FocacciaFriday
focaccia calculator
When do you want to eat? Work backwards from there. The Total Time slider is how many hours from mixing to eating. Set it, and the calculator figures out everything else ā the yeast quantity, your fermentation times, and the method steps. The green zone marks where timing is most forgiving. Longer fermentation develops a more complex flavour, a better texture, and an open crumb ā but an 8-hour bake still makes great focaccia. You are just trading some depth for convenience. For shorter bakes, a warmer fermentation environment will help the dough along ā the oven light trick mentioned below is ideal for this.
Enter your pan dimensions and the calculator scales the flour (and everything else) to fit. The 7cm (2.75in) depth is a rough guide ā we are aiming for a focaccia around 6cm (2.5in) tall, so any pan in that ballpark (give or take a centimetre) will hold the dough just fine. A cookie tray will not.
Metal is strongly preferred. A heavy metal pan conducts heat directly into the base of the dough, giving you the crisp, well-coloured bottom crust that defines a good focaccia. Glass and ceramic insulate rather than conduct ā they take longer to heat up and rarely get hot enough to properly fry the base in the oil. If glass or ceramic is all you have, use it. If you have a choice, metal every time.
Use a strong white bread flour with 12ā15% protein. The protein content is what forms gluten, and gluten is what gives focaccia its structure, its chew, and its ability to hold all that water and gas without collapsing. A low-protein plain flour will not develop enough gluten ā your dough will be weak, tear easily, and the crumb will be flat and dense. The higher the protein, the more water the flour can absorb and the stronger the gluten network. That is what lets you push the hydration up into the 85ā90% range and still get a dough that holds together. Check the label ā most supermarket bread flours sit around 12ā13%, which is fine. If you can find something closer to 14ā15%, even better.
Hydration is the ratio of water to flour and it changes everything. Higher hydration (85%+) gives you a lighter, airier crumb with bigger voids ā the kind of focaccia that looks like it came from a bakery. But it is harder to handle. The dough is slack, sticky, and wants to run everywhere.
Lower hydration (70ā80%) is much easier to work with ā the dough behaves, shapes nicely, and forgives mistakes. The trade-off is a denser, tighter crumb. Still delicious, just a different bread.
If you are new, start around 80% and work up as your confidence grows. If you are comfortable with wet dough, 85ā90% is where the magic happens.
Room temperature controls how fast your yeast works. Warmer = faster, cooler = slower. The calculator compensates automatically ā just set the slider to match your kitchen and the yeast model does the rest.
Room temp ā all fermentation happens at ambient temperature. It is simpler, faster, and gives great results. If you have a proofer, this is also your controlled-temp mode ā dial in exactly what you want. Pro tip: your oven light generates gentle, consistent warmth around 22ā26Ā°C (72ā79Ā°F). Close the door, leave the light on, and you have got yourself a DIY proofer. The time slider will not go past 30 hours in room temp mode ā beyond that, the dough will over-ferment and collapse on itself. If you want longer than 30 hours, that is what the fridge is for.
Cold ferment ā bulk rise at room temp, then overnight in the fridge. The cold slows everything down and develops deeper, more complex flavour. Worth it if you have the time. The time slider will not go below 14 hours in cold ferment mode ā you need enough time for the room temperature bulk rise, the fridge time, and the final proof to all do their job. Anything shorter than that and you are better off staying at room temp.
Once you have set your sliders and you are ready to go, hit ā¶ Begin. This stamps your start time and turns the whole calculator into a live schedule. The method panel walks you through every step, and once the bake is started, every step shows its actual wall-clock time ā so instead of just knowing a step takes 45 minutes, you can see it starts at 9:15pm and the next one begins at 10:00pm.
Hit ā° Timeline for the full overview. Before you begin, the timeline shows durations only. After you hit Begin, each step gets a real clock time alongside its duration ā your entire bake laid out as an actual schedule. Tap any step to jump straight to it.
Everything recalculates live, so if you change your mind on a slider mid-bake, the remaining steps update with new times. The sliders above the time label still show the eat time preview so you always know when the bread hits the table.
If you close the app or your phone goes to sleep, do not worry ā the session is saved automatically. When you come back, your start time and your current step will be exactly where you left them. Hit āŗ Reset to clear everything and start fresh.
When you hit ā¶ Begin, the app enters focus mode. This clears away everything except the method steps so you can concentrate on the bake without distractions.
On mobile, the method card takes over the full screen. The sliders, ingredients, and pan cards all disappear ā you just see your current step, the navigation, and the timeline button.
On desktop, the method card expands to fill the right-hand column. The sliders and pan cards stay visible on the left so you can still glance at your settings, but the method becomes the main event.
To exit focus mode, tap the ā button that appears in the method card header. You can get back in at any time by tapping ā¶ Begin again ā it will not restart your bake, just re-enter focus mode. The screen also stays awake while a bake is active, so you do not need to worry about your phone going to sleep mid-step.
Hit āŗ Reset to end the bake, exit focus mode, and clear everything back to the starting state.
Steps that need timing show a ā° timer pill next to the step title with the duration displayed. Tap it and your phone's native clock app opens with the correct duration and a label already filled in ā your phone handles the countdown, so it works even if the screen is off or you are in another app.
Important: the native timer feature only works in the Android app from the Play Store. There is no equivalent API available in any browser on any platform ā desktop or mobile. If you are using the website, the timer pills still work as progress indicators but will not launch an external timer.
Both techniques build gluten structure without traditional kneading, and both work well. The difference is practical.
Stretch and folds are done in the bowl. You grab one edge of the dough, stretch it upward, and fold it over to the opposite side. Rotate the bowl and repeat three or four times. It is simple, intuitive, and a great place to start if you are new to bread making. No special equipment needed ā just the bowl you mixed in.
Coil folds are done on a heavy flat surface like a large cast iron pan or a heavy baking tray. You slide wet hands under the centre of the dough, lift it high, and let both ends fold underneath as it drops. Rotate 90Ā° and repeat. The pan stays on the counter ā that is why it needs to be heavy. If you try this on a light metal tray or a plastic container, it will lift with the dough and you will not enjoy the experience.
Coil folds are the preferred technique here because they are gentler on the gas structure, which matters more as the dough develops. They also give you a better feel for how the gluten is progressing ā each fold you will notice the dough tightening and gaining strength. But if you are just starting out, stretch and folds in the bowl are perfectly fine. You will still get great bread.
The method calls for 4 folds at 30-minute intervals, whichever technique you choose.
Both techniques are much easier to understand visually than in text ā search YouTube for "coil folds" or "stretch and fold bread" and watch a couple of videos before your first bake. Two minutes of footage will tell you more than a page of instructions.
Temperature. for the first 10 minutes, then reduce to for the final 20 minutes. This gives you maximum oven spring early, then a controlled bake to finish.
No fan if possible. Fan dries the surface before the dough has fully expanded. If you have a top grill oven, use that ā they typically run fanless and work brilliantly here. Not a dealbreaker if you can't avoid it.
Steam helps, but it is not essential. When the bread goes in, toss an ice cube directly onto the oven floor and close the door quickly ā it vaporises instantly and floods the oven with steam. Alternatively, a few squirts from a water spray bottle into the oven before closing the door works just as well. Steam keeps the crust soft long enough for the dough to fully expand before the surface sets. Skip it if you like ā you'll still get great focaccia.
Doneness. Internal temperature should hit , or look for a deep golden brown on top.
If you have a steam oven ā even better. Use it.
It is out of the oven. Your kitchen smells incredible. The crust is golden, crackly, glistening with oil. Every instinct you have is telling you to tear into it right now.
Do not.
The inside of the bread is still setting. The crumb is still firming up, the starches are still gelling, and the moisture is still redistributing from the centre outward. If you cut it now, the inside will be gummy and the steam that escapes will take all that texture with it. You have spent hours getting to this point ā the last 30 minutes is where the crumb goes from wet and doughy to light and pillowy.
Put it on a wire rack. Walk away. Make a coffee. Argue with someone on the internet. Do whatever you need to do to survive the next half hour. Nobody in the history of focaccia has ever actually made it to 30 minutes, but the closer you get, the better the bread will be.
Here is every button in the top bar and what it does.
