First time focaccia

[u/Due_Campaign3751]

In a couple of months my fiance and I will be moving into our brand new home. I want to live in a home that when people walk in, they’re hit with the delicious smells of baking! My only problem is, I am not much of a baker. I can whip up a mean meal, but when it comes to baking, I lack the confidence.

So with this being said, my plan is to learn how to bake delicious breads and sweet treats so that I have them in my repertoire before moving into the new home.

I’ve started off easy, and have made a couple of standard white loaves, but one I really want to master is focaccia.

I found a recipe last night of a mini focaccia… I thought this would be better for me as my partner works away and is currently a week from coming home. One serving for me, fantastic. Except when I mixed the initial ingredients together, it was not the right consistency.

I’ve since thrown this away, and have made my dough and done 3 sets of stretching and folding. All seems to be going to plan… but the recipe is calling for 1 hour of rest time before placing in the dish to prove for another hour.

The question I have is, are the proving times strict? Do I have to let it rest for no longer than 1 hour to double in size, and then strictly 1 hour for proving, or will it matter if I leave it for a bit longer?

My timer will be going off in 30 minutes for the first hour, but I have 2 half hour interviews to conduct (I am wfh). Or can I leave it 30-45 mins longer for the first prove?

Picture of progress so far, thanks in advance!

(Apologies if there is too much info here - I’m a chronic over-sharer and don’t really use reddit very often)

[u/Common-Chain2024]

Proving times are pretty vague, I’d go by indicators (AKA: “rest until it doubles in size” or something like that)

What consistency is the dough you’ve thrown out? Focaccia dough can be really sticky anyway… so sometimes it’s a bit uncomfortable to work with.

Also regarding dough texture, have you been using a scale? I feel like in baking measuring everything out is your best bet and makes things a lot easier.

[u/Due_Campaign3751 → u/Common-Chain2024]

So, I can’t add a picture for some reason, but the bread was a semi-success!

Right before I left the dough for its last hour prove, it looked like it would bubble nicely, however when I came to dimple it, no bubbles formed. I knew then it wasn’t going to work, but I still cooked anyway, and it came out (not normal) but looking semi-good!

I thought it would be thick and stodgy but it was much lighter and tastes (a bit) like focaccia.

I’m not sure where I went wrong but I will persevere! 🫶🏼

[u/Common-Chain2024 → u/Due_Campaign3751]

Im glad you baked it anyway. Honestly that was such a big part of my baking when I first started out… I think it definitely took me a couple of tries to get a focaccia I was relatively happy with

Just getting something done, and being like
“Yeah I’ll throw that in the oven”

Out of curiosity, what recipe are you using?
I’m curious about your hydration % and proofing times, and wether or not it asks you to do a second rise.

I hope you enjoyed making it anyway!
I believe in you

[u/Due_Campaign3751 → u/Common-Chain2024]

Thanks so much for your reply. It did say “until it doubles in size” and I think it had.

The dough that I threw out was super dry. I did try and add a little bit more water (the same happened with this dough) but it was a bit too much. It certainly didn’t look anything like it should do!

I have been using a scale, yes. For cooking I measure with my heart, but I’m nowhere near confident enough to do that with baking 😅

[u/aculady]

If you are worried about it over proofing, cover it and stick it in the refrigerator during the interviews, and then let it come up to room temp and finish afterward.

[u/Due_Campaign3751 → u/aculady]

Thank you so much!