Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking

I have been baking bread for 30 years and have several favorites recipes that I have tweaked over the years. The very first loaf of bread that I made with this method hit the top of the list immediately! I didn't have the patience for their format -- so long to get to actual recipe and even longer for the variations, and ended up blending flours in the very first batch. I am just not an all unbleached flour person. I combined white whole wheat, unbleached and a bit of barley flour. I think the basic recipe must be indestructible, as despite the changes and higher protein flours (they caution about this), the bread was perfect. I didn't even have the recommended equipment and the improvisations were fine. I used a large metal spatula as I didn't have pizza peel; a large cake tin instead of the pan for the oven they recommend; and, oatmeal-sprinkled, nonstick tin foil on cookie sheet as I didn't have a baking stone and was out of cornmeal; none of this seemed to detract from producing an excellent loaf with the kind of extremely crispy European artisan crust that I adore. Turns our their own variations maintain basic proportions, so no need to rigidly follow their basic recipe to learn the technique. It has been wonderful to have the dough in the fridge for a whim, but the other misleading detail is that although only five active minutes, with the resting and preheating times plus baking times, one needs to be close to the kitchen for an hour or so. Totally worth it, though. The tasks are effortless, but there is still a long lag time from coming home and forming the loaf to having a bread that is sufficiently cooled to slice. Format of book and actual timing aside, the method is fabulous and I can barely wait to make more.

This is a really great book. Now I can have fresh bread every morning without all the fuss and muss. Wonderful

This book has literally changed the way I bake bread, and I always have wonderful fresh bread, pizza's, brioche based sticky buns and all kinds of yummy things at my fingertips. No one actually believes how easy it is.

Working as Professional Pastry Chef and Baker for many years, my team and I were very sure the recipes in this book would not work. Well, we were in for quite a surprise, because not only do they work just fine, but some of the breads rival our recipes that take long hours to prepare. Great book, we can highly recommend it!

I've baked bread for 50 years and this is by far the best method if you want fantastic bread/pizza in a jiffy. We will NEVER eat pizza out again. Get this book and let your imagination go wild..you can't fail and you'll LOVE it.