Simple Sourdough Focaccia: A Beginner’s Guide
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Sourdough is having a moment. Longtime sourdough bakers may cringe at this proclamation, just as our grandparents likely roll over in their graves when they hear “toast” is a thing.
But it’s true. I cannot open a magazine without seeing a feature on a bakery and its naturally leavened loaves; I cannot scroll through Instagram without seeing a crumb shot of a halved sourdough miche, a beautiful web of irregular holes, or an intricately scored, thick-crusted boule being presented like Simba to the animal kingdom.
My interest in sourdough in recent months has been spurred by a number of requests about how to make my mother’s peasant bread with a sourdough starter. Initially, I thought why? The beauty of the peasant bread is that it doesn’t require a starter or a long rise or any fussy techniques; it can be on your table start to finish in three hours. Everyone will rave.
Over the years, I’ve been able to answer questions relatively easily about how to make the peasant bread morph into something else: a boule with a thick crackling crust — thank you Jim Lahey — or a thinner round to use for pizza or something palatable for the gluten-free crowd.
But achieving that sour taste — even a subtle sour taste — is something yeast, even with a long slow rise cannot achieve. And, moreover, natural leavening is natural leavening — no yeast allowed.
So I began experimenting. I tried reviving my old starter, long neglected in my fridge, and when it proved altogether spent, I ordered one from Breadtopia. I followed the instructions to activate it, and within a day, I had a vibrant, bubbling starter.
After a bit of trial and error, I soon found a nice rhythm, mixing the dough in the afternoon, letting it rise all evening, splitting the dough into two portions and plopping each into a buttered Pyrex bowl in the morning. By early afternoon, the bread was ready to bake. The resulting loaves looked just like the peasant bread, golden crusted, soft crumbed, but with a nice subtle sourness. (Photo below.)
Using the sourdough peasant bread proportions, I decided to make focaccia, my favorite, a bread I love for so many reasons: its versatility — sandwich bread, appetizer, dinner bread — and its flavor and texture: the oil-crisped crust, the generous amount of salt, the chewy crumb.
I also think focaccia is an ideal bread with which to begin a sourdough journey. Why?
- First, it requires no special equipment — not a Dutch oven or a Baking Steel to create a thick crust; not two Pyrex bowls to create a golden, less-thick crust. You likely have a 9×13-inch pan somewhere in your kitchen. This is all you need.
- Second, it requires no tricky shaping technique on a floured work surface. Shaping free-standing sourdough boules is an art and it takes practice and repetition. It’s a beautiful thing when you get the hang of it, but it can be frustrating until you do.
- Third, it requires no scoring. With focaccia, you don’t need a razor sharp lame — you use your fingers to dimple the dough.
For those intimidated by sourdough bread baking, this recipe, as well as this simple sourdough bread recipe, are the recipes I suggest making first, both for their simplicity and flavor. Another great beginner’s bread recipe to try is this overnight, refrigerator focaccia, which requires minimal effort but yields spectacular results.
Curious about Sourdough? Let’s Start From the Top.
You need a sourdough starter, and you can make a sourdough starter from scratch in just about a week. I only recommend doing so if it currently is summer (or a very warm fall) where you are. While it is immensely satisfying to build a starter from scratch, there is no shame in buying one for a few reasons, namely: when you purchase a starter, you are guaranteed to have a strong, vigorous starter from the start.
I’ve purchased sourdough starters from King Arthur Flour and also from Breadtopia. Both were easy to feed and activate. Once your starter arrives, follow this guide on How to Activate, Feed, and Maintain A Sourdough Starter.
Four Reasons to Buy (or Procure) a Starter
- First, if you’re curious about sourdough, get to it! Making a starter from scratch takes weeks. I did it once many years ago following the instructions in Tartine Bread, and after nearly losing my mind, I literally jumped for joy when I dropped a spoonful of my starter into a cup of water, and it floated. Making a starter from scratch is a really cool exercise, and it’s something to be proud of should you succeed (or not!), but why not start experimenting with an active sourdough starter while you build a starter from scratch on the side?
- Second, feeding a mature starter will help you understand how to build one from scratch. You’ll observe how a starter rises and falls, what happens when you feed it more regularly, what happens when you neglect it, how it smells at various stages, etc.
- Third, they’re relatively cheap (or free if you get one from a friend).
- Fourth, maybe you embark on a sourdough journey and decide it isn’t for you. Why go through the trouble of building a starter till you know you enjoy the process of sourdough baking?
Begin with an Easy Recipe
As noted above, I think focaccia is a perfect sourdough-bread-baking starting point. It will teach you the fundamentals of working with sourdough without the potentially frustrating steps of shaping, scoring, and baking with a Dutch oven. The recipe below also can be baked in a loaf pan, another great option if you do not want to deal with shaping and scoring and Dutch ovens.
PS: Whole Wheat(ish) Sourdough Bread recipe
PPS: Essential Equipment For Sourdough Bread Baking
How to Make Sourdough Focaccia: A Step-by-Step Guide
Get a starter. If you don’t have a starter and don’t have a friend who can lend you one, I recommend buying one. I bought mine from Breadtopia, and I’ve managed to keep it alive for 6 months now. Score!
I store my starter in this quart container. When I’m ready to use it, I discard some of it, and add about 45 g flour…
… and 45 g water. You don’t have to be exact, but when you’re getting started, I think it’s helpful to weigh both the water and flour. Depending on how long the starter has been in the fridge, it may need one or two feedings before use.
If you stick a rubber band around your starter vessel, you’ll know when …
… it has doubled and is ready for use.
If you need reassurance as to if it’s ready, you can do the float test: drop a spoonful of starter into a glass of water. If it floats, it’s ready.
As with all bread, when mixing sourdough doughs, it’s best to weigh everything with a digital scale. Start with 100 g starter.
Add 10 g kosher (or other) salt.
Add 440 g water. (See recipe notes: If you live in a humid environment, you may want to use less.)
Stir to combine.
Add 512 g bread flour.
Stir to form a sticky dough ball.
Cover with a towel or bowl cover, and let rise for 8 – 18 hours at room temperature (times will vary depending on the time of year and how warm your kitchen is … in the summer, this may take only 4 hours):
When it doubles …
… drizzle it with some olive oil.
Deflate the dough by pulling the sides into the center.
Dough, ready to make it’s second rise, which will take 5-6 hours. Love this USA Pan.
After 5-6 hours, the dough is ready to be dimpled and stretched and salted. Bake at 425ºF for 25 minutes.
Just-baked sourdough focaccia:
Simple Sourdough Focaccia
- Total Time: 24 hours 25 minutes
- Yield: 1 loaf
Description
Adapted from my favorite yeasted, slow-rise focaccia recipe — overnight refrigerator focaccia — this recipe replaces the yeast with a sourdough starter.
UPDATE: Video guidance is here! Watch up above or click the link below in the recipe card.
What you need to make this recipe…:
- …a sourdough starter. I bought mine from Breadtopia. It was easy to activate. There are no instructions on the package itself; follow the instructions on the video here.
- …time. Once your starter is ready to go, this recipe requires an initial 4- 18 hour rise, followed by a second 4- to 6-hour second rise. After the initial rise (depending on the time of year and temperature of your kitchen), you can deflate the dough, and stick it in the fridge for 8 to 10 hours (maybe longer), which might help you regarding your schedule. Keep in mind, when you remove the dough from the fridge and transfer it to a pan, it will still need to rise for another 5- to 6- hours.
- …water. Apparently, chlorine in water can adversely affect sourdough. Leaving water at room temperature for 24 hours will allow most of the chlorine to escape.When I am in the habit of making sourdough bread, I fill a large pitcher with water and leave it out at room temperature. I use this for my sourdough breads and starter. Truth be told, I’ve used water straight from the tap and have not noticed a difference.
Water quantity: Depending on where you live and the time of year, you may need to cut the water back. If you live in a humid environment, for instance, I would suggest starting with 430 g water. If you are not using bread flour, you also may need to cut the water back a bit.
Timing:
The more I make sourdough, the more I realize so much depends on the time of year and the temperature of my kitchen. In the summer, because it is so warm, the first rise (bulk fermentation) takes between 4 – 6 hours; in the winter the first rise takes 12 – 18 hours.
The key with this recipe is to make sure the first rise doesn’t go too long — you want the dough to nearly double. A straight sided vessel (as opposed to a bowl) makes gauging the first rise easier. (Note: If your dough rises above double, don’t despair … recently my dough tripled in volume during an overnight rise, and the resulting focaccia was still delicious, light, airy, etc.)
A few thoughts: If you are making this focaccia in the summer (northern hemisphere), use 50 g of starter and check the dough every couple of hours. If you are making this in the winter, use 100 g of starter, and plan for a long first rise.
Troubleshooting: If you have issues with your dough being too sticky, please read this post: Why is my sourdough so sticky? The 4 common mistakes.
Flour choice:
- I’ve been using King Arthur Flour’s special patent flour — bought a 50-lb. bag of it at Restaurant Depot. Its protein content, 12.7%, is the same as the protein content of its bread flour. I also have used all-purpose flour (11.7%) with success, but I recommend bread flour, which seems to be more reliable for people especially those living in humid climates. If you only have ap flour on hand, you may consider reducing the water a bit — bread flour absorbs slightly more liquid than all-purpose flour.
Ingredients
- 50 g – 100 g (1/4 to 1/2 cup) active starter, see notes above
- 10 g (about 2.5 teaspoons) kosher salt
- 430 – 440 g water (1.75 cups – 1.75 cups + 2 tablespoons), room temperature, see notes above*
- 512 g (about 4 cups) bread flour, see notes above
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for drizzling
- Nice, flaky sea salt, such as Maldon
Instructions
- Place the starter, salt, and water in a large bowl. Stir with a spatula to combine — it doesn’t have to be uniformly mixed. Add the flour. Mix again until the flour is completely incorporated.
- If time permits, perform one “fold”: 30 minutes after you mix the dough, reach into the bowl and pull the dough up and into the center. Turn the bowl quarter turns and continue this pulling 8 to 10 times. See video for guidance.
- Drizzle with a splash of olive oil and rub to coat. Cover bowl with a tea towel or bowl cover and set aside to rise at room temperature (70ºF/21ºC) for 4 to 18 hours (the time will vary depending on the time of year, the strength of your starter, and the temperature of your kitchen — in summer, for instance, my sourdoughs double in 6 hours; in winter, they double in 18 hours. Do not use an oven with the light on for the bulk fermentation — it will be too warm. It is best to rely on visual cues (doubling in volume) as opposed to time to determine when the bulk fermentation is done. A straight-sided vessel makes monitoring the bulk fermentation especially easy because it allows you to see when your dough has truly doubled.).
- When dough has doubled, place 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a 9×13-inch pan. (I have been using this USA Pan, which I love. I have had no sticking issues. If you are using a glass pan, you may, as a precaution, want to butter it it first — I have had disasters with bread sticking when I’ve used oil alone with other baking vessels.)
- Drizzle dough with a tablespoon of olive oil. Use your hand to gently deflate the dough and release it from the sides of the bowl. Gently scoop the dough into the center of the pool of oil in your prepared pan. Fold dough envelope style from top to bottom and side to side to create a rough rectangle. Turn dough over so seam-side is down. Video guidance here.
- Rub top of dough with oil. Leave alone for 4 to 6 hours, uncovered, or until puffy and nearly doubled.
- Heat oven to 425ºF. Rub hands lightly with oil, and using all ten fingers, press gently into the dough to dimple and stretch the dough to nearly fit the pan. Sprinkle generously with sea salt. Transfer pan to the oven and bake for about 25 minutes or until golden all around. Remove pan from oven and transfer bread to a cooling rack. Cool at least 20 minutes before slicing.
- Prep Time: 24 hours
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Bread
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
Incidentally, this same recipe can be used to make sandwich bread. You need one large loaf pan, 10×5-inches, such as this one.
As noted above, this same recipe can be baked, like the original peasant bread recipe, in buttered Pyrex bowls. More on this soon.
Just-baked sourdough peasant bread.
Sliced sourdough peasant bread.
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
1,241 Comments on “Simple Sourdough Focaccia: A Beginner’s Guide”
So I didn’t really time this well and on my first rise I think it’s going to be doubled probably around 8 o’clock tonight. Can I then park it in the fridge overnight and then do the second rise tomorrow for the 4 to 6 hours? The family has been going crazy over the sourdough bread… I can’t keep up with the demand 😅 great sourdough flavor 🙌
So I don’t think I timed making the dough well.I believe my first rise will be doubled around 8 PM tonight. Would it work for me to park it in the fridge overnight and then do the second rise for 4 to 6 hours tomorrow? Everyone here has been going crazy over your sourdough bread recipe, having alot of fun keeping up with the demand!😅 it’s so amazing and has a great sourdough flavor!☺️❤️
Hi Lisa! Yes, absolutely: always use the fridge as needed. It is your best friend with sourdough in terms of making the schedule work for you. So nice to hear all of this 💕
Hi Alexandra, I’m in love with your recipes. I want to attempt ciabatta or focaccia. But I want a recipe for 250 GMs of flour. Can you pls update. Not always will halfing work
Hi Nav! I am dying to make ciabatta, too … I’ve started experimenting and am hoping to have a recipe, soon-ish. I’ll keep you posted. But regarding halving the recipe, you can definitely halve this recipe if you go by the weights. So for here do:
215 g water
50 g starter
5 g salt
256 g flour
I didn’t have olive oil on hand, so I used avocado oil – otherwise followed the directions exactly. It was fabulous and I’m looking forward to making it again.
Wonderful to hear this, Becky!
Made this and I wish I can share the pic here! Pls let me know your Instagram handle so that I can tag you! This is by far the best bread I’ve made ever – I mean EVER! Thanks so much
Much love
So nice to hear this, Nav! So sorry for the delay here, too. My handle is: @alexandracooks Thanks!!
Fantastic recipe, best focaccia ever! Added about 1 tablespoon of finely chopped rosemary to the top along with the sea salt and used squares of it to make my version of Chez Panisse’s take-out pandemic BLT that are selling for $15 each—bacon, heirloom tomato slices, basil mayonnaise (pesto stirred into mayo), and arugula on split wedges of pizza Bianca (this focaccia). Your archive of recipes is a gift and I’ve tried so many with always-delicious results. Thank you!!
Oh wow, Barbara, so nice to hear all of this. And now I want one of those BLTs, which sounds outrageously delicious. Thanks for writing and sharing!!
Made this and it was fantastic! My whole family loved it!
Thank you for the easy directions, extra tips (summer vs. winter) and the videos. All were so helpful! I can’t wait to try another of your recipes!
Wonderful to hear this, Beth!
I weighed my ingredients and used 430 grams of water. The dough was so sticky I couldn’t shape it at all. I’m used to working with wet dough but this was way too wet! I had to add more flour after it had risen all night. I live at 6800 feet in the central desert of Mexico. I don’t know how you could get a dough like you have in the video with these measurements.
Hi Kate! I think you may have over fermented your dough during the bulk fermentation. How many hours was it roughly?
Forgot the salt topping and still delicious. Used garlic, rosemary and halved cherry tomatoes. Thanks for the great recipe!
Wonderful to hear this, Julia!
I have made this sourdough focaccia at least a dozen times now, and family & friends are always requesting it. It’s delicious, and honestly so easy.
So wonderful to hear this, Marta!
My first time making ANY type of bread. A friend gave me some starter months ago, and I finally worked up the nerve to try something more than pancakes. This was amazing, your instructions were very helpful, and the result was delicious. I got lovely air pockets, the sour flavor came through strong, and I can’t wait to have it with soup in the fall.
I added fresh rosemary, thin-sliced tomatoes, and some fontina cheese on top. 😀
Your suggestion to hold back a little on the water at first was a good idea. It was easy to sprinkle water on the initial dough ball to get the right stickiness.
I did a natural rise this time, but I’d like to see whether I can speed it up with my Instant Pot to avoid those slow winter-time rises. If you have any suggestions for the timing on Instant Pot proofing, I’d love to know! Otherwise I’ll experiment and see what’s possible. 🙂
Thank you so much!
Hi Virginia, So nice to hear all of this! Your toppings sound delicious. Regarding the Instant Pot, I truly don’t have any recommendations. I have on occasion tried to create a warmer environment for my sourdough to rise, and it hasn’t worked out great … my dough over fermented in the warmer environment, so just be careful! I am sure the IP will be great, but keep an eye on the dough 🙂
This recipe is such a winner! Mine came out perfect with rosemary and thinly sliced onion greens mixed in. I have a few questions—
1) If I want to proof this overnight instead of doing this in one day, at which point do I put it in the fridge? Should it be done after the 1st fold? If time permits, is there any benefit to doing more than one fold like one would do with a sourdough boule?
2) What’s the maximum time for a refrigerated proof? Could it be done for as much as 48 hours? We have a mini fridge that I’d love to use for this as our regular fridge has limited space. We have a guest coming soon and it would be awesome to fit the final rise and bake with our schedule.
So great to hear this, Derek! To answer your questions:
You can use the fridge during both the bulk fermentation and the proofing phase. So, you could mix the dough and stick it in the fridge immediately (or ideally after one set of stretches and folds as you suggest); then the following day, let it continue its bulk fermentation at room temperature until it just about doubles. You could also stick the dough in the fridge after 3 hours of bulk fermentation … really at any point during the bulk fermentation, you can stick the dough in the fridge. The key is to shape the dough (end the bulk fermentation) once it just about doubles in volume.
Once you shape the dough, similarly, you can stick the pan into the fridge (slick the dough with oil to prevent it from drying out). I have left the dough to proof for 24 hours, but not much more … that doesn’t mean anything though. I think you could potentially get away with a longer cold proof if you needed to.
You can definitely do more than one set of stretches and folds. Because this is such a high hydration dough, I’m not sure it will make a difference, but you absolutely can’t hurt it by doing so.
Let me know if this makes sense and if you have any other questions!
I am loving this recipe, almost as much as your recipe for Simple Sourdough! In your SD recipe you recommend a 24 hour bulk fermentation. An article from Bon Appetit inspired me to experiment with extending BF to 36 hours and most recently 48 hours – and by doing so a friend of mine who is gluten intolerant has been able to enjoy bread for the first time in years!
The BA article explained that the bacteria produced during a longer fermentation process may help to break down FODMAP-type properties that gluten sensitive individuals aren’t able to digest. (I realize that this may not work for others, but your tip has led me down this wonderful rabbit hole, so thank you!!)
My question is, is it possible to do a long bulk fermentation with this particular focaccia recipe? What’s the longest I could park it in the fridge without compromising the flavor or structure?
P.S. I recently had great results with this recipe using AP Flour and decreasing my water to 390g. It was a shot in the dark but it seemed to work!
Hi Tamara! So nice to hear all of this. So interesting, too! Thanks for writing.
OK, I think you could mix the dough and stick in the fridge immediately. Let it sit in the refrigerator for 24 hours; then let the dough continue its bulk fermentation at room temperature until it just about doubles. When it does, you can either shape it and get it into the fridge or transfer it back to the fridge overnight (or 12-18 hours); then transfer the dough to its pan and let it proof at room temp until it is ready to bake.
Does that help? I think it might just take some experimenting to get right but know that you can use the refrigerator in both the bulk fermentation and the proofing phase to extend/slow the fermentation time.
After the bulk rise could this be refrigerated over night?
Yes! Slick it with oil to prevent it from drying out.
I tried this recipe today and i must say that it is delicious and light
I put herbs and salt on the top of mine
Wonderful to hear this Hee-Lian!
My dough was too wet. After the dough was doubled, I took it out and it was deflated right away.
I used a good scale and did exactly the direction, and I don’t know why
Hi May! Did you let it rise again after you got it in the pan? It’s possible the dough over fermented during the bulk fermentation. How many hours did it go?
Hi great recipe! Was wondering if I want to add cheese and sun dried tomatoes? What stage should I add it in? Or after the final proofing then I just top it off?
Hi Lynette! Great to hear this. You can do either. If you want the flavorings to be toppings, add them at the very end when you dimple the focaccia. If you want the flavorings to be dispersed throughout the dough, add an additional set of stretches and folds, and add them then. You may want to add another set of stretches and folds 30 minutes after you add the ingredients to ensure they are dispersed.
This bread is so delicious. I just cant stop eating it. Gave a few slices to a couple of people and OMG now they too want some.
Yay! So nice to hear this, Beatriz!
Hi! I added oil right at the first step (before letting it do any rising first). Would this still be ok to rise?
It should be fine! Sorry for the delay here … how did it turn out?
This was my first attempt at focaccia bread with a sour dough starter. I followed the instructions below, and this turned out GREAT! The only tweak I made it that before baking I sprinkled some onion flakes and “everything but the bagel” seasoning on top. It was so tasty and moist, I didn’t even need butter or another spread with it.
Wonderful to hear this, Rob! Everything bagel seasoning sounds so good 💯💯💯
So glad this popped up on my Pinterest feed! I measured out 100gm from my starter I keep in the fridge and let it sit in the counter unto it got bubbly. I weighed it for fun, thinking it’d still be 100gm but it was much higher. I used it anyway, and it rose so much faster. I started at 1 pm and was out of the oven by 11:30 pm. (I’m in a hot kitchen today.) I also used regular AP flour and botched the measurements with the water so I had to add more flour, but it turned out beautifully!
My question is, should I have waited for my jar to come to room temp first and got bubbly before taking out the 100gms? Would I need to discard the rest of the jar of starter if I did that? Thank you!
Hi JT! So nice to hear this. To answer you question, no, you do not need to let the jar come to room temperature before removing the 100 g. There is no right way to do it, this is what I typically do:
I have 1 vessel for my starter, and I only keep about 100 g of starter on hand at one time, which is on the lean side. I keep it in the fridge. When I am ready to feed it, I discard most of it, leaving behind just 2-4 tablespoons or so; then I feed it with 60 g each flour and water. When it doubles, it’s ready to be used in a recipe, and I scoop out the amount required.
After I use it, I replenish it with a small amount of flour and water: 40 g each water and flour; then stash in the fridge. When I am ready to bake again, I discard most of it, feed it, let it double; then use it.
Does that help?
Thanks! It sounds so wasteful to discard it. Is it bad to use it directly once it doubles at room temperature without discarding? As in, use that into the recipe?
Hi JT, it depends on how long the starter was in the fridge. Generally, you want to discard most of it, and feed what remains with fresh flour and water. When starter spends too much time in the fridge, it can start smelling a little off. It also may not rise to double after that much time in the fridge. You can use your discard in pancakes or to make more bread. I offer some tips in this post.
This is a wonderful recipe. There is lots or room to fiddle with the dough consistency. So far I have made this recipe 4 times adjusting the flour quantity in order to get the rise and airiness I want. It really is about feel. I think today’s batch will be the best.
Wonderful to hear this, Barbara! Thanks so much for writing!
Thanks so much for your detailed instructions! I tried so many sourdough recipes but now use yours as my go to!
Just tried this focaccia one last night and let it BF till it doubled, and did a second rise in the pan. The bread turned out dense at the bottom though… the top half was airy, but the bottom half didn’t rise. Any suggestions please?
So strange! What material and size is your pan? Do you feel your oven is hot enough? Does the top of the bread get nicely golden?
Hi! Thanks for your reply.
The top did turn golden brown and the dimples worked well. I put the oven to 215degC. I used a simple non stick tray – about 34cm by 22cm.
Ok! I wonder if the nonstick tray has something to do with it. Do you have a tray or other baking vessel that is glass or metal without a nonstick lining?
Simple and truly delish!
Wonderful to hear this, Kimberly!
Big fan of your peasant bread and have been trying to get into sourdough. My starter is a few weeks old and has been rising/falling predictably with lots of bubbles so thought I’d give this focaccia a go. Had no trouble with the recipe (I halved it cause this was my first attempt at sourdough). When I cut into my bread the texture was a little off. It looks amazing though (perfect dispersal of holes) but when tasted, it was super gummy/rubbery. Kinda lost and hoping there’s something I can do next time to make better bread? Would love to hear your thoughts! I always have the peasant bread as backup hahaha and my family loves it!
Hi Aryaa! It’s possible that your dough over fermented during the bulk fermentation. Also, does your starter double in volume within 4-6 hours?
I just put together a new blog post that address the 4 common mistakes people make with sourdough bread baking. It may help to give that a read. I answer a bunch of other FAQ’s, too. Here it is: 4 Common Sourdough Mistakes.
Yes it takes about 6 hours, maybe slightly longer for my starter to double. The bulk fermentation took about 6.5 hours, for the dough to double in volume. I did notice that it didn’t rise/double up as much during the second rise. You’re right, after reading your FAQs I allowed my dough to rise by 100% rather than 50%. I’m going to give the recipe another go tomorrow, reduce the bulk fermentation and see how it bakes (hopefully well!). Thank you!
OK, great, keep me posted! I think shortening your bulk fermentation might make a difference.
So I tried this recipe again today and while it was slightly better than my first try the crumb is still sticky and a little gummy. I’m wondering if it’s just my starter 🙁 Maybe it’s that I’m using AP flour? I’m thinking of giving sourdough a break and trying the overnight sandwich rolls instead, I usually do well with regular yeast doughs. I might come back to sourdough in a bit. Thank you so much for your help!
Sounds good, Aryaa! Maybe start with this recipe: Overnight Refrigerator Focaccia. It calls for instant yeast. Keep me posted!
Did you do the stretch and fold at 30 minutes? I find the stretch and folds do wonders for developing the crumb and texture of my sourdough breads, especially when you aren’t kneading. Make sure you get at least one s&f in, but even better if you get 2-3. The 1/2 hour is a general guideline. It’ll work to do s&f at 15 minute intervals, or even after an hour.
Thanks for all of this, A!
This recipe looks great and I can’t wait to try it. I have a question about dough in general – if the timing of the rise doesn’t work out with your schedule, can you put dough in the fridge to buy some time? For instance, could I get to the step where I’m putting the focaccia dough in the pan in the morning, letting it rise for ~6 hours until it has doubled, and then sticking it in the fridge to retard fermentation so I could cook it 4ish hours after?
Thanks for your beautiful recipes!
Hi Molly!
That is a great question, and honestly I don’t know. I use the fridge all the time while making sourdough to work with my schedule, especially during the bulk fermentation, but also during the proofing phase: when I make focaccia or sourdough sandwich bread, I’ll often get the dough in the pan and stick it in the fridge to buy me some time.
What I don’t know is how late in the proofing phase you can do this. I worry a little bit about the dough giving up a bit. I think after that 6 hour mark, it’s basically ready to be baked. Yes, the fridge would slow down the fermentation, but I worry about what would happen once you remove the dough from the fridge: would the dough be able to get to room temperature again so you could dimple it? Or would you dimple the cold dough and just get it in the fridge? I’m thinking out loud here, but the truth is that I just don’t know. It’s one of those things you could experiment with, but it’s the kind of thing you want to experiment with when you have a back up loaf of dough on hand.
Wish I could offer more insight here.
Hi, Molly! The answer to your question is yes.
I wound up timing my dough so that the bulk fermentation was done at the end of my evening. I retarded the dough in the fridge overnight (in the pan, covered with oiled plastic wrap), placed it back on my counter around lunchtime the next day, and let it rise 3-4 hours (until doubled in size) before dimpling and baking in time for early dinner.
Short answer: refrigerate BEFORE the final rise, and dimple AFTER the final rise.
Alexandra, thank you for a fantastic recipe!
So nice to hear this, Iris, and thank you so much for chiming in here!
Best recipe ever! Works every time and is now a household staple.
Wonderful to hear this, Molly!
Hi Ali,
I love this recipe and I’ve used it many times. 🙂 I was wondering if you’ve ever thought of turning this into a fougasse? If so, what would you recommend cutting the hydration down to? How many grams?
Thanks! 🙂
Hi Nina! I’m not familiar with fougasse! Can you elaborate?
No words for how wonderful this is! Thank you for the video, it was really helpful. Now just waiting for the Sourdough Peasant Bread recipe!
So wonderful to hear this, Paula! And I know, I need to get that recipe posted ASAP along with instructions for converting all of the recipes in BTC to using a sourdough starter. Thanks for writing!
After 5-6 previous OK attempts, I finally made this focaccia today worth 5 stars. I think the main trick for me was leaving the initial starter overnight, so it really got bubbly and ready. After that everything went pretty smooth w/ first rise about 7 hours and 2nd rise – 3 hours. room temp – about 74F. I also added mix of chopped herbs on top 15min before putting everything in the oven (3tbs mix of thyme+rosemary+oregano+1/4″cup of nice olive oil). Top it up with 6 thin slices of tomato and you got yourself a real treat! Good olive oil is essential- i use one with a little bit of bitterness! Five star recipe!
Wonderful to hear this, Misha! THanks so much for writing. Your herb + tomato topping sounds UNREAL 💯💯💯