Bread Revolution: World-Class Baking with Sprouted and Whole Grains, Heirloom Flours, and Fresh Techniques Hardcover – October 21, 2014

Disclaimer: I had stopped eating bread/grain products for five years when I first heard about sprouted grains. My experience with baking bread was very limited, and I hadn't made any in over a decade when I purchased this book, so I was basically approaching making bread with sprouted wheat as a beginner.This book is the most-used recipe book I own. Most recipes are fairly straightforward and the instructions are generally clear and easy to follow. There are a couple recipes that are either complex or assume that you have enough baking experience to make sense of, but there aren't many of them and they tend to be either gluten-free or the high-extraction wheat recipes. If you're a beginner, you should be able to make most of the recipes in this book without a problem. If you're experienced, you should be able to make nearly everything without a problem.That said, it's definitely helpful to have two things: a stand mixer and a kitchen scale. While the book provides instructions for hand-mixing, I've found that I've had better results with a sand mixer. I've also found that weight is a much more useful measure in a lot of recipes than volume, especially when buttermilk is involved.As for the recipes themselves, with few exceptions they've all turned out well. The pancake recipe alone is worth the price of the book. This recipe is easy and makes, as the author claims, the best pancakes you'll ever taste. However, I initially had problems with this recipe. I'd cook the pancakes until they were nearly burnt but they would still be gooey in the center. Once I got a kitchen scale, I was able to sort the problem out: the buttermilk I was using was much more dense than what the author used so I had to reduce the volume by about 20% to get the proper results.The same was true for the quick bread and muffin recipes. They are extremely easy to make, and have an unbeatable flavor and texture, but you definitely need to measure by weight, not volume, especially if you are using honey instead of sugar or a non-standard brand of buttermilk.The whole wheat lean bread is extremely easy to make, and relatively quick to boot. You don't need to pre-ferment the yeast, and the dough ferments quickly. When I first tried this recipe, I was surprised at how this loaf turned out to be better than either of the white bread recipes I remembered trying over a decade ago. The sprouted wheat does an incredible job of making a loaf turn out with perfect flavor, texture, etc. Honestly, this whole wheat bread is better than any non-sprouted whole wheat artisan bread I've ever tried, and easy to make, to boot.The sandwich bread recipe is another good one. It sweeter than the lean bread, and a touch more difficult to make, but it has become my default loaf choice, the one I make nearly every week. This was the first recipe I tried after purchasing my first kitchen scale and I turned out really well, but it lacked a little in texture. Then I bought a Kitchen Aid stand mixer and made this again and it was absolutely perfect. As such, I'd say the recipes perform better if you use a stand mixer because the process is easier to replicate. This bread made in a stand mixer not only tastes amazing, but is extremely easy to slice thin, which makes for wonderful grilled cheese sandwiches.The sweet potato brioche I only tried once, before I had the scale or mixer. It turned out okay. The flavor was great, as was the texture and moistness, but it didn't rise much. I'll be trying it again soon with the new equipment, and I expect it will turn out perfectly.The pizza dough recipe is also amazing. This has become a regular staple; I usually make it every other week. It's soft but not floppy and flavorful but doesn't overpower the toppings. It's extremely easy to make and shape.Both foccacia recipes are really good, but the fruit/breakfast foccacia is supreme. I've made the latter three times and shared it with others and now I get requests for it. Alongside the pancakes and lean bread, this an easy introduction to sprouted grains, because you don't even need to knead or work this bread. Just mix it, let it ferment, then put it in a pan, proof it and bake. The glaze recipe is good, but tastes better with a dash of Fiora di Sicilia.The cornbread recipe tastes good, but I had a couple issues with it. One was my error, in that I measured the buttermilk by volume, not weight, so it took way longer to bake than the book said and still turned out runny. The other is that corn upsets my stomach somehow, even sprouted. If you can tolerate corn and have kitchen scale, you'll love this recipe. I can't, so I won't be making this again.The struan recipe was a total flop for me. I assume it was error on my end, but I won't retry this one as it upset my stomach. Plus, the ingredients list is rather long and I'd rather not have that many different grains in my pantry.DItto for the rye loaf. My failure was likely due to inexperience, because I never worked with rye. This was one of the first recipes I tried after I got my kitchen scale, but I just couldn't get this loaf to rise, no matter how long it fermented.On the other hand, the sandwich rye loaf turned out like a dream, and has been a semi-regular staple. It has great flavor and wonderful crumb.A lot of the recipes call for "mother starter," which the book provides instructions for making. I almost didn't buy this book because a review it bashed this process and said it didn't work. I don't what that person's problem was, but I had no issues with it. I used KAF's organic whole wheat and pineapple juice and the starter was ready in less than 3 days, even though the book says it can take up to a week.In sum, beginners and experienced bakers alike will find this be a transformative book. It's well-ordered and easy to follow. It's by far the most-used book in my collection. I generally make 2 or 3 things out of it every week, sometimes more. Now that sprouted flour is more readily available, anyone who is interested in making and eating healthy bread should be able to find three to four recipes in this book that they use on a regular basis. Highly recommended!

I preordered this book a couple of months ago, then totally forgot about it until I stumbled upon it in my kindle library. The very same day I grabbed some sprouted wheat flour and some sprouted spelt flour from Whole Foods (they had the One Degree brand from Canada, one that is recommended in the book).Reinhart starts with very easy recipes to let you get a feel four this new kind of flour, and I followed his lead, whipping together the pancake dough the very next morning. The recipe called for buttermilk, but I only had plain yoghurt and milk, so I mixed equal parts of that to substitute. Within 5 minutes I had the first batch in the pan, and my 12 year old son declared them the best pancakes he ever had. They were moist and chewy, slightly sweet despite having only 1 tsp of sugar in them, and crispy outside.And they are healthy and nutritious - perfect score in my book!Next stop was the muffin recipe. This one came together within minutes too, and I opted for the banana walnut option. They turned out fantastic, without any of the dreaded bitter whole wheat under notes whatsoever. By now I was really exited and decided to go for the sprouted whole wheat bread next.That recipe left me a little frustrated. I am not new to baking bread, and my home grown sourdough starter has been a permanent resident in my fridge for over two years now. I usually prefer baking with that, because with commercial yeast I tend to end up with over proofed yet under fermented dough. But reinhart recommends to try the commercial yeast version first, so I did.The project reminded me of my early bread days with the 'Aartisan breads in 5 minutes a day' formula I started out with years ago. Just 4 ingredients, commercial yeast, no hands on other then the stretch and fold procedure, and above all, very small dough volume per loaf. The recipe yields a little less than 2 pounds of dough for two loaves.The dough came together in a flash and firmed up almost instantly. It felt very stiff, despite the extra water the recipe calls for. I decided not to add too much more, waiting instead how it would all pan out. Further following the recipe I diveded the dough in half after it had doubled in size, which still left me with two very small balls. I decided to bake one as a hearth bread, and the other in a loaf pan. So I shaped the loaves and let them proof.Now, my kitchen is a 75 degrees or so, so knew upfront I had to keep proofing times short. The book said between 1 and 1 1/2 hors. But because the loaves were so small, they proofed in far less than an hour, and my oven wasn't hot enough by the time they had to go in. The recipe time frames really don't work for such small loaves. Also, less than 1 pound of dough was not enough to fill my loaf pan even half way up. After the rise to 1 1/2 half time it's size it didn't sprang much more in the oven, partly because it was already over proofed, partly because there is not much oven spring to be expected in a 375 oven to begin with.So the final breads were short and stunted, but the crumb, though missing any big irregular holes was soft and creamy, not really dense at all. My 10 year old daughter declared it the best bread I ever baked, and gobbled up half a loaf with just butter on top in one sitting.So - I decided to let my starter loose on the last bit of sprouted flour I had left after the pancakes, muffins, and yeasted bread. It was only enough for half a batch, and my starter hadn't been refreshed for 3 1/2 days or so, but I plunged ahead anyway. As before, just stirring the water in the flour immediately firmed it up. I ended up not kneading at all, just gently stretching and folding it in 15 minute increments, and every time I did, I dumped in more and more water. I wish I weighed how much water I ended up using, but I arrived at at least if not more than 100% hydration. The dough turned out very wet, yet firm, and needed 5 hours of proofing time before I felt it was time to shape it. One hour later (not 2 or 3 hours later as stated in the book!) I threw it in a 475 presteamed oven onto a baking stone, steamed again, closed the door, and watched.It sprang up beautifully within 5 minutes, the score opened up nicely and ended up in a big ear I could carry the bread with. It looked done within 35 minutes or so, with a nice golden crust, but as it sat and cooled, I decided it needed 10 to 15 minutes longer in the oven, probably because of the mega hydration.In short, it was the best loaf I ever baked.If you start baking with these flours, be prepared to use much more water than in conventional doughs. How much depends on what brand of flour you use I guess. I just kept adding water as much as the dough would take while patiently stretching and folding away every 30 minutes or so. The breads turn out mildly sweet, with a creamy texture and are a pleasure to eat. I felt no blood sugar spike whatsoever from it, and two slices with butter for breakfast sustained me well without hunger pangs for 4 hours or so.I am looking forward to baking from this book regularly, I think it will be my new bread bible from here on out.Thanks and kudos to Peter Reinhard for introducing these amazing new flours, and how to bake with them!

I bought several bread books to read through recently. Trying to invent my own recipe for lupin flour bread, I was hoping since ancient grains have a similar weight this book might shed some light but in reality these recipes are mostly just plain flour with small amounts of ancient grains subbed in, not actually breads made entirely from ancient grains. I found this a tad deceptive. The breads are good. The instructions are good, which is why I gave it four stars. But I just find the concept the book presents misleading when seeing the actual recipes.

I saw a video of Peter Reinhart discussing his research and experience with sourdough and sprouted grains bread, so I decided to purchase his book. I am a fan of Ezekiel bread, but not of the price, and I love to bake bread. The book provides a lot of information (and history) of what I did not already know. So far I've tried only one basic bread using sprouted wheat flour and it is the most delicious (and sweet) bread I've ever made! The techniques for working with the sprouted grains are very different from other breads I've made, but they appear to work well. Now that I've baked a loaf of the sprouted flour, I'm in the process of trying to sprout my own wheat berries and hope to try two versions - one that I will dry and grind into flour, and the other that I will grind into pulp and use the pulp. The Ezekiel Bread from Food for Life does not use flour, but pulp. It is fun to experiment and grow my skills!

Libro estupendo para el interesado en hacer pan en casa. Peter, once again, offers an amount of interesting healthy Bread formulas and techniques . El libro is worth de comprar.

Great resource

PROPER BREADMAKING

Sprouts are amazing. Very important thingsNot enough in this book though, on cheap sprouted grains, just on expensive sprouted floursOnly 4 recipes on sprouted pulp breadsVery disappointedMisleading sub-titleWhy go to all the trouble and expense of buying a mill, and then turning it into flour, only to rehydrate it back to a sprout pulp????Also not enough on variations on low toxicity gluten free rising agents, he always uses xanthan gum which is UPFI am looking for a book on the....EASIEST,HEALTHIEST,CHEAPEST....options possibleAnyone?Please comment belowThis is not that bookBut this IS the best book I have found, so far, on the subject despite not being what I am looking for, at allGuess I have to keep lookingI really hate it that I amazon have stopped doing previews, could have saved myself, and them, a lot of troubleI feel the sub-title is very misleading. It should read "Sprouted and Wholegrain Flours" NOT "Whole Grains" as this is at least 25:4 of just the sprout recipes.Why anyone needs a separate book on sprouted flours as opposed to normal flours is a bit beyond me. Tweak the hydration, maybe, job done.Also, this book, Bread Revolution, by PETER REINHART is identical to the similarly titled Bread Transformation, by MABEL YATESOddOther than that a really good book, IF that is what you are looking for, but also pretty waffly, though again, is quite nice waffle from what I have read

I tried the soda bread. It was extremely easy to do and it tasted wonderful. My friend, who is a soda bread fan, said that it was better than the one she sampled in a restaurant. Trying the sprouted spelt sandwich bread next.