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: #4188 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.

About the Author
PETER REINHART is a full-time baking instructor at Johnson and Wales University in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was the cofounder of the legendary Brother Juniper's Bakery in Santa Rosa, California, and is the author of six books on bread baking, including Brother Juniper's Bread Book and the 2002 James Beard and IACP Book of the Year, The Bread Baker's Apprentice.

Customer Reviews

Good stuff
This is a great book with beautiful photographs. Reading over the other reviews, I think might make others shy away from this book, if one considers oneself a beginner. I also read some negative comments about the use of "sugar". These people need to get over themselves. "Sugar", if one wants to be a purest can mean honey or molasses and it is mostly used, from what I can tell, as food for the yeast.

As some also mentioned, most of these recipes take a couple of days, but not a couple of days, standing and baking. Making the soaker and biga takes just a few minutes, and I like the idea of popping it in the refrigerator and not having to continue until I am ready. I found the whole process less sloppy than regular bread making and the process made a big difference. The first time I tried to make pumpernickle from some recipe I got on the internet, the dog or the chickens wouldn't even eat it. It would have made good building material however.

The author's process gives whole grains the time to soften and develop their flavor, not to mention the extra probiotics you get when you eat it from the microbial action that has taken place over the process.
They stay moist longer too.

Do take the time to read through the introductory pages first, because it makes you understand what it is you are doing and why. I like his writing style and ability to communicate that baking shouldn't just be for snoots who consider themselves gourmet cooks.

Must give yourself 2-3 days to make bread
This book is marketed to the general public and it is a great book in that it gives you a great overview of how to make bread. However, you must give yourself 2-3 days to make any of the breads in the book. Like many other reviewers said, buy this book only if you are seriously into bread baking. Not for the casual breadmaker or anyone like me, who has small children and just does not have the time to make bread over 2-3 days.

Whole Grain Bread with a Twist
I have been baking bread for many years. I also like to read about bread baking practice and theory, so when Peter Reinhart published his new book, I was eager to try it.

On the positive side, I like the fact that the recipes focus on whole grains. The photographs are done well throughout the book. I also applaud Reinhart for thinking out of the box, trying new techniques.

Essentially, Reinhart's technique is to prepare two mixes the day before: a sourdough starter or biga, and a soaker or mash. This advance preparation coaxes out the flavors in a relaxed way, so that the following day, you combine both parts to flour, salt, and yeast, and then proceed with traditional timing. Reinhart refers to this amalgamation as epoxy glue, an unfortunate image.

Because the purpose of this book is to promote whole grains, I find it counterproductive that practically every recipe includes quite a bit of sugar, brown sugar, honey, or agave nectar. The complex, tantalizing taste of a freshly made whole grain bread should be plenty reward for most.

Reinhart explains in great detail the attributes and construction of using a soaker and a mash. However, out of a total of 55 bread recipes, only 4 recipes utilize the mash.

Some of the recipe quantities are curious: 1/2 cup plu 2 TB water or 5/8 tsp salt. Bread baking is not an exact science because so much depends on variables, such as type and age of flour, humidity, etc.


I am hesitant about recommending this book. If you are a first-time bread baker, you will find the techniques advanced. And, unless you like to read about bread, you may find reading the very long personal narrative gratuitous. Finally, baking hints, rather than organized by topic, are placed sporadically throughout the text.

In sum, Whole Grain Bread: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor is a good concept, but, for me, at least, I found redundant recipes with ordinary editing.