I debated waiting until I baked every single formula in this massive tome before marking it "read" here. The debate is over. I have not baked through this textbook cover to cover. I mean I will, I am, but unless the formulas are very different from the first 10 I'm confident reviewing the introductory chapters for each section and a third of the bread formulas as baked is enough.

I'm actually documenting my progress through this book on Instagram if you'd like a real-time preview of each formula and chapter. Just search for my name and you can follow along

In short, this is the best baking book I've read/baked through and if you, like me, really throw yourself into your hobbies you won't be disappointed with it either.

Every year I commit to cooking through a recipe book from start to finish. It all started years ago with Mastering the Art of French Cooking, inspired by the movie based on Julie Powell's Julie & Julia. Since that first project I've tackled Hazan's Italy and Bayless' Mexico but this year I decided to feed my inner baker and chose this as my launching point. Well it will take me a few years to finish at my weekend baker pace but I will certainly get there.

The science and technique are thoroughly explained for each stage of the break making process and I've already surpassed my former bread machine results simply because I have a much better understanding of what happens to all that flour, water, and yeast as it transforms into boules of thigh thickening magic.

I've also noticed a certain pedagogy to the way each formula is introduced. It isn't apparent from a glance if you, like me, had never successfully hand kneaded a baguette but each formula leads onto the next. The result is an accumulation of skills and confidence for all manner of dough situations: wet, dense, enriched, or slow to rise.