Focaccia breaks the rule the lean loaf taught. That dough wanted restraint. This one wants water and oil, more of both than feels reasonable, and it wants you to leave it alone while the fermentation does the work.
The bottom fries in the pan oil until it shatters. The middle stays soft and full of holes. The dimples are not decoration, they hold the oil on top where it belongs. Once you can read a wet dough, bubbles, jiggle, a clear rise, you can read almost any dough.
Yield: 1 pan, about 23 by 33 cm (9 by 13 in)
Prep time: 25 min active
Cook time: 20 to 25 min
Total time: 3.5 to 4.5 hours (mostly bulk ferment), or overnight in the fridge
Ingredients
500 g bread flour
400 g water (80% hydration)
10 g fine salt
1.5 tsp instant yeast (5 g)
30 g olive oil, in the dough
Plenty more olive oil for the pan, your hands, and the top (about 60 ml all in)
Flaky sea salt, to finish
Fresh rosemary leaves, to finish
Method
Mix. Flour, water, salt, yeast, and the 30 g olive oil together until shaggy. It will be very wet. That is exactly right.
Rest. 20 to 30 minutes. The flour hydrates and the gluten starts forming on its own.
Stretch and fold. 2 to 3 rounds, one every 20 to 30 minutes, wet hands or an oiled scraper. Each round the dough gets smoother and stronger. No kneading, the folds do the work.
Bulk ferment. 2 to 3 hours at room temperature. You are looking for bubbles throughout, a jiggle when the bowl moves, and a clear rise.
Pan it. Oil the pan like you mean it, a full coating, not a wipe. Tip the dough in gently and do not deflate it. Rest 30 to 60 minutes so it relaxes and spreads.
Dimple. Hands coated in olive oil, fingers straight down to the pan, all over. The dimples hold pools of oil and whatever topping you add.
Top. Flaky salt and rosemary for the classic. That is the version to nail first.
Bake. 220°C (425°F), 20 to 25 minutes, until deep golden with crisp edges and a soft middle.
[Photo: crumb shot, a torn corner showing the open holes]
Baker's notes
Too little oil is the classic failure. The bottom steams instead of frying and the crisp never happens. Focaccia is not the place to be careful with oil.
Handle the dough gently after the ferment. Every bubble you knock out is a bubble that is not in the crumb.
Pale focaccia is gummy focaccia. Wait for deep golden.
Overnight option: after the folds, cover and fridge it 8 to 12 hours. Pan, dimple, and bake the next day. Better flavor, easier day.
Storage: room temperature, covered loosely so the crust stays crisp, best the same day. Reheat in a 175°C (350°F) oven for 5 to 10 minutes. Never the microwave, it turns to gum.
Crispy, Airy Focaccia Bread | Coal & Crumb
Crispy, airy focaccia from Coal & Crumb. Eighty percent hydration, plenty of olive oil, deep golden and crisp at the edges. The full recipe with every cue that matters.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Mix. Flour, water, salt, yeast, and the 30 g olive oil together until shaggy. It will be very wet. That is exactly right.
- Rest. 20 to 30 minutes. The flour hydrates and the gluten starts forming on its own.
- Stretch and fold. 2 to 3 rounds, one every 20 to 30 minutes, wet hands or an oiled scraper. Each round the dough gets smoother and stronger. No kneading, the folds do the work.
- Bulk ferment. 2 to 3 hours at room temperature. You are looking for bubbles throughout, a jiggle when the bowl moves, and a clear rise.
- Pan it. Oil the pan like you mean it, a full coating, not a wipe. Tip the dough in gently and do not deflate it. Rest 30 to 60 minutes so it relaxes and spreads.
- Dimple. Hands coated in olive oil, fingers straight down to the pan, all over. The dimples hold pools of oil and whatever topping you add.
- Top. Flaky salt and rosemary for the classic. That is the version to nail first.
- Bake. 220°C (425°F), 20 to 25 minutes, until deep golden with crisp edges and a soft middle.
Notes
- Too little oil is the classic failure. The bottom steams instead of frying and the crisp never happens. Focaccia is not the place to be careful with oil.
- Handle the dough gently after the ferment. Every bubble you knock out is a bubble that is not in the crumb.
- Pale focaccia is gummy focaccia. Wait for deep golden.
- Overnight option: after the folds, cover and fridge it 8 to 12 hours. Pan, dimple, and bake the next day. Better flavor, easier day.
- Storage: room temperature, covered loosely so the crust stays crisp, best the same day. Reheat in a 175°C (350°F) oven for 5 to 10 minutes. Never the microwave, it turns to gum.
