I first got this book from the library, and checked it out for about 12 weeks. I successfully tried several of the recipes in the book, and my passion for bread was ignited again! I bought my own copy to have forever. Beth takes all the problems and guess work out of bread making, at any altitude. I even contacted her about a baking question, and she answered me within 1/2 hour. How’s that for service?

The recipes are delicious and rewarding to make. There is only one recipe that I would warn about. It is the one with the crushed sugar cubes. Mixing the recipe as listed damaged some of the non stick on my bread pan and paddles. (I am a freak about keeping things nice, so this was really a downer.) I would change the recipe to making the dough in the pan, sans the cubes,knead them in by hand before the last rise, and then bake the loaf in the regular oven. This will protect your pan, and you will still have that wonderful bread.

I have a lot of bread making books, and bread machine books. If you are only going to have one, make it this one. If you have more, get this one anyway! You will use it more than the rest! It is comprehensive, and will satisfy just about any bread baker out there. I hope you try it and like it as much as I do. Blessings!
Rating: 5 / 5

To start with, the Roman Bread alone (p. 409) is worth the price of the book! The granola bread, the blueberry coffee cake, Mexican chocolate bread, brioche rolls…I could go on and on!! It has everything from the simplest white and wheat to unique breads using exotic grains and interesting nuts, fruits and herbs (persimmon bread, lavender rosemary bread). It’s made me a better baker because there are so many notes on the science of how bread “works”. And it’s not just bread – if you could make pot roast in a bread machine this book would tell you how to do it! There are jam recipes, quick bread recipes and recipes for using the leftover bits. There are pizza and calzone recipes that include the toppings, not just the dough. The Cheese Pizza Torte is amazing!

I love my bread machine but I’m not the biggest fan of the shape of the pan, so I often use the dough recipes and then proof the bread and bake it in a regular pan. Many of the recipes for country loaves have you do that anyway for a more authentic loaf.

My husband bought me the book as a Christmas present when I was 4 months pregnant. Here it is August and the bread machine hasn’t gone back into the cupboard yet! It’s a miracle our daughter wasn’t born weighing 17 pounds! Forget whatever companion book Amazon recommends with this book – buy the latest Billy Blanks or Kathy Smith video (or both!) – you’ll be eating A LOT of bread if you get this book!
Rating: 5 / 5

The instructions in this book are clear and very easy to follow. I also appreciate knowing which recipes are suitable for use with the delay timer. While some ingredients are hard to find, plenty of the recipes call for readily available items. I’ve discovered that the vital wheat gluten required in most recipes is available at my local Safeway, as are Red Star yeast and semolina flour.

The fact that vital wheat gluten is *not* the same as wheat gluten flour is mentioned in the book, but not emphasized strongly enough. Also, I have to remember to add salt along with the liquid ingredients, although the recipes list salt with the dry ingredients, because my bread machine manual states that salt can interfere with the action of the yeast if it comes in contact with the yeast too early. Perhaps this is a possibility unique to my machine (a Breadman Ultimate). I agree with an earlier poster who complained that recipes using the Dough cycle (for breads to be baked in an oven) call for unplugging the machine at the completion of the cycle; this seems unnecessary.

Overall, I am pleased with and inspired by this book, which contains a great amount of useful information and a slew of easy and delicious-sounding recipes! Thanks, Beth!
Rating: 4 / 5

I read all the reviews that precede 2002 and got the book right away. I love the way Hensperger explains ingredients, the science of bread and how the machine works. We use our machine at least 3-4 times a week. Some of my favorites from the book include the Hamburger and Hot Dog Buns (I will never buy storebought again!), the Garlic Foccacia, the Orange Bread with White Chocolate, Apricots and Walnuts, and for sandwiches my family loves the Instant Potato Bread and the Maple Buttermilk Bread, both of which turn out light and fluffly.

I remember reading a review that discussed the different ways to measure flour. For some reason, if I do it Hensperger’s way, I always have to add more flour. So, I just scoop it without aerating the flour first.

Another review mentioned that you “have to” use SAF yeast. I haven’t found this to be true. I have used the SAF, but have also used fast-acting and bread machine yeast. Both have turned out fine. All of the ingredients have been at a local supermarket (I live in a small town – 23,000, on the Central Coast of CA) except the specialty flours like barley, spelt, semolina, etc. Those I have found at a health-food store.

I can’t say enough good things about this book! My copy is tattered and stained and I am enjoying working my way through all the recipes. It is a book I definitely can’t live without
Rating: 5 / 5