Review: OK, but I wouldn't recommend for a true beginner
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 24, 2014
If you are a true beginning bread maker, looking for a book to take you step-by-step through the process of making a yeast bread, this is probably not the book you want.Some of the tips are helpful (method to raise bread) but others are largely superfluous.  Tips on freezing dough, reducing yeast, and using potatoes/potato water, while nice, are probably more than a beginning baker needs to know and could lead to confusion, since they appear right at the beginning of the book.  Stating that you can't knead bread too much is true, but is missing the important caveat that it is true only if you are kneading by hand.  It is quite possible to over-knead with a mixer.I also felt that there were some very important steps and hints for beginners that were missing from this book.  Water temperature guidance - I was always taught "baby bath" temperature (use the inside of your wrist; if it is warm but not hot there, yeast will also be happy) - was one thing missing.  For me, this type of guideline is much more helpful than "120 degrees".  There also is no instruction in actually HOW to knead.  When I work with new bakers, this seems to be the most intimidating part - they don't know physically what to do with dough to knead it.  There is also no real instruction (other than the standard "smooth and elastic") as to how to know that the dough has been kneaded enough - no tests or clues like windowpane or a moon crater surface.The recipes look nice and there are recipes for bread machine, dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, etc., in addition to traditional breads by hand.  I don't like the format very much, as it comes off more like a blog (with 'reader comments') than a standard cookbook.