← Replies in Overnight Focaccia Recipe

Hi Laura Jo, thanks for your feedback. It definitely shouldn’t be dense and should only take half that amount of time baking! Makes me worried that maybe the oven wasn’t hot enough - which temp did you cook it at in Celsius or Fahrenheit? For C it should be 220/for F should be 430. If you had your oven set to correct temp, it may be that your oven runs much cooler than it should (you can buy a cheap temp gauge to hang in oven to double check the temp is correct). The dough normally springs up quite quickly when it hits the extreme heat in the oven and gets that airiness from the initial rise after being exposed to high heat. I fear your oven wasn’t hot enough and it basically baked too slowly and wasn’t able to rise quick enough to get airy. I hope that makes sense! The bake time definitely shouldn’t be that long. Are you using bread flour?

Hi Lacey, thanks for the detailed reply! I do have a temp gauge separate from the oven (the knobs are so wrong!) and it read 430-450 F the whole time! I used a flour with 11% protein. It is set to expire in a few months so maybe that? Also, I maybe have folded it too many times? Or maybe I had too much water from all the water on my hands? My oven also is gas and not convection, maybe it’s just too dry?

Very strange, at that heat it should be baking way quicker. I’d definitely try to increase the oven heat if you can next time. Using a metal pan/tray helps to conduct heat quicker, if you used glass it will have taken a bit longer. 11% protein js on the lower side for bread flour - if you can find a bread flour with a higher protein percentage you’ll probably have better results! The expiry shouldn’t be an issue for the flour but check that your instant/quick yeast is fresh (within date and opened within last four months or so). Folds or extra water on hands shouldn’t be an issue. This is probably a flour/yeast or oven temp issue. Try a different bread flour, check instant yeast is in date and crank your oven a bit higher for next time!