Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'm an experienced bread baker, I baked the master recipe from this book 3 times, and the results were uniformly disappointing. Although the crust was golden and aromatic, the interior of the bread was spongy, even gummy, with an unpleasant yeasty taste and odor. The authors claim the bread dough can stay good in the fridge for 2 wks, but I baked some dough after a week or so, and the bread came out gummy, overyeasted and unpalatable. There was no ovenspring whatsoever. The authors also try to time how long it takes for the refrigerated dough to warm and rise while waiting to bake. These times can vary widely depending on house temperatures. Even with a maximum time period of 1 1/2 hrs (given on the book's website, not in the book), the dough may not be ready when it is popped into the oven. It then bakes up very dense--and this happened with one of my batches. The book's website has posted a long errata sheet, with some major whoppers and adjustments. The amount of yeast in the recipes is wrong throughout the entire book (it should be 2 pkgs, not 1 1/2 pkgs). When the dough comes out of the refrigerator, it should rest for 40 mins to 1 1/2 hrs, not 40 mins. The amount of flour is wrong for one recipe. The oven temperature is wrong for another recipe. And so on. Many people here have expressed happiness with their baking, and I'm glad for them. However, people interested in nontraditional methods for yeast bread should check out the NY Times No Knead Bread recipe, or Suzanne Dunaway's No Need To Knead cookbook, which, IMO, produce a better, more reliable loaf.