Focaccia Masterclass (In-Depth Yeast Bread Tutorial)

you see these two four caches they made out of the same batch of dough but one is flat and the other one is puffy wanna know why then stick around because in this video we'll address all the whys of yeast bread to get you to make amazing bread at home the kind of bread that you get from bakeries with lines out the door and around the block yeah but at home we'll also address all the rookie mistakes and get you baking fabulous bread in no time the first rookie mistake is using measuring cups make sure you're weighing your ingredients I have a video linked below that explains why and how to do that it's the most important thing you can do to improve all your baking let's go through all the ingredients I use king arthur unbleached all-purpose flour it has a protein content of 11.7% that's extremely high for an unbleached all-purpose flour and this is close to bread flour is you can get the protein content in other brands will be somewhat different and probably lower if you can't get King Arthur Flour use any unbleached all-purpose flour the first time around if you are not getting enough holes and chew try replacing part of all-purpose flour with bread flour until you get desirable results in case you're wondering why don't we just go with bread flour in the first place here is why bread flour has insanely high protein content King Arthur bread flour is 12.7% the high this number the more potential you dough has for acting like a very stiff rubber band and developing huge but uneven holes after baking shaping a flat bread like focaccia out of bread flour doesn't work very well the dough keeps shrinking back and refuses to stay flat and I know holes are awesome I mean come on if you don't have a whole fetish you are not serious Brad Baker but we can get more even perfectly lovely holes with unbleached all-purpose if we use the right amount of water and the effective kneading technique although it is optional I replace 11% of my all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour in most of my breads including focaccia not because of healthiness but because of Pleasant nightly toasty aroma if you don't want to buy another type of flour just replace it with moral purpose by the way unless you will use it in three months store your whole wheat flour in the freezer so that it doesn't go rancid for all-purpose flour you have a year of room-temperature storage the next major ingredient is water tap water is perfectly fine everything you've heard about water being responsible for New York Pizza or any other bread is complete yes the only important thing about water is that it is the right temperature for this dough we needed to be around 70 to 80 Fahrenheit thermometer would be best but if you don't have one it should feel like pool water not a hot tub the next rookie mistake is using yeast that you found in the back of your cabinet from 3 years ago if your yeast wasn't refrigerated oh but yet frozen immediately after opening and if you didn't try to open in Datanet go buy new yeast instant yeast lasts in the fridge in an airtight container for a couple of years and even longer in the freezer active dry is way less predictable but it should last about six months as long as you keep it cold I store some of my yeast in the jar in the fridge and freeze the rest in an airtight container yeast gives people heebie-jeebies and I'm planning to make a whole video about it but here is the gist for this recipe you can use either instant yeast or active dry yeast 1 teaspoon of instant equals one and a quarter teaspoons of active drug and they no need to change the procedure you can use these yeasts exactly the same way in case you're wondering I'm using s AF instant yeast the next tricky mistake is not measuring salt accurately it has a huge impact on flavor but also on the color of the crust and the salted bread comes out peel if you want an extreme example of this albino bread go to Tuscany sometimes they're classic loaves are completely pale and taste as bad as they look because of skipping salt in the dough yes I just insult the Tuscan bread yes you are welcome to unsubscribe the weight measurement won't change with the salt type if you're measuring by volume with teaspoons the value measurement will change tremendously from brand to brand because of different crystal shape size and density I use a tiny bit of honey in most of my breads including focaccia you can replace it with sugar or skip it entirely okay that's all the ingredients let's make the dough I'll be using a stand mixer in this video but I'll release a follow-up video next week with how to need a wet dough like this one by hand put the bowl of a stand mixer on the scale and zero it out at 316 grams of room-temperature water 1 teaspoon of instant yeast and 8 grams of honey take the ball off the scale and whisk all the ingredients until the yeast is completely dissolved put the bowl back on the scale and zero it out at 400 grams of unbleached all-purpose flour 50 grams of whole wheat flour and 4 teaspoons of diamond crystal kosher salt or 2 teaspoons of table salt mix with a hook until the dough forms on low speed you're probably wondering why I put the wet ingredients into the bowl first shouldn't the dry always go on the bottom I've tried it both ways and found that starting with the wet allows me to use the dough hook immediately when I started with dry first not all mixer could handle that with the dough hook and some required starting with a pebble attachment to bring the ingredients together and then switch to the dough hook to knead I find that attachment switching to be a pain in the ass and it turns out completely unnecessary if you start with wet ingredients on the bottom so that's what I do if you're making the dough by hand you do need to stick with the traditional dry ingredients first and use the well method but more about that next week when all the dry flour is absorbed scrape the sides of the bowl and start kneading we'll do three minutes on low speed don't be surprised if during this stage the dough is sticking to the bottom a lot the next step will depend on what mixer you have if you mix it has a C hook like a KitchenAid classical artisan you'll need to scrape down the bowl and flip the dough upside down after the first three minutes of kneading because you hooks don't need evenly the step is annoying but it's crucial to proper gluten development it would be easier if I unhook the bowl but I didn't want to move my camera if you have a KitchenAid Pro thats the mixer with the bowl lift instead of the tilt head you have a spiral hook it's far superior kneading evenly so there is no need to flip the door over now let's give our dough a real workout crank up the speed to medium speed for injection it and knead for four minutes this will give out those strength and will result in a holey structure when we bake it a big rookie mistake of beginner bakers that results in brick light consistency is not kneading enough don't worry there are more ways you can screw up your bread consistency later but if you don't get this kneading stitch done right it's all downhill from there by the end of kneading you should see well as sticking to the bottom of the bowl now we need to let our door rise in a bakery the mixer would be needed for something else and you'd have to get a clean lightly oiled container to move your daughter but at home I often rise my dough right in the mixer bowl to avoid extra dishes just pour a tiny bit of olive oil onto the walls and then let the dough with the spatula to let the oil run under it be thorough to make sure the oil gets all the way to the bottom then dunk the towel on oil and oil the sides all the way up the bowl the dough will rise a lot and we want to make sure we can get it out easily well the top of the dough lightly with a spatula or your hand if your dough moves easily when you shake the ball you are good cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise in whole room temperature of 65 fahrenheit to 75 Fahrenheit do not put this in a warm place we want a very slow rise of roughly four hours to develop more flavor and elasticity how long your rise will take will greatly depend on the temperature of your kitchen so I would suggest you take a peek at the dough after two hours if your kitchen is very warm now that you've seen how to make this dough let's understand what we've just made all bread recipes can be converted into an easy formula called the baker's percentage this way you can look at the recipe and immediately understand what the dough will feel like and how it will behave the flour measurement in the baker's percentage is a hundred percent if you use two different flour types like I did today you sum them up here's what our formula looks like this is very typical for what we call a lean bread ciabatta focaccia but yet country bread are all lean they don't contain eggs milk butter oil the most interesting number to look at here is the water percentage seventy percent those feel very sticky they are not the easiest those to work with if you are kneading by hand but this high hydration gives us an opportunity for what we call an open crumb crumb is the term for the inside of the bread open crumb means area with lots of holes and closed means dance another interesting number to look at is the yeast amount our yeast amount is extremely low compared to most breads a typical sandwich loaf or pizza would help twice as much yeast home cooks are often so anxious about dough rising but they equate a quick rise with success it's actually exactly the opposite when it comes to rustic bread the slower your bread rises the more the flour ferments this results in more complex aroma a bit more acidity with much stronger gluten development so what kind of a bread masterclass would this be if we didn't talk about pre ferments almost all the serious bread books advocate that you make a preferment for your bread to improve its flavor and texture you know things like biga and polish some people call them starters but unlike sourdough starters they are made with a tiny bit of commercial yeast and they are - before making the dough the basic idea here is that you'll separate some flour and water from you dough and a tiny amount of yeast mix them up and let them ferment at room temperature overnight this allows a lot of fermentation to happen resulting in a lot of flavor and gluten development then you add the rest of your ingredients and finish making your dough here is what I don't like about preformance they require me to get out my scale and measure everything twice and to mix things twice I'd rather get all that messy part over with once and for all and if you give you those three rises instead of two the flavor and texture will be just as good as if you meet a preferment here is the schedule for your three Rice's the first rice is happening right now that's our 3 to 5 hour room temperature rise after that I'll fold the dough and place it in the fridge overnight to rise extremely slowly it will eventually stop rising and can wait in the fridge for up to 5 days for you to bake it then I'll shape the dough and let it rise 1 time before baking this final race after the dough is given its final shape is called the proof I got the concept of three rises from Julia Child's baguette recipe in mastering the Art of French Cooking in case you're wondering why the most bakeries use preformance instead of three rises here is my best guess a bakery needs to be producing bread around the clock taking up huge packets for days on end is not practical but they can make a Polish of bigger in much smaller containers to get the next batch of bread started this way they only need the big containers for one rice this also results in a quick proof since they are not pulling the dough out of the fridge but what's convenient in the bakery is not always convenient at home I put another batch of dough into a glass bowl to make it easier for you to see the size before and after the rice time is only a rough guideline go by the look you want your dough to roughly triple sprinkle the work surface with flour loosen the dough from the sides with your fingers and turn it out onto the counter the goal of the step is to remove the bubbles that's carbon dioxide produced by yeast after digesting the starch in the flour if you don't release these bubbles the yeast will eventually suffocate and die scrape out the bowl and add these bits to the dough if you see any oil dabbed up with a paper towel Pat the dough flat folded into thirds patting it aggressively to get rid of all the bubbles and then fold it into thirds the other way if you encounter sticking use a pastry scraper to help you if you have too much flour on top of your dough brush it off this procedure is called a latter turn would be more precise to leto turns since we did it twice and it accomplishes three things gets rid of all the bubbles stretches the dough developing more gluten and redistributes the yeast giving it more starches to eat at this point you could return the dough to the big bowl but I know that I want big to foccacia us out of it I'll divide it in half and place each piece into a bowl that is 3 to 4 cups and capacity tuck the dough towards the middle flip it over and roll between your hands to shape into a ball place the balls into bowls will the top lightly cover with plastic and put in the fridge overnight or for up to 5 days this gives me the flexibility to bake the two loaves on different days okay we're finally ready to solve the mystery of the two foci cheese the difference between them is shaping here is how the flat focaccia was shaped I simply dumped the dough into an oiled pan and stretched it out for the second focaccia I give the dough to let the turns let it relax and then stretched it out both for catches Rose for three and a half hours before baking I know what you're thinking why am I using two different pans couldn't the pan type make a difference I've thought you well you are absolutely right you see I only have one quarter sheet and since I had to film it all in one day I needed to use some other pan for the second focaccia I have done this experiment in the quarter sheet using two different shaping methods on two different days and observed the same thing pre shaping the dough with to let the folds always results in puffier bread with a lighter texture but it is a bit more difficult it requires you to be home during the three hour rise both for catches were delicious so if your schedule doesn't allow for the pre-shaped step do what I did with the first focaccia let's go through shaping step by step get the dough out of the fridge three and a half hours before you plan to bake put 1 tablespoon of oil into a quarter sheet or an 11 inch cast-iron skillet and spread it out sprinkle your work surface with flour loosen the dough from the sides of the bowl and invert it onto the work surface it's important for the smooth top side to end up on the bottom this will help you develop good surface tension flatten out the dough into the size of a printer pitch and fold it like a letter be aggressive with removing the bubbles fold it like the letter the other way and stretch it out the best you can but be aware that after the folds it will not want to stretch because we woke up the gluten Beast don't worry about it we'll let it relax for one hour and then we'll be able to stretch it place it on an oiled baking sheet and cover with plastic okay it's been an hour so let's give it a go well your hands and using flat fingers start stretching the dough every time I do this I feel like something is going terribly wrong I always feel like I've been here for 20 minutes and it's still not done enough but what's nice about the video is that I know exactly how much time I actually spent on this about two minutes they were too frustrating minutes but they were totally worth it it's okay to be very aggressive with this dough you can even hang it off your fists and pull on it it will always shrink some but as long as it's about half an inch thick you are good cover it with plastic and let it rise two more hours just to review the total rising time is three hours fold wait an hour stretch wait two hours if you won't be around after the first hour or just want a much simpler shaping method place the dough smooth side up into an oiled pan and stretch it out without the letter volts it will be way easier to stretch but you know the trade-off in texture once it's half an inch thick cover and let rise for three hours when the dough is close to one inch or roughly twice as thick as it started preheat the oven to 450 Fahrenheit with the racks in the middle and lower third of the oven give you oven 30 minutes to preheat during the last five minutes pour an inch of boiling water into a little pan and put it on the floor of the oven to steam it up this will help the bread rise I like to use a disposable aluminum pan for this since this procedure is not very kind to your cookware you can reuse the same pan many many times I think I've baked this one at least 20 times if you have sound flaky salt or diamond crystal kosher salt sprinkle a tiny bit onto your focaccia this is completely optional and I would skip the step if you're sensitive to salt if you want sprinkle on some chopped rosemary drizzled with one tablespoon of oil at this point you need to be gentle with your dough these are the bubbles we want to keep well your fingers and make a few indents all the way to the bottom of the pan spacing them evenly place focaccia in the middle of the oven reduce the temperature to 425 Fahrenheit turn on the convection fan if you have it and bake for 12 to 16 minutes I like to move my focaccia to the bottom rack for the last four minutes of baking to crisp up the bottom how long it will take will depend on your oven whether or not here using a convection fan and what cookware you are using after the first 12 minutes check every two minutes until you get this color my quota sheet was done in 14 minutes but my cast iron pan needed 16 when your focaccia is nicely brown you are done immediately drizzle it with another tablespoon of oil and get it out onto a cooling rack you might think it's a lot of oil but that's what it takes to make a good for catcher this final drizzle softens the top crust and gives a delightful richness I like my bottom crispy and the top soft cool for at least 20 minutes and enjoy I think I should just shut up now and let you see the texture [Music] once you master this dough this Chi is delivered you can use it to shape round loaves ciabatta baguettes etc this video is dedicated to my husband Jason here is the story of bread baking in our family while Jason was working on his PhD thesis at MIT he caught the bread bug it was the ultimate procrastination artform I can't say I appreciated it back then you see I was waiting for him to graduate and get a real job so that I could quit my software job and become a full-time cooking instructor and I really felt like my career was sabotaged by baguette little did I know that the bread bug is contagious and even diehard cooks like me are not immune to it it was Jason who introduced me to weighing my ingredients and keeping a bread journal and I hope now that I can pass the torch on to you my dear viewers here are more very detailed tutorials for you to check out and if you are ever in the Boston area maybe I'll see you in one of my classes [Music]

Channel: Helen Rennie

Views: 323,079

Keywords: focaccia, how to make focaccia, focaccia tutorial, how to make bread, how to make yeast bread, how to make bread dough, how to knead bread dough, how to develop gluten, how to work with yeast, rosemary focaccia, how to knead, bread recipe, focaccia recipe

Id: 81hPWTmcODg

Length: 23min 19sec (1399 seconds)

Published: Thu May 21 2020