What is Artisan Bread?

Artisan bread has many definitions. Most of the possible definitions include expressions like homemade, handmade, made in small quantities, lacking in preservatives, and using traditional techniques. But for every definition, it is possible to find exceptions. Clearly, those terms don’t completely define what we understand to be artisan breads or separate them from conventional breads. After all, every bread formula in this book can be made by hand in small quantities, yet many of them would not be considered artisan. At the same time, commercial bakeries use machines to transform thousands of pounds of flour a day into high-quality breads that nearly anyone would call artisan, or that at least have all the eating qualities of artisan breads. Furthermore, now that supermarket chains are selling mass-produced loaves with artisan on the label, the word is harder than ever to define, if not impossible.