Flour Water Salt Yeast

Four simple ingredients can entice all four senses when properly handled.   Michael Pollan's 2016 Netflix mini-series Cooked got me interested in making traditional, rustic bread, specifically Episode 3: Air.  Ken Forkish' 2012 book with the same title as this blog entry taught me how.  The method is straight-forward and requires one other crucial ingredient:  time.  Forkish presents two-loaf recipes which I half to keep my carb intake and waistline under some semblance of control.  I'll walk you through the creation of this loaf of Overnight 40% Whole Wheat Bread.

The process starts with flour, a 60/40 split of all-purpose and whole wheat.  Forkish is big on baking with a scale rather than cups due to the variations across brands of flour.  Digital scales that measure in grams are cheap.  Get one.  Another fun thing about this method is that the main utensil used is your hand for all mixing.  Wash them.

The water comes next at 95˚F (don't guess, use a digital thermometer; they are cheap too).  Staying on the scale again avoids the use of measuring cups and other things you'd have to wash. Forkish instructs to mix the flour and water (by hand) and leave it alone for 20-30 minutes, known as the autolyse method.  The biological term is autolysis.  Apparently the flour has a chance to more fully absorb the water, activating enzymes to begin breaking down complex carbohydrates into simple sugars that the yeast will just love.  In other words, the flour starts to digest itself.  Yum!

It's now time to add the salt and yeast.  Since I'm halving Forkish' recipes, I only need 1.5 gram of instant yeast.  My cheap scale is not that sensitive, so I break down and use measure spoon for the 3/8 teaspoon needed.

I then use my hand (I prefer the left) in an alternating pincer and turning motion to fully integrate the ingredients.  Forkish advises you to test your temperature along the way, not that there's much you can do at this point, but more for the next time around.  We're aiming for a dough temperature in the upper 70's (Fahrenheit). I was spot on for this loaf.

I use a 6 quart plastic tub with lid for my dough mixing and bulk fermentation (first rise).  It's a good size for someone as messy as me in the kitchen and still allows direct measurement on the scale.  In case you are wondering, there's no kneading in any of Forkish' recipes.  Get your exercise elsewhere.  Instead, you are advised to give a number of folds (usually 2 to 4) to the dough during the first hour of the rise.  The process involves wetting your hand (my left), grabbing some dough from the side, gently pulling it to the top and center of the dough, rotate, and repeat until you have a nice tighter mound (I wouldn't call it a ball).  The process encourages the development of the gluten without risk of tearing the tender proteins.

Now its time to cover the tub and let it alone for 5 to 7 hours, depending on how cool your house is.  For me, it was the full 7 this week.  The dough will almost triple in volume.  You now get to experience the miracle of life (or the joy of chemistry) when you take off the lid, smell the yeast-produced alcohol, and see the gurgling bubbles, and declare, "It's Alive!"

Taking off your mad scientist mask, it's time to get to work.  Turn the gloopy blob of risen dough out onto a floured Teflon mat and tighten it up into a ball-ish mound with the same technique used during the folds.  The top, where I've gathered the folds, is referred to as the seam side.

Carefully gather up the nice ball of dough, invert it, to place the seam side down in a floured proofing bowl and dust the top with flour.  On Forkish' advice, I use a banneton basket for proofing.  I thought banneton was some really innovative baker's name, but it turns out that it's just derived from the French word for wicker basket.  It provides structure to the dough that would otherwise just spread out if you put it on a flat surface for too long.  You can get them on Amazon (also cheap).  Here's another fun fact:  You do not wash your banneton basket.  You flour it prior to each use, knock out the excess flour when done, wrap it in a towel, and store it a way.  Easy! The real value of the banneton basket, though, is the cool pattern of concentric circles that the flour leaves on the bread.  It's the best way to look like you know what you're doing.  Finally, put your banneton basket with dough into a secured plastic bag, and stick it in the refrigerator overnight.  We're looking for a 10 to 12 hour proof since it's in the refrigerator.  Be sure to know where your cold and not so cold spots are.  You don't want it frozen or over-proofed.

I started the whole process around 1:30 pm on Sunday, February 25.  I was done folding at 2:30 pm, and I waiting until 9:30 pm to declare the bulk ferment complete.  By 10:00 pm, the proofing basket with dough was retiring for the night in the refrigerator.  I opted for the bed.

At 9:15 am Monday, I'm back in the kitchen, but not to look at the dough.  It's time to preheat the oven to 465˚F (Forkish says 475˚F, but I've found that a bit hot in my oven).  Place in the oven a 4 quart cast iron Dutch oven with the lid on.  I used a Lodge cast iron Dutch oven which though less than $40 was my most expensive purchase for this new hobby.  Let the Dutch oven preheat for a good 30-45 minutes.


Once thoroughly heated, take your proofing basket out of the refrigerator.  The dough is going straight from the cool environment to the (very) hot Dutch Oven.  You do not want to first bring it first up to room temperature; that would certainly over-proof your dough.  First carefully turn the dough out from the basket onto the floured work surface (the seam side is back on top now), then carefully (unless you like burns) lift the dough and place it into the Dutch Oven, seam side up.  You get a nice sizzle when you place the dough (your your skin) against the hot Dutch Oven.


Remembering that the lid is also extremely hot, place it onto the Dutch Oven, returning to the oven for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes, remove the lid (which again is hot), and continue baking another 15 to 25 minutes.  You want to bake the bread to a nice, medium dark brown all around the loaf.  Removing too soon will rob you of the flavor of a well developed crust.  Keep it in too long and you'll smell burnt toast. Turn out the bread immediately and place on a rack to cool at least 20-30 minutes.  It's fun to listen to the crackling of the bread as it cools.  Take a photo and post it on Facebook to make your friends jealous.