Product Description

Discover the true heart and soul of bread in CRUST & CRUMB, from whole-wheat, sourdough, and rye to pita, focaccia, and naan. In this classic cookbook, expert baker Peter Reinhart shows how to produce phenomenal bread, explaining each step of the process in detail and giving you knowledge and confidence to create countless variations of your own.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11574 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 209 pages

From Library Journal
Reinhart is the author of the well-regarded Brother Juniper's Bread Book (1991. o.p.) as well as the charming Sacramental Magic in a Small-Town Cafe (LJ 9/15/94), about the cafe that grew into Brother Juniper's Bakery, in Santa Rosa, CA. Now he's teaching baking at the California Culinary Academy, and his latest book is a detailed and authoritative guide to artisan breads. The book's subtitle basically says it all, though Reinhart explains that he uses the word formula rather than recipe because he's included the "why" as well as the "how" for making his "world-class breads," from sourdoughs of all types to brioche and challah to flatbreads and pizza. A worthy addition to the elite group that includes Joe Ortiz's The Village Baker (LJ 12/92) and Daniel Leader's Bread Alone (LJ 10/15/93), this is highly recommended for all baking collections.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher
• A detailed, authoritative guide to artisan breads—rustic and sophisticated, savory and sweet—by award-winning author Peter Reinhart. • Includes 50 master formulas plus 40 variations; how-to illustrations; baker’s percentages; weight and volume ingredient measures; and tips on finding the best millers, suppliers, and model bakeries in North America. • Winner of the 1999 James Beard Foundation Award for best baking and dessert book.

About the Author
PETER REINHART is a full-time baking instructor at Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is the author of six books, including the James Beard Award Winner and IACP Book of the Year THE BREAD BAKER’S APPRENTICE.

Customer Reviews

CRUST AND CRUMB: Master Formulas for Serious Bread Bakers
I OWN SEVERAL BOOKS ON THE ART OF BREAD MAKING. AT THE SAME TIME THAT I BOUGHT THIS BOOK FROM AMAZON.COM Crust & Crumb: Master Formulas for Serious Bread Bakers I BOUGHT ANOTHER BOOK. THAT BOOK WAS MY PRINCIPAL PURCHASE AND I OPENED THE BOX AND STARTED READING IT IMMEDIATELY; HOWEVER, FROM TIME TO TIME I PICKED UP "CRUST AND CRUMB" AND SOON WAS UNABLE TO PUT IT DOWN. IT IS WELL WRITTEN, AN EASY READ AND CONTAINS "FORMULAS" FOR THE PRODUCTION OF GREAT BREAD WITH EASE, CONFIDENCE, AND GOOD RESULT FROM FIRST EFFORT. IF YOU ARE REALY INTERESTED IN BREAD MAKING AND NOT JUST A QUICK RECIPE, THIS IS THE BOOK TO BUY. I BOUGHT IT AS AN AFTER THOUGHT; I SHOULD HAVE MADE IT MY FIRST CHOICE !

The good bits make it worth buying, but...
The good:
- a few excellent and adaptable formulas
- some very good tips on process obviously born of great experience

The bad:
- piss poor binding quality; pages dropping out after 3 reads
- nearly useless photos of no supporting aid whatsoever to the text

The ugly:
- vacuous and often grating pseudo-mystical ramblings

The real thing, for the passionate who want to get it right
This book is what I've been looking for for 15 years, with the level of depth and detail that I wanted. I have a bread machine and love it for what it does, but real rustic breads and sourdough are a special thing.

The use of natural yeasts and the slow rise method is actually less work in my opinion because you don't have to hover. Something can go 3,4,5 hours or all day before having to mess with it, and just sticking something in the refrigerator overnight is no biggie. The slow rise makes the whole process more forgiving.

I have varied the process somewhat, I don't shape the loaves and leave them overnight in the fridge because the outside gets too dry. I just do shaping the day of baking and let it do the final rise, and its a lot easier to just let a blob of dough rise in a container than to spread out things on sheets and take up space. That's just me.

It isn't unnecessarily complex but it is a re-framing of the process, and the results show. If you love rustic breads this is the real deal.