It’s no overstatement to say that this book is life-changing. I had been screwing around with bread baking for years with almost zero success. When this book was recommended by Allez Bakery owner Thomas McKenna, I had essentially given up on ever being able to bake an airy, crusty, delicious loaf of bread. This book taught me to think of bread-making as a fermentation process. (And as someone who regularly makes 3 - 5 gallon batches of homemade kimchi and home-brewed beer, this revelation was mind-blowing!)
Perhaps equally important — and unlike other cookbooks I’ve read — Flour Water Salt Yeast is written to truly educate its reader rather than provide rote instructions. For just one example, ingredients are listed in such a way as to allow the reader to compare recipes at a glance and to develop an understanding of how the proportions of each recipe — combined with temperature, humidity and time — can be adjusted to achieve different results. (it sort of reminds me of how tables of offsets are used to describe boat hulls.)
If you’ve always wanted to make amazing bread, pick this book up immediately. Click here to buy on Amazon.