Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza [A Cookbook] : FORKISH, KEN by KEN FORKISH

Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza [A Cookbook] : FORKISH, KEN Reviews

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  Mr. A. Connor

  I took up making bread as a hobby and diversion from 'work' a few years ago. I got the mixer, and found the right flour practiced and made hundreds of loaves. I thought they were pretty good.Until I bought this book..This book completely changed how I make bread, and I think it's brilliant.The methods take time, but it's time waiting, while you sleep or do something else. The effort is miniscule compared to other 'kneading' methods (that you've spent time perfecting), this needs just a bit of gentle folding, microscopic amounts of yeast It's completely counterintuitive. But read and follow the instructions exactly and be careful with timing and temperatures and you'll make bread that looks exactly like the one on the cover. It's crusty, chewy and full of bubbly pockets.. Really brilliant bread that you'd pay at least £5 for in a artisan bakery.A few things you should get when you buy the book electronic scale,http://www..co.uk/gp/aw/d/B000ZNM51O/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1450629549&sr=8 1&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=electronic+scales+kitchen&dpPl=1&dpID=31tudZF4mWL&ref=plSrch a electronic thermometer (I bought the Heston one) a banneton (basket) to prove the doughhttp://www..co.uk/gp/aw/d/B006J7JWHU/ref=mp_s_a_1_7?qid=1450629397&sr=8 7&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=proving+basket&dpPl=1&dpID=41%2BJ82 jG0L&ref=plSrch a medium to large size cast iron casserole with a lid to bake in. You could splash out on a le creuset casserole but take a tip and get any other brand for a tenth of the price they are just as good. I use a 24cm diameter casserole for each loaf.. This 23cm one would be fine :
• 
  Late night reader

  So I have never made bread from scratch before buying this book. In fact I'm rarely found in the kitchen, because I'm a terrible cook. But a friend kept posting smug photos of amazing looking bread she had made from this book on social media so I thought I would give it a try.First off, it is a bit of an outlay if you don't have a well stocked kitchen. I had to buy a casserole dish and a thermometer in addition to the book.But wow is it worth it. He suggests buying fine flour but with Tesco own brand strong white flour I've made a fantastic loaf.The instructions are extremely through and if you Google 'flour water salt yeast' 'ken forkish' and 'youtube' you will also get some videos showing you every stage to go with the written instructions.There aren't a lot of recipes in the book and they do take time and it's a lot of worry during that time that you are going to end up with a rubbish loaf, but I think it's better to have a small number of great recipes where you really can replicate the sort of bread you'd get in a bakery/be served in a top end restaurant, rather than a lot that produce a mediocre loaf.I would thoroughly recommend this book if you like baking or, like me, you like delicious bread but don't want to pay £3 a loaf for it.
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  J. D. Stevenson

  Making bread is my hobby. I have several books, and have attended an expensive bread making class. This is absolutely the finest book I have read. It is the only one which actually results in the bread looking like what's on the cover. Instructions are meticulous for each bread; no detail is left out to save print every recipe is complete in itself so that you don't have to cross reference. Superb. If you like to bake bread, you need this book if you are willing to put in the time and effort to make it work. Note: best results by far are obtained by baking in a Dutch oven. I use a pyrex glass 4 quart oven from which cost £12.95. Get two so that you can bake two loaves at once. It makes a huge difference. Any Dutch oven (e.g. le Creuset) will do but if the lid has other than a metal lifting knob it may melt. You can order metal ones from le Creuset or buy them in a le Creuset outlet. Stick with Pyrex It's cheaper, and I think the glass actually makes the bread rise than metal in the baking. My baking stone cost over £20 and I never use it except for pizza. Forkish often uses microscopic quantities of yeast, so I recommend purchasing a little electronic jewellers' scale which you can find on for less than £10. I use the little paper bowls used to make cupcakes to measure salt and yeast. Since yeast amounts are so small, it should be fresh, quality yeast. Also, Forkish recommends using fingers to mix the salt, flour, water and yeast after the auto lyse phase. I use a plastic dough scraper for this. I use a cutting motion repeatedly (20 or so cuts), then turn the dough over a few times, and turn the bowl 1/4 turn and repeat four times total. Seems to work well, and much less messy and you lose much less dough. See photo for results good luck!
• 
  Derricks62

  I think this is a great book with plenty of advice but as some other people in the UK have pointed out, the author doesn't make any note of the difference between UK and American flours. After deciding to follow the recipe in the book for the overnight white loaf (using yeast) I was left with a batter like consistency which no amount of 'folding' would overcome. I then did the thing you should never do and add flour (I ended up with a flat brick). I realised that something was not right. So revisiting the overnight white recipe again (that calls for 78% hydration I cut this right back to 68% (I did some Web research). The results wiere brilliant and I ended up with a loaf just like the picture with a crunchy crust and great taste (I was using a cheap 4 quart dutch oven aka cast iron casserole dish).As for the overnight country blonde (pure sourdough) I experimented a bit and ended up using 70% and this worked too. The results were amazing and I don't think I will every buy my bread again.As for the Levain, I have not tried the book's method as it requires you to throw away lots of it. Instead I created a starter over four days adding 25g water to 25g of rye each day ending up with the 100g of starter that was bubbling and smelt as described. I never threw any away and this worked brilliantly and I am now producing daily sourdough loaves that are just amazing.The book's advice (other than the hydration rates and levain method) are sound and I would thoroughly recommend it. It's also a very good read!
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  Mr. R. Stevenson

  I too am a bit of a bread baking addict like lots of reviewers here. I tend to use Hammelman's book. I've had lots of success with the book under review, loaves with a great taste. However without a dutch oven the dough is so loose that nothing can be shaped. The srtucture develops during the folds but not the strength in my opinion. I write this after my 10th White Loaf with Poolish and the shaping was the cause of frustration being so impossibly wet I needed to add a load of rye flour to the table to even begin shaping, leading to a very poorly shaped loaf. 80% hydration depends on using flour with a certain absorption percentage. I think the author should discuss which flours to use and what to adjust if other flours need to be substituted esp for a UK/US audience since flour designations are different. See Hortus 'Baking basics – Understanding Flour, Part 1' webpage for info on flour types.