WHAT WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE AS REFERENCES IN A BREAD BOOK

[bread maker]

Ideas for a bread book could include are.
1different ways of shaping the bread and illistrations on how to do it
2.scoring the bread and illistrations as how to do it
3. which flours to use for different tyes of bread

[nolan]

An "I have X flour on hand, what can I make with it?" table would be good, though of course part of the fun of making bread for me is to tinker with the recipe, such as trying different types of flour, and see what happens.  (As I think Peter wrote in at least one of his books, his recipes are starting points, not final solutions.) 

Substitution tables for things like fats/oils, eggs and types of sugar would be good, too.  (I was watching an episode of Good Eats last night on honey where Alton was substituting honey for granulated sugar.  I'm not sure his replacement ratio was correct, especially regarding hydration levels of the resulting dough or batter.) 

A guide to baker's math is always good, especially with some practical examples for upsizing or downsizing recipes.  (Even though I've done that dozens of times, I still double-check my numbers each time.) 

Just how the recipes themselves are ordered is important.   I find the alphabetical ordering of the recipes in BBA much easier to use than the grouping by recipe type in Peter's Whole Grains book. 

[xaipete]

Based on Peter's previous books, I imagine the new one will have these references. I think a lot of the testers are referring to his other books for this information--at least I am.

--Pamela

[robinjoy]

An "I have X flour on hand, what can I make with it?" table would be good, though of course part of the fun of making bread for me is to tinker with the recipe, such as trying different types of flour, and see what happens.  (As I think Peter wrote in at least one of his books, his recipes are starting points, not final solutions.) 

Substitution tables for things like fats/oils, eggs and types of sugar would be good, too.  (I was watching an episode of Good Eats last night on honey where Alton was substituting honey for granulated sugar.  I'm not sure his replacement ratio was correct, especially regarding hydration levels of the resulting dough or batter.) 

A guide to baker's math is always good, especially with some practical examples for upsizing or downsizing recipes.  (Even though I've done that dozens of times, I still double-check my numbers each time.) 

Just how the recipes themselves are ordered is important.   I find the alphabetical ordering of the recipes in BBA much easier to use than the grouping by recipe type in Peter's Whole Grains book. 

I really like this idea a lot. I choose not to eat eggs or dairy so I bake without them -- I like the idea of having ideas on how to substitute these best in recipes "if" I should choose. If butter or milk is mentioned in a recipe it would be nice to have the absolute "best" alternatives mentioned whether it be a ground flax seeds or Ener-G Replacer for eggs or Earth Balance or canola oil for butter (every little bit helps). Also when using alternatives it would be nice to know if it actually changes the hydration of the final product (ie. oil instead or butter). I think these all would be good references to have in a future publication.

The public really is more health and eco conscious than most think -- at least give them the best choices for a good final result.

[hickeyja]

I really like this idea a lot. I choose not to eat eggs or dairy so I bake without them -- I like the idea of having ideas on how to substitute these best in recipes "if" I should choose. If butter or milk is mentioned in a recipe it would be nice to have the absolute "best" alternatives mentioned whether it be a ground flax seeds or Ener-G Replacer for eggs or Earth Balance or canola oil for butter (every little bit helps). Also when using alternatives it would be nice to know if it actually changes the hydration of the final product (ie. oil instead or butter). I think these all would be good references to have in a future publication.

I find this bothersome.  I have dietary restrictions.  It is MY RESPONSIBILITY to figure out the correct substitutions, not the responsibility of the author of a Bread or Cookbook.  As for giving the "best" substitution, what is "best"?  What works for one person may not work for another.  A lot of folks use sugar alcohols as a sugar substitute.  They do nasty things to my G/I tract.  So while maltitol may be the "best" for some folks, it is very bad for me.

I go to baking and cookbooks for the expertise of the author in baking or cooking, not in dietary substitutions.  When I want info on substitutions, I go to those with expertise in that area, then extrapolate to include those substitutions in the baking or cooking recipes from other authors. 

Yes, it takes a bit of experimentation.  Yes, there are 'bricks' on occasion.  But I don't see why Peter or RLB or any other author should have to try to accommodate people's dietary restrictions while they are trying to convey the process and methodology related to their own area of expertise.

OK, I am stepping down from the soapbox now......

Jan

[nolan]

I spent the past month experimenting with gluten-free recipes because my daughter-in-law was visiting, and she appears to be gluten-intolerant (it gives her a rash.)  Some successes, some failures, lots of 'could be betters'.  The experimenting will continue, but we're enjoying having some wheat-based breads for a while first. 

While it might be interesting if Peter worked on a gluten-free (or vegan) baking cookbook, that's not really his area of expertise at the moment. 

Moreover, at least with gluten-free, just about everything you knew about baking seems to be wrong. :sigh: 

[robinjoy]

I find this bothersome.  I have dietary restrictions.  It is MY RESPONSIBILITY to figure out the correct substitutions, not the responsibility of the author of a Bread or Cookbook.  As for giving the "best" substitution, what is "best"?  What works for one person may not work for another.  A lot of folks use sugar alcohols as a sugar substitute.  They do nasty things to my G/I tract.  So while maltitol may be the "best" for some folks, it is very bad for me.

I go to baking and cookbooks for the expertise of the author in baking or cooking, not in dietary substitutions.  When I want info on substitutions, I go to those with expertise in that area, then extrapolate to include those substitutions in the baking or cooking recipes from other authors. 

Yes, it takes a bit of experimentation.  Yes, there are 'bricks' on occasion.  But I don't see why Peter or RLB or any other author should have to try to accommodate people's dietary restrictions while they are trying to convey the process and methodology related to their own area of expertise.

OK, I am stepping down from the soapbox now......

Jan

The question was "what would be nice to have as references in a bread book"-- there really wasn't any need for you to get on your soapbox at all. FYI--look at page 14 of ABED, PR thankfully does consider a wide variety of people and that's why some of us purchased his book in the first place.

Nolan, I hope you can find references in the future for gluten substitutes as well. Everyone should be able to enjoy fine bread even if they have dietary restrictions. Knowing what "substitute" we could use to reach the best possible product would certainly be a nice feature of a future publication. It would definitely increase the value of the publication for many people.