King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion Cookbook

I must confess, I really hadn't heard of King Arthur Flour before I bought this book. My husband had mentioned hearing a story about them on NPR because it was their 200th anniversary, or something like that, and we had purchased a bag of their flour "just for fun" at Trader Joe's once, but it wasn't until I bought this book and read it all that I began to understand why they have the reputation they do.

First, this is not like your typical "brand name cookbook" that has the trademarked item to use in each and every ingredient list. Yes, we realize that this is a Hormel cookbook, and therefore you can't ust just any chili, but it must be Hormel. Fine. The fine folks at King Arthur Flour never force you to buy their flour, but they do tell you why they think theirs is superior to other products--and they give scientific reasons why and don't really mention it until the very back of the book.

Second, since the company has been around since 1790, they pretty much know what they are talking about. Flour has been their thing, and thus, baking as well. Every recipe I've made so far has come out well, with the Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies being declared "the best I've ever had" by more than one person.

The best thing about the book, aside form the great recipes, is the scientific knowledge in each section. It's all written in simple prose, very easily understandable, and yet it makes more sense than anything else I've read on the subject of baking. I'd never understood the concept behind making a pie crust before this, I had no idea that it was actually a GOOD thing to still see little bits of butter in the mix! And yeast breads? Now I at least know why my top fell in when I make a whole wheat loaf and I know how I can fix it for next time.

Of course, the King Arthur folks are the first to let you know that baking isn't an exact science; it's more of an art, really. There are so many variables that go into the success of failure of a recipe, ranging from the type of ingredients used, the age of the ingredients, the technique used, elevation, even the weather! But the knowledge and information they give really helps the home baker to understand and adjust for these variables, even if it takes a lot of time and practice to gt it right.

We have lived at a high elevation (4500 to over 5000 feet) for several years now, which is always a challenge for a baker. Recipes often give special instructions for high altitude, but they never say why or tell you how to tweak it (adjustments are not the same for 5000 ft as for 10,000 ft). The knowledge I have gained from this book has helped me to figure out just what tricks might work to save me from another failed loaf of whole wheat bread.

The only challenges I've found with it are that it was fairly expensive for a cookbook (about $35 when I bought it), quite bulky on the bookshelf and in the kitchen, though it does manage to lay pretty flat, and it doesn't have every recipe you'd ever want (but would you want it to?). It covers quite a bit of ground in the realm of baking, including homemade crackers, but readers will notice a natural bias towards New England recipes such as grunts and slumps, or even the cheddar chees piecrust for your apple pie. It's wonderful that they've preserved these old favorites, but other regions are more lightly touched upon.

Pros: Solid science, great information, tried & true recipes
Cons: More expensive, bulky