The Art of Baking With Natural Yeast: Breads, Pancakes, Waffles, Cinnamon Rolls & Muffins

This was my first introduction to using natural/wild yeast, so some of the information is really helpful. The book could use some editing (a few typos and oddly written passages), but overall a decent resource. Caleb Warnock no longer offers free yeast (it's now $25) but this book (and Melissa Richardson's companion book, Beyond the Basics), both say it's free, but it isn't. Yeast can be obtained elsewhere for free or for just a few dollars (literally) if you send a small donation to organizations that keep old yeast strains going. The recipes could be written a bit more clearly. In one recipe, the ingredient list notes 4 cups of flour, but in the instructions you have to add an additional 3 cups of flour. Why didn't it simply list 7 cups of flour and instruct you on how/when to add it to the recipe? I suspect poor or no editing is the answer. The recipes in this book are all for mild (not sour) starter. If you love a true sourdough experience, the yeast from Caleb Warnock isn't that. Look on the Internet for a true sourdough yeast. Having said that, this yeast is good for sweeter items like muffins and other things where sourdough may not be the flavor you want. Also, search the Internet for wild yeast recipes. The rest of the world calls natural yeast "wild" yeast (it's the exact same thing), so there's a lot more out there to find under "wild" yeast. Still, this book has value, it just needs some review. The color pictures are beautiful.

Just like the author, I've been bothered by all the hate bread has gotten in recent years. As explained in the book, it's due to the introduction of commercial yeast, a man made organism that doesn't fully break down gluten and make wheat's vitamins bioavailable. Natural yeast can be made at home (though the author doesn't recommend for beginners, but that's one thing I disagree with, there is a tutorial online from King aurthurs flour that works just fine), and it's healthier and the way bread has been sustaining human life for thousands of years.All that being said, while I love the author's commitment to whole wheat, I still cheat a little and mix about half white flour in with my whole wheat. It just gives a softer rise and my family eats it faster.I do hope to be sneaky and move closer and closer to whole wheat as time goes on.Anyway I have bought a lot of cool books and I never leave reviews for them. This book has been a revelation for me. Plan to buy the sequel soon.

I have read the entire book, have tried a handful of the recipes and am only mildly pleased with the product. As many have stated some additional information in certain areas would have been nice. The book is well constructed. It did take me from baking with commercial yeast to natural or wild yeast created at home, but in order to do so I had to experiment quite a bit and do some extra research, where I expected this book to be the only resource I needed. The bread recipe is the best I have ever had, and without needing butter or oil! Amazing!If you are running into difficulty with your starter, don't put it in the fridge. Also, YouTube has many great videos on making a yeast starter at home, and unlike the book made it out to be, it was actually VERY easy and smells a whole lot better than the dried flakes I received!I thought the look and feel of the book was fine. Too wordy and repetitive of some of the information, almost like you're trying to fill out the pages with content. There are asterisks (***) in place of page numbers with the text of the book - extremely unprofessional and tacky to have this sold in that state! As well as a few other typos!A little more detail and variation with how to change other recipes would be VERY helpful! The "proof" time for each bread would be great at the top next to the number of loaves it makes; this is partly how I decide which bread I have time to make, so I wrote it in myself.Overall, if you don't want to do the research or you have never heard about natural yeast before, it is a great book to start you on the road, but some of the information needs a bit of tweaking and the grammatical errors don't drive you crazy, its worth it! But don't be frightened to create your own starter, it isn't as difficult as the book makes it out to be, but she is right - it makes pretty amazing bread!++

I love the idea of baking breads using natural yeasts. The authors are pretty clear on the benefits of using natural yeast, giving many health reasons why a person would want to do this. And there are many reasons!I'm looking forward to trying the recipes, just as soon as I can get a start of natural yeast. The recipes look very good and pretty easy to make. It does take more time than using the yeasts you buy at the grocery store, but I am more than willing to take that time for the health benefits.Only one complaint - and it's not really a complaint, just sort of. The authors are consistent in calling it "natural yeast" - they are actually talking about sour dough starters, and I wonder why they don't just call it that. I understand that different yeasts have different flavors, from mild to quite sour, but using the term "sour dough" would seem to help people get the idea of what they are talking about much faster. Oh well - nothing is perfect. I definitely suggest that people try this book and use the recipes contained in it. Yes, they are a little more time consuming to make, but it seems a small price to pay for using the natural or sour dough starter that will help diabetics be able to eat bread - or that will eat the gluten in the bread before baking so that people with gluten issues might be able to eat bread again. Definitely recommend it for people who are interested in healthy baking and eating!

I have been using sourdough for several years and honestly don’t know what my family did before I discovered this book! There are so many delicious recipes that I’ve tried successfully. In addition, the author provides interesting information about why to use natural yeast, invaluable shaping techniques, and many other helpful tidbits throughout the book, making it more than just a book of recipes. I highly recommend!

A functional introduction to keeping a starter and baking bread. The details are hidden throughout the book, so be prepared to make a lot of mistakes if you follow the recipes without studying the beginning; there are various inconsistencies between the recipes, as well, and you will glean wisdom every time you try a new bread. The extra recipes at the end will leave you guessing, at best. The "free starter flakes" offer in this addition is no longer available. Not wild about the religious opinions offered; almost made me send it back, but I'm hooked on trying to make better loaves each week, and this is the book that did it.

Found this hard to read, the colours were annoying (too dark), and the pages all seemed dirty (part of the colour selection). For content, the writers could not just come right out and stay that they buy their wild starter and other than giving a flow chart, do not explain how to grow/make your own. And, there are rambling stories. While the recipes appear okay and there is some useful information contained; I will probably give this book away to a friend as I really dislike the format, layout.

Overall, I really liked this cookbook. The history and information at the beginning is good information. I do have to agree with some of the other reviewers that the background on some of the pages make it a bit harder to read but it's not too bad. I found that my cookbook had all the pages numbered so I'm guessing they fixed that. I've tried a couple recipes from here and they all turned out really well. One thing (for me) that would have made this a more helpful guide would have been more information on how to create your own starter and trouble shooting a starter. There is *some* information about this in there and the author does point you to a blog but I thought having it all in one place would be helpful. Overall, this is a great book; especially for a more novice bread baker.

I love this book!! I can't say enough about how well written it is. It gives all the basic information on how t bake with natural yeast & clever trouble shooting suggestions. The recipes are all delicious. Great purchase if you're looking to start baking with natural yeast!

Lots of useful information. Looking forward to putting my reading to the test and baking some bread. I recently developed a wheat sensitivity and I'm hoping this will be the method that will allow me to enjoy baking loaves again without the purchase of expensive, specialty flours.