fresh bread whenever you want it.
Of course, this can dramatically INCREASE your carb intake because the knowledge of always being 45 minutes away from fresh hot bread...
I started with Peter Reinhart books, namely Artisan Breads Every Day. They have great primers on mixing and kneading technique, and I'm still getting better at it. Try the Ciabatta for a really fluffy loaf. And I highly recommend Saf yeast, a digital scale, a dough whisk, and patience!
I suspect that it might be exposure to air as you open & close the jar.
I buy my yeast in a bulk package at Costco. The current one I have is a 454 gm (1 lb.) aluminium foil package of Fleishman's Active Dry Yeast and I've had it over a year or more now. I also store it in the fridge but use a bag clip to remove as much air as possible.
There's still at least a quarter of the bag left and it's still working very well. I used it the other day to make the sourdough rye sandwich bread from Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day. If anything, it was too active! :-)
I used to buy instant yeast in the small jars, stored in the fridge and I noticed the same issue you are having. I frequently threw out jars that were still half-full, which pissed me off. So I was somewhat apprehensive when I bought my first 454 g bag of yeast from Costco (I'm on at least my third one now). But keeping it away from air as much as feasibly possible works a treat for me. Since the bag is aluminium foil, the yeast is also shielded from light.
If I were you, I'd think about emptying the next jar you buy into a ZipLoc bag and squeezing out as much air as possible, wrap the bag in aluminium foil or put it in an empty coffee can with a lid then storing it in the fridge.
The sourdough rye bread is a winner, BTW.
http://www.amazon.com/Im-Just-Here-More-Food/dp/1584793414
Alton Brown all the way. He is great at explaining how baking works and his recipes are easy to follow.
Alton Brown's earlier books, "I'm Just Here for the Food: Food + Heat = Cooking" and "I'm Just Here for More Food: Food x Mixing + Heat = Baking" might be of interest if the Harold McGee recommendation ends up being a little too scientific for you.
Really the second book stands out in memory for me - you may have heard the generalization:
> "Cooking is an art and can largely be done by feel, but baking is chemistry. If you don't follow the precise formulas and procedures then the whole thing could either be off or just plain not work at all."
In the second book he breaks down baking categories into six major mixing types, and focuses on fundamental recipes to give you a basic understanding of baking.
I do and I really want this
http://www.amazon.com/101-Things-Do-Ramen-Noodles/dp/1586857355/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377918685&sr=8-1&keywords=101+things+to+do+with+ramen+noodles
I found an e-book copy of this book and decided to try a few of the recipes. A few disasters included:
edit: i'm no good at spelling salad, it would appear
They are the most amazing food ever! Maruchen all the way! Plus they are extremely versatile!!
Also, Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar
Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar
I'd recommend (if you're a cookbook fan) Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast by Ken Forkish. The bread in here takes some time (the shortest takes all day, but a lot of that time is sitting around and waiting). The link is here, and I cannot get enough of this bread =)
https://www.amazon.com/Flour-Water-Salt-Yeast-Fundamentals/dp/160774273X
absolutely. try this one
i use a variation of it that is an overnight bulk ferment, but the results are still good using the same day recipe. your results will vary depending on your pizza stone/steel, how your oven/broiler behaves, and of course a ton of other things, but it's a good place to start!
if you're really keen on going further, i HIGHLY recommend buying the book Flour Water Salt Yeast. its my bread and pizza bible.
Flour Water Salt Yeast
For bread/yeasty stuff specifically, Flour Yeast Salt Water. It gives some informative advice for making things like bread and pizza dough, and has recipes to go with it.
Husband and I made Pizza dough straight from this book and the resulting pizza was delicious.
I've been following a bunch of instructions and recipes in this book to no avail. :(
Maybe should try more olive oil...
bread flavor is mostly a function of time and temperature, at least for yeasted breads. as yeasts ferment in dough and consume sugars, they produce a variety of flavor compounds.
this is a good book if you want to explore the topic.
edit: here is an infographic from a yeast manufacturer. note "fermentation" has the strongest effect on flavor.
Yeah that's pretty normal I think, a lot of recipes say to punch the dough down and then form it into a ball, then let it rise for a second time just before baking. I'm still somewhat of a novice, I just started using FSWY (http://www.amazon.com/Flour-Water-Salt-Yeast-Fundamentals/dp/160774273X) has been a very interesting read for me and would probably be good for you if you want a really in depth explanation. ^^^I ^^^can ^^^also ^^^share ^^^an ^^^ebook ^^^version ^^^if ^^^you ^^^can't ^^^afford ^^^it ^^^right ^^^now
I'm about to check out this: Flour Water Salt Yeast
I'm hoping it will be like the Jim Lahey, Sullivan St Bakery recipe which I've made many times. It's time consuming but is the best bread recipe, hands down!
I'd ignore that ding-dong and mix-up what you want. It's people like them that hamper home baking. They read FWSY and think they know everything about bread.
You might benefit from the direct, thought over style of a book then. I found Ken Forkish' [FWSY](http://www.Flour.com/ Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza https://www.amazon.com/dp/160774273X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_5E6ZAb6E7J4NC) to be a much better use of my time and energy than trying to piece together the knowledge from a bunch of different sources on the internet.
Flour Water Salt Yeast by Forkish
https://www.amazon.com/Flour-Water-Salt-Yeast-Fundamentals/dp/160774273X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1517714847&sr=8-1&keywords=flour+water+salt+yeast
It is super interesting to read parts of it as well.
http://www.amazon.com/Flour-Water-Salt-Yeast-Fundamentals/dp/160774273X
This book by Ken Forkish, a local Portland bread legend does a great job of laying it all out.
Awesome! Sourdough is a tough thing that can be really fun. I'm a chef on the savory side of things--thiugh running the whole restaurant I so have to do my fair share of pastry stuff. I have in the last year or so gotten really in to homemade breads. Check out this book, if you like making bread it'll change your life!
Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza https://www.amazon.com/dp/160774273X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_JqVZBbZZ5XZDZ
Hi! I also recently started baking as a new hobby. I’m very much still a novice and still find it quite intimidating, but I’ve found quite a few decent vids and books that have helped me to get started...
Bake with Jack - really excellent channel filled with 4 min videos talking about terminology, equipment and technique:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTVR5DSxWPpAVI8TzaaXRqQ
Richard Bertinet’s Waitrose video. A bit basic but I find Bertinet’s mannerisms inspiring and the instructions are very useful. Different kneading technique too:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTVR5DSxWPpAVI8TzaaXRqQ
BBC Good Food basic bread recipe. There is probably a better basic recipe, such as the King Arthur one, but this is the first one I used. I halved the salt on this and it’s given me really nice bread every time:
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2060/easy-white-bread
Brilliant Bread by James Morton. Only just digging into this book but it really is great. Lots of recipes and kneading advice etc. I’d recommend it to anyone:
https://www.amazon.com/Brilliant-Bread-James-Morton/dp/0091955602
Flour Water Salt Yeast. I’ve not really delved into this much yet as I’m still getting used to the basics, but everyone on here seems to love it and it seems very well written (note:you’ll need a Dutch oven for this):
https://www.amazon.com/Flour-Water-Salt-Yeast-Fundamentals/dp/160774273X
If you’re going no-knead/Dutch oven, I’d say it’s worth giving this a watch too, but I’d check the comments as well as a lot of people seem to be tweaking the recipe. A seemingly infamous video/recipe from NY Times:
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/11376-no-knead-bread
Dough by Richard Bertinet. Another ace book filled with simple easy to follow recipes. Also comes with a short DVD, although I don’t know what’s on it as I’m yet to watch:
https://www.amazon.com/Dough-Simple-Contemporary-Richard-Bertinet/dp/1909487538
River Cottage basic white bread. Not the best instructions but I still found it a useful watch when very first starting out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTVWuw_SBSo
Not sure if these are 100% the best places to start but they’ve definitely helped me. I tend to google pretty much everything, which will lead you to a lot of useful sites too.
I hope these help, even if only a little. Im sure others will make some good suggestions here.
Happy baking!
As some people mentioned, the sourdough that Pollan makes in the show is pretty difficult (in my opinion). I would suggest trying some store bought yeast bread first so you get a sense of the different steps and processes required to make bread. Once you have that down, you can start growing your sourdough starter.
Nonetheless, if you want to go ahead and start with sourdough, as people said, its not really as straight forward as just putting water in flour. You'll need a scale and be sure to weight out all your bread making ingredients, including what you're feeding the starter. Different bakers have different opinions on the ratio of flour to water, what type of flour, what temperature the water is, etc. Changes in these parameters will also change the taste of your sourdough (or even if it grows or not!).
What helped me the most actually was buying a book and reading through it. I think information on the internet is a little too scattered and tend to contradict one another, and it never turns out very well when I mix and match ideas from different websites. I recommend what a lot of people on this subreddit read: Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish.
Another good resource is the King Arthur site.
Once again though, I think it helped me a lot to make a lot of store-bought yeast bread first before trying sourdough. I've found making sourdough extremely fickle and prone to failure, and I can't imagine trying it without having had some experience making my earlier loaves. You're experience might be different than mine though! Good luck!
Honestly, its worth the money to just buy FWSY. It has a lot of bread recipes and gives very detailed instructions on how to do everything. (You will need a dutch oven though)
Get a copy of FWSE. Read the entire thing. Pick a recipe you feel comfortable with. I suggest diving right in there and making one of the overnight with poolish recipes. Maybe start with pizza dough.
It's actually from the book Flour Water Salt Yeast. The methods the author uses makes it really easy to bake loaves like the one those slices came from.
This book helped me tremendously with my bread baking. The best advice I got out of it was to bake the bread really dark to get more nutty flavors out of the crust and hydration.
http://www.amazon.com/Flour-Water-Salt-Yeast-Fundamentals/dp/160774273X/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1381862858&sr=8-5&keywords=bread+book
Dough senses fear. Keep trying! I did, and now my bread is 50% better than it once was. Onward!
Also this book is awesome:
http://www.amazon.com/Flour-Water-Salt-Yeast-Fundamentals/dp/160774273X
Excuse the basil! I put it below the meats on the second pizza. Used the same day pizza dough recipe from Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast and pizza sauce recipe from Serious Eats.
Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish
Making bread is ridiculously easy when you get the right recipe.
Check out Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish.
According to a cookbook of mine, The Science of Good Cooking, pulling steaks out of the fridge to let them come up to room temp is also recommended.
America's test kitchen has an awesome cookbook for this. Best ever vanilla buttercream frosting.
This one is fucking fantastic.
You’ll want to read ‘The Science of Good Cooking’. Gets into everything like water to flour ratios in bread, why salt does what it does. Baking powder vs yeast.
https://www.amazon.ca/Science-Good-Cooking-Concepts-Lifetime/dp/1933615982/ref=asc_df_1933615982/?tag=googlemobshop-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=292945884851&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11777465452795010491&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9000755&hvtargid=pla-435395310170&psc=1
Here are a handful of books along the lines youre looking for. They hold a wealth of knowledge that should give you some direction on how to proceed.
https://www.amazon.com/Institut-Bocuse-Gastronomique-step-step/dp/0600634175/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498046182&sr=8-1&keywords=institute+paul+bocuse
https://www.amazon.com/Science-Good-Cooking-Illustrated-Cookbooks/dp/1933615982/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498046072&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Science+of+Cooking
https://www.amazon.com/Food-Lab-Cooking-Through-Science/dp/0393081087/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1498046072&sr=8-2&keywords=The+Science+of+Cooking
https://www.amazon.com/Science-Cooking-Understanding-Biology-Chemistry/dp/1118674200/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1498046072&sr=8-5&keywords=The+Science+of+Cooking
https://www.amazon.com/Essential-Spices-Herbs-Discover-Understand/dp/1623156289/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498046139&sr=8-1&keywords=essential+spices+and+herbs
https://www.amazon.com/Professional-Chef-Culinary-Institute-America/dp/0470421355/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498046163&sr=8-1&keywords=the+professional+chef
Vegetarian options are usually the cheapest, but if you're hankering for some meat check out pork and chicken. You can get chicken leg quarters for under $1/lb, sometimes even preseasoned. If you're up for it, you could try buying a whole chicken and butchering it yourself. Pork chops are also really cheap where I live (central TX).
A pretty great book for basic cooking tips and recipes to practice them is the Cooks Illustrated Science of Good Cooking book. I consider myself a naturally good cook (I have a good understanding of flavor and can throw things together without recipes) but this book expanded that knowledge further. It also helped me understand the "why" behind some of the things I figured out. When you get back in the swing of things you should pick up a copy (or add it to your Christmas wish list!)
Edit: oh, also--check out bacon ends and pieces or irregular bacon. It's like half the price of normal bacon at least, and tastes the same. Use it for flavoring (and save the bacon grease to cook other things in), or just eat it straight. Baking is also your friend. You can make a ton of breads with simple pantry ingredients. The only thing you probably don't have is yeast, and you can get 3 packets for about 50 cents.
Different cuts of meat work differently. This book explains it very well. The long and the short of it, though is this: collagen (bad, too tough to eat) turns into gelatin (delicious and juicy) when heated over long periods of time at around 160F.
Cuts of meat that have lots of collagen will do well with low temperatures over long periods of time. They do not dry out, they become better. Cuts of meat that do not have much collagen absolutely will dry out over long periods of time. I'm still learning which cuts do and don't contain a lot of collagen, though, so you'll have to do some research there!
The Science of Good Cooking is definitely at the top of the list for explaining why not just how.
Hey nice, I'm a Seattleite too! I highly recommend "The Science of Good Cooking." It's a much more digestible (hah) version of McGee's "On Food and Cooking" essentially, and with better illustrations. If that seems too simple for your physicist, maybe "Cook's Science" would be better, where they dive into 50 specific ingredients and talk about their characteristics.
My boss bought me Cook's Illustrated Science of Good Cooking book. I actually liked it so much that I ended up buying the kindle version to read on my commute (now, with the kindle app, it's become my go-to cookbook simply because if i'm at the store i can pull it up on my phone, but that's slightly more incidental)
I liked it because it was very "cooking-focused"--my problem with Harold McGee's book was that I read it and though "ok...and how does that help me for dinner tonight?". The Science of Good Cooking book, on the other hand, made it feel like "ok this is cool, and this is how I can use that knowledge."
I skimmed a lot of the chapters on baking, but now that I'm getting into it I'm going to re-read them.
The science of good cooking is also an excellent book for this. This book spread like wildfire throughout my group of friends.
One way to make a dish like this more flavorful is to add in the spices immediately, rather than letting the onion & garlic first soften in the oil. Maybe you do this already-- but just in case you don't, try it next time! I read this tip in this cookbook which I bought a few years ago (it's a great book, I recommend it!), and I've been doing it ever since. I think it makes a noticeable difference.
I'd echo the 'kitchen stuff' idea. http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/12/gift-guide-basic-kitchen-essentials-home-cook-starter-kit-presents.html has a decent and thoughtful list, along with http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/12/gift-guide-essential-pots-and-pans-presents-for-home-cooks.html but if I could tell you to get a few things, I'd pare it down to:
Eventually, add in a few high-quality knives (I love Wusthof and Henckels but not all of their lines are created equal) -- I lean on my paring knife and chef's knife for much of what I do, though having other knives can be nice
These items are good, but equally important is to learn how to use them. Long-term, you are going to save yourself much heartache, frustration, and money if you do something terribly unglamorous: take some basic cooking classes before you start buying physical things. Learn how to use these implements properly before investing, so you become a smarter investor. What you've bought for life: knowledge. Start with knife skills (http://www.surlatable.com/product/CFA-2976678/ might work) and work up to learning other basic cooking techniques. You want to look for classes and books that don't just teach you how to make a single recipe, but to understand methods, like braising and sautéing and frying. This way, whenever you hit a rough patch in your life, you can always take care of yourself.
Also: get a library card. You can then go pull books like these for free, absorb the learning, and save your money to buy only the items that YOU want to keep as a permanent reference:
The sugar cookie recipe from the How Can It Be Gluten Free Cookbook is really spot-on! It's not exactly a roll-out cookie but you could ice it in fun ways.
The America’s Test Kitchen GF cookbook has an awesome GF pasta recipe that you can roll out for ravioli or make sheets for lasagna & works in my pasta attachment for my kitchen aid too!
The How Can It Be Gluten Free Cookbook: Revolutionary Techniques. Groundbreaking Recipes. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1936493616/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_FzqXDbTTXYSA4
direct link, just in case
I am not sure of what you already have or what you would need, I am listing a few things on top of my head:
I love baking bread, omg. I don't even eat it any more but I love to bake it. I bought the book Flour Water Salt Yeast and it is AWESOME and has really great recipes. It's awesome and I love it and I can't suggest it enough.
It's not at all like Kenji's Food Lab, but I really enjoyed the Milk Bar cookbook. It's not terribly complicated but some unique twists on familiar staples. Their birthday cake is also ridiculously good and one of the signature recipes.
I used Bon Apetit's recipe for one pie...I also know folks who have used Momofuku for Two's easy recipe for two pies (so you can totally freeze one for later)! Of course you can also purchase the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook and use the original.
The only difficult part was trying not to snack on the oat cookie crust while it was cooling down. The amounts of butter, sugar, and cream that go into this recipe are pretty unbelievable too...one serving size is a little sliver and guarantees to put you into a holyshitthisissodamngood coma afterward.
So first things first, no baker whose work I respect uses measuring cups. Volume measurement is an anachronistic method of measurement. The reason is that baking is based on ratios of the mass of products to each other, and something like flour can vary by about 50% if you're going by volume. I.e. a cup can weigh between 4 and 6 ounces. What that means is that you need a scale. The good news is that scales are fairly cheap. It's like 30 bucks to get a good one. I like oxo 5 pound scale with the pull out display.
The next thing is that I tend to stay away from all of the cookbooks written by people who don't work in the industry. Chefs have had to stand up to years of criticism and constant learning to get to a place where they can even begin to think about putting out a cookbook. The two pastry cook books that I like the most are Thomas Keller's book, Bouchon bakery, and Christina Tosi's book, milk bar.
Bouchon bakery is a super French book (as is the bakery), so I would recommend getting it if your son is interested in making things like bread, croissants, eclairs, Madelines, macarons, cakes, etc. Things that you would think of coming out of a traditional patisserie. The book is fabulously written and gorgeous. It is incredibly approachable and in my opinion, doesn't require any outside knowledge of baking, although being a good baker certainly helps. If I were to go solely based on what I thought was the best book, I wouldn't go any further than this one
That being said, I love Christina Tosi's milk bar. Her style is more of a traditional American style, so lots of cookies, cupcakes, pies, etc. Her book isn't as well written, not as pretty, and requires a bit more knowledge of baking (but certainly not a ton). It is, however so warm and inviting and reflects her personality so much that you can't help but smile add you read her expositions about some of her recipes and past. Her cookies are so crazy awesome and delicious, that the single method alone is worth the price of admission.
The one caveat I would say is that both books will STRONGLY suggest you get a stand mixer. While neither book requires it, there are some recipes that will be very daunting without one; I sure as hell wouldn't want to do Tosi's creaming method (for making the aforementioned cookies) by hand, that's for sure. That being said, though, people baked for millennia without one, so if you don't have one, you certainly don't have to buy one before making most if not all of the recipes in either book.
NINJA EDIT:
Links to the books
Bouchon Bakery
Milk bar
There was a great book on bread that made the blog rounds, but this is my favourite recipe. I've been making it since I was 8, and it's pretty damn foolproof.
Go here. You'll need an accurate oven thermometer, pizza stone and a peel and your parents will soon toss the bread machine in the dumpster.
No. Find yourself a copy of this book on the internet (or just the recipe). Make dough once every few weeks, don't knead, make excellent fresh bread in two seconds. Total cost 15¢.
I use the recipes from this book https://www.amazon.com/Artisan-Bread-Five-Minutes-Revolutionizes/dp/0312362919 and the technique from this book (sequel to the one above) https://www.amazon.com/Healthy-Bread-Five-Minutes-Day/dp/0312545525/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0312545525&pd_rd_r=1ZHJ521YQCR1VCC1EYAJ&pd_rd_w=EqWcS&pd_rd_wg=WcpLj&psc=1&refRID=1ZHJ521YQCR1VCC1EYAJ for no-knead bread. It's mind-boggling fast and easy compared to kneaded bread, and I'm famous in my community for my incredible bread.
The term for the rest in the fridge is usually called "retarding" because the low temperature is slowing down the action of the yeast.
It's a great, and popular way to do home breads. The book Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day is based on this technique (disclaimer - I do this alot but I don't own the book and I don't like some of the terms the authors use like "sourdough-like qualities" which I think is deceiving the reader, but that's just me).
I cannot claim to have made the "perfect" loaf, but I came pretty damn close a couple of times, using no-knead based recipes from this book.
The recipes in here work on the same principal as the Sullivan Street Bakery no-knead bread recipe that's floating around the internet, where you have a long rest and rise period do most of the work. This book is great b/c it has a lot of different recipes in there beyond the basic "master recipe" (Their recipe for a crusty white bread that is similar to a French Boule).
I assume when you're talking about a white loaf, you mean something akin to sandwhich bread. The one that came out closest to this was their Buttermilk white loaf recipe . I've made this twice, and it is probably some of the tastiest sandwhich bread ever to come out of my oven. Theres also a white bread recipe in there that uses shortening or butter, so its supposed to be more like a soft "wonder-bread" consistency, but I never tried it.
I would post the recipe for you to see, but you know ... I don't want to get sued or anything :)
Not at all, this book starts off very easy. It's this book!
Some recipes are fussy with temperatures and time for rising/proofing etc, but this book literally has you throw your water, salt, yeast, and flour into a big container, let it rest at room temp for 2 hours, and then refrigerate for up to like 2 weeks. When you want to make bread, you just cut off a chunk, shape it with a touch more flour, let it rest for 40 minutes, and bake. Super easy!
These look icky. Recipe looks unreliable, too. If you want a good bagel recipe, I suggest you buy this book:
http://www.amazon.ca/Artisan-Bread-Five-Minutes-Revolutionizes/dp/0312362919/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348260951&sr=8-1
...and follow the bagel recipe in here, because it's delicious and much better. Actually, all of their bread recipes are awesome, and super fast to make, and because it's homemade it's definitely budget-friendly. I have this book and their Artisan Pizza and Flatbreads book as well, and I love 'em.
If you're interested in going down the Sichuan rabbit-hole...and you should be, consider picking up any book by Fuschia Dunlop. I'd specifically suggest Land of Plenty.
Soysauce64 is absolutely right, but I'd suggest buying a bag of Sichuan peppercorns, toasting them briefly in a wok, and grinding them in a coffee grinder/spice grinder. The jar of ground roasted pepper will keep for half a year, and it will become your best friend when making these dishes. Be sparing at first!
Redoran,
This is the way to ROCK A WOK!
http://www.amazon.ca/Land-Of-Plenty-Fuchsia-Dunlop/dp/0393051773
Lived for a while in China and for fun I worked/volunteered at a Chinese restaurant. These recipes are as authentic as you can get. Granted you are a "pretty poor graduate" student but check around the internet and she has some recipes out there for free. Best part is that once you get really good, you can make a killer meal in 15 minutes for less than $5 bucks.
edit:grammar
I'm a fan of The Bread Bible
I have made bagels of all sorts and I can tell you that the absolute best I've ever made are found in Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Bread Bible. This of course assumes that you like chewy bagels and not the fluffy things that get sold in stores. I hope you have a good mixer, because the dough is hardcore!
P.S. The recipe calls for some ground black pepper. I know you are going to look at that and think "WTF? I'll just skip that". Don't. It is not for a super powerful taste of pepper but gives an interesting flavor.
Just want to be sure: You are talking about this book? Right?
I love that book. Also I have The Bread Bible
Though it is out on loan, now, to someone I will likely never see again. Argh.
Ok I'm going to start with yeast which from here seems to be the culprit.
First off types of yeast:
Fresh
Also called called cake yeast this is non dried non grain yeast, I've never seen it in stores and only seen it in a few recipes. Most of the time the only people who use this are professional bakeries. Pretty much only here for posterity's sake. If you find a recipe generally you can substitute one of the two bellow adjusting your liquids as needed.
Active Dry
This is pretty standard stuff it has been dried and has fairly large grains. It is best stored in the refrigerator or freezer to keep it fresh, remember yeast is a living organism. Must be proofed before using (more on this later).
Instant
Also available in stores the grains are much smaller than active dry and do not need to be proofed. The smaller grains and possibly the way it is produced mean that it has a greater effect than active dry yeast. You can substitute one for the other. To use instant in the place of active dry reduce the amount by 25% so 1 teaspoon of active dry becomes 3/4 teaspoon instant. You can work the other way too just be sure to use 25% more of active dry when replacing instant.
Now lets look at the physiology of yeast and see what makes it tick. Yeast is a living organism we carefully add it to recipe allow it to grow and multiply to give us the effects we desire. Then we kill it. Cheerful thought.
So first we allow the yeast to grow. Yeast needs a few things to prosper: food, warmth, and a suitable environment. Yeast like everything else needs food to survive, we use sugars and the flour itself. Yeast uses any sugar (honey, cane sugar, malt) you add to a recipe to grow and in return it creates carbon dioxide, the air bubbles in bread which makes dough rise and makes the difference between cooked flour and bread. Yeast also breaks down some of the proteins in flour and converts them to simple sugars. Secondly yeast needs warmth to grow if you keep it in the fridge or freezer you slow the growth and you can prolong the life of the yeast. On the flip side when you want to encourage growth you need to make sure that there is enough heat to be active. So when you want your dough to rise leave it somewhere warm but not hot. Most places recommend something around 70 to 80 degrees if you can manage it. A laundry room is a good option. Just make sure it does not exceed 120 degrees because that is about when yeast will start to die.
This leads us to the second half, killing yeast. Killing yeast can be pretty easy and I suspect it happened inadvertently in a few of your loaves. First as mentioned above if it is too hot your yeast will die, this includes any water you add as a good rule of thumb your body temperature is ~96 degrees so if water feels neutral to you that's about how hot it is. Try to get a digital instant read thermometer. They are pretty cheap and very handy, you can also use it to check the internal temperature of bread to see if it is done. Secondly is the environment, direct contact with salt kills yeast. Most recipes will tell you to add the salt and yeast separately allowing each to mix into the flour so direct contact is not made.
Now to sum this all up into one topic technique, proofing. Proofing is what you do when you take the yeast (generally active dry) and add it yo the water you are going to be using in the recipe and allow it to sit for 10 minutes or so The water allows the yeast to wake up and start being active, you will see bubbles form on the surface, thus prooving that your yeast is alive. Some recipes tell you to add a pinch of sugar to the water, this gives they yeast something to process. Just make sure you don't add all the sugar the recipe calls for. This can cause a period of high activity and then a sudden crash when the yeast over exerts itself. The end result is a longer rise time. Instant yeast doesn't need to be proofed since the smaller grains dissolve instantly on contact with the dough but I do it anyway sometimes just to help get things started.
This is about all I have for yeast, a few other points I have. Salt is very important, it greatly affects the taste of the loaf and helps control the growth of the yeast. Check to see if your recipe was calling for kosher salt or table salt. Table salts grains are much finer and result in a much more concentrated amount per spoonful than kosher. Salt also has the annoying habit of attracting water molecules from the air causing it to swell, this changes the actual amount of salt you get in a spoonful. Try and go by weight if you can. A scale is an enormously useful tool for baking. Flour has a tendency to get packed down when scooped certain ways affecting the total amount you are actually adding to the recipe. Scoop and sweep is a good middle of the road approach that a lot of people use. My last point is that of freshness, see how old your yeast is you may need some new stuff, how long it lasts has a lot to do with how often it gets warm and where its kept. Yeast can last around a year in a freezer.
Finally for an excellent intro to baking try The Bread Bible you have to have a certain amount of conviction to name a book the anything bible but Rose Levy Beranbaum leaves no doubt that her book deserves the title. She carefully explains what you are doing and why in extremely detailed and percise instructions leaving little room for error.
Well that was quite the wall of text :p don't give up on baking yet. Send me a PM if you have any more questions or just want to chat. Good luck!
No real need to buy a book unless you want to this http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0393057941/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1420742471&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SY200_QL40&dpPl=1&dpID=51IPIUozm7L&ref=plSrch is a great one.
I would check out www.thefreshloaf.com it's probably my favorite bread site around. A lot of the recipes deal with ratios and weights. That can be a bit confusing, but a quick google search for conversion to volumetric measurements will square you away. If you're serious about finding good recipes this site has them. Don't get scared away by the funky measurements and ratios!
I also love this type of bread. It's a bit tricky because there's a lot of extra chemicals in there that make your yeast so funny things. Probably the most important thing to do is to soak any of the seeds you're using, make sure your yeast is thoroughly proofed and read to ferment, and of course proper fermentation of the dough. In my experiences all but soaking takes some trial and error. The fermentation process has a lot to do (for us home baker types) with texture, touch, and what the dough looks like.
Good luck!
Lebovitz's book is wonderful and you should start there.
I also like Stella Parks' BraveTart, which includes, but is not limited to, ice cream.
Hobby baker here.
Although his reading level is low, a great cookbook is a must.
My favourite is BraveTart Iconic American Desserts
https://www.amazon.com/BraveTart-American-Desserts-Stella-Parks/dp/0393239861
If she's into desserts, another option is BraveTart by Stella Parks, which has a page or two of history for every single recipe! Got it for christmas and love it
Jerusalem
Cooking with Loula: Greek recipes from my family to yours
Ideas in food: great recipes and why they work (ma anche Maximum Flavor, degli stessi autori)
Meathead: the science of barbecue and grilling
BraveTart: iconic american desserts (in uscita 15 agosto)
No problem, and welcome to the baking club! This is a great first recipe to try because it's super easy, and introduces you to a lot of neat stuff, such as browning butter for enhanced flavor & aroma.
Baking is much more of a science than cooking is (which means that you can actually get really nice, consistent results once you figure out how it all works!), but there are still a lot of little "tribal knowledge" kind of details that you have to pick up along the way, like the brown butter trick & the cooling technique (cool on pan, then cool on rack, THEN eat). Especially in the case of getting the final product right, it's difficult not to be impatient because the final result is right there in front of you, haha!
Here are some tips, if you want to dive further into baking:
Regarding baking in general:
Anyway, feel free to ask questions!
> new Bravetart Cookbook
> #new
ANOTHER ONE?!!#@! I MUST HAVE IT. You're not talking about this one, right?
Modeling chocolate is often used for figures. It's got about the texture of tootsie rolls, can be carved, molded, painted, dyed, etc. The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Berenbaum is highly recommended and your library might have it.
Good luck and have fun!
yaay! Here's the cake bible: https://www.amazon.com/Cake-Bible-Rose-Levy-Beranbaum/dp/0688044026/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
It's not fancy or new, but it has great baseline recipes and suggestions of variety of flavors. I bought a used one for 5 bux.
Forgot to mention CookWise earlier. Knowing the chemistry of WHY you do certain things helps you be more successful in kitchen experiments, I think.
>Shirley O. Corriher is a biochemist and author of CookWise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Cooking, winner of a James Beard Foundation award, and BakeWise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking.
(From wikipedia.)
Here is the Amazon page for Cookwise:
https://www.amazon.com/CookWise-Successful-Cooking-Secrets-Revealed/dp/0688102298/
Is that the Tartine bakery of the Tartine Bread cookbooks? If so -- super cool!
I'm also there with the monkey boots and Indy boot. Monkey boots just seem like high tops to me a lot of the time.
when you say "the book" .. what book are you talking about? (i'm a complete noob here)
edit: this? http://www.amazon.com/Tartine-Bread-Chad-Robertson/dp/0811870413/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y/180-9649235-7866248
Tartine Bread has beautiful pictures
Thanks! I followed the Basic Country Bread recipe from the Tartine Bread book. Here are the totals for the ingredients:
The recipe makes two loafs, so for my first time I halved everything to just make the one loaf.
I haven't baked it yet (just jumping into sourdough), but Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson has a walnut sourdough loaf that you could add some cranberries to.
https://www.amazon.com/Tartine-Bread-Chad-Robertson/dp/0811870413
This book was my gospel when I first got into baking sourdough. After going through months of online research I thought I had a decent idea how to go about it all. This book has all of that info. Watch any video with Chad Robertson on YouTube also.
Has an incredible bakery in San Fran and went about figuring out how a home baker could make bakery quality breads. Use a Dutch oven.
Feel free to message me for more tips.
https://www.amazon.ca/Tartine-Bread-Chad-Robertson/dp/0811870413
I suggest making bread from this book
I'd also rec the tartine bread book for an accessible breakdown of artisan bread making.
https://www.amazon.com/Tartine-Bread-Chad-Robertson/dp/0811870413&ved=2ahUKEwiy5bCjvdnlAhWLTt8KHakwBOwQFjAYegQIBhAB&usg=AOvVaw1-z1rbDRgeDoyD_80ryUCg&cshid=1573177113215
There's a simpler take on techniques used by Chad Robertson in his book, Tartine Bread.
Hey there! Sorry, I thought the Tartine reference was a clue. Got the recipe from various websites that reference this book: https://amzn.com/0811870413 It's the Country Bread recipe.
I've never purchased nor used a commercial starter but I know that Bertinet sells one which you can find here.
Personally I would put the money towards a decent book such as this one. The only reason for this being that a decent book will and teach you so much more about the whole process and help your bread baking massively in the long run. At the end of the day a starter only needs 3 ingredients. Flour, water and time.
Here
http://www.amazon.com/Bread-Bakers-Book-Techniques-Recipes/dp/1118132718/
Check it out here at Amazon UK - it has a "Look Inside" feature so you can get a bit of a sense what you'll find.
If you still need to save a few pence, you could also look for a used (or new) copy of this, or even the first edition. The new, second edition has a few more recipes and some updates in the "techniques" section, but the original one is still chock full of great info.
The infographic was the cover of the book Ratio by Michael Ruhlman
As it was talked about in the last thread, it's a great book, and comes highly recommended. I own it myself, and it set me off on a journey of learning with bread recipes. :)
I did a google images search and found a high res copy of the book cover, but to save that poor soul's bandwidth, stuck it up on imgur: http://i.imgur.com/I0oJi.jpg
Enjoy!
http://www.amazon.com/Ratio-Simple-Behind-Everyday-Cooking/dp/1416566112/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253289699&sr=8-1
I would suggest Ratio if she would like to become a more independent cook and not always have to rely on recipes. Probably the smallest and most useful cookbook I have.
The Bacon Cookbook, Ratio, and because I'm obsessed with New Orleans food, The Court of Two Sisters Cookbook.
Also someone else mentioned the Cook's Illustrated cookbook which is absolutely amazing.
That is good to know, my fridge is the same way! We've been working our way through the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook and I really wanted to start trying some of the ice cream recipes.
I've always wanted the Milkbar cookbook!
The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart is my number one recommendation for bread. Im also a big fan of Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson. His first book, Tartine is also great btw. I would skip out on Tartine Book No.3 though which seems to have too many errors for my liking. Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish is also one of the better bread baking books out there.
For general baking, im a big fan of Bouchon Bakery. And one book that will surely help you improve as a baker and I highly recommend you cook through is The Art of French Pastry by Jacquy Pfeiffer. Its like a pastry arts class in a book. I am actually cooking my way through this. If you have a serious sweet tooth, Momofoku Milk Bar by Christina Tosi will probably be what you're looking for. And as someone else recommended, the Baked books are all great.
For cakes, it has to be The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Bernanbaum. This is probably the best cake book of all time. I would supplement this with Toba Garrett's Professional Cake Decorating book.
For pies, my favorites are Four and Twenty Blackbirds and Hoosier Mama. One that I haven't tried but am planning to buy is First Prize Pies. If the book lives up to their reputation, it should be an excellent book.
For plated, more ambitious desserts, I like Payard Desserts. I refer to this when I want to impress company.
Now I suggest you buy this pastry cookbook
wow you guys are good. me and my bf love to cook but its nothing like this. more like gourmet college food haha. but you should check out momofuku milk bar's book if you want a challenge
If you like artisan breads with good crusty exteriors and soft squishy insides, this book is for you. It's very easy to make bread with these techniques.
https://www.amazon.com/Artisan-Bread-Five-Minutes-Revolutionizes/dp/0312362919/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1485499180&sr=8-2&keywords=book+artisan+bread+in+5+minutes+a+day
Awesome, thanks. i will look into that.
Here's an Amazon Link for anyone else needing it.
For bread, I use the ratio (or a fraction thereof) from this book:
> 6 cups water
> 3 tablespoons yeast
> 3 tablespoons salt
> 13 cups flour
It just so happens that a regular sized bag of flour is just about 13 cups, plus enough for a healthy gluten cloak.
Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day is a really great bread book and has lots of wonderful recipes. The bagel recipe alone is worth the price.
I usually make classic pizza with homemade dough and olive oil rather than sauce. Top with tomato and mozzarella cheese and some oregano. According to a book I have on baking bread, it's the classic italian way to do it. It tastes amazing. The book refers to it as pizza margherita but it isn't anything like what you get from stores.
edit: For anyone curious, this is the book. Amazing book, can't recommend it enough. Just be sure you have a stand mixer and dough hook or your life is going to get difficult.
As a newbie baker, I swear by Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. I've taught at least 3 non-baker friends the boule recipe and they all love it.
A perfect excuse to break out my newest cook book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I tried out one recipe from it that had been copied online, and it came out great, so I'm looking forward to trying some others!
I'm currently exploring this bread with my new (to me) pizza stone and peel.....my apartment smells amazing.
The last couple of weeks I've been going with this one: Spent grain bread
Also, this book is a pretty good one for low active-time bread making.
This sourdough is awesome, but it's getting more varsity level and greater time commitment.
Making a passable loaf of bread is pretty easy, though. Start off with 3/4 cup or so of warm water, and dissolve one packet of yeast in it. Wait 15 minutes (yeast will have gone all bubbly in this time). Add a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of honey (or molasses, or sugar, or none at all), a splash of oil, and a couple of cups of flour (I use a mixture of whole wheat and bread flour) - I can't tell you how much exactly, because I normally do it by feel. What you want is for it to not be liquidy, but still a little bit sticky (just a little) when you've mixed it all together in the bowl.
Now you sprinkle a bit of flour on the counter and flop that glob of dough on there, and knead it for 10 mintues or so, until it's all homogenous and elastic (some folks use a mixer attachment for this, but I think it's the best part, so I do it by hand). Then pour some oil in the bowl, coat the dough in oil, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a tea towel. Let that sucker sit somewhere warmish for about 1 to 1.5 hours, until the dough had doubled in size. Gently press the air out of it and lay it out again on the lightly-floured counter, pressing it into a rectangle a couple of inches thick. Roll it sort of like a swiss cake roll, folding the ends under and making the whole thing more-or-less loaf shaped. Oil a loaf pan, and plop that dough in there, cover again, and let it rise until doubled. It will take less time to rise this time around, more like 30-40 minutes.
In the meantime, heat up the oven to 450F, and add a pan of water at the bottom. The steam gives you a wonderful crust. When the oven is hot and the dough risen, pop it in there. After 10 minutes, turn the heat down to 375F, and let it bake another 40 or so minutes. Minimize the times you spent opening the oven, especially during the beginning. Every time you let heat and steam out you're compromising that poor bread in there. After the loaf is all browned and making your house smell too good to bear, take the steam pan and bread out of the oven. I like to pop the loaf out of the pan and bake it another 5-10 minutes alone to crisp up the crust that was in the pan. Then let it cool and dig in!
It will take a bit of practice, and you might want to start with recipes, but eventually you just run with it and throw in extras (I like flax, sesame and poppy seeds in mine, and the occasional handful of rolled oats, some herbs, etc - it's pretty forgiving). Good luck!
> bread is a really tedious process that would take a couple of hours (at least) to do it right.
Nope. 10 minutes the day before, 5 minutes the day of. And 5 minutes the next day for the other half of the dough. The mixing bowl half-full of dough in the fridge will add credibility as well - "I cook all day - when I get home I like to do things quickly in the kitchen."
Bread geeks will look down their nose a bit, but it makes a very competent crusty loaf. I particularly like the peasant bread. And the pizza dough comes out almost exactly like good cheap NYC pizza.
I think OP's lack of knife skills are going to be his undoing, though. Can't cram for knife skills.
I'll make sure I avoid the Land of Plenty restaurant, but I think Land of Plenty refers to a very well written book of Sichuan recipes that is my personal go to for Sichuan cooking at home.
Some of my best sources are cookbooks that are not exclusively vegetarian, like Fuchsia Dunlop's Every Grain of Rice and Land of Plenty. Both do contain a large number of vegetable and tofu recipes, plus meat recipes that can be easily veganized (e.g., Gong Bao chicken which I replaced with eggplant, and Dan Dan noodles with minced mushroom.)
I love Ottolenghi's Plenty for his vibrant take on vegetarian Middle Eastern cuisine. He also has a long-running series on the Guardian .
Serious Eats has a great compendium of vegan recipes. His vegan baos are to-die-for.
Fuchsia Dunlop's books are quite good as well.
Land of Plenty: A Treasury of Authentic Sichuan Cooking
Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook: Recipes from Hunan Province
Every Grain of Rice: Simple Chinese Home Cooking
My bf is going through the book Land of Plenty. With a few ingredients from Amazon that are a little harder to find if you aren't near a Chinese market, he makes simple hearty meals in 20 minutes. Most of the dishes take about 20 minutes.
Und für Leute die noch tiefer in chinesische Küche einsteigen wollen: die Bücher von Fuchsia Dunlop sind sehr empfehlenswert. Every Grain of Rice ist ein genereller Überblick, Land of Plenty beschäftigt sich mit der Küche Sichuans.
Occasionally I'll make oatmeal bread (which is delicious and easy) from the More with Less cookbook, but I get most of my recipes from the bread bible. It has a lot of great recipes and general information on how to bake. You may be able to find it at your local library, and if it's not there then they should be able to get it from another library.
So the bible is at best 2% commandment (assuming we're including Leviticus, which nobody follows anymore, but i digress). Let's use The Bread Bible for contrast, as I'm most familiar with that compared to any other "bible" instruction manual. The Bread Bible teaches you everything you need to know about baking bread, and is mostly instructional (read commandment).
Now what I'm assuming happened is that somewhere along the line, some book publisher/marketer thought it a good idea to call something "the ____ bible" because it sounded catchy to them, and they felt the bible was some sort of guide book to life. Having been surrounded by christians my whole life, I can say there are quite a few people who consider the real bible to be such a guide book, but the text was never intended to be read this way. Granted, someparts are guidebooks (e.g. the commandments, the beattidues, parables, etc), but the lion's share of the book isn't. It's a collection of letters, poems and stories.
/rant
It's one of those 'personal preference' issues, really.
I've read a lot of the books that others have mentioned, but I haven't bought my own copies, mostly because I'm satisfied with Rose Levy Beranbaum's books, and have stuck with those. She's a good teacher who seems to understand the specific challenges of baking at home with the ingredients I can find. (Lots of other cookbooks seem to be focused on professional type baking situations, and on artisanal baking. Not what I need or want to use.)
Her recipes have been consistently reliable, approachable and the end results have been very tasty.
Some projects are apparently more than I want to manage, so I haven't baked EVERYTHING in her books, but I do own them all, if that tells you anything.
I learned a lot from her Bread bible.
http://www.amazon.com/Bread-Bible-Rose-Levy-Beranbaum/dp/0393057941
Her newest, The Baking Bible also looks great (just got it, haven't yet worked my way completely through it.
http://www.amazon.com/Baking-Bible-Rose-Levy-Beranbaum/dp/1118338618/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_y
There are a lot of different approaches to this kind of project. Along the way in my experiments, I learned that I'm not really all that fascinated with rustic artisanal breads, and that most professional cookbooks just aren't what I'm looking for in the way of specific advice on projects I can manage at home. For one thing, living where I do, finding top quality flours is a problem (i.e., online only).
Editing to add: I think it's probably best to buy a cookbook produced in your own country, whatever that might be. For example, ingredients can be hard to source, and wording can be a confusing issue. (British cookbooks have given me a lot of great ideas, but living in the US, I find I need to double check my understanding of the instructions and the ingredients. Metric measurements are a godsend, though, they simplify a lot. Other measuring standards can be more confusing.)
It's from this book but I add an extra egg: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393057941
http://www.amazon.com/Bread-Bible-Rose-Levy-Beranbaum/dp/0393057941 Page 46.
You're likely not kneading enough; that's how my breads used to turn out. Like what Protheanunicorn said, if there's not enough gluten development, you'll just have a fine crumb rather than delicious chewiness. If you're serious about bread baking, invest in a stand mixer that comes with a dough hook, to ease the strain on your hands.
A reliable trick I learned from Alton Brown to figure out if the dough is kneaded enough is to pull off a small piece of dough, hold it with the middle pinched between your thumb and index knuckle, and stretch it; you should be able to stretch it to the point where you can see light through it but it doesn't break. It should stretch pretty thinly, too. Here's a helpful video (at 3:30ish). You could also watch the full episode at the link for a lot of tips of the basics of bread making.
Also, find reliable recipes; easy recipes on generic websites tend to yield loaves of lesser quality. I can think of The Bread Bible, Cook's Illustrated, and King Arthur Flour's recipes.
I got the recipe out of The Bread Bible. I just bought it a week or two ago, its great.
This book is amazing and great for beginners. I just started making breads recently and have come to swear by it.
I'm not sure but I think you may have been attempting to make bread. If so, please buy this book and read it. It explains everything.
http://smile.amazon.com/Bread-Bible-Rose-Levy-Beranbaum/dp/0393057941
> Okay, I think our disagreement, such as it is, is mainly semantic. My point is that talking about morality in terms other than human welfare doesn't make any sense, and that thus the only sensible way I can see to have a discussion about what people 'should' do is to discuss the effects of actions on human welfare.
Indeed, but I think you're making an unnecessary error that will bite you in the ass, when you subsequently use the language of morality. It's something I see all the time. Ok, fine, we've done away with god, but what if god is the universe? Or energy? That sort of thing.
It's really questionable and seems to serve only rhetorical purposes - Christians accuse atheists of having either no morality or of having one they refuse to acknowledge, and people scamper off to their corners to think about how we can refute that. Or my favorite, "god" now means the thing you value most, so your god is human welfare.
Admit it, you're not really an atheist.
If you mean this is a good way to live to ensure welfare, then you're talking about the same thing the city planner is talking about, not the priest. It unnecessarily lends credence to their entire enterprise when you adopt their vocabulary.
If human welfare is something you value and you think there's a way to live life so that you can contribute to it... what needs to be more complicated than that? Why dip your toe even once in a well full of ghosts? Because it too purports to give you rules for getting what you want out of life? So does this, but nobody would call that a moral code. It's just a way to get what you want.
(As an aside, I haven't read it, but I'm assuming it at least tries to tell you how to get laid. If not, substitute this, which tells you how to get good bread. Is there now a morality of bread-baking because using one yeast over another gives you that better thump you want?)
> What do you mean by "better off"? Can something that doesn't exist be better off or worse off than something that does exist? Is it some hedonic calculus that concludes that lives with a sufficiently bad suffering to pleasure ratio were not worth living?
Indeed. If a person reports to me that he'd have preferred not living, that's enough for me. I'm quite certain that if a person's fear of death were switched off and they were given some time in which to contemplate never having existed, most would prefer this.
If we struggle with the idea of comparisons with something that never existed, then let them be snuffed out in the wombs. Certainly a fetus/baby has a measurable welfare - I'm saying most would choose not to go beyond that stage if they weren't terrified into existence by their evolutionary heritage.
The Bread Bible will tell you EVERYTHING there is to know about the art of making bread.
With me and my fiance, I cook the meals but she likes to make/bake the sweets. It's a pretty good system for having fun cooking in the kitchen together, especially on the weekends when you have more time to make more extravagant things and can really treat yourselves to something special. If your fiance has a sweet tooth and would maybe get into that, I'd check out Bravetart. Got a lot of basic things but also has a lot of interesting things in there that are fun to make.
BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts
BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts available here, for those interested.
Martha Stewart, Dorie Greenspan, and Rose Levy Berenbaum are my go-to's for classic recipes with none of the low fat/no sugar/no gluten stuff.
Any classic French basic pastry recipes like for pastry cream, choux, croissants, etc, are always going to be chock-full of butter and sugar and the good stuff, too. Check out Eugenie Kitchen on YouTube for some very easy, classic French recipes (by a very sweet Korean woman).
Here are my favorite baking cookbooks:
Rose Levy Berenbaum - The Baking Bible
Rose Levy Berenbaum - The Cake Bible
Dorie Greenspan - Baking: From My Home To Yours
Martha Stewart - Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook
Martha Stewart - Martha Stewart's Cookies: The Very Best Treats to Bake and to Share
Smitten Kitchen is also great for desserts that are a bit fancier, but still classically rich/traditional ingredients.
I LOVE BAKING.
One of the best things you can do is to train your palate. This way, when you taste something, you can figure out what's in it, and make it yourself if you want. It will also help you to learn what goes with what. For example, dill goes with salmon, lemon with raspberries, tomato with onion and cilantro or basil, etc. That kind of knowledge will help you to invent your own recipes which are catered directly to your tastes.
If you really want to know what makes food do what it does, I would recommend the following books:
Have fun with it! =)
http://www.amazon.com/Cake-Bible-Rose-Levy-Beranbaum/dp/0688044026
The cakes are amazing.
Recommendation: https://www.amazon.com/Cake-Bible-Rose-Levy-Beranbaum/dp/0688044026/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522036236&sr=8-1&keywords=the+cake+bible
Seriously, couple bucks, clear instructions, AWESOME cakes.
The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. Probably one of the best cookbooks published of all time. The great part is that she is VERY easy to contact and will respond to anyone that needs help if you go to her website.
luster and sparkle dust for sure, maybe gold leaf if you want to be fancy! (http://www.fancyflours.com/luster-dust-aztec-gold.html, http://www.fancyflours.com/Detailed%20Embellishments/Edible%20Gold%20%26%20Silver%20Leaf) that can get pricey and is a must to get fancy with your decorating. digital scale if she doesn't have one. this cookbook (http://www.amazon.com/Cake-Bible-Rose-Levy-Beranbaum/dp/0688044026/ref=pd_sim_b_1 -- the gold standard) or this one (http://www.amazon.com/Baked-Frontiers-Baking-Matt-Lewis/dp/1584797215 -- hott). fancy linings? http://www.fancyflours.com/Inspired%20Baking/Baking%20Cups
My mother bought me this cookbook a few years ago and it teaches the actual science of cooking. She also talk some about baking bread in there and about the different flours, how they interact with their ingredients and so forth.
While I don't have this book, the same woman wrote Bakewise. It will also get into the sciences of it and all the "whys". I would bet that once you have some experience with this book that you would be able to start making up your own recipes as well. Once you know the ratio's, you should be golden. (I didn't even know she had done written this book till I searched for Cookwise. I might have to get this one for myself!)
EDIT: Someone else mentioned The Joy of Cooking. My husband is one heck of a baker and he gets a lot of his recipes from The Joy of Baking. They have all been excellent so far.
EDIT II: (Sorry, I love this kind of thing and keep thinking of more stuff). I have gotten a lot of excellent dessert recipes from Southern Living. Before they changed the layout of their magazine a few years back, I would get their magazine. I poured over it for hours. While the magazine isn't as good, their recipes are still excellent. Type in what you are looking for and it will give you several recipes to choose from (the search engine in the middle of the page, not the one in the upper right corner).
My favorite apple pie comes from there. I get wonderful compliments whenever I make it. Don't leave out the brandy-caramel sauce linked in the ingredients!
CookWise by Shirley Corriher
Culinary Artistry by Andrew Dornenburg
I think you'd like Alton Brown's book I'm Just Here for the Food. It does contain recipes, but its focus is teaching you to understand how cooking techniques work so that you can apply that knowledge as you will. Relatedly, I've heard CookWise is something like what you're looking for.
One of my favorite cookbooks: Cookwise
It's written by a biochemist who also ran the kitchen in a boys' school for awhile. It explains why things work the way they do when you're cooking, and the recipes are well explained and really hard to eff up.
Books are everything here, friend.
Basic Food Science and Cooking Technique (Understanding how ingredients work, individually and in combination):
References and Recepies:
Edit: Updated a book to its latest edition.
Check out Cookwise. The author is a biochemist and explains from a scientific perspective what's happening as your ingredients are cooking. To highlight one example she compares a cookie recipe made with varying amounts of the same ingredients, and the result. Can't recommend this book highly enough.
I haven't read Cooking for Geeks, but On Food and Cooking, which /u/Arkolix also mentioned, is a great reference book.
My own personal recommendation is Cookwise by Shirley Corriher, who used to appear occasionally on "Good Eats". I like this book because, in addition to explaining the hows and whys of things happening, there are also recipes that show, as one example in a baking chapter, what happens when you make chocolate chip cookies and use more white sugar or more brown sugar or shortening instead of butter.
I bake twenty of them a day, each scaled at just over 900 grams, or approximately 2 lbs. Their all baked in a wood fired oven, so they turn out unlike any bread I've ever made. The darkness in the crust isn't actually as dramatic as that photo might lead you to believe, chalk it up to my phone camera being overly dramatic. Still, it is a very dark bake. The owner of the restaurant is very fond of Tartine's bread, so I've had to tailor the bread I make to be more in line with that.
the real BIFL answer: http://www.amazon.com/Tartine-Bread-Chad-Robertson/dp/0811870413
I use the bread dough recipe from Chad Robertson's Tartine
Get the book!
I bake my own bread, sometimes using stuff out of this book.
Wild yeast, stone-milled whole-wheat, etc. It's worth it if you have the time.
I recommend Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast by Ken Forkish and Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson. Both books have good info into bread science and have good (but large) recipes.
The one from tartine book 1
Tartine Bread https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0811870413/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_WuP8ybM7QCX15
For the dough? I used the method in Tartine Bread which produces about a 75% hydration dough, although I increased it to closer to 80%.
http://www.amazon.com/Bernard-Claytons-Complete-Book-Breads/dp/0743287096/ref=sr_1_20?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418611234&sr=1-20&keywords=Bread
http://www.amazon.com/Tartine-Bread-Chad-Robertson/dp/0811870413/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418611228&sr=1-8&keywords=Bread
There's a really simple sourdough bread recipe. It's by no means the best, but it's really simple.
300 grams flour
200 grams water
100 grams sourdough starter
12 grams salt
Mix, then knead until it passes a windowpane test (look it up on youtube for a good description of this. In short: Take a small piece of the dough, and gently stretch it. The dough is done when it forms a windowpane that's translucent without tearing.)
Put the dough in a covered bowl in a warmish place, come back in 60-90 minutes and knead the dough for 30-60 seconds. A lot of recipe's say "deflate" the dough, but the idea shouldn't be to degas the dough but rather redistribute the yeast in the dough. Put it back in the bowl, covered, and back in the warmer area. After another 60-90 minutes take the dough out of the bowl and shape it. Let it proof for 90 minutes, then bake at 500 for 15 minutes, then another 25 at 425.
This is just about the simplest recipe I've used. At higher hydration you stop kneading and start with stretch and folds. If you're really interested in more on baking stop by /r/breadit, or check out Peter Reinhard's "Bread Baker's Apprentice" ( AMAZON) or Chad Robinson's "Tartine Bread" ( AMAZON)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tartine-Bread-Chad-Robertson/dp/0811870413
http://www.amazon.com/Tartine-Bread-Chad-Robertson/dp/0811870413
If you're interested you should check out the first Tartine Bread book. That's where I learned how to do this. All of his books are tops!
Made Asian pork belly according to the recipe here:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/006223238X/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_awdo_WSRKwb1W675QH
Made the Bahn Mi sandwich using the recipe from Tartine Bread:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0811870413/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_awdo_HVRKwb1SNPR4R
It was out of this world. So good, that we're doing a repeat of the braise today but with beef brisket instead of pork belly.
I've been baking bread semi-regularly for about a year now with just my sourdough starter or yeast, flour, water, & salt. It does take several steps over 24-36 hours, but it's really super simple once you get it down, only uses one large bowl & then a small bit of counter space to actually form the loaf. The method I mostly follow now is from the Tartine Bread book, which really helps you make amazing bread.
At first, I don't think it sounds that simple to most people, but just throwing it out there as a suggestion because it's totally worth it to me to plan bread baking in my schedule, it's cheap, & could easily be done in a college suite.
Baking is a learning process. I’ve selected a list of a good references:
Getting started
https://www.instructables.com/class/Bread-Class/
My favorite books
https://www.amazon.com/Passion-Bread-Lessons-Master-Baker/dp/031620062X
https://www.amazon.com/Tartine-Bread-Chad-Robertson/dp/0811870413/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_img_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=D3W0A522YN0Z49Y37CR2
https://www.amazon.com/Flour-Water-Salt-Yeast-Fundamentals/dp/160774273X/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2/132-2200314-5814741?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=160774273X&pd_rd_r=d2b81337-6b5d-11e9-9f49-5707d913d0fd&pd_rd_w=aXXDJ&pd_rd_wg=GprXQ&pf_rd_p=a2006322-0bc0-4db9-a08e-d168c18ce6f0&pf_rd_r=AKFEA35FM58RZV98V93X&psc=1&refRID=AKFEA35FM58RZV98V93X
Good and reliable websites
https://blog.kingarthurflour.com/
https://www.theperfectloaf.com/
Enjoy!
I got the recipe from Bread by Hamelman. Here's a pic https://imgur.com/gallery/D5EwT
The book is probably my favorite cook book and full of incredible bread recipes. Here's a link
Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes https://www.amazon.com/dp/1118132718/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fS0tzbN0J0JG7
In Jeffrey Hamelman's Bread he identifies that commercial yeasts are bred for rigor so they will overpower local varieties.
I really enjoy Bread by Jeffery Hamelman for an in-depth look at the whole process, recipes and instructions are great too. http://www.amazon.com/Bread-Bakers-Book-Techniques-Recipes/dp/1118132718
Here is the mobile version of your link
Bread
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1118132718?selectObb=new
As stated before: Michael Ruhlman has a book entitled: Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking
Found on this page: https://lifehacker.com/how-to-free-yourself-from-recipes-with-a-few-golden-coo-1450617561
Ratio: The Simple Code Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking
Simple ratio (by weight) for pancakes, from Michael Ruhlman's book Ratios:
2 parts flour : 2 parts liquid : 1 part egg : 1/2 part butter
Whisk together liquid, egg and butter; add flour.
You could use soda for the liquid if you want.
Most of the recipes we cook are from the Cooking Light magazine, they have tons of good recipes. As far as a fun cookbook, I like Charcuterie, it's all about smoking and curing meats (ie bacon). I also want to check out Ratio by the same author. Ratio teaches how to cook many different things using ratios of flour, water, and fat.
http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Cupcakes-Take-Over-World/dp/1569242739 buy this book
Isa can do no wrong. Be sure to check out her two books as well:
Vegan With A Vengeance
http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Vengeance-Delicious-Animal-Free-Recipes/dp/1569243581/
Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World
http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Cupcakes-Take-Over-World/dp/1569242739/
My wife and I have cooked with many of her recipes, and we have yet to encounter a bad dish. Even non-vegans I know have really enjoyed her desserts.
Sure thing! If you want to get further into delicious dairy and egg free baking, check out the PPK's cookbooks. SO good and some vegan cupcakes would be perfect for a birthday party for your daughter! :)
http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Cupcakes-Take-Over-World/dp/1569242739
Anadama bread came from The Bread Baker's Apprentice, and the wheat berry whole wheat loaves are from Bread Alone.
(Etiquette Q: Should I post the whole formulas here? I'm at work right now and edit them in later.)
For the Anadama bread, I find that following the formula gives me pancake batter. I had to add a significant amount of extra flour to get the dough just to come to a ball (well over a cup), then a lot more during kneading to get the "definitely not sticky" consistency called for. I had to add more salt to compensate (tasted the dough as I worked). I haven't checked the hydration percentages as written to see if there's a typo, but I'll do that when I have the books in front of me.
For the whole wheat bread, I went off the formula a bit. I mixed the dough fairly wet, then did three stretch-and-folds at 30 minute intervals instead of the 15-minute knead called for in the recipe. Since there is a high percentage of wheat, I wanted the best chance for an open, chewy crumb, and I think I nailed it. The texture and flavor of the whole wheat berries in there with the lovely chewy crumb is just delightful.
Polenta, wheat berries and sifted whole wheat flour came from my trip up to Maine Grains in Skowhegan, ME, when I was up for the Kneading Conference this year.
White flour was plain old Gold Medal AP flour.
It's from The Bread Baker's Apprentice. All the recipes I've tried from here have been phenomenal. Definitely worth the money for me.
this this this
This book is the best education on bread aside form hands on experience that you can get.
Already on it. Using the BBA method. On day 2 right now. I'm in Bakersfield so not much difference in climate than you I think. Gotten some pretty decent flavor out of the old one. Not quite commercial, but still pretty good.
edit***I accidentally a word.
Some how my text got lost so here it is again:
This is my second time making brioche and it came out really good this time. The recipe made a lot of dough so I made it into little brioche rolls, to plated loaves (one big, one small) and I even turned the left over dough into a tart crust. I got the recipe from The Bread Baker's Apprentice (http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Bread-Bakers-Apprentice-Cutting-edge/dp/1580082688) and it was super easy to make.
Recipe:
Ingredients
(For the sponge)
(For the dough)
Method
Buy The Bread Baker's Apprentice. I, too, struggled to bake decent bread until I read this book.
You know to know how it works, science wise, and the different types per region?
http://www.amazon.com/Bread-Bakers-Apprentice-Mastering-Extraordinary/dp/1580082688/
If you really want to learn, pick up a copy of The Bread Baker's Apprentice
My neighbor is working through it one recipe at a time, and the results are wonderful.
A good mixer, lots of time. Oh and a brick oven with steam, or a dutch oven. Oven spring has saved me many a time.
I used costco breadflour. I also learned much of what i know from Peter Rheinharts books this one got me started.
Also, use more sourdough starter than necessary. I used 5 gallon buckets to raise my dough. I would retard overnight in a refrigerator.
best one I have read was the Bread Baker's Apprentice.
https://www.amazon.com/Bread-Bakers-Apprentice-Mastering-Extraordinary/dp/1580082688
The best pizza recipe I've had has come from this book.
Bread Bakers Apprentice
That book in general has great recipes. The bagel recipe and the pizza recipe typically impress people.
Thanks for the amazing opportunity!
Lets start off with these amazing badass running pants, perfect for everything from working out to lounging about! I chose this because I'm in serious need of new workout pants! I've been wearing my old highschool sweatpants to brave the icy cold weather and they are starting to tear in multiple places and i don't know how long they will survive >.< These not only coming in a VARIETY of styles, they have almost 1000 positive reviews and look extremely comfy!
I am HUGE into cooking/food and have been trying to improve by bread baking skill recently and believe that the Bread Baker's Apprentice would vastly improve my ability to do so! it not only breaks down why a specific bread recipe needs a specific ingredient, but how it compares both chemically and physically to other types of breads and how to do everything from proper kneading techniques and processes!
This Galaxy infused wallet of ultimate beauty would be an amazing replacement for my also dying wallet that I got about 12 years ago! Being able to go about and NOT have my change and important cards falling out would be quite helpful <3 PLUS. I am huge fan of everything and all things space/galaxy/cosmic and all!
Never made one of these before, but wife's been making soup a bunch lately and figured we needed a baguette to go with it!
Dough before bake
Another exterior photo
Interior of Dough
Recipe from the The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread
https://i.imgur.com/ulR5CD2.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/8a1rrtq.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/RqIDq0Z.jpg
oooooh. that's a tricky one. Maybe get them a kit with a book and/or a pizza peel as well?
This book is what prompted me to get a stone.
breadit is nice, but it's mostly photos of baked loaves. Sometimes there are recipes, and if you have recipe questions or goals in mind, it's a response desert.
I, too, recommend baking bread by hand instead of using a bread maker. I also recommend this book. Great recipes, wide variety of recipe styles and options, and it'll give anyone the necessary information to make amazing bread with ease.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Bread-Bakers-Apprentice-Extraordinary/dp/1580082688
The bread does not go in the pot. The pot goes on top of the bread. Baking bread in a container that constricts its expansion will ruin the crust and destroy the texture of the crumb. Only short breads (muffins, cakes, ect) and soft pullman loaves (no crumb or crust) get bakes in containers.
Looks like you got a DIY version of a cloche baking pot. The cloche simulates a stone oven cooking the bread with infra-red heat (radiation). Whereas a standard home oven cooks using only hot air (conduction).
To use your DIY cloche, you need a baking stone or terra-cotta tiles. Preheat the baking stone and pot to 500F. When they are good and hot, place your bread dough (shaped into a boule) on the stone and cover it with the pot. Bake as per recipe.
Since you are just starting out I am going to recommend against using this technique, because judging the oven temperature and transferring the dough into the hot baking stones can be a bit tricky.
Instead you should buy a cast iron dutch oven and use Jim Lahey's No Knead technique. His method is practically foolproof and produces great bread with less than 20 minutes of time invested per loaf.
The cloche will give you better results for a wider range of dough formulas provided you take the time to learn about bread. I would recommend you read The Bread Bakers Apprentice if you are interested in going this route.
I like his Artisan Breads Every Day book for beginners/home bakers. Very approachable. And a damn fine pizza dough recipe. My stand mixer gets a lot of action out of that book.
as someone that tried (and mostly failed) making sourdough boule bred, I'd say the recipe is only a start... Start with this: https://www.amazon.com/Peter-Reinharts-Artisan-Breads-Every/dp/1580089984
This is how I make pretzels at home and they come out really well. I use the recipe from Artisan Bread Everyday.
Well we go through at least a loaf per week, and I most often make 2 loaves at once (a lot of recipes are designed this way). After they have cooled, we slice them up (this takes a lot of practice too!) and wrap them in plastic wrap and put them in the freezer, so no stale bread. by wrapping them very well, you stave off a lot of the harm of the freezer. Good for at least a week.
In most instances, not a lot of active time is required. If you check out some of Peter Reinhart's methods, really nice bread can be a challenging but time flexible pursuit. Also, look out for many "no knead" recipes that offer some time flexibility, and are very easy to achieve great results.
Also, if you are looking for more conventional sandwich stuff, check out the Joy of Cooking. This was the book I first had success with. Sandwich breads are much easier to achieve good results with than "artisan" stuff, which is a little more picky about technique, but something to build up to! The Joy may be kind of "vanilla" but the recipes are reliable, so they are great to practice with.
I do not really ever have an excess bread, in part because we freeze it so any excess is stored. Also I only have time to produce a batch per week or so. I often also augment it by making pitas/flat breads (These are easy and so cheap compared to the store!), bagels, and pizza dough (also frozen).
The whole idea was to get off store-bought bread completely, and for nearly a year, we've been successful (with the very rare exception of buying fancy stuff from a bakery).
I have never sold bread, but I have given it to people as a gift, or brought it as part of a potluck contribution (talk about frugal and cool!).
I've been doing far less than you: bread, ice-cream, dijon mustard and mayo.
For bread I go for variations of Jim Lahey's no knead bread or the recipes from Peter Reinhart's Artisan's Breads.
For Ice-Cream I follow the recipes from a book I bought in Italy, "Ice Dreams". The ice cream recipes you can find in European cookbooks are way more interesting and varied than in the U.S. However, Cook's Illustrated published 2 months ago a very good article on how to make ice-cream with domestic machines.
Most of times, the first time I try something the results are disastrous, often inedible. However my family has became more confident on my skills, so they keep encouraging me, even if I fail very badly.
I am fascinated by your method for mozzarella. Will definitely try it next week. Can you refer to your favourite resources (e.g: books, links, videos on line)?
Pizza is extremely easy to cook at home dude. I've just been buying random cook books over the last year or so. General use ones, a few Italian speciality ones and BBQ ones, because that's what I love :D
> So they don't add any other toppings? Like pepperoni or anything? Isn't the crust done similar to Nyc style pizza?
Not in a Margherita in Italy, no. They're very traditional when it comes to your pizza in Italy. You can get things like Salami or Pepperoni, but they're not like the ones we get here. I've been to Rome three times and I've only found pizzas that have very thin crusts and are pretty crispy with a bit of chew. I have to say, the taste is amazing. It's not just the ingredients though, it's the oven. They use traditional ,wood fired ovens that can burn up to about 500 degrees centigrade. I'm thinking about building one out in my garden :D With pizza, you cook it as hot as you can. A traditional wood fired pizza oven will cook a pizza in about 90 seconds, at most.
> It just seems like they would have some special sauce or does the basil really help it stand out?
There's a specific type of tomatoes that everyone seems to use called San Marzano tomatoes, but you don't have to be that picky. You can use whatever you like. I rarely use anything other than BBQ sauce because I love the taste of it. When I make pizzas at home, some of my family like regular bolognese sauce from a jar and some even like ketchup mixed with a bit of bolognese sauce.
> I'd love to start cooking from scratch but I'm still learning so much in regards to just Regular cooking that I feel like I'd be biting off more than I could chew.
Don't be intimidated by it. Treat it as fun, not a chore. Break your expectations down into smaller chunks. What's your favourite type of cooking? What's a recipe you want to learn how to do first? Baking bread and pizza are a good start, because you can literally just make the pizza dough recipe I posted and cook it as a loaf instead of stretching it out to be a pizza dough.
If you have a bit of money, I found these books great:
Canning stuff would be more about pickling and brining. I've never done it, but I did go so far as to buy fresh jalapenos and some jars because I wanted to. Next port of call haha.
Let me know if you've any other questions. Feel free to message me too if you ever need a hand with anything :D
Ayep: http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Reinharts-Artisan-Breads-Every/dp/1580089984/
I'm sorry dear Baker but you cannot swap out white flour for a different grain without disappointing yourself with the results. You are going to need a recipe designed for whichever grain(s) you would like to use.
There are a ton of resources mentioned on /r/Breadit.
Highly noted are: Peter Reinharts Artisan Breads Everyday.
and The Bread Bible. When I searched Amazon for that title I received results of at least 3 different books with that name. Perhaps someone can refresh me and inform you which one of them is the 'popular' one. If there is only one otherwise take your pick.
So basically it comes down to finding a new recipe my dear.
My single tip I have for white bread is add 1tbsp of a high end Balsamic vinegar to the liquid. It adds a nice complex flavour to the finished bread.
Good luck.
I'm going through this. I just did Focaccia today, and yum yum
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580089984/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2
Alton Brown https://www.amazon.com/Im-Just-Here-More-Food/dp/1584793414
I'm Just Here for More Food - the book that will break down the major ways to combine ingredients and bake them - such as the muffin method, and provide recipes for each method to highlight versatility (the muffin method can make great cookies, for example)
Easy, approachable, entertaining.
If you are interested in some of the science of it but not all I really like Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for More Food. I pretty much love all of his recipes and I learned a bit from the book. I haven't completely gone trough it and I still use the internet for learning some new recipes. But overall I think it's a good one with information and little diagrams that explain what he means. I'm not sure if it would be pastry enough for you but it has a lot of baking info.
Yes, AB's books are excellent. I own his first 2 books and they are excellent for learning technique.
I'm Just Here For The Food
http://www.amazon.com/Im-Just-Here-Food-Cooking/dp/1584790830/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1404671790&amp;sr=1-2&amp;keywords=i%27m+just+here+for+the+food
I'm Just Here For More Food
http://www.amazon.com/Im-Just-Here-More-Food/dp/1584793414/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1404671790&amp;sr=1-3&amp;keywords=i%27m+just+here+for+the+food
Get Alton Brown's I'm Just Here For More Food. It's a great resource on baking methods.
Cook's Illustrated is excellent as well, for more than just baking. They go through the process and show you what happens when you deviate from the recipe.
Get him this http://www.amazon.com/Im-Just-Here-More-Food/dp/1584793414
Tangentially related, I would get his books as well:
http://www.amazon.com/Im-Just-Here-Food-Version/dp/158479559X/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1291527138&amp;sr=1-4 (This one is about cooking)
http://www.amazon.com/Im-Just-Here-More-Food/dp/1584793414/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1291527138&amp;sr=1-6 (this one is about baking)
Read through those and you'll feel much more confident.
If you are cooking meat, I'd suggest getting a probe thermometer: http://www.amazon.com/Taylor-1470-Digital-Cooking-Thermometer/dp/B00004XSC5/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1291527262&amp;sr=8-2
You'd be amazed how good any kind of meat tastes just with some salt and fresh pepper cooked to the exact right temperature tastes...
I was just busting balls about the word "Hack" being so common in our lexicon these days. No real offense intended.
I agree that the volume measurement will be incorrect (even dealing with different types of salt, as I mostly use kosher and have to be careful to get a proper amount, for the reasons you noted). That's way I was interested in the tool that the OP linked to, but sadly, doesn't work. I often just take the lazy way out and use the volume measurement, even if it is off. I definitely agree about the value of this in baking, as that is essentially kitchen chemistry, and the ratios are very important. Most of the time, the cookbooks I use for baking, I specifically look for mass measurements, or at least where there is a conversion from the volume, or the volume is calibrated in some way to more accurate than most. My favorite being Alton Brown's 2nd cook book, I'm Just Here For More Food.
How would you compare it to something from Alton Brown, such as this book
This one with the weird monkey thingy on the cover.
College Bound
I just had my first year of college! She may just need this.... But that's not quite under five, so here's a scalp head massager! I can't think of a better gift to turn to in stressed out times of a college student.
Surprise me!
Well, there is a cookbook that has raw ramen recipes in it.
this is a pretty good book on the subject!
personally, I like to replace the flavor packet with some miso soup, then top with scallions and fried tofu. so good
Ramen cookbook
Cheesy Bacon Noodles; Ramen Burgers; Chocolate Chinos.
Found this at a garage sale: http://www.amazon.com/101-Things-Do-Ramen-Noodles/dp/1586857355
There are actually a few cheap cookbooks on easy things to do with ramen that are "outside the norm." http://www.amazon.com/101-Things-Do-Ramen-Noodles/dp/1586857355 I've never owned or used them though so I can't attest to how good they are.
I have an Vietnamese friend whose mom ran an Asian catering kitchen, and she would make "Poor Kid Lo Mein" by soaking a few packages of ramen in hot water until they went soft, then stir frying them with a bag of frozen veggies and fish sauce, soy sauce, and sesame oil. You could also add chicken or beef if you wanted some extra protein.
I'll second that, I had a book similar to this one while I was in undergrad
Did you know Amazon will donate a portion of every purchase if you shop by going to smile.amazon.com instead? Over $50,000,000 has been raised for charity - all you need to do is change the URL!
Here are your smile-ified links:
this cookbook
---
^^i'm ^^a ^^friendly&nbsp;bot
Such a good way to keep yourself from tiring out of ramen. I ate it all the time my freshmen year, and now as a senior, I can't even look at it.
There's this too: http://www.amazon.com/101-Things-Do-Ramen-Noodles/dp/1586857355
Would you like a falafel with that?"
YOU WILL BE HUNGRY
Good thing I'm prepared!
http://www.amazon.com/101-Things-Do-Ramen-Noodles/dp/1586857355
Food wise: use this cookbook! If you're on a tight food budget, ramen goes a long way but can still be made to taste good and you can add nutrition cheaply. I made dinner for about $5 the other day using a ramen recipe and it was awesome. It fee my family of three and we had enough leftovers for 2 lunches the next day.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1586857355
101 things to do with ramen. the pizza pasta recipe is my favorite. Great book for a beginner. I'm also a huge fan of the Taste of Home cookbooks.
I have this cookie book and the recipes are so good that when I make them for people, they can't tell there's anything different about them. And here is someone's blog with my favourite recipe in the book. My friends like these cookies so much they call then "crack cookies".
Don't forget to roast the almonds before chopping them up. It makes a huge difference in taste and texture. Also, you may want to omit the almond extract and use all vanilla. Some people think it tastes funny.
This is considered a classic cookbook:
http://www.amazon.com/Veganomicon-Ultimate-Isa-Chandra-Moskowitz/dp/156924264X/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1450780613&amp;sr=8-4&amp;keywords=vegan+cookbook
The definitive vegan cookies cookbook:
http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Cookies-Invade-Your-Cookie/dp/160094048X/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1450780650&amp;sr=8-6&amp;keywords=vegan+baking
I really can't think of cooking or baking equipment that vegans in particular would need (?) more than an omni kitchen would. Maybe a vegan themed cooking or baking something? I'm sure a set of spices would be very appreciated.
Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar has some no-bakes. Plus I've used random recipes from vegweb.com for no-bake stuff.
http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Cookies-Invade-Your-Cookie/dp/160094048X
Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish
Totally related! The best advice I have is to start simple. This book by Bonnie Ohara is a really great primer that walks you through bread science and gaining bread confidence. I wish I had it when I started baking!
I also love this book by Ken Forkish. It’s very specifically for those crusty artisan breads that are trendy right now.
Other than that, start out with good recipes. The King Arthur Flour No Knead is a fantastic simple starting point. Whenever you make a new kind of bread, start with a recipe that’s gone through rigorous testing instead of one on some random blog. Good spots to look are Cook’s Illustrated, Bon Appetit, and King Arthur. There’s a bigger chance of success that way. Once you’ve gotten a little more of a feel for what dough should be like for specific breads at certain stages, you can start experimenting and coming up with your own recipes and ratios! There are also a lot of really awesome bakers at r/breadit, r/baking, and r/sourdough who also love to help troubleshoot.
The only other advice I have is to invest in a kitchen scale, a dutch oven, and a bunch of bench scrapers!
Yeah! It's from Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish. Great book, highly recommend. http://www.amazon.com/Flour-Water-Salt-Yeast-Fundamentals/dp/160774273X
It's from this book. Check it out it's fantastic.
http://www.amazon.com/Flour-Water-Salt-Yeast-Fundamentals/dp/160774273X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1462929725&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=flour+water+salt+yeast
https://www.amazon.com/Flour-Water-Salt-Yeast-Fundamentals/dp/160774273X/ref=sr_1_1
Basically gonna echo most of the answers already posted, but just to pile on:
Cookbooks
Nothing inspires cooking like a good cookbook collection. The great news about cookbooks is that they're often bought as gifts or souvenirs and they make their way onto the used market cheap and in great condition. Here are my suggestions for a great starter shelf:
Flour Water Salt Yeast is a baking book by Ken Forkish.
Flour Water Salt Yeast on Amazon
Portland has some unbelievable pizza, My two favorites are Ken's Artisan Pizza (304 SE 28th Ave) and Apizza Scholls (4741 SE Hawthorne Blvd).
Take a look at the pizza map in the sidebar for more locations -- but as far as I'm concerned, these are the best.
Ken Forkish is a dough legend and the author of Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza.
Using the /r/pizza subreddit got my pizza making to stellar levels. I only get pizza out when I am lazy. Here is what I learned.
Dough: Get this book http://www.amazon.com/Flour-Water-Salt-Yeast-Fundamentals/dp/160774273X and follow the technique sections to the letter. Get rid of the sugar and rise for longer, like 12 hours longer, the dough is much better without it.
Sauce: Get a can of CENTO san marzano whole peeled tomatos, put in strainer and rise all the "tomato water" off. Put in blender for 20 seconds dump in large frying pan, add salt and pepper, heat for 10 mins. That's it.
Cheese: Always grate your own, period. I prefer whole milk, low mosture.
Pan: If you don't have a stone or steel I like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Oneida-Commercial-Inch-Pizza-Pan/dp/B000P9TQEM/ref=sr_1_32?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1459369211&amp;sr=8-32&amp;keywords=pizza+pan
Temperature: I use 500 degrees for 13 minutes and it works like a champ.
That's it. Go be a pizza God!
No you don't. I just started learning to bake using this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Flour-Water-Salt-Yeast-Fundamentals/dp/160774273X
All you need is flour, water, salt, and yeast.
here you go
You should buy this book then, it's fantastic. I'm working my way through it, they have a huge chapter on just sourdoughs.
I never tried baking bread before I bought Flour Water Salt Yeast and now I've managed to make some pretty delicious loaves. If you take your time and read the technique sections, you'll start to get a good understanding of bread baking.
I love baking bread and to be honest some of the /r/breadit suggestions are spot on, even for British bakers.
The one I love the most is Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast by Ken Forkish. The measurements are all in metric, as most bread recipes are even stateside. I was initially a bit skeptical about no-knead but I'm a complete convert now.
If you want a specifically British book, and one that starts off with more basic recipes, try Brilliant Bread by James Morton. He was on GBBO a few years ago.
Flour Water Salt Yeast, by Ken Forkish. Very popular on here and one of the best starter books on baking good bread at home. His overnight white and wheat doughs are very approachable and teach you a lot about the process. I dig them because of the usage of store bought yeast, it’s just easier and less hassle for me. I’ve tried the sourdough starter thing too many times!
Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza [A Cookbook] https://www.amazon.com/dp/160774273X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_-QIRDbE23VF14
Or you could join /r/breadit and learn to bake your own bread at home. You just need flour, water, salt, yeast.
Reading: Pratchett's Witches Abroad and Carlyle's Latter-Day Pamphlets
Watching: Nothing but the odd Youtube video here and there. I've recently discovered Murdoch Murdoch.
Doing: Getting shit fixed around the house.
Cooking: No time for that really, just whatever's easy. But I've recently started making a killer homemade pizza, dough, sauce and all (OK well I don't make my own cheese). Fingers crossed I'll get Flour Water Salt Yeast for Christmas.
Playing: I aven't played any new video games since Minecraft. Every once in a while I'll bust out the old Final Fantasy games and play 1 through 6 in a marathon.
It's a book: Flour Water Salt Yeast. I haven't read it, don't know what the dough they suggest would be.
I would think using a biga would help improve chewiness as it tends to strengthen the gluten.
Sorry, yes. I should have been more clear. Thank you.
Here is the Amazon link for those interested. It seems it's currently 45% off:
Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza https://www.amazon.com/dp/160774273X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_4AtYzbWA2Q3G2
Crumb pic here! - for some reason IMGUR tagged this pic as erotic/NSFW. I agree.
Followed the FWSY Saturday White Bread recipe - book here! (not an affiliate or anything)
r/sourdough has resources in their FAQ about culturing a starter. Also this book helped me get the basics down. King Arthur has a break down on their website as well as the option to just purchase an already cultured starter that they will mail to you and then you can start feeding and using it right away.
Technique: https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/01/30/sicilian-pizza-bread-loaf-perfect-game-day-nosh/
I used the overnight pizza dough recipe from Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza by Ken Forkish
Here is the mobile version of your link
I was fairly new to cooking last year. I got The Science of Good Cooking, which is a Cooks Illustrated publication. The book has taught me a lot about cooking, and it's the most reliable cookbook I have in terms of failure.
Basically, they test and illustrate different concepts of good cooking (such as "Why Salty Marinades Work Best"), and then give some recipes that demonstrate that concept. The book is enormous and has a ton of recipes in it, and many of the recipes have a "Why This Recipe Works" section, which can also be informative. Knowing why some things work and some don't is (to me) the quickest way to becoming a competent home cook.
Haven't bought hers but I have something like twenty cookbooks and this one is hands down the absolute best: The Science of Good Cooking (Cook's Illustrated Cookbooks)
America's Test Kitchen on PBS is great for this stuff too. and their Science of Cooking book is amazeballs.
http://www.amazon.com/Science-Cooking-Cooks-Illustrated-Cookbooks/dp/1933615982
I recommend Jaques Pepin's http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Pepin-More-All-Time-Favorites/dp/0547232799
Or http://www.amazon.com/La-Technique-Illustrated-Fundamental-Techniques/dp/0812906101.
And pretty much anything by ATK: http://www.amazon.com/Science-Cooking-Cooks-Illustrated-Cookbooks/dp/1933615982
http://americastestkitchen.buysub.com/cook-s-illustrated-cookbooks/6e69de31ebb0aae9b4e8e7dccb8cb8d4.html
HTH! :)
Get this book.
https://www.amazon.com/Science-Cooking-Cooks-Illustrated-Cookbooks/dp/1933615982
Sorry, it's this one. It is full of GREAT recipes (my go to, from scratch puff pastry dough is in there, and a pho that doesn't take 12 hours) and it explains WHY they work.
The Science of Good Cooking
http://www.amazon.com/Science-Cooking-Cooks-Illustrated-Cookbooks/dp/1933615982
The Kitchen as Laboratory: Reflections on the Science of Food and Cooking (Arts and Traditions of the Table: Perspectives on Culinary History)
http://www.amazon.com/Kitchen-Laboratory-Reflections-Traditions-Perspectives/dp/0231153449
That'd be a pretty slow turntable, all the ones I've owned have been 10 or 15 seconds for a revolution.
It doesn't matter too much though - even moving just a few degrees will be enough. The inside walls of the microwave are bouncing the waves around all over the place, and it's the specific points that the waves experience "constructive interference" that will get particularly hot. Here's wikipedia's video showing the electric field in a microwave for a sense of how complex it is.
As far as time to destale it, I'm having a hard time finding concrete numbers. You may have more luck than me, search for something along the lines of "wheat starch gelatinization" (destaling = cooking = starch gelatinization, staling = retrogradation = degelatinization)
If I remember right from the America's Test Kitchen book I have at home, the end temperature in bread is more important than the time to get there. It may just be that the reason I can't find much on the time for gelatinization is that it doesn't significantly depend on time.
Agreed. I was just reading about this in The Science of Good Cooking. Bake for about 30 minutes. http://www.amazon.com/Science-Cooking-Cooks-Illustrated-Cookbooks/dp/1933615982/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1450946955&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=the+science+of+good+cooking
Ask a Girl if you can get it turbinado is a great Japanese brand that won't break the bank. Cook's Illustrated's (ATK) "Science of Good Cooking" is a very different recipe, but it's a pain to clean, and I love them all.
https://www.amazon.com/Science-Good-Cooking-Illustrated-Cookbooks/dp/1933615982
This doesn't answer your question, but your problem is that you're asking the wrong question.
https://www.amazon.com/Science-Good-Cooking-Illustrated-Cookbooks/dp/1933615982/ref=nodl_
I love this cookbook
my girlfriend does. it's really good. but if you need a good store bought GF pasta delallo is good. not the egg noodly version but the reg GF version.
edit: i think it's the recipe from this book. https://www.amazon.com/How-Can-Gluten-Free-Cookbook/dp/1936493616/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1483516471&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=gluten+free+baking
If you want to bake from scratch, I highly recommend America's Test Kitchen book: https://www.amazon.com/How-Can-Gluten-Free-Cookbook/dp/1936493616 You have to make your own flour blend, but the results are worth it.
https://smile.amazon.com/Gluten-Free-Cookbook-Revolutionary-Groundbreaking/dp/1936493616
https://smile.amazon.com/How-Can-Gluten-Free-Cookbook/dp/1936493985
Get this and follow the directions to the letter...
with the exception of the flour mix that they use, in which case you'll want to use this.
Also, if you bake at an elevation above 3000 feet above sea level, you should look into recommendations on how to alter your recipes accordingly.
The two volumes of the "How can it be gluten free" cookbooks from Americas Test Kitchen are my favorite cookbooks.
https://www.amazon.com/Gluten-Free-Cookbook-Revolutionary-Groundbreaking/dp/1936493616
https://www.amazon.com/How-Can-Gluten-Free-Cookbook/dp/1936493985
Get both books -- they have different recipes. They updated their GF flower recipe in the second edition that I now use for all my favorites from the first edition.
The pie crust, dinner rolls, and Orange Chicken are my favorites so far. But there are a ton of recipes in there.
I understand losing the mojo, I helped with a huge Hungarian dinner and after that didn't want to cook for months (and I'm still not quite up to using paprika any more).
The best gluten free baking book is How can it be gluten free from America's Test Kitchen. I have yet to make a recipe that was bad or tasted gluten free (seriously, none of the recipes taste weird). I just used the yellow cake recipe from that, but added brown butter to it.
Cookbook! http://www.amazon.com/The-How-Gluten-Free-Cookbook/dp/1936493616
The carrot cake is also the best carrot cake I have ever had.
Try r/breadit for your bread baking questions.
It's not clear what you are trying to short-cut in doing this - if you want to salvage a sourdough culture, then most store bought bread won't work because it's made using yeast only. Much of the quality in breadmaking is in the process for making it - mixing, kneading, proofing, shaping, baking. Excellent quality breads can come from simple flours, water, and salt because the baker's technique is good.
Thanks!, its the glorious Flour Water Salt Yeast book by Ken Forkish: https://www.amazon.com/Flour-Water-Salt-Yeast-Fundamentals-ebook/dp/B007SGLZH6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1523906966&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=FSWY
https://www.amazon.ca/Flour-Water-Salt-Yeast-Fundamentals-ebook/dp/B007SGLZH6
4 ingredients, no bread machine.
Does she have this book? http://www.amazon.com/Flour-Water-Salt-Yeast-Fundamentals-ebook/dp/B007SGLZH6
Wow. You're super insecure about this, aren't you? I can't think of any other reason you would be so condescending when someone disagrees with you.
Of course there are many different types of bread, but to say that bread usually has dairy in it is just factually incorrect. Bread cooked with just flour, water, salt and yeast is absolutely delicious. It is the epitome of European bread (or, as we in the west self-centredly call it, bread). Maybe you enjoy it more with extra ingredients, and I'm not going to say you're wrong for doing so. I'm not going to call your bread "taste-less".
What you're doing is pretending that the culinary history of bread doesn't exist, because you're trying to prove someone wrong. Acting as if the bread you learned to cook is the only way that professionals cook is, frankly, astonishing.
Here's a book written by a professional: Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast. I'm sure you can guess why it's called that.
Here's a book by the French Culinary Institute: The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Bread Baking. Here's one of the reviews that they list under praise:
> "To make a perfect loaf of bread, the baker needs just five essential ingredients: flour, water, salt, yeast—and this indispensable book!”
>—Iacopo Falai, Owner of Falai, Caffe Falai, and Falai Panetteria"
Of course, these people must be amateurs compared to your experience of:
> hundreds of loaves of bread
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1580082688?pc_redir=1395348064&amp;robot_redir=1
I AMA Peter Reinhart evangelist as I now bake good bread thanks to him...
Right now I'm reading Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. In fact I haven't checked, I'm sure there are some recipes I could substitute hemp in.
Add 1 Tbs vital wheat gluten per cup of flour, esp. if you are using whole wheat. Let the dough rise longer. Check your oven temperature with a thermometer. Bread needs high temperatures because it's primarily the steam which expands the dough, explaining why bread expands so rapidly in the oven but so slowly on the counter.
If you really want to learn bread, The Bread Bible is a great read.
http://www.amazon.com/Bread-Bible-Rose-Levy-Beranbaum/dp/0393057941
A really good pizza needs to form a lot of gluten. This means you need a very strong flour to make a good pizza. Normal 00 is not strong enough. I personally add a 5% in weight of gluten to the dough maiden with 00. Professional pizza makers use their own mix of flours. A very good book that explain many details of dough making process is
https://www.amazon.com/CookWise-Successful-Cooking-Secrets-Revealed/dp/0688102298
yeah, it's higher hydration alright. basically I'm using recipes from this book. the levain acts like the mature starter and also helps to inhibit the sour flavors since yeast grows much faster than the other bacterias present.
The recipe is a ~30 page explanation of the techniques in the book Tartine Bread. It would be pretty lengthly to type up. This bread takes about 24 hours to make, more if you ferment in the fridge. If you want the ingredients though, I can type that up for you.
I call out shit when I see it. This sub seems to be all about gold stars and telling everyone they did a good job. It's ok to tell someone they failed and they need to try again. The mediocrity in this sub is too much.
You obviously needs to improve. You need to start with the basics: watch videos and read books. I'd recommend two good starting places:
I'd recommend starting with bread pans. You can focus more on technique and take shaping out of the equation for now. Also, don't start with sourdough; start instead with store bought yeast. The concepts are the same, but you need to understand the basics before you add to it.
Your first recipe should use a bread pan, package of yeast, white flour, and salt. Don't try anything fancy. You need a digital scale and oven thermometer. Multiple flours, shaping, and starters come later.