i don’t talk about ken forkish enough. i really should because he changed my life.
in 2016, my coworker, artur, brought in a loaf of bread (so crusty, so good) and evangelized a book he used to make it, flour water salt yeast (fwsy, for short). artur kept bringing in bread, each loaf better and more complex than the one before. and i, carb loving individual that i am, kept on eating it, each bite more curious than before.
i picked up a copy later that month and started baking alongside arty.
ken became my first teacher of sourdough, and fwsy became my bible. his story of transitioning from disillusioned banker to james beard celebrated bakery and pizzeria owner resonated with a younger version of me, a frustrated software engineer looking for, if not meaning and fulfillment, at least something where she didn’t have to stare at a screen for hours.
i have read the entire book (and have baked 90% of it) from cover to cover. my copy, you could say, is well loved. the entire middle chunk can be pulled out. there is dried, crusted sourdough starter on the guide to making your own levain pages. you can’t miss the bits of crusted up dough on the recipes i really struggled with (all i can say is, ken, you must have a frigid portland kitchen).
this recipe is inspired by one of my favorite loaves in the book, his country brown sourdough. i’ve incorporated newer techniques that work better for me in wetter doughs, and paired it with the familiar flavor of his country brown. mildly tangy, soft, accessible, and so very versatile.
notes
as always, please adjust the formula based on the hydration of your starter, and adjust the timing of the bulk rise based on the temperature of your kitchen (1 hr shorter during summer, 1 hr longer during winter).
i mentioned that this is a pretty slack, wet dough due to the high hydration and lower protein content of the flours. to introduce more strength, i extend the autolyse to 1 hr (as opposed to 30 min), use the rubaud and slap & fold methods for mixing, and load up on coil folds.
please refer to the above linked videos for the techniques i mention in my recipe, as i do not describe them further.
feel free to experiment with any whole wheat variety. i’ve baked this with both king arthur whole wheat, and locally grown red fife!
the link to ken’s book is an amazon affiliate link. this means if you purchase it from this page, i’ll make money from it. that doesn’t affect my opinion of this book at all. know that i only recommend products and resources that have helped me immensely on my personal sourdough journey and that i consider to be a worthwhile investment.
baker’s percentage & basic timetable
the percentages for water and flour only account for the final dough build, and do not include the levain formula build.
| ingredient | baker’s percentage |
| all purpose flour | 70% |
| whole wheat flour | 30% |
| water | 80% |
| salt | 2.5% |
| levain | 25% |
| step | time |
| levain build | 7 hours |
| bulk rise | 8 – 8.5 hours |
| folds | 4 – 5 folds |
| cold proof | 12 hours |
| bake | 45 minutes |
country brown sourdough
formula
- 15 g levain
- 15 g king arthur whole wheat flour
- 60 g king arthur all purpose flour
- 60 g water @ 85-90°F
- 280 g king arthur all purpose flour
- 120 g whole wheat flour of choice
- 320 g water @ 90-95°F
- 10 g sea salt
- 100 g levain
method
- refresh your starter using levain build formula, and stiff starter method.
- in a large bowl, mix all flours together. slowly add the water, mixing with a rubber spatula, making sure to incorporate the water into the flour well, stopping when all the flour is hydrated. let sit, covered, for 60 minutes.
- sprinkle salt evenly over autolysed dough. incorporate gently by folding dough over a 2-3 times. then, measure out ripe starter, and add to bowl. mix, alternating between slap & fold and rubaud method, for about 6-7 minutes.
- this dough needs 4-5 sets of coil folds, spaced 45 min apart, at the beginning.
- let dough rise at room temp until doubles and appears gaseous, about 8.5 hours in the springtime.
- i like to shape these like a boule.
- on a generously floured surface, gently guide dough onto the table. first fold the dough on itself: top, left, right, bottom, like you're folding up paper. then, finish with a few stretch and folds around to create a circular, dome shape.
- flip dough over, seam side down on an unfloured surface, and gently tug to seal.
- generously flour an unlined bannetone (for the swirl aesthetic). flip the dough over with a bench knife, and gently transfer the dough, seasm side up, into the bannetone.
- place bannetone inside of a plastic bag to cover, and place in fridge overnight for 12 hours.
- place dutch oven with lid on into the oven. pre-heat oven to 495°F for an hour.
- dough is proofed when it passes the finger dent test. remove bannetone from fridge.
- very slowly, flip dough out of bannetone onto a cut piece of parchment paper.
- i like to score this with a box. two light parallel cuts horizontally, followed by two light parallel cuts vertically.
- transfer scored dough to dutch oven. decrease temperature to 485°F. with the lid on, bake for 30 minutes. then, decrease to 475°F and take the lid off. bake for another 12 – 15 minutes, or whenever the crust turns the color you like it (i go for a pretty deep brown).
- let this loaf cool on a wire rack (or something else that allows the air to circulate) for at least 2 hours before slicing.
