Sourdough Focaccia (How-To)

Sourdough Focaccia

100g Active Starter

315g Water (95-100F)

385g King Arthur Bread Flour

50g Fresh Milled Rye Flour (Can Sub for More Bread Flour or other Whole Wheat Flour)

10g salt

20g Olive Oil

Shoot for a 78-80F dough temp.

Good amount for the following pans:

13×9 Pan, 1/4 Sheet Pan, 9-10” Cake Pan, or 10” Cast Iron

Mix your active starter and water together, add flour and salt and mix to combine. Mix an additional 5-6 minutes to develop the dough.

Rest 30 minutes.

Add your olive oil to the dough and pinch through to combine for 3-4 minutes.

Rest 30 minutes.

Perform 1-2 sets of stretch and folds/coil folds separated by 30 minutes until dough smooths out and develops tension.

Allow dough to bulk ferment for 3-4 hours then place into fridge for 12-24 hours to develop extra fermentation flavor.

You can also finish bulk fermentation straight through and place into pan of choice and bake same day. The timing will depend on your dough temps.

Look for significant dough expansion and rounded edges. If you feel like it needs more time, give it more time.

Grease your baking pan of choice with a little olive oil. Thin layer is preferable to a pool of oil.

Place your focaccia smooth side down into the tin

And fold each side in towards the center to develop some shaping.

Flip back over seam side down and cover with a wet towel/plastic wrap and allow to proof for a final time for 2-4 hours or until the dough has filled out the tin and is very jiggly and aerated.

Preheat oven to 450F.

Drizzle herbs of choice, drizzle several glugs of olive oil and then dimple your dough with oiled fingers.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until deeply golden brown on top.

Depending on your oven, shielding the bottom with a cookie sheet halfway through baking is a good idea if you have a bottom heat source like a gas oven.

Allow to cool for 30-45 minutes then slice in!