I’ve been building my sourdough baking skills over the last few years. I love exploring different cookbooks and techniques. With my own kitchen and baking tools, I’ve tried many sourdough recipes online. I’ve had fun creating classic loaves and trying new things.
“Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza” by Ken Forkish caught my attention. I found this cookbook while looking for a guide that would teach me the fundamentals of artisan bread baking. I wanted to share my honest thoughts with you all. The best cookbooks aren’t always the ones with the most recipes. The best ones give you a solid foundation and the skills to bake the bread you’ve been dreaming about.
I decided to feature this book and my experience with it here on the blog. I’ve been working through this cookbook for a while. I’ve tested recipes and learned what works (and what doesn’t). I wanted to share my honest thoughts with you all. This review mixes book review, recipe review, and my own baking experience. I hope it starts fun conversations about sourdough baking and cookbooks.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. This helps support our blog and allows us to continue providing free sourdough content.
The best cookbooks aren’t the ones with the most advanced techniques—they’re the ones that teach you the fundamentals. Once you understand the basics, you can go anywhere.
Experienced Home Baker
The Honest Truth About This Cookbook
Let me start with what you need to know: this book is about the fundamentals. And it delivers exactly what it promises. If you’ve been trying to make good artisan bread on your own by scouring blogs and websites for techniques and recipes, but nothing you found yielded the thick, crunchy crusts and light, spongy crumbs that you were seeking, this book is the answer.
One reviewer shared their experience: “I had been trying to make good artisan bread on my own by scouring blogs and websites for techniques and recipes, but nothing I found yielded the thick, crunchy, crusts and light, spongy crumbs that I was seeking to produce. That is until I found this book. I decided that combing through endless articles and the blog posts of amateurs and hobbyists was not going to cut it. So, I jumped on the Kindle store and began my search for the book that would give me the skills and knowledge I needed to bake the bread I dreamed about.”
That’s exactly what makes this book special. It’s written by a professional baker who learned from world-renowned bakers and opened his own bakery. The author becomes your mentor and guide throughout the book. He teaches you the fundamentals that will transform your bread baking.
After spending some time with this book and some time in the kitchen, I’m finally baking the bread that I’ve been wanting. I can say without hesitation that if you’re looking for a book to get you started baking superb breads and pizza, this is the one. I know this isn’t standard blog content. I’m not sure how this review will turn out. But with reading cookbooks and baking, half the fun is diving in to see where you go. I hope this review connects with some of you. If it doesn’t, I hope you enjoy the change in your sourdough reading.
Recipes I’ve Tested (And My Honest Thoughts)
I’ve been working my way through this cookbook. I wanted to share my experiences with the recipes I’ve tried so far. I won’t be sharing Ken Forkish’s “secrets” on how to use ingredients. That doesn’t feel right to me. It’s also not important for this review. I will talk about the recipes throughout my discussions. I’ll share what worked for me.
The book is organized into several sections: Straight Doughs, Doughs with Preferments, Hybrid Levain Doughs, and Pure Levain Doughs. Each recipe is unique. Each will require different time commitments. So plan ahead to make sure your schedule can accommodate the recipe you want to try.
Straight Dough Recipes
The Foundation: These recipes are where it all starts. The author provides clear instructions. The recipes are easy to follow. They simply lay out the ingredients and the procedure for creating each bread.
My Verdict: I’ve tried almost half of the recipes in this book and most (despite my still raw technique) have looked and tasted amazing. The straight dough recipes are a great starting point. They’ve become staples in my kitchen.
What I Learned: The author recommends measuring your ingredients by weight instead of by volume. However, he also includes the approximate measurements in cups, tbs, tsps, etc. This flexibility is incredibly helpful for home bakers.
Doughs with Preferments
Leveling Up: Once you’ve mastered the straight doughs, these recipes introduce preferments. This is a technique that adds complexity and flavor to your bread.
My Verdict: These recipes take things up a notch. The techniques are still clearly explained. But the results are even more impressive. The preferments add depth and complexity that you can’t achieve with straight doughs alone.
Pro Tip: Plan ahead. These recipes require different time commitments. Make sure your schedule can accommodate the recipe you want to try.
Hybrid Levain Doughs
The Best of Both Worlds: These recipes combine commercial yeast with sourdough starter (levain). This gives you the reliability of commercial yeast with the flavor of sourdough.
My Verdict: These are some of my favorite recipes in the book. They’re easier than pure levain doughs but still deliver that sourdough flavor. I love the techniques. They’re manageable. The results are consistently good.
What I Learned: The author educates you on what exactly a levain is and how to start and maintain your own levain. This understanding is crucial for success with these recipes.
Pure Levain Doughs
The Ultimate Challenge: These recipes use only sourdough starter (levain) for leavening. They’re the most challenging but also the most rewarding.
My Verdict: These recipes require the most skill and patience, but the results speak for themselves. The thick, crunchy crusts and light, spongy crumbs are exactly what I was seeking. No store-bought bread in our home anymore with these boules around.
My Recommendation: Don’t skip the levain education chapter. Understanding what a levain is and how to maintain it is essential for success with these recipes.
Focaccia
The Versatile Bread: The focaccia section provides recipes. They’re perfect for sharing and experimenting with different flavors.
My Verdict: The focaccia recipes are easy to follow. The results are impressive. They’re perfect for when you want something a little different from a regular loaf.
What I Learned: The techniques for shaping and folding focaccia are different from regular bread. The book provides clear guidance with pictures to help you get it right.
Pizza
The Crowd Pleaser: The pizza section includes recipes for sauces. It even gives a crash course on shaping pizza dough.
My Verdict: I got brave and tried one of the pizza recipes out on my aunt. She is a self-professed “foodie” and she claimed it was the best pizza she has ever had. Even better than the pizza she had in Italy. I take these artisan loaves to family parties and never have any to take home. I made several loaves for a bake sale recently and they lasted about 30 seconds before each was purchased.
My Recommendation: Don’t skip the pizza sauce recipes. They’re simple but essential for creating truly great pizza at home.
Why This Book Stands Out
What sets “Flour Water Salt Yeast” apart is its commitment to teaching the fundamentals. The author briefly goes over his transition from working in Silicon Valley, through his education in baking, to eventually opening his own bakery in Portland, OR. He had the privilege of learning the craft from several world-renowned bakers. This book is his way of passing that knowledge on to you.
The book is organized into clear sections: Straight Doughs, Doughs with Preferments, Hybrid Levain Doughs, and Pure Levain Doughs. This organization makes it easy to progress from simple to complex recipes as you build your skills.
The author provides multiple pictures in the book. They help you get a visual reference of how things should look after each step. He has also posted a few videos on his bakery’s website, kensartisan.com. They will help you if you need further guidance.
Most importantly, this book teaches you the fundamentals that will serve you well beyond just the recipes in this book. Once you understand straight doughs, preferments, and levains, you can apply these techniques to create your own variations.
Final Thoughts
This book has become an invaluable resource in my kitchen. After spending some time with this book and some time in the kitchen, I am finally baking the bread that I’ve been wanting. I can say without hesitation that if you’re looking for a book to get you started baking superb breads and pizza, get this one.
Is it the definitive book on the subject? No, but it covers the basics and from here you can go anywhere. The fundamentals it teaches will serve you well as you continue your bread-baking journey.
If you’ve been trying to make good artisan bread on your own by scouring blogs and websites but haven’t found the results you’re looking for, this book is the answer. The organization is clear. The recipes are easy to follow. The results speak for themselves.
If I can do it, you can too.