My wife and I have grown sick and tired of trying to find good tasting, wholesome vegan breads in the supermarket that don't contain either high fructose corn syrup or a list of chemical additives as long as your arm. I decided recently to try my hand at baking my own breads at home. I have been devouring as much information on the subject as I can lay my hands and eyes on, as is my regular custom.

  I wanted to make you all aware of a book I discovered recently that is a very valuable resource for anyone interested in baking their own bread and perhaps taking that art to a somewhat higher level than the average home baker. The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread by Peter Reinhart is full of interesting and useful information. I have included a link to the book on Amazon.com at the bottom of this post.

  Reinhart explains a number of techniques that he uses to draw out many subtle and delightful flavors from mostly the same basic ingredients that are used to make many breads. These techniques involve the use of pre-fermented doughs in the form of bigas and poolishes as well as a couple of other types. Fundamentally, you make a small amount of dough using less than the normal amount of yeast (and in some cases no salt to impede the yeast's activity) allow this dough to ferment at room temperature for several hours and then refrigerate overnight or longer. The cold retards the yeast activity and the extra time allows a number of enzymatic actions to take place that help unravel the complex starch molecules in the wheat flour. The next day you take your pre-fermented dough out of the refrigerator and bring it up to room temperature, then incorporate it into one of the many bread "formulas" he provides in the book. Not all of his formulas require pre-ferments, some simply require a "soaker" where you mix some grain with water overnight to allow it to hydrate slowly.

  I have made several of his recipes and so far they have all been fantastic. His methods are generally not difficult, they just require that you plan ahead and allow extra time for the added processes to work. Like many things in life, really good bread benefits from not being rushed.

  Word of warning: not all of the recipes in this book are vegan. Some call for some milk, eggs or honey. One or two that I have made that call for milk have come out very nicely with soy milk used as a substitute. I haven't tried any of the recipes requiring eggs using egg substitutes.

  I highly recommend his recipe for anadama bread. This recipe requires no modification to be made vegan as I recall. It does require that you soak some polenta (coarse corn meal) overnight. It is flavored with molasses and is one of the best toasting breads I have ever eaten.

  Reinhart has also published a number of other titles related to artisan bread making including Crust & Crumb: Master Formulas for Serious Bread Bakers and Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor.

  I would love to hear other book recommendations from any other vegan breadheads out there.

Bread Baker's Apprentice on amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Bread-Bakers-Apprentice-Mastering-Extraordinary/dp/1580082688/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229523502&sr=8-1