Product Description

With this whole grain follow-up to the acclaimed BREAD BAKER'S APPRENTICE, home and professional bakers will be making whole grain loaves so delicious that they put white breads to shame. After much tinkering and trial and error (with help from more than 250 recipe testers), beloved baking instructor Peter Reinhart has improved and simplified his groundbreaking delayed fermentation method to successfully meet the whole grain challenge with less hands-on time in the kitchen. Including recipes for both partial and 100-percent whole grain hearth, sandwich, and specialty breads, PETER REINHART'S WHOLE GRAIN BREADS is the definitive guide to baking incredible and healthful artisan-quality bread.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7149 in Books
• Published on: 2007-08
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 309 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Bread is back, Reinhart (The Bread Baker's Apprentice) asserts, and it's better than ever after being villainized during the anticarbohydrate diet fads; his manifesto of renewal, this enthusiastic tome featuring the kinds of whole grain breads he sees as the way forward, will be eagerly received by serious bakers. In three useful preliminary chapters, Reinhart describes how he developed the delayed fermentation process that makes these breads delicious as well as wholesome, dissects wheat's route from stalk to loaf and patiently walks through the new technique's theory and process, in order to arm bakers with every bit of information before they start kneading. The level of technical detail and demand for scientific precision may overwhelm amateurs, but anyone with some experience working with bread dough and starters, as well as a desire to get to the next level, will be gratified by Reinhart's intense but friendly approach. In the more than 50 recipes, from a variety of breads including multigrain loaves, whole wheat cinnamon buns, brioche and crispy lavash, Reinhart builds on the first chapters with detailed commentary on ingredients and preparation, encouraging bakers to own the process but never leaving them in the lurch. Whether or not a home baker is looking for healthier recipes, Reinhart's peerless way of writing about bread is sure to inspire a new respect for whole grains. Color photos not seen by PW. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From the Publisher
* Master bread baker and innovator Peter Reinhart's answer to the whole grain revolution, with time-saving techniques for making extraordinary whole grain breads, bagels, crackers, and more. * Includes 55 master formulas (including baker's percentages, nutrition facts, and ingredient measures in volume, ounce, and gram measures), plus 40 styled food shots and 150 instructional photos. * THE BREAD BAKER'S APPRENTICE was the 2002 James Beard Cookbook of the Year and 2002 IACP Cookbook of the Year. CRUST AND CRUMB was a 1999 James Beard Award Winner.

From the Back Cover
"We've always known how good whole grain breads are for us, but we've also known how they're usually heavy, dense, and sort of boring. Now here comes Peter Reinhart, a passionate bread scientist who has figured out fifty-five different ways to make whole grain breads light and delicious. His work is nothing short of revolutionary."
--Sara Moulton, Food Network host and author of Sara's Secrets for Weeknight Meals

"No one is better qualified--either as a teacher or as a baker--than Peter Reinhart to tackle the complex subject of whole grain breads. His techniques and recipes are easy to follow and yield excellent results every time. Peter and his breads are the real thing."
--Nick Malgieri, author of How to Bake and A Baker's Tour

"Whole Grain Breads is a beautiful and important work, which is no big surprise coming, as it does, from Peter Reinhart. Everything here is a gift: the breads themselves (both described and pictured), the poetic voice, the story, the technique, and the generous spirit. Read this from cover to cover, and you will find yourself looking at all food differently, from a new height and a deeper appreciation."
--Mollie Katzen, author of The Moosewood Cookbook

"I've spent years following directions from more than a dozen bread baking books. I've babied bowls of dough in various stages of fermentation, and I've only ended up with bread that tastes like an inner tube. Peter has unraveled the mystery of baking, and I now approach this intimidating subject with confidence."
--James Peterson, author of Cooking

Customer Reviews

Great recipes, timely book
Considering the growing interest in 'healthy' breads, this is a timely book. Peter Reinhart puts his skills as recipe-developer, teacher and baker to good use in this attractive volume. The diversity of recipes makes it a particularly good buy (whole wheat recipes, transitional recipes, recipes using sprouted grain). For sure, it takes a bit of personal experience and learning to get the bread exactly to one's taste but then, thats the whole point of baking bread at home right?!

best whole grain bread ever!
The procedures and formulas detailed in this book have dramatically transformed my whole grain bread baking: from dry, crumbly bricks to beautiful, delicious loaves. I had no idea that a 100% whole grain bread could rise so high (and deliver that coveted "oven spring"), have such gorgeous "crumb" and moist-but-firm texture or, most important, taste so good.

Yes, the approach is a little intimidating at first glance, or if you're not familiar with "The Bread Baker's Apprentice" (also excellent, but only if you're willing to bake with all purpose flour, which I'm not), but after a loaf or two it all makes sense. Yes, there's some flipping back and forth between pages, but the results are worth it and once you've made a few loaves you'll know what to do without referring back to the instructions.

Spreading the process out over more than one day seems like a lot of effort, but I've found it's actually easier: each step is quick, and the timing is flexible. Final "assembly" and kneading into finished dough is faster and easier than doing the whole thing at once. I'm never going to make bread the old way again. And even if I never attempt "wild yeast starters" (aka do-it-yourself sourdough), or use more than a small number of the individual formulas, this will still be the best bread book I've ever bought, and from now on it's the only one I'll use.

A real breakthrough!
Since I came to the U.S. I started baking my own bread ( I couldn't take the crustless, squishy "wonderbreads" from the local supermarket). I did pretty well, but first with the "Breadbakers' Apprentice" and now the "Whole Grain Breads" I experienced a real breakthrough! Meanwhile I also adapt my old German bread baking recipes to Peter Reinhart's much better techniques and even opened up a little bakery supplying a local alternative food market.