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

Ken Forkish, a Portland-based baker, presents a comprehensive baking guide featuring recipes for artisan breads and pizzas designed for home bakers. The book includes rustic boules and Neapolitan-style pizzas, all developed and tested in a home oven. Recipes accommodate various skill levels and schedules, from straight doughs that can be prepared in a single day to breads using pre-ferments like biga or poolish. The book provides step-by-step instructions for making a levain starter with flour and water, as well as guidance on creating pizza doughs and sauces for use with either a pizza stone or cast-iron skillet. Beyond recipes, the book offers educational content on artisan bread baking, including explanations of baker's percentages, techniques for adjusting ingredient ratios to create custom doughs, and advice for adapting baking schedules to fit daily routines. An entire chapter covers the levain-making process.