December 19, 2016 - 11:15am
Books Similar to Flour Water Salt Yeast?
I recently finished working my way through Ken Forkish's Flour Water Salt Yeast, and one of my favorite things about the book was how each recipe was more difficult and challenging than the last. It felt like a well-thought-out series of recipes, where you gain knowledge and skills as you work your way through, rather than simply a large collection of recipes. I am wondering if anyone could recommend a book with a similar structure?
I've purchased Robertson's Tartine Bread and Hamelman's Bread, but neither one is quite what I'm looking for. Neither one seems to have the flow that Forkish's book has. They both feel like a mere collection of recipes rather than a series of recipes, if that makes sense.
Thanks!
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Josey has somehow similar approach like Ken Forkish and you are going through book from simple to more complex breads. For me his "Dark Mountain Rye" is one of the best rye breads that I have ever eaten. I tasted it in his bakery "The Mill" in SF.
Maybe it is time for you to start experimenting and making your own recipes. This way you can give your unique signature to your breads.
Happy baking,
Joze
as he goes from easier recipes to harder ones where he builds upon what you have learned. However, that being said, I find the tone a bit childish. I think he thinks he is being funny but it wears thin after a while. I have an electronic version which was a lot cheaper than a hard copy. I would check it out st the library first to see if you like it.
The other book I enjoyed was Bien Cuit by Zachary Golper. He has some really interesting recipes.
Tartine 3 might be another one you might like but I know I went crazy with the recipes until I learned to use less water than he calls for.
Hope this helps!
ETA. Looks like someone beat me to it suggesting Josey Baker. I found I needed more reading and following other recipes after I baked my way through FWSY before I was ready to create my own breads.
I too baked everything in FWSY, and have since gone through Tartine and other books. I'm left wanting even though their breads are remarkable too. I enjoyed the learning process and development of working from one bread to the next building upon what I experienced in the last. Maybe it's more a function of how I learn, than of the way the books are written - not sure! Let me know what you ultimately settle upon! Bake happy.. bread1965!
Crust and Crumb is a nice book and each section gives different ways of making similar breads. But it sounds like you want something different. One book I like that is different than others is by Ciril Hitz called "Baking Artisan Bread". What I like about his approach is that he has 10 dough recipes and shows you how to make different things from each of the doughs. The recipes say "easy, medium, or difficult" so you can progress that way. I like the idea of making up a batch of dough, dividing it into a few pieces, and making different things with each piece. I like his techniques as well.
Worth a look in the library at least.
I was going to suggest "Crust and Crumb" (Peter Reinhart) as well. It's good in that there are master formulas that you can then use to make different breads.
Another one that steps you through from basic to more 'complex' breads is America's Test Kitchen "Bread Illustrated". The instructions are clear and I always like the way they tell how they arrived at a recipe / formula / technique by trial and error, and why the chose one works.