no wheat free or gluten free bread in here!, 04 Mar 2006
The book does not contain recipes for people with gluten or wheat allergy/intollerance; only an american free phone number to get help in getting the right information/books/help. I wasted my money and time! ps I agree: is very much for the American odeon! Degrees are in F and not in C. Very surprised to find a Pandoro recipe though!!

OK but too American, 27 Jan 2006
The recipes I chose were OK but the book is too American for easy use. You spend your whole time converting measurements and checking that the ingredients are easily available in the UK. One minute they talk about the importance of accurancy with ingredients; and then they talk about 2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast (and is that the same as dried yeast?). The recipes are also for the American market - Old Milwaukee sourdough rye bread, pumpernickel roll-up sandwich. I'm off to find a British book.

Delicious, 01 Jan 2006
The recipes in this book are really yummy and interesting. My only issue was that this book was written with an American audience in mind. This is not in itself a bad thing, but means that some measurments are difficult (butter for example does not come in handy sticks with tbsps demarkated on it this side of the atlantic and can be a bit of a pain to get in and out of a tablespoon...). Similarly things such as cans of apple pie filling, required by a few recipies are not that easily come by over here. I also found that the recipes used far to much yeast, but once I'd sorted out a few overflows, I was well on the way to delicious and interesting recipes. I especially recommend the brioche dough.

The best little bread machine cookbook, 13 Apr 2003
I live in England nine months of the year and the US the other three. I keep this cookbook with me and use it in bread machines on both sides of the Atlantic. I have never had a failure following the recipes and the bread is absolutely wonderful!

no wheat free or gluten free bread in here!, 04 Mar 2006
The book does not contain recipes for people with gluten or wheat allergy/intollerance; only an american free phone number to get help in getting the right information/books/help. I wasted my money and time! ps I agree: is very much for the American odeon! Degrees are in F and not in C. Very surprised to find a Pandoro recipe though!!

OK but too American, 27 Jan 2006
The recipes I chose were OK but the book is too American for easy use. You spend your whole time converting measurements and checking that the ingredients are easily available in the UK. One minute they talk about the importance of accurancy with ingredients; and then they talk about 2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast (and is that the same as dried yeast?). The recipes are also for the American market - Old Milwaukee sourdough rye bread, pumpernickel roll-up sandwich. I'm off to find a British book.

Delicious, 01 Jan 2006
The recipes in this book are really yummy and interesting. My only issue was that this book was written with an American audience in mind. This is not in itself a bad thing, but means that some measurments are difficult (butter for example does not come in handy sticks with tbsps demarkated on it this side of the atlantic and can be a bit of a pain to get in and out of a tablespoon...). Similarly things such as cans of apple pie filling, required by a few recipies are not that easily come by over here. I also found that the recipes used far to much yeast, but once I'd sorted out a few overflows, I was well on the way to delicious and interesting recipes. I especially recommend the brioche dough.

The best little bread machine cookbook, 13 Apr 2003
I live in England nine months of the year and the US the other three. I keep this cookbook with me and use it in bread machines on both sides of the Atlantic. I have never had a failure following the recipes and the bread is absolutely wonderful!

informative, 07 Oct 2008
Truly educational. A great buy if you want to learn about baking bread for home.

Not just a formula, this is food, 13 May 2007
While I have to accept that the recipes are good and work, I do not accept that you can reduce hundreds of different breads into a few 'type' recipes. One of the joys of baking at home, once you get past the basic level, is surely that a little bit of this, and a small amount of that, can make a huge (positive) difference to a bread. For those looking to really get a feel of dough and the nuances of it I recommend Joe Ortiz, for the experienced, or Linda Collister for the the not so confident. Both offer a wealth of bread recipes that while superficially similar show what a wonder bread really is.

If you want to reduce your bread baking to getting a few done well then this is the right book for you, but if you are an experimenter, and are looking for more, then this isn't.

The best how-to book for the serious baker, 07 Apr 1999
I have for my entire adult life had the ambition to bake what Peter Reinhart fittingly calls "world-class" bread, but in spite of buying and reading several books dedicated to bread and much work and experimentation, the good bread eluded me. When I saw Peter Reinhart's "Crust and Crumb" advertised, I was reluctant to buy another baking book, having resigned myself to the fact that good bread cannot be baked at home. "Crust and Crumb" got me over the hump. It made me understand the chemistry and process of bread baking, and the result is that I now bake bread which is as good as any that I have had anywhere - and I have eaten a lot of good bread, including in Italy and France. And it made me understand that in order to bake good bread, you have to take it seriously, be dedicated and take the time it takes - there are few shortcuts ("poolish" starter being one of those few) and really no compromises. "Crust and Crumb" is really the only bread baking cookbook you need. Well, maybe Joe Ortiz' "Village Baker" too.

An excellent resource for home and professional bread making, 26 Mar 1999
Chef Peter's book is great for new ideas and education in bread making. As a past student of Chef Peter, this book provides reference and supports his skill as a teacher and culinary expert!

Excellent/Great explanations, 25 Mar 1999
I received my book about 2 weeks ago, and have made 2 fairly extensive recipes in it..One I took to a dinner party, and they didn't believe I made it..I had to go home and get the book!! I've baked for years, but bread is new in the last few years..Peter gives great explanations, directions, etc in the book..It's not just a book, it's a story..one you won't want to miss.

no wheat free or gluten free bread in here!, 04 Mar 2006
The book does not contain recipes for people with gluten or wheat allergy/intollerance; only an american free phone number to get help in getting the right information/books/help. I wasted my money and time! ps I agree: is very much for the American odeon! Degrees are in F and not in C. Very surprised to find a Pandoro recipe though!!

OK but too American, 27 Jan 2006
The recipes I chose were OK but the book is too American for easy use. You spend your whole time converting measurements and checking that the ingredients are easily available in the UK. One minute they talk about the importance of accurancy with ingredients; and then they talk about 2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast (and is that the same as dried yeast?). The recipes are also for the American market - Old Milwaukee sourdough rye bread, pumpernickel roll-up sandwich. I'm off to find a British book.

Delicious, 01 Jan 2006
The recipes in this book are really yummy and interesting. My only issue was that this book was written with an American audience in mind. This is not in itself a bad thing, but means that some measurments are difficult (butter for example does not come in handy sticks with tbsps demarkated on it this side of the atlantic and can be a bit of a pain to get in and out of a tablespoon...). Similarly things such as cans of apple pie filling, required by a few recipies are not that easily come by over here. I also found that the recipes used far to much yeast, but once I'd sorted out a few overflows, I was well on the way to delicious and interesting recipes. I especially recommend the brioche dough.

The best little bread machine cookbook, 13 Apr 2003
I live in England nine months of the year and the US the other three. I keep this cookbook with me and use it in bread machines on both sides of the Atlantic. I have never had a failure following the recipes and the bread is absolutely wonderful!

informative, 07 Oct 2008
Truly educational. A great buy if you want to learn about baking bread for home.

Not just a formula, this is food, 13 May 2007
While I have to accept that the recipes are good and work, I do not accept that you can reduce hundreds of different breads into a few 'type' recipes. One of the joys of baking at home, once you get past the basic level, is surely that a little bit of this, and a small amount of that, can make a huge (positive) difference to a bread. For those looking to really get a feel of dough and the nuances of it I recommend Joe Ortiz, for the experienced, or Linda Collister for the the not so confident. Both offer a wealth of bread recipes that while superficially similar show what a wonder bread really is.

If you want to reduce your bread baking to getting a few done well then this is the right book for you, but if you are an experimenter, and are looking for more, then this isn't.

The best how-to book for the serious baker, 07 Apr 1999
I have for my entire adult life had the ambition to bake what Peter Reinhart fittingly calls "world-class" bread, but in spite of buying and reading several books dedicated to bread and much work and experimentation, the good bread eluded me. When I saw Peter Reinhart's "Crust and Crumb" advertised, I was reluctant to buy another baking book, having resigned myself to the fact that good bread cannot be baked at home. "Crust and Crumb" got me over the hump. It made me understand the chemistry and process of bread baking, and the result is that I now bake bread which is as good as any that I have had anywhere - and I have eaten a lot of good bread, including in Italy and France. And it made me understand that in order to bake good bread, you have to take it seriously, be dedicated and take the time it takes - there are few shortcuts ("poolish" starter being one of those few) and really no compromises. "Crust and Crumb" is really the only bread baking cookbook you need. Well, maybe Joe Ortiz' "Village Baker" too.

An excellent resource for home and professional bread making, 26 Mar 1999
Chef Peter's book is great for new ideas and education in bread making. As a past student of Chef Peter, this book provides reference and supports his skill as a teacher and culinary expert!

Excellent/Great explanations, 25 Mar 1999
I received my book about 2 weeks ago, and have made 2 fairly extensive recipes in it..One I took to a dinner party, and they didn't believe I made it..I had to go home and get the book!! I've baked for years, but bread is new in the last few years..Peter gives great explanations, directions, etc in the book..It's not just a book, it's a story..one you won't want to miss.

One view of bread making, 28 Nov 2008
Although the author has a considerable reputation and the book is very good in places I found it less comprehensive than I had hoped.
I have tried 10 of the recipes since owning the book (just a couple of weeks). I have baked about 8 loaves a week for the past decade so I have a moderate amount of experience in home bread making.

I have three issues:

The recipes appear to be authentic and the explanations are clear but that does not mean you are going to like all the different kinds of bread. I found the bagels (extremely time consuming to make) a real dissapointment. They looked great but tasted nothing like any bagel I had ever tasted. To be fair the author does say this is a traditional water bagel and not a commercial bagel. But in a book that champions tasty bread I found this unimpressive. The explanations of why different ingredients effect the outcome and flavour are very good.

The author is very keen on long fermentation to improve the flavour and the are lots of two stage two day recipes. Dissapointingly I have not yet been able to detect the flavour enhancement that deserves all this extra preparation (nor has my family). I would have been happier if the book had contained more angles on bread making. I feel that the author has collected lots of lengthy recipes because he believes this is the best way to make bread. I had expected a greater variety of approaches.

And last but not least. Why only imperial measurements? What happened to metric?

This is not a book for a beginner. If you want to purchase a single book on bread making I would not recommend it. As part of a library it is a very good reference book.


Confusing, 12 Mar 2008
A great book with some excellent ideas. Major drawback is that all weights and measures are in "cups". Not an easy method to grasp when most of the world uses "mils" or "grams".

Cooking times are very ambitious, ie if I cook any of my bread for the 45 minutes stated in a lot of recipes I will end up with charcoal.

That being said, for the person who uses recipe books as a guide, and not as an instruction book, this is an excellent read.

Shame about the units, 14 Sep 2007
This book is quite informative and interesting but suffers from the drawback of having been written for a US audience only. Most of the cultural references will simply be meaningless to a british or european audience but that isnt really a problem. The problem is the units.
Being British I am just about comfortable weighing things out in pounds and ounces, though my scales being non-antique have kilograms as the larger markings. To the authors credit the recipes are weight based but those who use the volume conversions in the book may find themselves scuppered by the difference in volume between a US "cup" and those found in other countries that use the term. The biggest gripe however is that all temperatures are in Fahrenheit. I have never in my 29 years seen an oven that is calibrated in Fahrenheit outside the US. It is possible in the UK to purchase oven thermometers graded in Fahrenheit on the secondary scale but they are harder to find and the secondary scale is much harder to read without taking the thermomenter out of the oven.
It seems to me that if a publisher has any intention of releasing a book outside the US then they ought to take the trouble of changing the parochial units to ones in common use.

Excellent Content, But Poor Binding, 24 Jan 2006
The content of this book is unrivalled. It is clear, concise and interesting. The knowledge contained in it surpasses anything I have seen before. However it only gets three stars because the first time I opened the book to read it, five pages detached them selves from the binding and will need sticking in with Sellotape ! On a book costing as much as this did, it is not what I would expect. The binding looks good, but it is clearly inadequate and the book needs careful handling. This is especially unacceptable in a book that will be kept open flat while using it to make bread ! My message to the publisher is, if you are going to produce the best book there is on a subject, and charge a price commensurate with that, don't spoil the whole thing by cutting corners to save money on the binding. You've ruined what would have been the ultimate bread book.

Recipes that work!, 08 Nov 2003
After messing around with other less-than-perfect books on Bread Making (particularly the very disappointing "Rustic European Breads: From Your Bread Machine" by Eckhardt & Butts) I took the chance and ordered this book.

Like the other reviewer, I can't stress enough how great the author's simple and consistent approach to bread making is, and especially the sections on starters, making, keeping and feeding them!

I'm also often a little suspicious of American books, citing ingredients, measurements and methods which just don't seem to work, but having tried at least 50% of the recipes in this book, I'm yet to experience a failure!

This book has truly allowed me to indulge a passion which has been lurking in me for many many years. I've now been able to embody it in the creation of some truly wonderful bread!

no wheat free or gluten free bread in here!, 04 Mar 2006
The book does not contain recipes for people with gluten or wheat allergy/intollerance; only an american free phone number to get help in getting the right information/books/help. I wasted my money and time! ps I agree: is very much for the American odeon! Degrees are in F and not in C. Very surprised to find a Pandoro recipe though!!

OK but too American, 27 Jan 2006
The recipes I chose were OK but the book is too American for easy use. You spend your whole time converting measurements and checking that the ingredients are easily available in the UK. One minute they talk about the importance of accurancy with ingredients; and then they talk about 2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast (and is that the same as dried yeast?). The recipes are also for the American market - Old Milwaukee sourdough rye bread, pumpernickel roll-up sandwich. I'm off to find a British book.

Delicious, 01 Jan 2006
The recipes in this book are really yummy and interesting. My only issue was that this book was written with an American audience in mind. This is not in itself a bad thing, but means that some measurments are difficult (butter for example does not come in handy sticks with tbsps demarkated on it this side of the atlantic and can be a bit of a pain to get in and out of a tablespoon...). Similarly things such as cans of apple pie filling, required by a few recipies are not that easily come by over here. I also found that the recipes used far to much yeast, but once I'd sorted out a few overflows, I was well on the way to delicious and interesting recipes. I especially recommend the brioche dough.

The best little bread machine cookbook, 13 Apr 2003
I live in England nine months of the year and the US the other three. I keep this cookbook with me and use it in bread machines on both sides of the Atlantic. I have never had a failure following the recipes and the bread is absolutely wonderful!

informative, 07 Oct 2008
Truly educational. A great buy if you want to learn about baking bread for home.

Not just a formula, this is food, 13 May 2007
While I have to accept that the recipes are good and work, I do not accept that you can reduce hundreds of different breads into a few 'type' recipes. One of the joys of baking at home, once you get past the basic level, is surely that a little bit of this, and a small amount of that, can make a huge (positive) difference to a bread. For those looking to really get a feel of dough and the nuances of it I recommend Joe Ortiz, for the experienced, or Linda Collister for the the not so confident. Both offer a wealth of bread recipes that while superficially similar show what a wonder bread really is.

If you want to reduce your bread baking to getting a few done well then this is the right book for you, but if you are an experimenter, and are looking for more, then this isn't.

The best how-to book for the serious baker, 07 Apr 1999
I have for my entire adult life had the ambition to bake what Peter Reinhart fittingly calls "world-class" bread, but in spite of buying and reading several books dedicated to bread and much work and experimentation, the good bread eluded me. When I saw Peter Reinhart's "Crust and Crumb" advertised, I was reluctant to buy another baking book, having resigned myself to the fact that good bread cannot be baked at home. "Crust and Crumb" got me over the hump. It made me understand the chemistry and process of bread baking, and the result is that I now bake bread which is as good as any that I have had anywhere - and I have eaten a lot of good bread, including in Italy and France. And it made me understand that in order to bake good bread, you have to take it seriously, be dedicated and take the time it takes - there are few shortcuts ("poolish" starter being one of those few) and really no compromises. "Crust and Crumb" is really the only bread baking cookbook you need. Well, maybe Joe Ortiz' "Village Baker" too.

An excellent resource for home and professional bread making, 26 Mar 1999
Chef Peter's book is great for new ideas and education in bread making. As a past student of Chef Peter, this book provides reference and supports his skill as a teacher and culinary expert!

Excellent/Great explanations, 25 Mar 1999
I received my book about 2 weeks ago, and have made 2 fairly extensive recipes in it..One I took to a dinner party, and they didn't believe I made it..I had to go home and get the book!! I've baked for years, but bread is new in the last few years..Peter gives great explanations, directions, etc in the book..It's not just a book, it's a story..one you won't want to miss.

One view of bread making, 28 Nov 2008
Although the author has a considerable reputation and the book is very good in places I found it less comprehensive than I had hoped.
I have tried 10 of the recipes since owning the book (just a couple of weeks). I have baked about 8 loaves a week for the past decade so I have a moderate amount of experience in home bread making.

I have three issues:

The recipes appear to be authentic and the explanations are clear but that does not mean you are going to like all the different kinds of bread. I found the bagels (extremely time consuming to make) a real dissapointment. They looked great but tasted nothing like any bagel I had ever tasted. To be fair the author does say this is a traditional water bagel and not a commercial bagel. But in a book that champions tasty bread I found this unimpressive. The explanations of why different ingredients effect the outcome and flavour are very good.

The author is very keen on long fermentation to improve the flavour and the are lots of two stage two day recipes. Dissapointingly I have not yet been able to detect the flavour enhancement that deserves all this extra preparation (nor has my family). I would have been happier if the book had contained more angles on bread making. I feel that the author has collected lots of lengthy recipes because he believes this is the best way to make bread. I had expected a greater variety of approaches.

And last but not least. Why only imperial measurements? What happened to metric?

This is not a book for a beginner. If you want to purchase a single book on bread making I would not recommend it. As part of a library it is a very good reference book.


Confusing, 12 Mar 2008
A great book with some excellent ideas. Major drawback is that all weights and measures are in "cups". Not an easy method to grasp when most of the world uses "mils" or "grams".

Cooking times are very ambitious, ie if I cook any of my bread for the 45 minutes stated in a lot of recipes I will end up with charcoal.

That being said, for the person who uses recipe books as a guide, and not as an instruction book, this is an excellent read.

Shame about the units, 14 Sep 2007
This book is quite informative and interesting but suffers from the drawback of having been written for a US audience only. Most of the cultural references will simply be meaningless to a british or european audience but that isnt really a problem. The problem is the units.
Being British I am just about comfortable weighing things out in pounds and ounces, though my scales being non-antique have kilograms as the larger markings. To the authors credit the recipes are weight based but those who use the volume conversions in the book may find themselves scuppered by the difference in volume between a US "cup" and those found in other countries that use the term. The biggest gripe however is that all temperatures are in Fahrenheit. I have never in my 29 years seen an oven that is calibrated in Fahrenheit outside the US. It is possible in the UK to purchase oven thermometers graded in Fahrenheit on the secondary scale but they are harder to find and the secondary scale is much harder to read without taking the thermomenter out of the oven.
It seems to me that if a publisher has any intention of releasing a book outside the US then they ought to take the trouble of changing the parochial units to ones in common use.

Excellent Content, But Poor Binding, 24 Jan 2006
The content of this book is unrivalled. It is clear, concise and interesting. The knowledge contained in it surpasses anything I have seen before. However it only gets three stars because the first time I opened the book to read it, five pages detached them selves from the binding and will need sticking in with Sellotape ! On a book costing as much as this did, it is not what I would expect. The binding looks good, but it is clearly inadequate and the book needs careful handling. This is especially unacceptable in a book that will be kept open flat while using it to make bread ! My message to the publisher is, if you are going to produce the best book there is on a subject, and charge a price commensurate with that, don't spoil the whole thing by cutting corners to save money on the binding. You've ruined what would have been the ultimate bread book.

Recipes that work!, 08 Nov 2003
After messing around with other less-than-perfect books on Bread Making (particularly the very disappointing "Rustic European Breads: From Your Bread Machine" by Eckhardt & Butts) I took the chance and ordered this book.

Like the other reviewer, I can't stress enough how great the author's simple and consistent approach to bread making is, and especially the sections on starters, making, keeping and feeding them!

I'm also often a little suspicious of American books, citing ingredients, measurements and methods which just don't seem to work, but having tried at least 50% of the recipes in this book, I'm yet to experience a failure!

This book has truly allowed me to indulge a passion which has been lurking in me for many many years. I've now been able to embody it in the creation of some truly wonderful bread!

A very easy to use book, 02 Oct 1999
This book caters for all makes of machines and all skill levels.It gives English weights for cup measurements if needed.If you only buy one book I think this is the best.

Delicious bread with little effort!, 16 Jul 1999
This was my first bread machine cookbook other than the one that came with my machine. I have tried at least 15 different recipes, and have been pleased with the majority of them. My 20 month old daughter loves the bread and I love making bread using wholesome ingredients. I found the instructions very easy, and the ingredients easy to find in the supermarket, if I didn't already have them at home. A great book for beginners as well as those with more experience.

The One I Hate to Misplace, 13 Apr 1999
I recently misplaced my copy of this bread machine cookbook. I went on the internet and went through my large collection of bread machine books (friends in doubt seem to buy me these cookbooks) to obtain a good recipe for sandwich rolls. I didn't find a recipe that measured up. Invaluable book which I rushed out to replace. It also is the one I always buy for friends when they get a bread machine. None of the other cookbooks come close.

Excellent - variety in one cook book!, 16 Feb 1999
This book is very good for the experienced or novice and ingredients are normally in the kitchen or readily available. Very helpfull since most bread machince cookbooks that come with the machine give only limited receipes. We have just recently recomended your line of Bread Cook Books to a new business selling bulk baking supplies and crafts. We enjoy the book and the receipes - the machine is still being used after two years because of the breads in this book.

So far, the recipes fail to turn out properly., 06 Jan 1999
Of the two recipes I have tried thus far (I just bought the book), neither one has turned out properly despite meticulous following of the author's instructions. The dough consistently is either too loose or too dense...I'm not the best cook, but I do know how to follow directions. Her recipe for "peasant bread" managed to burn-out the motor on my machine, so use this book at your own risk!

no wheat free or gluten free bread in here!, 04 Mar 2006
The book does not contain recipes for people with gluten or wheat allergy/intollerance; only an american free phone number to get help in getting the right information/books/help. I wasted my money and time! ps I agree: is very much for the American odeon! Degrees are in F and not in C. Very surprised to find a Pandoro recipe though!!

OK but too American, 27 Jan 2006
The recipes I chose were OK but the book is too American for easy use. You spend your whole time converting measurements and checking that the ingredients are easily available in the UK. One minute they talk about the importance of accurancy with ingredients; and then they talk about 2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast (and is that the same as dried yeast?). The recipes are also for the American market - Old Milwaukee sourdough rye bread, pumpernickel roll-up sandwich. I'm off to find a British book.

Delicious, 01 Jan 2006
The recipes in this book are really yummy and interesting. My only issue was that this book was written with an American audience in mind. This is not in itself a bad thing, but means that some measurments are difficult (butter for example does not come in handy sticks with tbsps demarkated on it this side of the atlantic and can be a bit of a pain to get in and out of a tablespoon...). Similarly things such as cans of apple pie filling, required by a few recipies are not that easily come by over here. I also found that the recipes used far to much yeast, but once I'd sorted out a few overflows, I was well on the way to delicious and interesting recipes. I especially recommend the brioche dough.

The best little bread machine cookbook, 13 Apr 2003
I live in England nine months of the year and the US the other three. I keep this cookbook with me and use it in bread machines on both sides of the Atlantic. I have never had a failure following the recipes and the bread is absolutely wonderful!

informative, 07 Oct 2008
Truly educational. A great buy if you want to learn about baking bread for home.

Not just a formula, this is food, 13 May 2007
While I have to accept that the recipes are good and work, I do not accept that you can reduce hundreds of different breads into a few 'type' recipes. One of the joys of baking at home, once you get past the basic level, is surely that a little bit of this, and a small amount of that, can make a huge (positive) difference to a bread. For those looking to really get a feel of dough and the nuances of it I recommend Joe Ortiz, for the experienced, or Linda Collister for the the not so confident. Both offer a wealth of bread recipes that while superficially similar show what a wonder bread really is.

If you want to reduce your bread baking to getting a few done well then this is the right book for you, but if you are an experimenter, and are looking for more, then this isn't.

The best how-to book for the serious baker, 07 Apr 1999
I have for my entire adult life had the ambition to bake what Peter Reinhart fittingly calls "world-class" bread, but in spite of buying and reading several books dedicated to bread and much work and experimentation, the good bread eluded me. When I saw Peter Reinhart's "Crust and Crumb" advertised, I was reluctant to buy another baking book, having resigned myself to the fact that good bread cannot be baked at home. "Crust and Crumb" got me over the hump. It made me understand the chemistry and process of bread baking, and the result is that I now bake bread which is as good as any that I have had anywhere - and I have eaten a lot of good bread, including in Italy and France. And it made me understand that in order to bake good bread, you have to take it seriously, be dedicated and take the time it takes - there are few shortcuts ("poolish" starter being one of those few) and really no compromises. "Crust and Crumb" is really the only bread baking cookbook you need. Well, maybe Joe Ortiz' "Village Baker" too.

An excellent resource for home and professional bread making, 26 Mar 1999
Chef Peter's book is great for new ideas and education in bread making. As a past student of Chef Peter, this book provides reference and supports his skill as a teacher and culinary expert!

Excellent/Great explanations, 25 Mar 1999
I received my book about 2 weeks ago, and have made 2 fairly extensive recipes in it..One I took to a dinner party, and they didn't believe I made it..I had to go home and get the book!! I've baked for years, but bread is new in the last few years..Peter gives great explanations, directions, etc in the book..It's not just a book, it's a story..one you won't want to miss.

One view of bread making, 28 Nov 2008
Although the author has a considerable reputation and the book is very good in places I found it less comprehensive than I had hoped.
I have tried 10 of the recipes since owning the book (just a couple of weeks). I have baked about 8 loaves a week for the past decade so I have a moderate amount of experience in home bread making.

I have three issues:

The recipes appear to be authentic and the explanations are clear but that does not mean you are going to like all the different kinds of bread. I found the bagels (extremely time consuming to make) a real dissapointment. They looked great but tasted nothing like any bagel I had ever tasted. To be fair the author does say this is a traditional water bagel and not a commercial bagel. But in a book that champions tasty bread I found this unimpressive. The explanations of why different ingredients effect the outcome and flavour are very good.

The author is very keen on long fermentation to improve the flavour and the are lots of two stage two day recipes. Dissapointingly I have not yet been able to detect the flavour enhancement that deserves all this extra preparation (nor has my family). I would have been happier if the book had contained more angles on bread making. I feel that the author has collected lots of lengthy recipes because he believes this is the best way to make bread. I had expected a greater variety of approaches.

And last but not least. Why only imperial measurements? What happened to metric?

This is not a book for a beginner. If you want to purchase a single book on bread making I would not recommend it. As part of a library it is a very good reference book.


Confusing, 12 Mar 2008
A great book with some excellent ideas. Major drawback is that all weights and measures are in "cups". Not an easy method to grasp when most of the world uses "mils" or "grams".

Cooking times are very ambitious, ie if I cook any of my bread for the 45 minutes stated in a lot of recipes I will end up with charcoal.

That being said, for the person who uses recipe books as a guide, and not as an instruction book, this is an excellent read.

Shame about the units, 14 Sep 2007
This book is quite informative and interesting but suffers from the drawback of having been written for a US audience only. Most of the cultural references will simply be meaningless to a british or european audience but that isnt really a problem. The problem is the units.
Being British I am just about comfortable weighing things out in pounds and ounces, though my scales being non-antique have kilograms as the larger markings. To the authors credit the recipes are weight based but those who use the volume conversions in the book may find themselves scuppered by the difference in volume between a US "cup" and those found in other countries that use the term. The biggest gripe however is that all temperatures are in Fahrenheit. I have never in my 29 years seen an oven that is calibrated in Fahrenheit outside the US. It is possible in the UK to purchase oven thermometers graded in Fahrenheit on the secondary scale but they are harder to find and the secondary scale is much harder to read without taking the thermomenter out of the oven.
It seems to me that if a publisher has any intention of releasing a book outside the US then they ought to take the trouble of changing the parochial units to ones in common use.

Excellent Content, But Poor Binding, 24 Jan 2006
The content of this book is unrivalled. It is clear, concise and interesting. The knowledge contained in it surpasses anything I have seen before. However it only gets three stars because the first time I opened the book to read it, five pages detached them selves from the binding and will need sticking in with Sellotape ! On a book costing as much as this did, it is not what I would expect. The binding looks good, but it is clearly inadequate and the book needs careful handling. This is especially unacceptable in a book that will be kept open flat while using it to make bread ! My message to the publisher is, if you are going to produce the best book there is on a subject, and charge a price commensurate with that, don't spoil the whole thing by cutting corners to save money on the binding. You've ruined what would have been the ultimate bread book.

Recipes that work!, 08 Nov 2003
After messing around with other less-than-perfect books on Bread Making (particularly the very disappointing "Rustic European Breads: From Your Bread Machine" by Eckhardt & Butts) I took the chance and ordered this book.

Like the other reviewer, I can't stress enough how great the author's simple and consistent approach to bread making is, and especially the sections on starters, making, keeping and feeding them!

I'm also often a little suspicious of American books, citing ingredients, measurements and methods which just don't seem to work, but having tried at least 50% of the recipes in this book, I'm yet to experience a failure!

This book has truly allowed me to indulge a passion which has been lurking in me for many many years. I've now been able to embody it in the creation of some truly wonderful bread!

A very easy to use book, 02 Oct 1999
This book caters for all makes of machines and all skill levels.It gives English weights for cup measurements if needed.If you only buy one book I think this is the best.

Delicious bread with little effort!, 16 Jul 1999
This was my first bread machine cookbook other than the one that came with my machine. I have tried at least 15 different recipes, and have been pleased with the majority of them. My 20 month old daughter loves the bread and I love making bread using wholesome ingredients. I found the instructions very easy, and the ingredients easy to find in the supermarket, if I didn't already have them at home. A great book for beginners as well as those with more experience.

The One I Hate to Misplace, 13 Apr 1999
I recently misplaced my copy of this bread machine cookbook. I went on the internet and went through my large collection of bread machine books (friends in doubt seem to buy me these cookbooks) to obtain a good recipe for sandwich rolls. I didn't find a recipe that measured up. Invaluable book which I rushed out to replace. It also is the one I always buy for friends when they get a bread machine. None of the other cookbooks come close.

Excellent - variety in one cook book!, 16 Feb 1999
This book is very good for the experienced or novice and ingredients are normally in the kitchen or readily available. Very helpfull since most bread machince cookbooks that come with the machine give only limited receipes. We have just recently recomended your line of Bread Cook Books to a new business selling bulk baking supplies and crafts. We enjoy the book and the receipes - the machine is still being used after two years because of the breads in this book.

So far, the recipes fail to turn out properly., 06 Jan 1999
Of the two recipes I have tried thus far (I just bought the book), neither one has turned out properly despite meticulous following of the author's instructions. The dough consistently is either too loose or too dense...I'm not the best cook, but I do know how to follow directions. Her recipe for "peasant bread" managed to burn-out the motor on my machine, so use this book at your own risk!

Absolutely foolproof recipes!, 27 Sep 2008
This is not one of the popular books that always shows up in the top sellers of the baking section (like Mary Berry or Nigella Lawson for example) and I just recently discovered it wanting to extend my baking book collection a bit ... and what a wonderful choice it was! I am SO pleased I bought it - even though it is far shorter than most of the "baking bibles" out there it is such a gem to have in your kitchen simply because everything works.

Sue Lawrence's book contains sweet and savoury recipes (about 30% are savoury ones), with precise and clear instructions making sure that they work for you. In fact, I am so impressed with it that this has become my new favourite after years of using the Leith's Baking Bible. Perhaps it just suits the individual needs of my oven so well, but I have never had a baking book so spot-on with the oven temperatures and baking times - not once have I had to adjust anything or leave it in for a little longer or cover it with foil to prevent the top burning.

Among the wonderful recipes I have tried were the asparagus and porcini mushroom parmesan tart (the only savoury one I have tried as most contain meat and I'm a vegetarian). In the sweet section, there's a chapter on tarts which includes a lovely lemon tart with a chocolate pastry - amazing! The lemon and poppy seed muffins were the most tangy and lemony I have ever eaten, having tried at least 5 other lemon - poppy seed recipes. I am new to baking with yeast but have managed to bake wonderful Chelsea buns as well as Finish cardamom buns from Sue Lawrence's book as well. I have baked about one third of the recipes and all have without exception been wonderful and am so glad to have discovered this wonderful book. If you want easy to follow, foolproof and delicious recipes, this is one of those books. I really wish Sue would write another book of baking and give her readers more of her delectable recipes.

Pure heaven!!, 15 Dec 2006
I purchased this cook book having seen Sue Lawrence on UKFood demonstrating her coca cola chocolate cake, and have been hooked ever since! There is a broad spectrum of home baking recipies - all easy to follow and all delicious! The carrot cake has become a favourite at my daughters school fete's.
This book has been borrowed by all my family and we have not had one failure yet.
Ok, it may not be "healthy" today to enjoy home baking but as sue says at least you know what is in your own home cooking and baking with your children is fun for all concerned, if a little messy.

I cannot praise this book highly enough. Also, the cola cake sounds awful but is VERY tasty!

Highly recommeded, but don't be fooled by the "healthy" chapter, 30 Oct 2006
I initially borrowed this book from the library, but when I made nine recipes in the first week it became clear I needed my own copy. Since then I've baked from it repeatedly, with delicious results every time. The book is quite broad in scope, with savoury recipes featuring as heavily as sweet ones, and almost everything is just begging to be tried (the exceptions are a couple of cloyingly sweet childhood treats - the author clearly has a sweeter tooth than I do!). My only complaint is that the "healthy" section is nothing of the sort - Ms Lawrence seems to think that the inclusion of oats in a recipe negates the unhealthiness of large quantities of butter and sugar. Still, if you accept that baking is best enjoyed in moderation, this book is hard to fault.

Highly recommend this book to all potential bakers!, 01 Nov 2004
This is an excellent and very thorough book that covers all the essential recipes that are associated with baking. With beautiful photos to accompany the text it is hard to stop yourself wanting to whip up some of the food there and then! Sue Lawrence consistently produces books of a high calibre and this is no exception. The recipes range from the traditional to the more innovative and each are accompanied with a story about the origins of the recipe or an anecdote associated with the recipe which in themselves are a joy to read. Too often i find that recipe writers simply plunk down the recipe with no introduction to it, with this author's book you come away knowing not just recipes but also their background and a bit of the author's life. If we are being honest not all of us will have time to produce every recipe in the book - as much as we would like to! - but with this book it is enough to enjoy it as a good read, standing alone from the cooking element of it.

In conclusion i would urge that people buy this book so as to rediscover the baking skills they didn't know that they had or even just to have something very comforting to read at bedtime. All in all a great book.

no wheat free or gluten free bread in here!, 04 Mar 2006
The book does not contain recipes for people with gluten or wheat allergy/intollerance; only an american free phone number to get help in getting the right information/books/help. I wasted my money and time! ps I agree: is very much for the American odeon! Degrees are in F and not in C. Very surprised to find a Pandoro recipe though!!

OK but too American, 27 Jan 2006
The recipes I chose were OK but the book is too American for easy use. You spend your whole time converting measurements and checking that the ingredients are easily available in the UK. One minute they talk about the importance of accurancy with ingredients; and then they talk about 2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast (and is that the same as dried yeast?). The recipes are also for the American market - Old Milwaukee sourdough rye bread, pumpernickel roll-up sandwich. I'm off to find a British book.

Delicious, 01 Jan 2006
The recipes in this book are really yummy and interesting. My only issue was that this book was written with an American audience in mind. This is not in itself a bad thing, but means that some measurments are difficult (butter for example does not come in handy sticks with tbsps demarkated on it this side of the atlantic and can be a bit of a pain to get in and out of a tablespoon...). Similarly things such as cans of apple pie filling, required by a few recipies are not that easily come by over here. I also found that the recipes used far to much yeast, but once I'd sorted out a few overflows, I was well on the way to delicious and interesting recipes. I especially recommend the brioche dough.

The best little bread machine cookbook, 13 Apr 2003
I live in England nine months of the year and the US the other three. I keep this cookbook with me and use it in bread machines on both sides of the Atlantic. I have never had a failure following the recipes and the bread is absolutely wonderful!

informative, 07 Oct 2008
Truly educational. A great buy if you want to learn about baking bread for home.

Not just a formula, this is food, 13 May 2007
While I have to accept that the recipes are good and work, I do not accept that you can reduce hundreds of different breads into a few 'type' recipes. One of the joys of baking at home, once you get past the basic level, is surely that a little bit of this, and a small amount of that, can make a huge (positive) difference to a bread. For those looking to really get a feel of dough and the nuances of it I recommend Joe Ortiz, for the experienced, or Linda Collister for the the not so confident. Both offer a wealth of bread recipes that while superficially similar show what a wonder bread really is.

If you want to reduce your bread baking to getting a few done well then this is the right book for you, but if you are an experimenter, and are looking for more, then this isn't.

The best how-to book for the serious baker, 07 Apr 1999
I have for my entire adult life had the ambition to bake what Peter Reinhart fittingly calls "world-class" bread, but in spite of buying and reading several books dedicated to bread and much work and experimentation, the good bread eluded me. When I saw Peter Reinhart's "Crust and Crumb" advertised, I was reluctant to buy another baking book, having resigned myself to the fact that good bread cannot be baked at home. "Crust and Crumb" got me over the hump. It made me understand the chemistry and process of bread baking, and the result is that I now bake bread which is as good as any that I have had anywhere - and I have eaten a lot of good bread, including in Italy and France. And it made me understand that in order to bake good bread, you have to take it seriously, be dedicated and take the time it takes - there are few shortcuts ("poolish" starter being one of those few) and really no compromises. "Crust and Crumb" is really the only bread baking cookbook you need. Well, maybe Joe Ortiz' "Village Baker" too.

An excellent resource for home and professional bread making, 26 Mar 1999
Chef Peter's book is great for new ideas and education in bread making. As a past student of Chef Peter, this book provides reference and supports his skill as a teacher and culinary expert!

Excellent/Great explanations, 25 Mar 1999
I received my book about 2 weeks ago, and have made 2 fairly extensive recipes in it..One I took to a dinner party, and they didn't believe I made it..I had to go home and get the book!! I've baked for years, but bread is new in the last few years..Peter gives great explanations, directions, etc in the book..It's not just a book, it's a story..one you won't want to miss.

One view of bread making, 28 Nov 2008
Although the author has a considerable reputation and the book is very good in places I found it less comprehensive than I had hoped.
I have tried 10 of the recipes since owning the book (just a couple of weeks). I have baked about 8 loaves a week for the past decade so I have a moderate amount of experience in home bread making.

I have three issues:

The recipes appear to be authentic and the explanations are clear but that does not mean you are going to like all the different kinds of bread. I found the bagels (extremely time consuming to make) a real dissapointment. They looked great but tasted nothing like any bagel I had ever tasted. To be fair the author does say this is a traditional water bagel and not a commercial bagel. But in a book that champions tasty bread I found this unimpressive. The explanations of why different ingredients effect the outcome and flavour are very good.

The author is very keen on long fermentation to improve the flavour and the are lots of two stage two day recipes. Dissapointingly I have not yet been able to detect the flavour enhancement that deserves all this extra preparation (nor has my family). I would have been happier if the book had contained more angles on bread making. I feel that the author has collected lots of lengthy recipes because he believes this is the best way to make bread. I had expected a greater variety of approaches.

And last but not least. Why only imperial measurements? What happened to metric?

This is not a book for a beginner. If you want to purchase a single book on bread making I would not recommend it. As part of a library it is a very good reference book.


Confusing, 12 Mar 2008
A great book with some excellent ideas. Major drawback is that all weights and measures are in "cups". Not an easy method to grasp when most of the world uses "mils" or "grams".

Cooking times are very ambitious, ie if I cook any of my bread for the 45 minutes stated in a lot of recipes I will end up with charcoal.

That being said, for the person who uses recipe books as a guide, and not as an instruction book, this is an excellent read.

Shame about the units, 14 Sep 2007
This book is quite informative and interesting but suffers from the drawback of having been written for a US audience only. Most of the cultural references will simply be meaningless to a british or european audience but that isnt really a problem. The problem is the units.
Being British I am just about comfortable weighing things out in pounds and ounces, though my scales being non-antique have kilograms as the larger markings. To the authors credit the recipes are weight based but those who use the volume conversions in the book may find themselves scuppered by the difference in volume between a US "cup" and those found in other countries that use the term. The biggest gripe however is that all temperatures are in Fahrenheit. I have never in my 29 years seen an oven that is calibrated in Fahrenheit outside the US. It is possible in the UK to purchase oven thermometers graded in Fahrenheit on the secondary scale but they are harder to find and the secondary scale is much harder to read without taking the thermomenter out of the oven.
It seems to me that if a publisher has any intention of releasing a book outside the US then they ought to take the trouble of changing the parochial units to ones in common use.

Excellent Content, But Poor Binding, 24 Jan 2006
The content of this book is unrivalled. It is clear, concise and interesting. The knowledge contained in it surpasses anything I have seen before. However it only gets three stars because the first time I opened the book to read it, five pages detached them selves from the binding and will need sticking in with Sellotape ! On a book costing as much as this did, it is not what I would expect. The binding looks good, but it is clearly inadequate and the book needs careful handling. This is especially unacceptable in a book that will be kept open flat while using it to make bread ! My message to the publisher is, if you are going to produce the best book there is on a subject, and charge a price commensurate with that, don't spoil the whole thing by cutting corners to save money on the binding. You've ruined what would have been the ultimate bread book.

Recipes that work!, 08 Nov 2003
After messing around with other less-than-perfect books on Bread Making (particularly the very disappointing "Rustic European Breads: From Your Bread Machine" by Eckhardt & Butts) I took the chance and ordered this book.

Like the other reviewer, I can't stress enough how great the author's simple and consistent approach to bread making is, and especially the sections on starters, making, keeping and feeding them!

I'm also often a little suspicious of American books, citing ingredients, measurements and methods which just don't seem to work, but having tried at least 50% of the recipes in this book, I'm yet to experience a failure!

This book has truly allowed me to indulge a passion which has been lurking in me for many many years. I've now been able to embody it in the creation of some truly wonderful bread!

A very easy to use book, 02 Oct 1999
This book caters for all makes of machines and all skill levels.It gives English weights for cup measurements if needed.If you only buy one book I think this is the best.

Delicious bread with little effort!, 16 Jul 1999
This was my first bread machine cookbook other than the one that came with my machine. I have tried at least 15 different recipes, and have been pleased with the majority of them. My 20 month old daughter loves the bread and I love making bread using wholesome ingredients. I found the instructions very easy, and the ingredients easy to find in the supermarket, if I didn't already have them at home. A great book for beginners as well as those with more experience.

The One I Hate to Misplace, 13 Apr 1999
I recently misplaced my copy of this bread machine cookbook. I went on the internet and went through my large collection of bread machine books (friends in doubt seem to buy me these cookbooks) to obtain a good recipe for sandwich rolls. I didn't find a recipe that measured up. Invaluable book which I rushed out to replace. It also is the one I always buy for friends when they get a bread machine. None of the other cookbooks come close.

Excellent - variety in one cook book!, 16 Feb 1999
This book is very good for the experienced or novice and ingredients are normally in the kitchen or readily available. Very helpfull since most bread machince cookbooks that come with the machine give only limited receipes. We have just recently recomended your line of Bread Cook Books to a new business selling bulk baking supplies and crafts. We enjoy the book and the receipes - the machine is still being used after two years because of the breads in this book.

So far, the recipes fail to turn out properly., 06 Jan 1999
Of the two recipes I have tried thus far (I just bought the book), neither one has turned out properly despite meticulous following of the author's instructions. The dough consistently is either too loose or too dense...I'm not the best cook, but I do know how to follow directions. Her recipe for "peasant bread" managed to burn-out the motor on my machine, so use this book at your own risk!

Absolutely foolproof recipes!, 27 Sep 2008
This is not one of the popular books that always shows up in the top sellers of the baking section (like Mary Berry or Nigella Lawson for example) and I just recently discovered it wanting to extend my baking book collection a bit ... and what a wonderful choice it was! I am SO pleased I bought it - even though it is far shorter than most of the "baking bibles" out there it is such a gem to have in your kitchen simply because everything works.

Sue Lawrence's book contains sweet and savoury recipes (about 30% are savoury ones), with precise and clear instructions making sure that they work for you. In fact, I am so impressed with it that this has become my new favourite after years of using the Leith's Baking Bible. Perhaps it just suits the individual needs of my oven so well, but I have never had a baking book so spot-on with the oven temperatures and baking times - not once have I had to adjust anything or leave it in for a little longer or cover it with foil to prevent the top burning.

Among the wonderful recipes I have tried were the asparagus and porcini mushroom parmesan tart (the only savoury one I have tried as most contain meat and I'm a vegetarian). In the sweet section, there's a chapter on tarts which includes a lovely lemon tart with a chocolate pastry - amazing! The lemon and poppy seed muffins were the most tangy and lemony I have ever eaten, having tried at least 5 other lemon - poppy seed recipes. I am new to baking with yeast but have managed to bake wonderful Chelsea buns as well as Finish cardamom buns from Sue Lawrence's book as well. I have baked about one third of the recipes and all have without exception been wonderful and am so glad to have discovered this wonderful book. If you want easy to follow, foolproof and delicious recipes, this is one of those books. I really wish Sue would write another book of baking and give her readers more of her delectable recipes.

Pure heaven!!, 15 Dec 2006
I purchased this cook book having seen Sue Lawrence on UKFood demonstrating her coca cola chocolate cake, and have been hooked ever since! There is a broad spectrum of home baking recipies - all easy to follow and all delicious! The carrot cake has become a favourite at my daughters school fete's.
This book has been borrowed by all my family and we have not had one failure yet.
Ok, it may not be "healthy" today to enjoy home baking but as sue says at least you know what is in your own home cooking and baking with your children is fun for all concerned, if a little messy.

I cannot praise this book highly enough. Also, the cola cake sounds awful but is VERY tasty!

Highly recommeded, but don't be fooled by the "healthy" chapter, 30 Oct 2006
I initially borrowed this book from the library, but when I made nine recipes in the first week it became clear I needed my own copy. Since then I've baked from it repeatedly, with delicious results every time. The book is quite broad in scope, with savoury recipes featuring as heavily as sweet ones, and almost everything is just begging to be tried (the exceptions are a couple of cloyingly sweet childhood treats - the author clearly has a sweeter tooth than I do!). My only complaint is that the "healthy" section is nothing of the sort - Ms Lawrence seems to think that the inclusion of oats in a recipe negates the unhealthiness of large quantities of butter and sugar. Still, if you accept that baking is best enjoyed in moderation, this book is hard to fault.

Highly recommend this book to all potential bakers!, 01 Nov 2004
This is an excellent and very thorough book that covers all the essential recipes that are associated with baking. With beautiful photos to accompany the text it is hard to stop yourself wanting to whip up some of the food there and then! Sue Lawrence consistently produces books of a high calibre and this is no exception. The recipes range from the traditional to the more innovative and each are accompanied with a story about the origins of the recipe or an anecdote associated with the recipe which in themselves are a joy to read. Too often i find that recipe writers simply plunk down the recipe with no introduction to it, with this author's book you come away knowing not just recipes but also their background and a bit of the author's life. If we are being honest not all of us will have time to produce every recipe in the book - as much as we would like to! - but with this book it is enough to enjoy it as a good read, standing alone from the cooking element of it.

In conclusion i would urge that people buy this book so as to rediscover the baking skills they didn't know that they had or even just to have something very comforting to read at bedtime. All in all a great book.

More about the history rather than how to build, 04 May 2008
Having read several books about the art of building wood fired ovens, I bought this one having read several reviews that gave it a real positive view. However, I was quickly disappointed by a book that is full of history and detail about ovens used in large houses of bygone ages and the detail behind the history through the ages. There is very little real detail that anyone looking to build an oven could really utilise.

It makes for interesting background reading but the detail for building is extracted from the view of how some of the old commercial/large houses built their ovens and hence is of limited scope. The detail about the build is not there if you want to construct something yourself.

Great for the background detail but not for someone wanting to build an oven for small domestic or occasional use.

A Disappointment, 28 Mar 2008
Having read reviews, searched the web for blogs, fora and sites about building a wood fired oven, I thought this book would be the keystone to hold everything together. The reviews on this book were good so I ordered it.

I found the writing style incredibly disjointed and difficult to understand. There are `plans' but again these are quite confusing. The lack of diagrams, illustrations or photographs of the finished oven make you feel pages have been missed out. It's not even a case of the book being too technical...far from it...I just find it very badly written and presented.

I gave the book to two friends who also want to make an oven but didn't tell them of my concerns...they were both very polite but asked if I knew of any other books on the subject as they both found it very heavy going... like wading through treacle.

I'm afraid a total disappointment to me. I write scientific reports and to be honest, this book will be an annoyance rather than any help. I've since learnt of another (more expensive) book that apparently is much better.

There are some very good websites out there with step by step (almost brick by brick...) guidance, info on construction ratios and with plenty of 'in-progress photos'. Save your money on this one.


Good, but slightly narrow focus on one design, 14 Aug 2006
I really liked this book.

It has a lot of material which isn't available elsewhere. I found, however, that it was very good in terms of how to build a particular design of oven, but didn't give much detail on other designs. That's fair enough I guess, because the book does 'what it says on the box' but users will probably want to buy another book or two.



An excellent step by stephistory and guide for non-builders., 21 Feb 2002
For those who have the dough between their fingures, and an ambition to create something special rather than a loaf in a tin from the fan oven, this must be the simplest "how to" book available. Easy to read, with very clear diagrams, equipment lists, and materials, I cannot wait for the spring to come, and the weather to clear so that I can get going and build! The book is precise but encouraging rather than school-teacherish, and is the right size to fit in the pocket of your over-alls as you pour concrete, and lay bricks.

The building instructions are however enlivened by Tom's knowledge of history, and his use of references to and illustrations of various baking styles and methods over the last 1000 year. This helps to put his design into its proper context, and with a suggested recipe, alongside the firing proposal its a complete guide to an ancient art!

I have yet to decide whether to go classical, rustic, gothic or Turkish in the final finishing florish - spires and chimneys have a certain attraction ! But Tom provides drawings for most eventualities.

no wheat free or gluten free bread in here!, 04 Mar 2006
The book does not contain recipes for people with gluten or wheat allergy/intollerance; only an american free phone number to get help in getting the right information/books/help. I wasted my money and time! ps I agree: is very much for the American odeon! Degrees are in F and not in C. Very surprised to find a Pandoro recipe though!!

OK but too American, 27 Jan 2006
The recipes I chose were OK but the book is too American for easy use. You spend your whole time converting measurements and checking that the ingredients are easily available in the UK. One minute they talk about the importance of accurancy with ingredients; and then they talk about 2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast (and is that the same as dried yeast?). The recipes are also for the American market - Old Milwaukee sourdough rye bread, pumpernickel roll-up sandwich. I'm off to find a British book.

Delicious, 01 Jan 2006
The recipes in this book are really yummy and interesting. My only issue was that this book was written with an American audience in mind. This is not in itself a bad thing, but means that some measurments are difficult (butter for example does not come in handy sticks with tbsps demarkated on it this side of the atlantic and can be a bit of a pain to get in and out of a tablespoon...). Similarly things such as cans of apple pie filling, required by a few recipies are not that easily come by over here. I also found that the recipes used far to much yeast, but once I'd sorted out a few overflows, I was well on the way to delicious and interesting recipes. I especially recommend the brioche dough.

The best little bread machine cookbook, 13 Apr 2003
I live in England nine months of the year and the US the other three. I keep this cookbook with me and use it in bread machines on both sides of the Atlantic. I have never had a failure following the recipes and the bread is absolutely wonderful!

informative, 07 Oct 2008
Truly educational. A great buy if you want to learn about baking bread for home.

Not just a formula, this is food, 13 May 2007
While I have to accept that the recipes are good and work, I do not accept that you can reduce hundreds of different breads into a few 'type' recipes. One of the joys of baking at home, once you get past the basic level, is surely that a little bit of this, and a small amount of that, can make a huge (positive) difference to a bread. For those looking to really get a feel of dough and the nuances of it I recommend Joe Ortiz, for the experienced, or Linda Collister for the the not so confident. Both offer a wealth of bread recipes that while superficially similar show what a wonder bread really is.

If you want to reduce your bread baking to getting a few done well then this is the right book for you, but if you are an experimenter, and are looking for more, then this isn't.

The best how-to book for the serious baker, 07 Apr 1999
I have for my entire adult life had the ambition to bake what Peter Reinhart fittingly calls "world-class" bread, but in spite of buying and reading several books dedicated to bread and much work and experimentation, the good bread eluded me. When I saw Peter Reinhart's "Crust and Crumb" advertised, I was reluctant to buy another baking book, having resigned myself to the fact that good bread cannot be baked at home. "Crust and Crumb" got me over the hump. It made me understand the chemistry and process of bread baking, and the result is that I now bake bread which is as good as any that I have had anywhere - and I have eaten a lot of good bread, including in Italy and France. And it made me understand that in order to bake good bread, you have to take it seriously, be dedicated and take the time it takes - there are few shortcuts ("poolish" starter being one of those few) and really no compromises. "Crust and Crumb" is really the only bread baking cookbook you need. Well, maybe Joe Ortiz' "Village Baker" too.

An excellent resource for home and professional bread making, 26 Mar 1999
Chef Peter's book is great for new ideas and education in bread making. As a past student of Chef Peter, this book provides reference and supports his skill as a teacher and culinary expert!

Excellent/Great explanations, 25 Mar 1999
I received my book about 2 weeks ago, and have made 2 fairly extensive recipes in it..One I took to a dinner party, and they didn't believe I made it..I had to go home and get the book!! I've baked for years, but bread is new in the last few years..Peter gives great explanations, directions, etc in the book..It's not just a book, it's a story..one you won't want to miss.

One view of bread making, 28 Nov 2008
Although the author has a considerable reputation and the book is very good in places I found it less comprehensive than I had hoped.
I have tried 10 of the recipes since owning the book (just a couple of weeks). I have baked about 8 loaves a week for the past decade so I have a moderate amount of experience in home bread making.

I have three issues:

The recipes appear to be authentic and the explanations are clear but that does not mean you are going to like all the different kinds of bread. I found the bagels (extremely time consuming to make) a real dissapointment. They looked great but tasted nothing like any bagel I had ever tasted. To be fair the author does say this is a traditional water bagel and not a commercial bagel. But in a book that champions tasty bread I found this unimpressive. The explanations of why different ingredients effect the outcome and flavour are very good.

The author is very keen on long fermentation to improve the flavour and the are lots of two stage two day recipes. Dissapointingly I have not yet been able to detect the flavour enhancement that deserves all this extra preparation (nor has my family). I would have been happier if the book had contained more angles on bread making. I feel that the author has collected lots of lengthy recipes because he believes this is the best way to make bread. I had expected a greater variety of approaches.

And last but not least. Why only imperial measurements? What happened to metric?

This is not a book for a beginner. If you want to purchase a single book on bread making I would not recommend it. As part of a library it is a very good reference book.


Confusing, 12 Mar 2008
A great book with some excellent ideas. Major drawback is that all weights and measures are in "cups". Not an easy method to grasp when most of the world uses "mils" or "grams".

Cooking times are very ambitious, ie if I cook any of my bread for the 45 minutes stated in a lot of recipes I will end up with charcoal.

That being said, for the person who uses recipe books as a guide, and not as an instruction book, this is an excellent read.

Shame about the units, 14 Sep 2007
This book is quite informative and interesting but suffers from the drawback of having been written for a US audience only. Most of the cultural references will simply be meaningless to a british or european audience but that isnt really a problem. The problem is the units.
Being British I am just about comfortable weighing things out in pounds and ounces, though my scales being non-antique have kilograms as the larger markings. To the authors credit the recipes are weight based but those who use the volume conversions in the book may find themselves scuppered by the difference in volume between a US "cup" and those found in other countries that use the term. The biggest gripe however is that all temperatures are in Fahrenheit. I have never in my 29 years seen an oven that is calibrated in Fahrenheit outside the US. It is possible in the UK to purchase oven thermometers graded in Fahrenheit on the secondary scale but they are harder to find and the secondary scale is much harder to read without taking the thermomenter out of the oven.
It seems to me that if a publisher has any intention of releasing a book outside the US then they ought to take the trouble of changing the parochial units to ones in common use.

Excellent Content, But Poor Binding, 24 Jan 2006
The content of this book is unrivalled. It is clear, concise and interesting. The knowledge contained in it surpasses anything I have seen before. However it only gets three stars because the first time I opened the book to read it, five pages detached them selves from the binding and will need sticking in with Sellotape ! On a book costing as much as this did, it is not what I would expect. The binding looks good, but it is clearly inadequate and the book needs careful handling. This is especially unacceptable in a book that will be kept open flat while using it to make bread ! My message to the publisher is, if you are going to produce the best book there is on a subject, and charge a price commensurate with that, don't spoil the whole thing by cutting corners to save money on the binding. You've ruined what would have been the ultimate bread book.

Recipes that work!, 08 Nov 2003
After messing around with other less-than-perfect books on Bread Making (particularly the very disappointing "Rustic European Breads: From Your Bread Machine" by Eckhardt & Butts) I took the chance and ordered this book.

Like the other reviewer, I can't stress enough how great the author's simple and consistent approach to bread making is, and especially the sections on starters, making, keeping and feeding them!

I'm also often a little suspicious of American books, citing ingredients, measurements and methods which just don't seem to work, but having tried at least 50% of the recipes in this book, I'm yet to experience a failure!

This book has truly allowed me to indulge a passion which has been lurking in me for many many years. I've now been able to embody it in the creation of some truly wonderful bread!

A very easy to use book, 02 Oct 1999
This book caters for all makes of machines and all skill levels.It gives English weights for cup measurements if needed.If you only buy one book I think this is the best.

Delicious bread with little effort!, 16 Jul 1999
This was my first bread machine cookbook other than the one that came with my machine. I have tried at least 15 different recipes, and have been pleased with the majority of them. My 20 month old daughter loves the bread and I love making bread using wholesome ingredients. I found the instructions very easy, and the ingredients easy to find in the supermarket, if I didn't already have them at home. A great book for beginners as well as those with more experience.

The One I Hate to Misplace, 13 Apr 1999
I recently misplaced my copy of this bread machine cookbook. I went on the internet and went through my large collection of bread machine books (friends in doubt seem to buy me these cookbooks) to obtain a good recipe for sandwich rolls. I didn't find a recipe that measured up. Invaluable book which I rushed out to replace. It also is the one I always buy for friends when they get a bread machine. None of the other cookbooks come close.

Excellent - variety in one cook book!, 16 Feb 1999
This book is very good for the experienced or novice and ingredients are normally in the kitchen or readily available. Very helpfull since most bread machince cookbooks that come with the machine give only limited receipes. We have just recently recomended your line of Bread Cook Books to a new business selling bulk baking supplies and crafts. We enjoy the book and the receipes - the machine is still being used after two years because of the breads in this book.

So far, the recipes fail to turn out properly., 06 Jan 1999
Of the two recipes I have tried thus far (I just bought the book), neither one has turned out properly despite meticulous following of the author's instructions. The dough consistently is either too loose or too dense...I'm not the best cook, but I do know how to follow directions. Her recipe for "peasant bread" managed to burn-out the motor on my machine, so use this book at your own risk!

Absolutely foolproof recipes!, 27 Sep 2008
This is not one of the popular books that always shows up in the top sellers of the baking section (like Mary Berry or Nigella Lawson for example) and I just recently discovered it wanting to extend my baking book collection a bit ... and what a wonderful choice it was! I am SO pleased I bought it - even though it is far shorter than most of the "baking bibles" out there it is such a gem to have in your kitchen simply because everything works.

Sue Lawrence's book contains sweet and savoury recipes (about 30% are savoury ones), with precise and clear instructions making sure that they work for you. In fact, I am so impressed with it that this has become my new favourite after years of using the Leith's Baking Bible. Perhaps it just suits the individual needs of my oven so well, but I have never had a baking book so spot-on with the oven temperatures and baking times - not once have I had to adjust anything or leave it in for a little longer or cover it with foil to prevent the top burning.

Among the wonderful recipes I have tried were the asparagus and porcini mushroom parmesan tart (the only savoury one I have tried as most contain meat and I'm a vegetarian). In the sweet section, there's a chapter on tarts which includes a lovely lemon tart with a chocolate pastry - amazing! The lemon and poppy seed muffins were the most tangy and lemony I have ever eaten, having tried at least 5 other lemon - poppy seed recipes. I am new to baking with yeast but have managed to bake wonderful Chelsea buns as well as Finish cardamom buns from Sue Lawrence's book as well. I have baked about one third of the recipes and all have without exception been wonderful and am so glad to have discovered this wonderful book. If you want easy to follow, foolproof and delicious recipes, this is one of those books. I really wish Sue would write another book of baking and give her readers more of her delectable recipes.

Pure heaven!!, 15 Dec 2006
I purchased this cook book having seen Sue Lawrence on UKFood demonstrating her coca cola chocolate cake, and have been hooked ever since! There is a broad spectrum of home baking recipies - all easy to follow and all delicious! The carrot cake has become a favourite at my daughters school fete's.
This book has been borrowed by all my family and we have not had one failure yet.
Ok, it may not be "healthy" today to enjoy home baking but as sue says at least you know what is in your own home cooking and baking with your children is fun for all concerned, if a little messy.

I cannot praise this book highly enough. Also, the cola cake sounds awful but is VERY tasty!

Highly recommeded, but don't be fooled by the "healthy" chapter, 30 Oct 2006
I initially borrowed this book from the library, but when I made nine recipes in the first week it became clear I needed my own copy. Since then I've baked from it repeatedly, with delicious results every time. The book is quite broad in scope, with savoury recipes featuring as heavily as sweet ones, and almost everything is just begging to be tried (the exceptions are a couple of cloyingly sweet childhood treats - the author clearly has a sweeter tooth than I do!). My only complaint is that the "healthy" section is nothing of the sort - Ms Lawrence seems to think that the inclusion of oats in a recipe negates the unhealthiness of large quantities of butter and sugar. Still, if you accept that baking is best enjoyed in moderation, this book is hard to fault.

Highly recommend this book to all potential bakers!, 01 Nov 2004
This is an excellent and very thorough book that covers all the essential recipes that are associated with baking. With beautiful photos to accompany the text it is hard to stop yourself wanting to whip up some of the food there and then! Sue Lawrence consistently produces books of a high calibre and this is no exception. The recipes range from the traditional to the more innovative and each are accompanied with a story about the origins of the recipe or an anecdote associated with the recipe which in themselves are a joy to read. Too often i find that recipe writers simply plunk down the recipe with no introduction to it, with this author's book you come away knowing not just recipes but also their background and a bit of the author's life. If we are being honest not all of us will have time to produce every recipe in the book - as much as we would like to! - but with this book it is enough to enjoy it as a good read, standing alone from the cooking element of it.

In conclusion i would urge that people buy this book so as to rediscover the baking skills they didn't know that they had or even just to have something very comforting to read at bedtime. All in all a great book.

More about the history rather than how to build, 04 May 2008
Having read several books about the art of building wood fired ovens, I bought this one having read several reviews that gave it a real positive view. However, I was quickly disappointed by a book that is full of history and detail about ovens used in large houses of bygone ages and the detail behind the history through the ages. There is very little real detail that anyone looking to build an oven could really utilise.

It makes for interesting background reading but the detail for building is extracted from the view of how some of the old commercial/large houses built their ovens and hence is of limited scope. The detail about the build is not there if you wa