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The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking Hardcover – October 22, 2013

by Jeff Hertzberg M.D. (Author), Zoë François (Author), Stephen Scott Gross (Photographer)

4.7 3,854 ratings

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The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day is a fully revised and updated edition of the bestselling, ground-breaking, and revolutionary approach to bread-making--a perfect gift for foodies and bakers!

With more than half a million copies of their books in print, Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François have proven that people want to bake their own bread, so long as they can do it easily and quickly. Based on fan feedback, Jeff and Zoë have completely revamped their first, most popular, and now-classic book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

Responding to their thousands of ardent fans, Jeff and Zoë returned to their test kitchens to whip up more delicious baking recipes. They've also included a gluten-free chapter, forty all-new gorgeous color photos, and one hundred informative black-and-white how-to photos. They've made the "Tips and Techniques" and "Ingredients" chapters bigger and better than ever before, and included readers' Frequently Asked Questions.

This revised edition also includes more than thirty brand-new recipes for Beer-Cheese Bread, Crock-Pot Bread, Panini, Pretzel Buns, Apple-Stuffed French Toast, and many more. There's nothing like the smell of freshly baked bread to fill a kitchen with warmth, eager appetites, and endless praise. Now, using Jeff and Zoë's innovative technique, you can create bread that rivals those of the finest bakers in the world in just five minutes of active preparation time.

From the Publisher

New Artisan Bread Jeff Hertzberg Zoë François

WARNING: California’s Proposition 65

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Every step of Zoë and Jeff's adventures in bread has been fascinating and delicious for us, the home bread bakers who follow them, but this book might be their most exciting yet because they've incorporated years of readers' questions, problems, and discoveries into every chapter. This is truly the all-you've-ever-wanted-to-know edition. And there are plenty of photographs … at last!” ―Dorie Greenspan, James Beard Award-winning author of Around My French Table and owner of Beurre & Sel cookies

“A fun, easy-to-follow collection for those who aren't afraid to shun baking traditions.” ―Publishers Weekly

“With this revised edition, Herzberg and François continue to perfect their already easy and immensely popular bread-baking method. Essential.” ―Library Journal

About the Author

Jeff Hertzberg, M.D. grew up eating great bread and pizza in New York City. He continues to teach the importance of moderation and variety in a healthy diet, and works as a medical director and consultant focusing on health-improvement programs. During his medical residency, he started a years-long quest to figure out how to make dough that was convenient enough to use every day. He turned an obsession with bread and pizza into a second career as a cookbook author.

Zoë François is a pastry chef and baker trained at the Culinary Institute of America. With Jeff Hertzberg, M.D., she is the author of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, and Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day. In addition to co-authoring the Bread in Five Minutes series, Zoë hosts her own TV series, Zoë Bakes, on the Magnolia Network and has written a solo cookbook, Zoë Bakes Cake. Passionate about food that is real, healthy and always delicious, François teaches baking and pastry courses nationally, is a consultant to the food industry, and creates artful desserts and custom wedding cakes. She also writes the recipe blog Zoë Bakes. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her husband and two sons.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The New Artisan Bread

The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking

By Jeff Hertzberg, Zoë François

St. Martin's Press

Copyright © 2013 Jeff Hertzberg
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-250-01828-1
1

INTRODUCTION

Making Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: Refrigerating Pre-Mixed Homemade Dough
Like most kids, Jeff and his brother loved sweets, so dessert was their favorite time of day. They’d sit in the kitchen, devouring frosted supermarket doughnuts.
“Those are too sweet,” Grandmother would say. “Me, I’d rather have a piece of good rye bread, with cheese on it.”
Munch, munch, munch. Their mouths were full; the boys could not respond.
“It’s better than cake,” she’d say.
There’s a certain solidarity among kids gorging on sweets, but secretly, Jeff knew she was right. He could finish half a loaf of very fresh, very crisp rye bread by himself, with or without butter (unlike Grandma, Jeff considered cheese to be a distraction from perfect rye bread). The right stuff came from a little bakery on Horace Harding Boulevard in Queens. The shop itself was nondescript, but the breads were Eastern European masterpieces. The crusts were crisp, thin, and caramelized brown. The interior crumb was moist and chewy, but never gummy, and bursting with tangy yeast, rye, and wheat flavors. It made great toast, too—and yes, it was better than cake.
The handmade bread was available all over New York City, and it wasn’t a rarefied delicacy. Everyone knew what it was and took it for granted. It was not a stylish addition to affluent lifestyles; it was a simple comfort food brought here by modest immigrants.
But over the years people lost interest in making a second stop just for bread, and the shops mostly faded away. Great breads, handmade by artisans, were still available, but they’d become part of the serious (and seriously expensive) food phenomenon that had swept the country. The bread bakery was no longer on every corner—now it was a destination. And nobody’s grandmother would ever have paid six dollars for a loaf of bread.
So we decided to do something about it. Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day is our attempt to help people re-create the great ethnic and American breads of years past, in their own homes, without investing serious time in the process. Using our straightforward, fast, and easy recipes, anyone will be able to create artisan bread and pastries at home with minimal equipment. But who has time to make bread every day?
After years of experimentation, it turns out that we do, and with a method as fast as ours, you can, too. We solved the time problem and produced top-quality artisan loaves without a bread machine. We worked out the master recipes during busy years of career transition and starting families (our kids now delight in the pleasures of home-baked bread). Our lightning-fast method lets us find the time to bake great bread every day. We developed this method to recapture the daily artisan-bread experience without further crunching our limited time—and it works.
Traditional breads made the old-fashioned way need a lot of attention, especially if you want to use a “starter” for that natural, tangy taste. Starters need to be cared for, with water and flour replenished on a schedule. Dough must be kneaded until resilient, set to rise, punched down, allowed to rise again. There are boards and pans and utensils galore to be washed, some of which can’t go into the dishwasher. Very few busy people can go through this every day, if ever. Even if your friends are all food fanatics, when was the last time you had homemade bread at a dinner party?
What about bread machines? The machines solved the time problem and turn out uniformly decent loaves, but unfortunately, the crust is soft and dull flavored, and without tangy flavor in the crumb (the bread’s soft interior), unless you use and maintain time-consuming sourdough starter.
So we went to work. Over the years, we figured out how to subtract the various steps that make the classic technique so time-consuming, and identified a few that couldn’t be omitted. It all came down to one fortuitous discovery:
Pre-mixed, pre-risen, high-moisture dough keeps well in the refrigerator.
This is the linchpin of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. By pre-mixing high-moisture dough (without kneading) and then storing it, daily bread baking becomes an easy activity; the only steps you do every day are shaping and baking. Other books have considered refrigerating dough, but only for a few days. Still others have omitted the kneading step. But none has tested the capacity of wet dough to be long-lived in your refrigerator. As our high-moisture dough ages, it takes on sourdough notes reminiscent of the great European and American natural starters. When dough is mixed with adequate water (this dough is wetter than most you may have worked with), it can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two weeks (enriched or heavy doughs can’t go that long but can be frozen instead). And kneading this kind of dough adds little to the overall product; you just don’t have to do it. In fact, over-handling stored dough can limit the volume and rise that you get with our method. That, in a nutshell, is how you make artisan breads with only five minutes a day of active effort.
Wetter is better: The wetter dough, as you’ll see, is fairly slack, and offers less resistance to yeast’s expanding carbon dioxide bubbles. So, despite not being replenished with fresh flour and water like a proper sourdough starter, there is still adequate rise, especially in the oven.
A one- or two-week supply of dough is made in advance and stored in the refrigerator. Measuring and mixing the large batch of dough takes less than fifteen minutes. Kneading, as we’ve said, is not necessary. Every day, cut off a hunk of dough from the storage container and briefly shape it without kneading. Allow it to rest briefly on the counter and then toss it in the oven. We don’t count the rest time (twenty minutes or more depending on the recipe) or baking time (usually about thirty minutes) in our five-minute-a-day calculation, since you can be doing something else while that’s happening. If you bake after dinner, the bread will stay fresh for use the next day (higher-moisture breads stay fresh longer), but the method is so convenient that you probably will find you can cut off some dough and bake a loaf every morning before your day starts (especially if you make flatbreads like pita). If you want to have one thing you do every day that is simply perfect, this is it.
Using high-moisture, pre-mixed, pre-risen dough makes most of the difficult, time-consuming, and demanding steps in traditional bread baking completely superfluous:
1. You don’t need to make fresh dough every day to have fresh bread every day: Stored dough makes wonderful fresh loaves. Only the shaping and baking steps are done daily, the rest has been done in advance.
2. You don’t need a “sponge” or “starter”: Traditional sourdough recipes require that you keep flour-water mixtures bubbling along in your refrigerator, with careful attention and replenishment. By storing the dough over two weeks, a subtle sourdough character gradually develops in our breads without the need to maintain sponges or starters in the refrigerator. With our dough-storage approach, your first loaf is not exactly the same as the last. Its flavor will become more complex as the dough ages. Some of our readers like to stagger their batches so they are always baking with dough that has aged at least a few days—we love that strategy.
3. It doesn’t matter how you mix the dry and wet ingredients together: So long as the mixture is uniform, without any dry lumps of flour, it makes no difference whether you use a spoon, Danish dough whisk (here), a heavy-duty stand mixer, or a high-capacity food processor. Choose based on your own convenience.
What We Don’t Have to Do: Steps from Traditional Artisan Baking That We Omitted
1. Mix a new batch of dough every time we want to make bread
2. “Proof” yeast
3. Knead dough
4. Rest and rise the loaves in a draft-free location—it doesn’t matter
5. Fuss over doubling or tripling of dough volume
6. Punch down and re-rise: Never punch down stored dough
7. Poke rising loaves to be sure they’ve “proofed” by leaving indentations
Now you know why it only takes five minutes a day, not including resting and baking time.
4. You don’t need to “proof” yeast: Traditional recipes require that yeast be dissolved in water with a little sugar and allowed to sit for five minutes to prove that bubbles can form and the yeast is alive. But modern yeast simply doesn’t fail if used before its expiration date and the baker remembers to use lukewarm, not hot water. The high water content in our doughs further ensures that the yeast will fully hydrate and activate without a proofing step. Further storage gives it plenty of time to ferment the dough—our approach doesn’t need the head start.
5. It isn’t kneaded: The dough can be mixed and stored in the same lidded container. No wooden board is required. There should be only one vessel to wash, plus a spoon (or a mixer). You’ll never tell the difference between breads made with kneaded and unkneaded high-moisture dough, so long as you mix to a basically uniform consistency. In our method, a very quick “cloaking and shaping” step substitutes for kneading (see Chapter 5, Step 5).
Start a morning batch before work, bake the first loaf before dinner: Here’s a convenient way to get fresh bread on the table for dinner. Mix up a full batch of dough before breakfast and store it in the refrigerator. The lukewarm water you used to mix the dough will provide enough heat to allow the yeast to do its thing over the eight hours until you’re home. When you walk in the door, cloak and shape the loaf and give it a quick rest, then bake as usual. Small loaves, and especially flatbreads, can be on the table in twenty minutes or less. You can do the same thing with an after-dinner start on the dough—it’s ready the next morning.
6. It’s hard to over-rise high-moisture stored dough: Remember that you’re storing it anyway. Assuming you start with lukewarm (not cold) water, you’ll see a brisk initial rise at room temperature over two hours (don’t punch down); then the risen dough is refrigerated for use over the next week or two. But rising longer (even as long as eight hours) won’t be harmful; there’s lots of leeway in the initial rise time. The exception is dough made with eggs or dairy, which should complete its rising in the refrigerator if it goes beyond two hours.
Given these simple principles, anyone can make artisan bread at home. We’ll talk about what you’ll need in Chapters 2 (Ingredients) and 3 (Equipment). You don’t need a professional baker’s kitchen. In Chapter 4, you’ll learn the tips and techniques that have taken us years to accumulate. Then, in Chapter 5 (The Master Recipe), we’ll lay out the basics of our method, applying them to a simple white dough and several delicious variations. Chapter 5’s master recipe is the model for the rest of our recipes. We suggest you read it carefully and bake it first before trying anything else. You won’t regret it. And if you want more information, we’re on the Web at BreadIn5.com, where you’ll find instructional text, photographs, videos, and a community of other five-minute bakers. Other easy ways to keep in touch: follow us on Twitter at Twitter.com/ArtisanBreadIn5, on Facebook at Facebook.com/BreadIn5, on Pinterest at Pinterest.com/BreadIn5, or on our YouTube channel, YouTube.com/BreadIn5.
Visit BreadIn5.com, where you’ll find recipes, photos, videos, and instructional material.

Copyright © 2013 by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François

(Continues...)Excerpted from The New Artisan Bread by Jeff Hertzberg, Zoë François. Copyright © 2013 Jeff Hertzberg. Excerpted by permission of St. Martin's Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thomas Dunne Books; Second Edition, Revised (October 22, 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1250018285
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250018281
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8 x 1.4 x 9.65 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #41,688 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #51 in Christmas Cooking
- #89 in Bread Baking (Books)
- #301 in Quick & Easy Cooking (Books)

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4.7 3,854 ratings

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Jeff Hertzberg
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You might think a doctor makes an unlikely cookbook author. But careers take interesting twists and turns--after a few years in medical practice, I trained in medical computer science, and established a consulting practice, helping develop computer systems to track and improve the health of people with chronic diseases. As my own boss, I had time to spend with my young children. Making my own time also let me indulge my obsession with food, baking, and recipes. I'd come to Minneapolis in 1987 for a medical residency, and it's a great town, but in 1987, the artisan bread revolution hadn't hit. I pined for the great European and ethnic breads I'd grown up with in New York City. So my wife, a talented college co-op baker, taught me the traditional bread-baking method, and I was hooked. I read everything that had ever been written about bread baking and fantasized about building a backyard brick oven.
Working 100-hour weeks, I didn't really have time for a new hobby. So I started tinkering and experimenting, and found that dough can be stored for much longer than traditional books recommend, so long as it's mixed very wet--and having the dough pre-mixed and ready to go is what saves time for busy people. Baking professionals might say that a high level of "hydration" allows for a very long "ritard" phase under refrigeration. But then, most professionals wouldn't be willing to try storing mixed dough in the fridge for two weeks.
Except for chef Zoë François, whom I met in our kids' music class. I told her about a fluke experience I'd had in 2000--calling in to Lynne Rossetto Kasper's The Splendid Table radio show, and asking how an amateur like me might get a cookbook into print--a bread cookbook that promised artisan bread in five minutes a day. An editor was listening and had requested a book proposal, but I never did it--my wife and I'd gotten too busy with our second daughter. This wonderful offbeat opportunity never would have amounted to anything without the blessing of a chance meeting. Zoë was more of an adventurer than her peers, so we got busy on a proposal, and ultimately, the manuscript for Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.
Artisan Bread sold out within days during the busy Holiday season of 2007. With great reviews and the strong support we provide at the Artisan Bread website, we did well enough to garner a second book offer. Our readers had asked us for whole grain and gluten-free versions of our method, so that's what we wrote. Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day has been a joy for me, in part because it let me continue to contribute to preventive health.
Not to mention letting me continue to bake bread twice a day.
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Zoe Francois
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I am Zoë François and I love to bake. I am a professional pastry chef, recipe consultant, cookbook author, food photographer, host of Zoë Bakes on Magnolia Network and a celebrated baking instructor. The best-selling cookbook series Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, which I co-authored has taught nearly 1 million people to bake bread. My first solo cookbook, Zoë Bakes Cakes, was published in March 2021 and I’m currently working on Zoë Bakes Cookies, set to be published in 2024.
I live in Minneapolis with my husband, Graham, our two sons, and two spoiled poodles!
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Customers find the recipes in the book easy to follow and understand. They appreciate the helpful details and advice provided in the book, which provides great bread quality. The process is hands-off and produces fresh baked bread with a crisp crust and crumb similar to good bakery artisan bread. The results are outstanding and perfect. The book makes the method faster, easier, and consistent. The writing style is clear and practical, providing practical instructions and recommendations.

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Taste Ease of follow Information quality Bread quality Results Bread making speed Writing style Value for money

474 customers mention "Taste"458 positive16 negative

Customers enjoy the bread recipes in the book. They find the breads tasty and easy to make, with a great crust and crumb. The recipes are simple to understand and involve stretching dough on a floured surface. There are many options for the dough, so even a toddler can easily whip up some dough while he eats lunch.

"...It will also allow you to practice skills like shaping, slashing, using a pizza peal etc.. It is also a good way to let your creativity run wild...." Read more

"...Also, it's notable that the book includes recipes and ideas that go beyond the breads, such as spreads, sandwiches, and even a Moroccan-Style..." Read more

"...The secret to the book's popularity is not just the excellent recipes, but the carefully thought out no-knead method using high moisture dough...." Read more

"...That said, if you have the time, I think this is a foolproof recipe that is easily worth the money for the expertise..." Read more

411 customers mention "Ease of follow"382 positive29 negative

Customers find the book's basic recipe easy to follow. They appreciate the quick and simple approach to making fresh bread, with minimal cleanup and minimal cost. The index is well-organized and easy to use. The breads have a wonderful crunchy crust and are soft and delicious inside.

"...The recipes in this book are easy to follow, easy to make and have great results...." Read more

"...bread recipes; it's an entire cookbook with a well-planned and easy to use index...." Read more

"...The method is simple: You mix four ingredients (yeast, warm water, salt and flour) in a large bowl or plastic container, let it rise for two hours..." Read more

"...This bread recipe is easy to follow..." Read more

143 customers mention "Information quality"143 positive0 negative

Customers find the book provides helpful information on bread making processes and methods. They appreciate the advice provided based on common questions. The book clearly details everything needed, including ingredients and techniques. It keeps their minds open to new ideas.

"...It will also allow you to practice skills like shaping, slashing, using a pizza peal etc.. It is also a good way to let your creativity run wild...." Read more

"...It simply and clearly details everything you need--the ingredients to buy, the skills you need to develop, tools to buy, etc.--in order to make..." Read more

"Beautiful pictures, great information, interesting recipes. Yummy breads and worth the purchase!" Read more

"...master recipe is pretty straightforward, but it also has a bunch of tips and techniques that seem useful as well, so I think it's definitely worth..." Read more

99 customers mention "Bread quality"85 positive14 negative

Customers enjoy the bread quality. They say it's fresh, with a crispy crust and good cell structure. The recipes are easy to follow, similar to good bakery artisan bread. They mention their favorite is the Buttermilk Loaf Bread.

"...It will also allow you to practice skills like shaping, slashing, using a pizza peal etc.. It is also a good way to let your creativity run wild...." Read more

"...the master dough recipe the most, but there are enriched doughs, olive oil doughs, and others, and tons of recipes for both breads and for dishes..." Read more

"...But it really does "spring" in the oven and develop a crisp, nutty crust and an open crumb...." Read more

"...Fresh artisan bread is a necessary part of the ultimate home chef's dining experience, and with it suddenly a complete $200 ($150+tax+tip) restaurant..." Read more

97 customers mention "Results"91 positive6 negative

Customers find the book's recipes easy to follow and produce great results. They appreciate the straightforward techniques and minimal ingredients required for fresh baked bread. The authors have refined and improved their processes, providing a clear purpose for the end product. The recipes work well, with beautiful loaves and an overnight rising method that works properly.

"...The recipes in this book are easy to follow, easy to make and have great results...." Read more

"...popularity is not just the excellent recipes, but the carefully thought out no-knead method using high moisture dough...." Read more

"It seems to work pretty well...." Read more

"...I do appreciate the narrative style - the why as to how things work and how they should work...." Read more

82 customers mention "Bread making speed"82 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's bread-making method easy and fast. They mention it makes the method even faster, easier, and with more consistent results. The prep work to get the dough ready and waiting in the refrigerator is minimal. They also mention that you can make your bread dough in advance and store it in the refrigerator. The book gets them baking right away and teaches some of the things that will make.

"...But you might like it because you can make good bread fast. This book has paid for itself already (and I haven't had it that long!)...." Read more

"...There's no required rest and no oven to preheat for this one, making it the fastest bread in the book. Just one final point...." Read more

"...is a secret most professional chefs already know: You can make your bread dough in advance and store it in the refrigerator, and it actually gains..." Read more

"The reason I purchased this book is I wanted a simple, quick way to make bread...." Read more

79 customers mention "Writing style"68 positive11 negative

Customers find the book's writing style clear and easy to understand. They appreciate the practical instructions and recommendations in a straightforward, simple way. The techniques are described clearly and are well-laid out. Readers also mention that the authors have refined their processes and improved them.

"...of no-knead bread recipes; it's an entire cookbook with a well-planned and easy to use index...." Read more

"...The book is well written, well organized and attractively laid out with photos and info boxes with additional information engagingly presented...." Read more

"...Now I know why, this is it. Easy read, complete "tips & technics" section explaining any and all instructions that may be included in the recipes in..." Read more

"...The book is contains well-written interesting narrative, descriptive easy-to-follow instructions, and is a pleasure to read...." Read more

67 customers mention "Value for money"56 positive11 negative

Customers find the book provides good value for money. They say it's worth the money, costing pennies to make, and is super easy. The approach saves them tons of time, keeping it simple and basic with no strange ingredients. They describe it as the ultimate lazy man's way to making bread.

"...carving out the requisite daily five minutes for this delicious, inexpensive, and nutritional bread...." Read more

"...a two-hour rise probably because they want to keep it simple, nonfussy and accessible; longer rises necessitate more lead time and planning...." Read more

"...time, I think this is a foolproof recipe that is easily worth the money for the expertise..." Read more

"...Yummy breads and worth the purchase!" Read more

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Maria R. Zavada
Wonderful book for beginners and busy people who love good bread
Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2014
Verified Purchase

Who knew it could be this easy to make amazing bread? The recipes in this book are easy to follow, easy to make and have great results.

I have made many batches of the master recipe, the Vermont Cheddar bread, the rye bread and the brioche. The master recipe is an extremely versatile recipe. I have used it to make pizza, hamburger buns, rolls, flat bread, stuffed buns, and many other kinds of sweet and savory bread. For example I have added cinnamon, walnuts and dried fruit to the master recipe, I've added nutella (which is awesome--you just roll out the dough then spread Nutella on it roll it up, shape and bake), I've done peanut butter and chocolate chips, chunks of cheese and herbs. You could pretty much add anything you like to the master recipe and make an amazing loaf of bread.

The brioche dough is AMAZING! I made cinnamon rolls with this dough and they were probably the best cinnamon rolls I've had. There are so many ways to use this dough. This dough would be great for making baked good gifts (as is the master recipe).

The Vermont Cheddar bread is also really great. It rises well, and I find it a bit airier than the mater recipe. I think because it has sugar in it the crust gets darker than the master recipe.

The Rye bred was delicious. I used it for grilled cheese and also toasted some slices and topped it with lox and cream cheese.

My first batch of bread did not turn out great, but still tasted good. Here is what I have learned through trial and error. I find I get an airier crumb by letting the dough rest for 90 minutes. I also discovered that I usually get 3 loves out of the master recipe instead of 4, so I needed to increase the baking time for those loves to 40 minutes. In the book they suggest using a little bit of dough from your previous batch of mater recipe in your new batch--I do this every time, and I do think it helps to add flavor to the bread. In some of the videos they use parchment paper instead of cornmeal--this is a helpful tip if you are not so great with a pizza peal. There is a really helpful trouble shooting section in the book, as well as a Q & A that is also helpful.

Equipment: The main thing you need is a big enough bowl or container for the dough. Here are some things I find are helpful to have: A dough whisk--makes mixing up the dough too easy and you don't have to get your hands dirty, measuring spoons with a 1/2 Tablespoon measure, a pizza stone-I found one on sale for $15 and it made difference in the crust of the bread, a pizza peal, a good sharp knife for slashing the bread (kitchen aid makes a good knife--it is a small serrated utility knife--it solved all my slashing problems) and a metal pan for the water for steam (many people use an old broiler pan).

I think this is also a good book for someone who wants to start seriously baking bread (and by that I mean someone who wants to learn all about bread and sourdough and other fancy stuff). This book will give you some quick success and build your confidence. It will also allow you to practice skills like shaping, slashing, using a pizza peal etc.. It is also a good way to let your creativity run wild. If you are already an experienced bread baker you might find this book too basic. But you might like it because you can make good bread fast.

This book has paid for itself already (and I haven't had it that long!). I haven't bought bread, rolls, or pizza crust since I bought this book. Since the dough is always ready to go you can come home and make a pizza after work in the same time it would take to order one. I love that I can provide healthy, homemade bread for my family. I think anyone you would give this bread to, either as a gift or at a meal, would be impressed. I am definitely a super fan of this book!

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PelvicSurgeon
Now with Weight Measurements for Ingredients
Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2013
Verified Purchase
While I admit that the authors have omitted the rise and bake times in their statement that these artisans loaves can be routinely enjoyed at home with only 5 minutes per day, their explanation for their reasoning is quite valid. Their, "5 minutes," includes active time, time that must be solely devoted to the process. During the rising, resting, chilling, and baking, the artisan can be doing other things and therefore the time is not really devoted to the bread.

The bottom line is that you cannot decide to have this bread and eat it, let alone just have it, in a mere five minutes. That said, five minutes now can, indeed, give you great bread later on in the same day. And I simply cannot imagine a lifestyle that is truly busy enough to preclude carving out the requisite daily five minutes for this delicious, inexpensive, and nutritional bread. Believe me, if I can do it, then so can you, but it does require just a bit of planning.

I must admit here that I did cheat a bit. Having heard about this wondrous technique, I went directly to the authors' website to learn more about it. I then proceeded to make the Basic Recipe, without ever purchasing the book. Then I graduated to Brioche, Pannetone, and Hot Cross Buns, all courtesy of the instructions on the website. My family and I have been enjoying the fruits of these authors' labors for several weeks now. I began to feel guilty for having exploited the authors, and decided that I really ought to buy at least one copy of the book. That was a few weeks ago, when the revised edition was available only for pre-order. I decided to go ahead with the revised edition, despite concerns that some of the original recipes may have been sacrificed to allow room for the newly added ones.

As explained by the authors in this new edition, a major difference is the addition of weight measurements for all of the ingredients. It was as if they'd read my mind. Many times, while diligently measuring out 7 cups or more of flour, I had lost count and had to remeasure. Each of those times, and many in between, I longed for weight measurements so that I could use my digital scale, Ozeri Touch Professional Digital Kitchen Scale (18 lbs Edition), Tempered Glass in Elegant Black (which I adore), and never worry about losing count again. Apparently, others had voiced this request through the website, and the authors actually heeded the advice of their readers!

The authors also explain that the number of pictures in their original edition was severely limited by their publishing budget, and that the new edition includes 150 How-To-Black&White photos and 40 color images of their loaves. Having never seen the original edition, I don't know first hand how this measures up, but the authors mention that the other edition had only 8 color photos and, "a smattering," of Black&Whites.

As for recipes, the only recipe I've sought that wasn't available on the website (or in the other edition, apparently) was the Pretzel Bun Recipe, which is proudly displayed on page 207 of this edition.

That brings me to another point regarding the Index. The index in this edition, at least, is a delight to peruse. Within the first ten minutes of opening the book, I'd already found many old favorites and new loaves to try in the coming weeks. There's even a Soft White American Loaf for all those kids (and young at heart) who lamented the loss of Wonder Bread from the shelves when Hostess met its demise. Also, it's notable that the book includes recipes and ideas that go beyond the breads, such as spreads, sandwiches, and even a Moroccan-Style Gazpacho. This is more than just a collection of no-knead bread recipes; it's an entire cookbook with a well-planned and easy to use index.

Oh, and for those of you who felt duped because you cannot actually eat the bread 5 minutes after deciding to prepare it, try the Naan Bread on page 260. There's no required rest and no oven to preheat for this one, making it the fastest bread in the book.

Just one final point. I have many times been enticed by cookbook authors' claims of fast and easy recipes only to find that indeed they would be fast and easy if only I could find the rare (and/or expensive) ingredients in my local grocery store. The Master Recipe in this book was created, tested, and perfected using Gold Medal All-Purpose Flour, precisely because that's what most people have in their pantries or can easily find at the local chain grocer.

Thank you, Chef Francois and Dr. Hertzberger for my new favorite cookbook!

UPDATE 10/24/13: I just realized that I neglected to mention that each recipe has BOTH weight and volumetric measurements for its ingredients in table form. So, if you'd rather use measuring cups than a scale, you're free to do so. Yesterday, I used the scale for the flour but measured the other ingredients by volume.

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Gato por lebre
Reviewed in Brazil on August 6, 2017
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Achei que o livro tivesse mais fotos e a impressão fosse num papel de melhor qualidade. Muito pobre em fotos ! Fica muito a desejar.

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Lorraine & Marty
Schön aufgemacht, sehr informativ, tolle Rezepte
Reviewed in Germany on January 29, 2018
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Ich war bei Youtube auf das Grundrezept des Artisan Bread gestoßen, fand es sehr interessant und hatte es ausprobiert.
Das Ergebnis war sehr schön und darum fand ich es sehr verlockend, mehr über die Möglichkeiten des simplen Teiges zu erfahren.
Darauf hin habe ich mir das Buch gewünscht und zum Geburtstag bekommen.
Und ich muss sagen, dass ich sehr zufrieden damit bin.
Das Buch ist bekanntlich auf Englisch, aber für jemanden mit mittelmäßigen Englisch-Kenntnissen durchau zu verstehen.
Ich musste zwar einige Begriffe nachschlagen - da mir zum Beispiel die Vokabeln der verschiedenen Mehlsorten nicht geläufig waren -, alles in allem hatte ich aber keine Verständnisschwierigkeiten.
Die Erklärungen und die Tipps und Tricks des Buches haben mir - obwohl ich schon lange Sauerteigbrote selbst backe - sehr weitergeholfen und haben meine Brote insgesamt verbessert.
Ich habe bisher nur wenige des Rezepte umgesetzt und natürlich gefallen einem manche Brote besser als andere, aber das ist selbstverständlich Geschmacksache. Ich freue mich auf jeden Fall schon sehr darauf weitere Rezepte und auch die anderen Teigvarianten zu testen.

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Monica
Five Stars
Reviewed in India on March 3, 2018
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This book is absolutely first rate.
Five and even more stars for demystifying bread making.

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J. Young
Worth its weight in gold.
Reviewed in Australia on June 23, 2018
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Have made several loaves so far and have been happy with them. My husband loves the bread, not good for his waist line but as long as he is happy that's what counts. The bread is great that you don't have to labour to make it. I am just waiting to get another container so I can make up some of the other dough to make some of the other recipes. Have been really excited to be able to make this bread. If you are hesitant about buying this book don't be, it's a great investment.

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lefranc
pain sans pétrissage
Reviewed in France on August 19, 2016
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parfait et bluffant , j'ai définitivement adopté cette méthode qui permet de faire du pain croustillant , à la mie parfaite , et au fur et à mesure des besoins .

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The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking Hardcover – October 22, 2013

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The New Artisan Bread

The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking

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The cookbook that changed my life

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5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book for beginners and busy people who love good bread

5.0 out of 5 stars Now with Weight Measurements for Ingredients

Top reviews from other countries

3.0 out of 5 stars Gato por lebre

5.0 out of 5 stars Schön aufgemacht, sehr informativ, tolle Rezepte

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth its weight in gold.

5.0 out of 5 stars pain sans pétrissage

Wonderful book for beginners and busy people who love good bread

Now with Weight Measurements for Ingredients

Gato por lebre

Schön aufgemacht, sehr informativ, tolle Rezepte

Five Stars

Worth its weight in gold.

pain sans pétrissage