How Baking Works : Exploring the Fundamentals of Baking Science

Rating:
Summary: Very useful and clear work
Review: Like most young people who bake today at home, I did not grow up learning from my mother or grandmother what happened when I added more flour or orange juice to a cake recipe. Without this knowledge, changes to recipes produce difficult-to-predict results. Though Ms. Figoni writes more for the professional pastry chef, her clear explanations of the chemistry of baking should enlighten the home baker as well.

I have used this book recently as I have tried to modify my American recipes while living in France. Before coming to France, I always followed my recipes exactly with pleasing results, but that is impossible in a different country, as various products are not always available. While for my regular cooking, this has rarely proved to be a problem, in pastries and breads, there is a complicated chemistry (particularly with products that rise) which can simply fail. Ms. Figoni's book has proven to be extremely useful in trying to deal with differently milled flour, finding baking powder (knowing the chemical composition helped), and understanding substitutions of ingredients. More importantly, reading the book has given me a more profound understanding of baking, allowing me to improve recipes systematically rather than rather at random.

Rating:
Summary: Easy text book style reading
Review: This book is more like a text book with the questions at the end of each chapter and experiments to try. I got this book to actually learn from it and try and avoid the high cost of culinary school. I read each chapter, answered the questions and did the experiments. The book is a great way to go if you really want to learn about what goes into baking great tasting breads and pastries.

Rating:
Summary: A "must" for everyone who bakes!!!!
Review: Truly a scientific vision on everything that you ever need to know about baking. The information covered in each chapter are essential knowledge for everyone, whether an experienced bake or someone who is just getting started. I have been baking for many years, but after reading this book, everything seems to make a lot more sense to me. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in baking whether professionally or just for fun.....

Rating:
Summary: A "must" for everyone who bakes!!!!
Review: Truly a scientific vision on everything that you ever need to know about baking. The information covered in each chapter are essential knowledge for everyone, whether an experienced bake or someone who is just getting started. I have been baking for many years, but after reading this book, everything seems to make a lot more sense to me. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in baking whether professionally or just for fun.....