Understanding Baking

Rating:
Summary: A gem.
Review: "Understanding Baking" is a dry-as-toast recitation of the principles underlying the preparation of baked goods. The book would appear to be intended for the culinary student, since the authors apparently didn't feel burdened with need to make the subject matter interesting to a wider audience. It a 'just the facts, madam' kind of book with nary a single recipe to be found. (See "Cookwise" by Shirley Corriher for an example of the complete opposite.) The chapters are curiously organized -- some are done in straight narrative with review questions at the end, while others are written in a programmed-learning, question-and-answer style. Some chapters are a mix of both. The editing is sloppy in spots, and I would swear there are at least two instances where the author's insertion notes were carried right on into the final printing (pgs. 16-17, and 46-47). All that being said, however, the book is indeed crammed with information essential to the professional baker, and there are several very useful charts showing cake/cookie/bread/pie faults and their causes. Home cooks will benefit if they can stay awake, but the book is clearly targeted toward the professional and professional wannabe.

Rating:
Summary: Understanding Baking/ The Baker's Manual
Review: The older editions were geared towards professional bakers
or those that wanted to be. Joseph Amendola's work is
hard to see in this latest edition. They have dumbed this one down. To quote "Chemists in large industrial-sized bakeries have actually conducted studies that determined the optimum specific gravity and pH levels for each type of cake. Knowing this, of course, makes it all the more worrisome to be at the mercy of a plain old recipe book, with no such equipment on hand to provide guidance or reassurance. Fortunately, some room for variation exists in cake baking." I just don't see someone of Amendola's background and reputation writing this...Understanding the science of baking is crucial for baking success. Most retail bakers understand and utilize specific gravity when baking cakes...this insures accuracy in baking-and this translates to dollars and wasted product saved. A nice book for the home baker perhaps, but as a text book, it is a regression. Too bad.

Rating:
Summary: Baker's Best Friend
Review: The older editions were geared towards professional bakers
or those that wanted to be. Joseph Amendola's work is
hard to see in this latest edition. They have dumbed this one down. To quote "Chemists in large industrial-sized bakeries have actually conducted studies that determined the optimum specific gravity and pH levels for each type of cake. Knowing this, of course, makes it all the more worrisome to be at the mercy of a plain old recipe book, with no such equipment on hand to provide guidance or reassurance. Fortunately, some room for variation exists in cake baking." I just don't see someone of Amendola's background and reputation writing this...Understanding the science of baking is crucial for baking success. Most retail bakers understand and utilize specific gravity when baking cakes...this insures accuracy in baking-and this translates to dollars and wasted product saved. A nice book for the home baker perhaps, but as a text book, it is a regression. Too bad.

Rating:
Summary: A gem.
Review: This book is great because it covers the fundamentals of baking. I believe that fundamentals are important as they serve as a starting point for pastry chefs. I appreciate the fact that they've included all aspects of baking - from the simplest of information for the beginners to the complex stuff for the professionals.

Rating:
Summary: Baker's Best Friend
Review: Understanding Baking gives the student baker all the baking science he or she will actually ever need in day to day operations. This new edition has a much friendlier tone and eliminates a great of the repetition and overly arcane or dated material that existed in the previous editions. Theory and concepts are related to actual products much more clearly. Rees/Amendola lucidly and concisely explain the chemistry of ingredient interaction, baking physics and supply useful ingredient definitions. The reference tables and troubleshooting guides are helpful and clear. The new information on wild yeast starter/artisan bread is timely and interesting as is the discussion of trans and cis fats. Any pastry chef can tell you that the most complicated presentations begin with a good grounding in the basics. From there, it's up to you. Industrial baking, which this edition, for the most part, sidesteps, is now so specialized, automated and artificially preserved you need an whole set of encyclopedias to understand the processes that are usually performed by a machine. On the other hand, with this book and it's companion volume, The Baker's Manual (also recently revised with many, many appealing new formulas), you could start a fine little pastry shop. It impowers you to be the best baker you can be.