Very Good Bread is a well-structured cookbook on how to make all different forms of bread. Instructions are concise and done by weight, which is exactly what I expect from my high level cookbook. There is a nice assortment of photos throughout the book to display what the finished products look like, as well as photo diagrams to explain certain techniques to the reader. This is thoughtfully assembled with some unique recipes that I have yet to see in my large collection of bread focused cookbooks.

I have not yet had time to bake from this cookbook, so my review is not a reflection of the recipes themselves, but the general content and instruction value. With that said, I would be surprised if anyone struggled with these recipes.

I love this book! I love bread and breadmaking and this cookbook was such a wonderful read!

I highly recommend this if you love bread!

Thank you NetGalley, Melissa Weller, Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for giving me an ARC copy of this!

A decent book of interesting breads. The cover and title didn’t specify mostly sourdough, but that’s what’s included. Most of the recipes call for a starter. It would have been nice to have the option of non sourdough recipes for some of these. Lots of ideas for fillings, toppings and meals included as well. Beware most of the recipes are weekenders or those that take a lot of fermenting time or downtime. So while not labor intensive they are time intensive. Bread is worth it though.

Although I’ve been baking bread for years, I always welcome new ideas and good books to help me improve my skills. I ran across an excellent bread primer, Very Good Bread: The Science of Dough and the Art of Making Bread at Home: A Cookbook, by James Beard Award–nominated baker, Melissa Weller, that got me excited about baking lots of new types of bread. The book includes Master Classes for several types of bread, which are very helpful and informative.
The breads included are varied and mouthwatering. There are several chapters featuring sourdough, as well as regular breads for those of us who have passed that sourdough bandwagon. The recipes are written in the traditional manner with the ingredients listed first (the measurements are in both volume and weight), followed by excellent step-by-step instructions. It’s easy for anyone to follow them, from beginning bakers to advanced bakers. The book is easy to read, and includes helpful comments at the beginning of each recipe.

Another plus is that there are beautiful, professional photographs of most of the recipes which help bakers decide just what to make next and how the finished breads should look. The author also includes toppings and sandwich fillings for bagels, breads, and rolls.


All told, this excellent cookbook will inspire bakers and wannabe bakers to get to work. It is highly recommended and it will keep many of us baking for months.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

I love the simplicity of this book. I have always struggled with bread making, and I appreciate how detailed and straightforward this book is. I was very impressed by the section on sourdough and all of the detail that was put into it. I sometimes feel like bread making can be confusing, but this book made me realize that breadmaking does not have to be so. I thought the ingredients and equipment sections were indispensable. Both have a huge impact on how bread turns out, so I appreciate the care that was put into educating the reader. The photos were great both in showing the recipe and also in showing important steps. In addition to bread recipes, I loved that there were recipes for items that accompany bread. I found this to be a great book with great recipes. I would definitely recommend this book.

It seems like every few weeks a book is released on bread, sourdough bread in particular. It feels like everyone is trying to continue capitalizing on skills that many people started learning during the pandemic. Unfortunately, most of them feel thrown together, use volume for measurements, never talk about the flours they use, the vernacular of bread making, and so many other important steps when really wanting to up your bread game.
Very Good Bread is NOT one of them.
I never have high expectations on bread books anymore and one of the first things I look for are how ingredients are measured. If weight is not listed, the book is an immediate no go. In my opinion, so many beginning bread makers, or bakers in general for that matter, have recipes that fail or turn out subpar because Americans love their volume measurements. Baking is science. Use weight!
Anyways.... things I love about Very Good Bread:
Before you even get into the actual book, Weller takes the time to give you information. Like most, she tells you her history and background in bread making, but then she goes on to explain how you can set yourself for success, including a timing roadmap, how she preheats her oven, and the temperature of her ingredients. Normally, the timing thing is a negative for me, since a lot of it has to do with temperature, BUT she actually notes that temperature plays a key roll, not something I have seen in most bread books. Again, like most books, she then goes into basic ingredients and the tools she prefers, but the big difference here is how she breaks down the flours used in her recipes. She talks about the key components in each flour, why she uses them, their flavor profiles, and even going as far as telling you to source dark roasted malted barley from home brew stores because that is where you'll typically find this particular grain.
From there, it's a sourdough primer. Making your own starter, some key vocabulary and what they mean, and most importantly she notes "Yeast is like a pet. It needs food (flour), water, and a warm environment to thrive." Sourdough starters fail because they are living things and we often don't treat them as such. She takes the time and really breaks down sourdough starters into something everyone can understand. All of this happens before we even get into the meat of the book.
Each section heading starts with a master class designed give you all the information you need to become well, a master of those recipes. Read them. Read them again. Then head to the recipes. The recipes themselves? Weller took such great care in capturing every detail of the bake. The pictures of shaping loaves skips nothing. Whether you are a visual learner, or only need instructions, she has both covered.
As a girl who grew up on NYC bagels, if this book was just the chapter on bagels and bialys, I would still buy it in a heart beat. I live in the mountains of rural Pennsylvania now and miss a good bagel and smear terribly. My husband and I have been known to purchase dozens upon dozens of bagels to bring home with us when visiting family. There is nothing remotely close, and yes, it's the water. Weller does mention that there are other factors that go into good bagels, but you will never convince me that NYC water doesn't play a vital role.
Other pluses for me are the additional recipes she includes outside of bread making. Most of the bread recipes are then followed by a recipe that uses them. For example, the pita recipe is followed by a recipe for lamb meatballs with yogurt and pickled onion. The hoagie rolls are followed by every you need in order to make the best Italian combo sandwich. Oh and Weller uses lard in her flour tortillas, as we all should.

If I had to complain about anything, and trust me, it was difficult to do with this book, there would be two, and they are more personal preferences. First would be the repetition on the bagel chapter. Weller gives recipes for plain sourdough bagels, everything, sesame, onion, etc but they are all the same base recipe, followed by what is being used to top. Some might complain that this was just to make the book larger, and therefore charge more, but the more I think about it, the more I kind of like it. There is no flipping back and forth through the pages where the main recipe is, and the pages containing the toppings. It makes the recipes and process more streamlined. The second is that the recipes flip back and forth between sourdough and yeast for leavening. I understand that using sourdough in place of yeast, and vice-versa, does change the flavor and time table of breads, but as someone who rarely bakes with yeast anymore, I would have loved to see a side note on transforming the recipes into whichever suits your preference. Again, it's just a personal preference and I understand the reasoning why Weller uses yeast in some, and sourdough in others.

Bottom line: Buy this book. It doesn't matter if you're a beginner or an experienced bread baker, you're going to want this one. I know I'll purchasing a copy for myself. (Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC)

An excellent collection of expertly written bread recipes. A recommended purchase for collections where baking and bread books are popular.