Fine Introduction to Bread Baking
Many would-be bread bakers are put off by considerations of space or discomfort with lack of technical know-how. How can you tell if dough is kneaded enough? How much water and flour are enough? This book by Charles Van Over will soon get them past these hurdles and well on their way to being competent bread bakers. While the book focuses on using a food processor to mix and knead dough--a method that is fast and gives excellent results--Van Over also manages to convey many fundamental concepts of baking in simple language. Each recipe repeats in detail the procedures to be followed, so there is no flipping back and forth from section to section.
Since this book was published, a number of great books on bread baking have appeared and the range of recipes of artisanal breads that home bakers can tackle with confidence has grown. But this book remains a reliable manual. Rumor has it that Mr. Van Over has a revised edition in preparation. Let us hope that those rumors prove to be true.
