Wrinkled fingers and toes, sand in every nook and cranny, lunch sacks with empty oil-stained white baker’s paper, and serpentine hair that could pass as a sun-bleached mop head—all signs of a successful outing to the beach. Our daily trips to the Adriatic’s cool, blue waters were welcome escapes from the city heat during family visits to Southern Italy. Our little beach— perhaps with a bit of fantasy I like to think it was just ours—was a short drive away in a small stick-shift car packed to the brim with people. Family car after family car, we’d speedily caravan through the small towns toward our respite. The few, yet crucial, stops along the way had a single purpose: to fill our sacks with baked goods meant to sustain our time away. My favorite among these, by a long measure, was a simple sourdough focaccia.
With hardly a second thought, we’d buy several full sheet trays of the golden bread. The baker would cut the thick slabs into manageable pieces and wrap the entire thing in the white paper, sealed shut with a shiny sticker— conceivably an attempt to elevate the humble, yet utterly otherworldly, snack.
You see, focaccia is a rustic and simple affair: it’s a slab of naturally leavened dough topped with simple ingredients, any vegetable in season, olive oil, and salt. Some focaccia are soft, and some are crispy (my preference), sometimes thick and sometimes thin. There are as many variations across Italy as there are dialects. The beauty of this bread is that you can make it with little effort. First, mix the dough in the morning, then let it rise during the day, and finally bake it just before dinner. If you have a ripe sourdough starter, salt, and olive oil, you’re hours away from golden focaccia—and all the wonderful olfactory impressiveness therein—baking in your home oven.
Because sourdough focaccia has so few ingredients, the ones you use should be of the utmost quality. Use vegetables in season and the highest quality olive oil you can find. In this post, I worked with Jovial’s Olio Nuovo, a fresh-pressed olive oil from the Valpantena area of Northern Italy. It isn’t easy to source exclusively fresh-pressed olive oil. Usually, this oil is blended with aged oil, balancing the flavor profile to make it consistent with other offerings throughout the year. This fresh oil has a delicate flavor but a balanced, upfront fruitiness as well. If you’ve never had the chance to try an oil like this, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Flour Selection
With this naturally leavened focaccia, I wanted little sourness in the result. While I typically include whole grains in most of my recipes, I wanted the flavor of this classic bread to be mild so the taste of the olive oil and fresh toppings pop. Removing all the whole grain flour from initial trials hit the spot.
For this formula, I blended 30% high protein flour (about 13% protein) with 70% all-purpose flour (11-12% protein). The high protein flour helps give this highly-hydrated dough strength and structure—and 30% is just enough.
Focaccia Toppings
This simple sourdough focaccia can be topped with just about anything you can imagine. My favorite is rosemary, chopped cherry tomatoes, pitted kalamata olives, coarse sea salt, and good quality olive oil. Traditionally, Ligurian focaccia (and as shown in the recent Salt Fat Acid Heat episode on Netflix) is topped with a salty brine. Instead, I love dusting the top with coarse sea salt: the chunky crystals bring unexpected pops of flavor.
Here are a few more ideas:
- Tomatoes, capers, oregano, garlic, olive oil
- Thinly sliced Yukon gold potatoes tossed with coarse salt. Let the potatoes drain over a colander for 15 minutes to help remove some water. Then top in addition to coarse sea salt, fresh thyme, and olive oil
- Sliced and olive oil-marinated red onions, brined olives, and fresh chopped tomatoes
- Grated hard cheeses of all kinds (parmesan, pecorino, etc.), rosemary, olive oil
A Simple Sourdough Focaccia Recipe
Special Equipment
For this sourdough focaccia, you will need a round or rectangular pan for baking. I like to use a deep pan (as opposed to a baking sheet) so the focaccia doesn’t dry out too fast in the oven. My preferred pans:
- 9″ x 13″ USA Pan Rectangular Cake Pan
- Two 10 x 2.25″ LloydPans Round Pans (use the same dough weight as in this recipe, just divide in half and place each half into one pan)
Both pans have a nonstick interior, and they conduct heat exceptionally well, imparting a beautiful crust on the naturally leavened focaccia.
Vitals
| Total Dough Weight | 1,200 grams |
| Sourdough Starter | 19.00% |
| Hydration | 76.00% (78.00% with olive oil) |
| Yield | One 1200g focaccia |
Total Formula
This table shows the entire quantity and baker’s percentages for each ingredient. If you’d like to make two large focaccia (or four smaller ones), double everything in the table below.
There’s no specific levain build for this focaccia, just use some of your sourdough starter when it’s ripe (when you’d normally give it a refreshment). See my post on the differences between a levain and sourdough starter for more information on the two preferments.
Target final dough temperature (FDT) is 76°F (24°C).
| Weight | Ingredient | Baker’s Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 423g | All-purpose flour (King Arthur All-Purpose Flour) | 70.00% |
| 181g | High protein bread flour, malted (King Arthur Bread Flour) | 30.00% |
| 12g | Extra virgin olive oil (Jovial Olio Nuovo Organic Olive Oil) | 2.00% |
| 459g | Water | 76.00% |
| 11g | Salt | 1.80% |
| 115g | Sourdough starter (100% hydration) | 19.00% |
Method
Mix – 9:00 a.m.
This dough can be mixed by hand (I would use the slap and fold technique) or with a stand mixer like a KitchenAid or Famag spiral mixer.
To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, add both the flours, water, salt, and ripe sourdough starter (hold back the olive oil until later in mixing).
Mix on speed 1 for 1 to 2 minutes until incorporated. Then, mix on speed 2 for 5 minutes until dough strengthens and clumps around the dough hook. Let the dough rest in the mixing bowl for 10 minutes.
Next, turn the mixer on to speed 1 and slowly drizzle the olive oil into the bowl while mixing. Once all of the olive oil is absorbed, turn the mixer up to speed 2 for 1 to 2 minutes until the dough comes back together.
Transfer your dough to a bulk fermentation container and cover.
This highly hydrated and enriched dough is wet and loose, it won’t strengthen to the same degree as a typical bread dough.
As you can see below on the left, the dough is still very wet and chunky immediately after mixing. However, it’s not falling apart or soupy. Please resist the temptation to add more flour at this point. As you can see below in the image at the right, by the middle of bulk fermentation, it’ll strengthen after several sets of stretch and folds (see my guide on how to stretch and fold sourdough for more information).
Transfer the dough to a covered container for bulk fermentation.
Bulk Fermentation – 9:15 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.
Give the dough 4 sets of stretches and folds (fold a side of the dough up and over to the other side, and then rotate the container to perform 4 folds per set), starting 30 minutes after mixing, and a set every 30 minutes after that.
Proof – 11:15 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.
Transfer the dough to a deep rectangular pan that’s been greased with olive oil. If you don’t have a pan with a silicone liner, make sure to heavily oil the pan’s interior so the focaccia doesn’t stick during baking.
At 76-78°F (24-25°C), the dough will proof for 4 hours. This time period is flexible and dependent on the temperature: if it’s cooler, let it proof longer, and conversely, if it’s warm, you might be able to bake sooner.
Every 30 minutes for the first hour, uncover the pan and gently stretch the dough with wet hands to the pan’s edges to encourage it to fill the pan. The dough will naturally spread out during this proofing period, so it’s unnecessary to spread the dough aggressively. Once the dough is mostly spread to the edges, cover the pan and proof for 4 hours.
OVERNIGHT OPTION: After two hours in proof, cover the rectangular pan with an airtight cover and transfer to the fridge. The next day, take out the dough and let it come to room temperature, and continue with the Top & Bake step below.
The rectangular pan I use fits perfectly inside my B&T Dough Proofer. I keep it inside the proofer, covered with reusable plastic, and set to 78°F (25°C) until ready to bake.
About 30 minutes before you anticipate the sourdough focaccia dough being ready, preheat the oven to 450°F (232°C) with a rack placed in the bottom third (a baking stone is not necessary).
Top & Bake – 3:15 p.m.
First, dimple the unadorned dough with wet fingers. Make sure the dimples are evenly spaced and go all the way down to the bottom of the pan. Then, drizzle on 1-2 tablespoons of your extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with herbs and coarse sea salt. If using other toppings, add them now as well—I like to press them into the dough gently.
Bake the focaccia in the oven at 450°F (232°C) until deeply colored on top, about 30 minutes. Rotate the pan front-to-back halfway through this time. Keep an eye on it during the last 5 minutes and pull it out if it’s coloring too quickly, or leave it in longer if you’d like it a little darker.
Let the focaccia cool a few minutes in the pan, then transfer to a cooling rack. It’s fantastic warm from the oven, and best on the day of baking, but it’ll keep well for a couple of days loosely wrapped in foil (reheat under the broiler before serving).
Conclusion
When I topped the pillowy focaccia dough, the aroma of fruity olive oil and chopped rosemary was captivating. Once the pan was slid into the oven, my house gradually filled with the most intoxicating perfume as the dough rose high and the edges began to crisp. The melange of baking dough, toasted herbs, olive oil, and briny olives had me checking the oven frequently—as if checking on it would expedite things. Sit tight, wait for it to finish, I told myself as I gently slapped my hand from opening the door yet again.
Thanks to the copious addition of high-quality olive oil, both in the mix and on top of the dough, causes the dough to turn crispy and take on a beautiful golden hue. Biting through a slice first provides a faint resistance, then gives way to a soft and ultra-tender interior. A perfect mix of flavors and textures—an experience best savored, as if you’re at the beach without an agenda.
This simple and rustic sourdough focaccia, made with a naturally leavened dough and topped with just the right balance of ingredients, brings me right back to the blue waters of the Adriatic; the sun in my eyes and thick, crunchy slices of bread eaten with haste. The only things absent are the beautiful white wrapping paper and all those little bits of sand that seem to work their way into just about everything—yea, I can do without that.
If you’re looking for more focaccia-goodness, check out my sourdough focaccia Pugliese which has potato added into the dough, for even more chew, softness, and deliciousness.
Thanks so much to Jovial for supplying me with their wonderful olive oil and sponsoring this simple sourdough focaccia recipe! As usual, the content and opinions here are my own.
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A Simple Sourdough Focaccia
- Prep Time: 6 hours
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 6 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 1 focaccia
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
This easy to make and delicious focaccia comes together all in one day using your already ripe sourdough starter. Top with tomatoes, olives, rosemary, and coarse sea salt—or, really, anything you have in the kitchen that’s fresh and sounds delicious!
Ingredients
- 423g all-purpose flour
- 181g high-protein bread flour
- 12g extra virgin olive oil
- 459g water
- 11g salt
- 115g ripe sourdough starter
Instructions
- Mix (9:00 a.m.)
This dough can be mixed by hand or with a stand mixer (like a KitchenAid). To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, add both the flours, water, salt, and ripe sourdough starter (hold back the olive oil until later in mixing). Mix on speed 1 for 1 to 2 minutes until incorporated. Then, mix on speed 2 for 5 minutes until dough strengthens and clumps around the dough hook. Let the dough rest in the mixing bowl for 10 minutes.Next, turn the mixer on to speed 1 and slowly drizzle the olive oil into the bowl while mixing. Once all of the olive oil is absorbed, turn the mixer up to speed 2 for 1 to 2 minutes until the dough comes back together. Transfer your dough to a bulk fermentation container and cover. - Bulk fermentation (9:15 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.)
Give the dough 4 sets of stretch and folds at 30-minute intervals, where the first set starts 30 minutes after the start of bulk fermentation. - Proof (11:15 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.)
Liberally oil the inside of a 9×13″ rectangular pan or two 10″ diameter circular baking pans. Gently scrape the dough out of the bulk fermentation directly into the rectangular pan (or onto a work surface, divide in two, and place each in a circular pan).The dough will proof in the pan for 4 hours. Every 30 minutes for the first hour, uncover the pan and gently stretch the dough with wet hands to the pan’s edges to encourage it to fill the pan. The dough will naturally spread out during this proofing period, so it’s unnecessary to spread the dough aggressively. Once the dough is mostly spread to the edges, cover the pan and let it proof for the remainder of the 4 hours. About 30 minutes before the end of the 4-hour proof period, preheat your oven to 450°F (230°C) with an empty rack in the bottom third. - Top & Bake (3:15 p.m.)
When your oven is preheated, dimple the top of the dough all over with wet fingers. Then, liberally drizzle on olive oil to cover the surface of the dough. Spread on chopped herbs and coarse sea salt. Bake until golden on the top and bottom, about 30 minutes. Let the focaccia cool in the pan, then transfer to a cooling rack. It’s wonderful straight from the oven, and best the day it’s baked.
Notes
Overnight proof option: mid-way through the 4-hour proof, place the covered pan with dough in the refrigerator to proof overnight. The next day, take the dough out, bring it up to room temp, finish proofing until well-risen and bubbly, and continue with the Top & Bake step.
If you use this recipe, tag @maurizio on Instagram so I can take a look!
722 Comments
Hello Maurizio! Tips on getting the bottom golden and crispy?
Thank you
Carol
I like to keep a baking stone in my oven that gets fully preheated before sliding in the focaccia!
Thank you!!!!
Be wary of his advice. I also have a baking stone in my oven and my bread was undercooked in the middle and never got a golden color. You’d be better off trying a whole different recipe if you want success.
I would prefer to use fresh milled flour – either hard white or kamut or spelt or a combination. How would that affect this recipe, flour/water amounts and timing?
Generally, with freshly milled flour you’ll need to increase the hydration. Also, depending on how much you add, if it’s whole grain freshly milled flour, you may need to decrease bulk fermentation if you see the dough is fermenting much more quickly.
Connie, I’m also a home-milled whole grain sourdough fan. If you are successful in transitioning this to whole grain, please leave us an update here. Getting that light fluffy texture is always a challenge for me.
Hi Maurizio! Your website has been so helpful to me on my sourdough journey, everything so well explained. I can’t wait to try this focaccia recipe. It does bring up a question for me, however. I have a kitchen aid that I do like to use. However, it seems most sourdough recipes call for stretch and fold as opposed to mixer kneading. I have even read that if you knead with stand mixer you do not need to do stretch and fold. Do you have an opinion on this? Is there a preferred way to use my stand mixer to make sourdough bread? How do i change a recipe that doesn’t use a mixer to one with a mixer? Or is this just not possible? Do i do one or the other? This recipe calls for a stand mixer and stretch and fold. Any advice you have would be so appreciated. Again, thanks for your wonderful site!
You can go either way, mixer or handmixing. With these two, depending on how far you mix your dough, you’ll also need to do stretches and folds to finish off strengthening the dough (plus there are other benefits). You can swap any recipe that calls for handmixing to use a mixer, and vice versa. The key is the dough needs to be sufficiently developed by the end of mixing—this is dictated by the recipe and how many stretches and folds will need to be performed during bulk.
Check out my guide to this, I think it’ll make it all more clear (and if not, let me know!):
https://www.theperfectloaf.com/guides/how-to-stretch-and-fold-sourdough/
Hello! Been a follower of yours for a long time and just wanted to say I love your recipes, especially the work day sourdough. Today was my first time trying this sourdough focaccia recipe, and I’m hoping you can help me figure out what I did wrong. My starter was quite ripe and bubbly when I used it (i had fed it about 12 hours before). My kitchen was a bit cold (68 deg) so I heated the water to 98 deg F before adding. During bulk fermentation the folds felt pretty nominal, but then when I went to proof it (kitchen had heated to probably 70-75 at this point), it never rose. There were no bubbles. When I put dimples into it, they didn’t really spring back but the dough was kind of sticky. When I baked it, it came out extremely extremely dense. No rise at all. Have you seen something like this before? I was wondering if it was maybe the salt I used in the dough itself, I used David’s kosher salt which has quite a large grain and I felt unsure doing it. Please help! Thanks in advance!
Thanks so much, Michelle! I’ve not seen anything like this for this recipe, no. I’m wondering if your starter/levain wasn’t ready when you used it? You definitely want to catch that when it’s very ripe and ready for use. I talk about the signs to look for, here:
https://www.theperfectloaf.com/how-do-i-feed-my-sourdough-starter/
Let me know if that doesn’t help!
I think this could also be from letting the dough sit too long between folds. This happened to me one day with this recipe because I was running errands.
Bonjourno Maurizio! I baked this today and it made me so happy!! It is so perfect! You’re the real deal! Gratzi Gratzi! Perfecto!
Thanks, Lori. So glad you liked this focaccia. Enjoy 🙂
I’ve never had a lot of luck with focaccia and as I was close to giving up, I came across this recipe and it turned out to be the best focaccia I’ve ever made. It was so soft and fluffy on the inside and the crust was perfectly crispy and flavorful!
Amazing to hear that, Myke!! Hope you’ve made it again since!
Hi Maurizio!
I adore this recipe and the one from the book. I have noticed the top of my focaccia never gets quite that golden within the baking time. I’m wondering if there’s an obvious answer? My oven is pretty accurate. I thought maybe I’m not adding enough oil to the top? Thank you for all you do and congrats on the James Beard!
Hey, Justin! Yes, could be not enough oil on top. You can see how I do it in action (I made it again, recently), here.
Also, if you have convection mode in your oven, you can turn on the fan the last 5 minutes of the bake to help encourage coloring on top.
Thank you, so honored to receive a JBA!
Hi Maurizio, I made this today and found that the mix was rather soft and wetter than I expected. I made a mistake in putting it into the wrong size pan (bigger than yours) but the bread was still doughy after baking. I’m wondering if the flour translation was wrong for me. Plain flour in the UK is soft for cakes and 70% seems a lot for something that I used to make with yeast using 100% strong bread flour.
My house mate has been enjoying crunching the crusty top anyhow.
Thanks
Carolyn
Look at Maurizio’s suggestion on selecting flour. He always lists the protein percentage of the flour he recommends. In the US all purpose flour is about 11% protein. In the US cake flour is 5-8% protein; considerably less. If plain flour in the UK is for cakes, it is likely far lower in protein as you do not want the gluten to make the cake tough; so you may have to use strong flour instead. US flour is often marked with the protein percentage as a guide. If yours is not, you might find it on the company’s website. I often use stronger flour than Maurizio calls for as I find the flour I can source is not as thirsty as Maurizio’s flour. This recipe calls for King Arthur Flour which you can order on-line in the UK. It is what I primarily bake with. Keep trying, this is really a good recipe.
You can definitely try reducing the water to suit your flour!
I’ve made this recipe many times, adapting it to different pans and locations. I travel, and take my sourdough starter with me. Today, I made it while visiting family in the Caribbean. The oven is a tiny gas oven with no controls, it’s on or not. Flour is one I’m not used to,and yet it still turns out really nicely for me. The timing is perfect for this locale as it’s always 25C in the kitchen.
Amazing, Julia! A well-traveled starter and focaccia recipe, I like that 🙂
Hi Maurizio
Can I use 00 flour instead of all purpose?
Absolutely!
I made the focaccia recipe from The Perfect Loaf (book) today. Starter was ripe, FDT was 75F (lower than called for). Bulk was 2 1/2 hours, proof ‘stretched’ to 4 1/2 hrs. Dough bulked and proofed in Brod and Taylor proofer @24C although the ambient (house) temperature is about 69F.
The dough after proofing was not very risen, and nowhere near as bubbly as it should have been; the texture wasn’t ‘right’ when I dimpled the dough (I’ve made sourdough focaccia successfully using another recipe, so I knew the dough didn’t look or feel right). Focaccia didn’t rise in the oven, although the final product had a not bad crumb.
I admit I was guided by the suggested times, rather than by the look and feel of the dough. Should I have just let it proof much longer? Do you think the lower FDT was the culprit?
Yeah, definitely that lower FDT was the culprit. Always go by how the dough looks and feels in the kitchen, especially if your temps came in lower! It’s okay though, easy fix next time. Let me know how the repeat goes!!
Hey! This recipe is so flavorful, yet I somehow messed it up. I started with an active, bubbly starter and my dough looked beautiful after folds, yet something went wrong during bulk fermentation – it looked like it would not rise anymore. Could it be due to overmixing? I use a Thermomix as I do not have enough strength to do the mixing by hand.
You know, I just had this same issue. Not sure where I went wrong. It’s pre-bake, so who knows how well it’ll rise, but it’s definitely not as bubbly as shown, my dough ended up quite wet though.
I used the same starter last night for both a simple sourdough levain and this levain. The sourdough busted out of the jar, but this one was definitely a bit more meager.
No, not from overmixing, you’d have to mix for a long, long, long time!
This recipe is just outstanding and practically foolproof. I made this for my family on Christmas pretty much sticking to your directions (the only change I made was adding a tiny percentage (<10%) of rye flour which gave a very subtle nuttiness that I loved.) The focaccia completely stole the show at our Christmas dinner – the pot roast was merely an excuse to continue devouring this heavenly bread. Thank you as always, Maurizio, for your easy instructions and attention to detail!
A tip for anyone proofing overnight: make sure your dough has ample time to return to room temp before completing the proofing. If you only leave two hours for this step your dough won't rise enough. Mine took almost two hours just to become active again. I was able to cheat this process slightly by placing the baking dish in a bath of warm water.
So glad to hear this worked out well for you guys!! You’re very welcome. And great tip!
Hi Maurizio! First off, you’re amazing and have been my go to bread guy for the last five years. Your blogs are super informative and your recipes are super simple to follow- which I adore. I’ve made this focaccia maybe a hundred times/ it’s what I use for pizzas. My question is this: is there a way to ‘save’ dough that refuses to rise properly? I followed your focaccia recipe step by step and everything came out perfectly until I placed the dough in the fridge to proof overnight. When I pulled it out this morning to warm up, top/bake, the dough didn’t activate as it had the previous day. Yesterday it was thriving and beautiful. Today- even after staying in what is basically a sauna all day- there has been no movement. I’ve had this problem before and am still stumped on how to reactivate a stubborn dough. Is it hopeless/ should I just toss them when things go in this direction? Sorry for the long question/ exposition. Thanks for your insight.
Gosh, thanks so much Lia! I appreciate that. Hmm, that’s so strange, I’ve never had that happen. I’m wondering if the high hydration of this recipe is sometimes a bit too much and it just never looks like it rises past a certain point, making you think it’s “dead.” I would say if it looks like it’s not rising anymore in the morning, just bake it ASAP, it probably needs to go into the oven!
Sorry for the late reply 🙂
Hey Maurizio – I’ve been making this receipt with great success for a few months, only mixing by hand. I recently got a KitchenAid stand mixer and I’ve now used it twice – for both the initial mix and the incorporation of the olive oil. It came out ok, but didn’t have the pillowy-ness and big bubbles on top as it had before. I’m not sure if I overmixed it, overproved it, or perhaps used starter that wasn’t at it’s peak. Any ideas? Thanks – and congrats on a beautiful and practical book!
Hey, Steve! Thanks so much for picking up my cookbook. So I’d say it was probably something else other than mixing. You can make this focaccia really well with a stand mixer, I do it all the time! I would say it was probably somewhere else in the process, maybe it was over/under proofed? That would be my first place to look! Happy holiday 🙂
Hi Maurizio and Steve, I found that the times for the mixing/kneading in the KA mixer seemed way off on speeds 1 and 2. I went longer trying to get the dough to “clump around the dough hook” but it really never started pulling way from the sides of the bowl and balling up around the hook (even going a bit faster and longer) – is it supposed to do that? (does ‘clump’ mean dough gathers around hook and away from sides of bowl?) Given how long I went without that result, I figured I better stop in for fear of overworking it. But after the remaining stretch/fold proof steps, the dough seemed airy and bubbly but dimples pretty much disappeared and I got no rise or bubbly surface in the oven. Is it due to lack of gluten development during the stand mixer segment?
Focaccia home run. Sun dried tomato, kalamata olives, rosemary, salt and pepper. Rustic olive oil. Thank you for the inspiration.
I made careful measurements and yet my final dough weight was 1166 g. Could 34 g be lost on my fingers and the bowl?
Excellent, Allen! Ahh, don’t worry about the loss, sometimes they come in a little under 🙂 Enjoy!
Amazing Jessica, that sounds SO good. Love those toppings. Yes, this is kind of a magical dough 🙂 Enjoy!
Hi Maurizio — is there a reason to use mostly AP flour for focaccia, unlike normal sourdough country loaf given the high hydration?
I like the tenderness AP gives with this dough. But stronger high protein flour will work, too!
Hi Maurizio, I live in Brazil and here we don’t have bread flour, only AP, can I make this with only AP flour? Thank you
Yes, but I would recommend reducing the hydration a bit to suit your flour, Ana!
Hello Maurizio, Recipe looks great. I am wondering if you can break up the 4hr proof time in this recipe into 2 2hr increments.
Thanks, Syler
Thanks, Syler! And use the fridge you mean? If you want to put the dough into the fridge, I’d place it in there, coverd, after you put it into the pan and stretch it for 2 hrs. Then, take the dough out of the fridge later that day or the next, let it finish proofing for a few hrs until puffy, then bake!
Hello! I’ve made this recipe a few times and it’s great! I just got an Ooni and am anxious to try it out! Any tips for baking this focaccia in an Ooni using gas? Thanks!
will work fantastic in there! Just turn the temp of the Ooni down as far as possible to bake this in there so it doesn’t burn 🙂
Would you do the bulk ferment in the dough proofer if available as well? Thanks!
If needed, yes!
Love your recipes and the newsletter!
By ‘ripe’ sourdough, do you mean a starter that has been just fed or can we use day or week old starter from the fridge?
Thank you, James! When I say ripe I mean a starter that’s been fed and has fermented for some number of hours. It’ll be bubbly, have a sour aroma, and be loose. It’s not straight from the fridge, it’s been fermenting on the counter, usually 12-24 hours here at my site.
I made this Focaccia tonight. I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out great!! Thanks for this wonderful recipe. It will replace a recipe I’ve been using😊
So glad to hear you like it, Carol! Enjoy and thanks for the comments 🙂
Maurizio – any suggestions for baking this in the Fontana? I plan to try this and the Pugliese. Thanks for great stuff.
Should work just the same! When using the Fontana, I try to get the floor temp to whatever a recipe states, then decide on how/if a live fire should be going. For these focaccia, I’d keep maybe one log barely burning, no crazy flames arching across, otherwise it’ll burn before cooking all the way through. With these pans, I like to put them far away from the coals/fire, too.