I have 565 photos of bread on my phone, all taken in the last two years. That's how long it took me, along with my co-authors and fellow King Arthur employee-owners Martin Philip and Melanie Wanders, to write the right name. The Big Book of Breadthat publishes this week and how much bread we baked to get there.
Photography by Ed Anderson, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Gerri Williams
Those photos (and the accompanying texts I sent, with messages like “Martin, what did I do wrong?” and “Melanie, look at this perfect loaf!”) are testament to the work we've put into this giant new cookbook, the company the first is devoted only to bread (about time!). We made each of the recipes in the book over and over, in our test kitchen and in our home kitchens. And while we were at it, we thought you'd bake these loaves at home, and we did everything we could to make sure you succeeded.
There are a lot of bread books out there. Here's what makes this special:
Recipes (and there are a lot of them)
True to its name, this book has about 125 recipes, and the vast majority of them are new (ie, not already published on our website). The book is divided into six chapters: Flatbreads, Pan Breads, Hearth Breads, Buns, Bagels and Rolls, Fancy Breads, and Things to Make with Bread, which is a collection of sweet and savory recipes to make with the remaining bread.
Photography by Ed Anderson, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Gerri Williams
Our goal was to write a comprehensive bread book that had all the recipes a baker could want or need. There are recipes for bread made with yeast, sourdough culture, and even some without yeast at all. The global bread range runs the gamut from flat breads such as onion pancakes and Syrian-style meat-topped sfeeha halaby, to whole grain crusty loaves, to plush, pillowy loaves like our milk bread of the Tiger and the braided turban. There are recipes for bakers at every level, whether you're a beginner or more advanced.
TECHNIQUES
In addition to the recipes, the book opens with a powerful techniques section that explains in detail the bread-making process, from mixing, to proofing, to baking. The text is accompanied by step-by-step pictures, as well as QR codes that will take you directly to short video tutorials (because sometimes a video is worth a thousand words and pictures combined).
But what about sourdough?
This is not exclusively a sourdough baking book – because we are not exclusively sourdough bakers! We bake dry sandwich breads just as often (if not more often) than sourdough baguettes, and in this book, you will find recipes for both. That said, we love sourdough, which is why we devoted an entire section to it at the heart of the book, called The Sourdough Primer. In this section you'll learn everything you need to know about sourdough, from how to start and maintain a sourdough culture to what to do if your culture starts to smell like old gym socks. We write about preferences, what to do with throwing away sourdough and answer the most frequently asked questions about sourdough.
Photos
Every recipe in this book has a wonderful accompanying photograph from Ed Andersonand the front end technique section is loaded with step-by-step pictures to guide you along the way. In addition to the big, cute photos, the book also has instructional illustrations that describe techniques for how to score a loaf of bread and braid challah.
Time limits
At the top of each recipe you'll see a color-coded timeline that describes how long each step of the recipe takes, as well as the total time, from start to finish. The timelines let you see, at a glance, how much of a time commitment each loaf takes and which recipe steps are simple. At the back of the book, we've also indexed the recipes by time, so whether you want bread in one to three hours or prefer the flexibility of a loaf made over two days, you will be able to quickly choose something to bake.
Ed Anderson
Now comes the fun part!
We've lived and breathed this book for the better part of two years, and now it's your turn. We really can't wait to see which breads fascinate and excite you. Please take your photos The Big Book of Bread bake and tag us on Instagram @kingarthurbaking so we can see what you're cooking and cheer you on. Want a preview of some recipes? Here are 8 of our favorites, ready to bake right now!
Prefer a video tutorial? Look at Martin make daily french bread, Sesame grainAND our favorite sandwich bread from the book.
