Very Good Bread: The Science of Dough and the Art of Making Bread at Home

For a limited time we have copies signed by Melissa Weller.

The author of the much lauded A Good Bake returns with a rigorously meticulous guide to home bread baking, stretching that definition to include not only loaves and flatbreads, but bagels, bialys, buns, rolls, brioches, pizza and focaccia.

Melissa Weller, a James Beard-nominated baker whose resume includes training at Sullivan Street Bakery and serving as head chef at Per Se, Bouchon Bakery, and Roberta’s presents highly-detailed recipes with subheads for major steps.

These subheads keep you in mind of the book’s early general coverage of the breadmaking process, reinforcing that education with calls to do things like “Autolyse the dough,” “Make 4 stretch and folds,” and “Shape and retard the loaf,” each of them supported by further directions.

Helpful step-by-step photo sequences appear throughout the book to guide you through actions such as laminating two doughs together for a marbled rye or shaping a baguette.

Weller’s recipe selection may seem on first glance to be very classic, but a closer look reveals just how much expertise she brings to the table. She uses spelt flour for her ciabatta because the spelt doughs have extra extensibility, allowing for more of the large holes that are characteristic of the loaf. If you’re making wheat flour tortillas, she’ll tell you to use lard not butter so that you’re working with pure fat.

If you’re interested in a bread education, this is a smart choice.

Hardcover. Color photographs throughout