Bread Illustrated: A Step-by-Step Guide to Achieving Bakery-Quality Results at Home

America’s Test Kitchen employed its usual exhaustive testing process for the recipes in this comprehensive guide to creating bread in the home kitchen. Each action that is vital to conquering the art of bread baking is broken down and photographed each step of the way, including mixing, kneading, rising, dividing and shaping, baking, cooling, and storing. After the basics are mastered in “Starting from Scratch,” which includes recipes for “Almost No-Knead” bread and monkey bread, graduation to honors class takes place. At this point, more complex techniques are outlined, and the authors explain how to use different flours to bake beautiful loaves of artisanal bread. As the reader progresses through each chapter, the more detailed the projects become. The beginner bread maker will benefit from the basics; the more experienced baker can start with sandwich breads or move forward to morning buns. The final chapter, “Raising the Bar,” covers recipes that involve a time commitment, such as New York-style bagels or croissants. With 1,000 photos and the expertise of the America’s Test Kitchen editors, this title might be the definitive book on bread baking. Photos. (Sept.)