Book Review: Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book

The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book: A Guide to Whole-Grain Breadmaking
is an excellent and comprehensive guide to learning or perfecting your skills at baking whole grain breads. From detailed instructions for a beginner loaf of whole wheat bread to recipes for Indian breads, sprouted grain loaves and gluten-free baking, this book is hands down the best book on bread I've ever come across. The book features page after page of troubleshooting ideas, explanations of what is going on in each step, and a conversational style that puts the reader at ease and inspires confidence. I only wish I had found this book during the year and a half that I tried (and usually failed) to make good bread out of a temperamental sourdough starter. I learned a lot from reading through the book, and I think I'll get even more from it as I start to try out the recipes.

If you have an interest in baking your own bread, or if you bake bread but aren't yet an expert at it or are just interested in getting even better, this book would be a great resource for you. The author does not require or recommend very many additives (which I find daunting and off-putting in many bread treatises) but does give detailed explanations for why she recommends certain types of flours, differences between store-bought and fresh-ground flours, and the like. I'd heartily recommend this book to you, and also suggest that if you have an interest in bread you stop by the farm shop to talk about it. The shop carries sourdough starters as well as a variety of grains and ingredients that are recommended in The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book.

Happy baking!

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