Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza

There are few things more satisfying than biting into a freshly made, crispy-on-the-outside, soft-and-supple-on-the-inside slice of perfectly baked bread. For Portland-based baker Ken Forkish, well-made bread is more than just a pleasure — it is a passion that has led him to create some of the best and most critically lauded breads and pizzas in the country.

In Flour Water Salt Yeast, Forkish translates his obsessively honed craft into scores of recipes for rustic boules and Neapolitan-style pizzas, all suited for the home baker. Forkish developed and tested all of the recipes in his home oven, and his impeccable formulas and clear instructions result in top-quality artisan breads and pizzas that stand up against those sold in the best bakeries anywhere.

Whether you’re a total beginner or a serious baker, Flour Water Salt Yeast has a recipe that suits your skill level and time constraints: Start with a straight dough and have fresh bread ready by supper time, or explore pre-ferments with a bread that uses biga or poolish. If you’re ready to take your baking to the next level, follow Forkish’s step-by-step guide to making a levain starter with only flour and water, and be amazed by the delicious complexity of your naturally leavened bread. Pizza lovers can experiment with a variety of doughs and sauces to create the perfect pie using either a pizza stone or a cast-iron skillet.

Flour Water Salt Yeast is more than just a collection of recipes for amazing bread and pizza — it offers a complete baking education, with a thorough yet accessible explanation of the tools and techniques that set artisan bread apart. Featuring a tutorial on baker’s percentages, advice for manipulating ingredients ratios to create custom doughs, tips for adapting bread baking schedules to fit your day-to-day life, and an entire chapter that demystifies the levain-making process, Flour Water Salt Yeast is an indispensable resource for bakers who want to make their daily bread exceptional bread.

"Owner of Ken's Artisan Pizza and Ken's Artisan Bakery in Portland, Ore., Forkish begins by telling of the trials and tribulations of opening up shop (people didn't want to pay $2.50 for a cup of herbal tea). Divided into four sections ('The Principles of Artisan Bread,' 'Basic Bread Recipes,' 'Levain Bread Recipes,' and 'Pizza Recipes'), with recipes broken down by breads made with store-bought yeast, breads made with long-fermented simple doughs, and doughs made with pre-ferments, the book presents recipes accessible to novices, while providing a different approach for making dough to experienced bakers. Plenty of step-by-step photographs, along with a chapter outlining 'Great Details for Bread and Pizza,' make this slim work a rival to any bread-baking tome. A variety of pizza recipes, including sweet potato and pear pizza and golden beets and duck breast 'prosciutto' pizza, (along with an Oregon hazelnut butter cookie recipe), end the title and inspire readers to put on the apron and get out the flour." Publishers Weekly

"Forkish's instructions are clear, concise and incredibly precise....For true artisan bread lovers — and homemade pizza fanatics — this book sets a new standard." The Oregonian

"Exceptionally detailed and clearly written with dedicated bakers in mind....Cooks and students who are serious about the craft of bread baking will definitely want to check out this title." Library Journal

"Ken Forkish's story is as unique, interesting, and delicious as his famous breads and pizzas. The man abandoned his past, courageously stepped off the cliff and followed his passion, and the result has been a gift to all of us: great breads, fabulous pizzas, and now this beautiful book — Flour Water Salt Yeast — in which he reveals all." Peter Reinhart, author of Artisan Breads Every Day and The Joy of Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free Baking

"Ken nails it, end of story, when it comes to the best levain bread or the thinnest, most perfect pizza crust you've ever had. He has set the bar for Portland bakeries — that's why we use his bread at Le Pigeon. For anybody looking to bake amazing bread at home, this book is a must-have." Gabriel Rucker, chef/owner of Le Pigeon restaurant

"This fun book offers more than just top-quality bread. Flour Water Salt Yeast reveals all the formulas, processes, tips, and tricks Ken established in his years of experience as a professional baker. But most importantly, it teaches home bakers how to create their own bread using multiple schedules and ingredient combinations. Hey — all that without having to get up to bake in the middle of the night." Michel Suas, founder of the San Francisco Baking Institute and author of Advanced Bread and Pastry

"Ken Forkish is an artisan for our times, and the kind of 'handcraft-it-yourself' dreamer who makes Portland, Oregon, one of America's top food destinations. This book is a handsome expression of his bread-baking vision: Forkish is a man unbound, obsessed by the science of fermentation, and excitedly sharing hard-won secrets and exacting recipes from his celebrated sourdough laboratory." Karen Brooks, restaurant critic, Portland Monthly

From Portland's most acclaimed and beloved baker comes this must-have baking guide, featuring scores of recipes for world-class breads and pizzas and a variety of schedules suited for the home baker.

In Flour Water Salt Yeast, author Ken Forkish demonstrates that high-quality artisan bread and pizza is within the reach of any home baker. Whether it's a basic straight dough, dough made with a pre-ferment, or a complex levain, each of Forkish's impeccable recipes yields exceptional results. Tips on creating and adapting bread baking schedules that fit in reader's day-to-day lives — enabling them to bake the breads they love in the time they have available — make Flour Water Salt Yeast an indispensable resource for bakers, be they novices or serious enthusiasts.

Ken Forkish is the owner of Ken's Aritisan Pizza and Ken's Artisan Bakery, which was named one of Gourmet magazine's "Best Restaurants in America." Ken lives in Portland, Oregon.

Introduction

Part 1: The Principles of Artisan Bread

1:  The Backstory

2:  Eight Details for Great Bread and Pizza

3:  Equipment and Ingredients

Essay: Where Does Our Flour Come From?

Part 2: Basic Bread Recipes

4:  Basic Bread Method

5: Straight Doughs

6:  Doughs Made with

Pre-Ferments

Essay: The Early Morning Bread Baker’s Routine

Part 3: Levain Bread Recipes

7:  Understanding Levain

8:  Levain Method

9:  Hybrid Leavening Doughs

Essay: The 3-Kilo Boule

10:  Pure Levain Doughs

11:  Advanced Levain Doughs

Essay: Making a Bread (or Pizza) Dough You Can Call Your Own

Part 4: Pizza Recipes

12:  Pizza and Focaccia Method

13:  Pizza Doughs

14:  Pizza and focaccia

 

Lagniappe

Metric Conversion Charts

Acknowledgments

Index