Focaccia

Autolyse

Combine Bread Flour, Whole Wheat Flour, Spelt Flour, and Water in a large bowl. Mix them until all of the dry flour has been incorporated into a wet dough (a Danish Dough Whisk helps considerably). Cover and let rest for at least 30m.

Mix

Uncover the dough, and add Starter, Olive Oil, and Salt to the top. Make note of the time, and proceed with a bowl stretch and fold. The dough will be weak given the hydration and resist stretching, so at this point be gentle, focusing on thoroughly mixing the ingredients. Stop when the dough feels like it is breaking down, tearing, or if the Starter, Olive Oil, and Salt are adequately incorporated (this may take several minutes). Cover, and let rest for 20 minutes.

Bolster

Uncover, and perform as many coil folds in the bowl as the dough will allow (likely two). The dough should have changed, showing signs of fermentation but more importantly detectable strength and elasticity. Cover, and let rest for 20 minutes. Perform this step an additional two times, as it will make sure that the dough is strong enough to support all of the water held inside.

Bulk Rise

After building all of that strength into the dough there's nothing to do but wait. The dough must double in size to proceed to the next step. A food grade vessel with volumetric markings (like this) can make discernment trivial, but will require transfer. The timing is highly variable by environment. Depending on the temperature and activity of the starter it could take as few as three or four hours, or it may take six to nine. If time is scant consider retarding (refrigeration).

Shape

Add 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil to the center of a 9x13 inch metal pan. Make sure that it has coated the bottom and the sides to ward off sticking during the bake. Carefully transfer the dough into the pan. With greased hands, perform a letter fold. Fold the right and left sides into the center to roughly form a square. Flip the dough so that the seam is down on the pan, and cover.

Proof

Like the Bulk Rise, this is a variable step depending on environment. It could take as few as two hours, but might take as many as six (especially if the bulk rise was retarded) depending on several factors (perhaps most importantly temperature). Similarly, this is a point in the process where retardation (refrigeration) can occur. By the end of this step, the dough should have grown to fill most of the pan, and if done in ambient temperature, signs of fermentation (like surface bubbles) may be visible.

Bake

Put a rack on the bottom (with a baking stone if possible), and one in the upper half. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. With a stone, baking results will be their best an hour or more beyond reaching temperature (concluding the preheat).

With greased hands, gently dimple the dough in the pan, making sure that those fingers reach the bottom of the pan, and that they spread the dough slowly outward. Continue this down the length of the pan, aiding the spread of the dough across the surface. Drizzle or spray Olive Oil onto the top of the dough. Add a finishing salt like Maldon or Fleur de sel evenly but somewhat sparsely.

Place the pan onto the bottom rack (or directly onto the stone) for 15m, then transfer it to the top half of the oven for the remaining 10m (this is a good time to flip the pan for a more even bake). Make sure to move the baked focaccia to a cooling rack as soon as possible and cover for at least 20m before cutting/eating.

Tips and Tricks

In the Seattle area, I recommend using Cairnspring Mill's Trailblazer Bread Flour, which can be found at Whole Foods or Metropolitan Market, as it can handle the hydration with relative ease (some other bread flours will not perform as well), and King Arthur Regeneratively-Grown Climate Blend Flour, which I source at the Whole Foods in Interbay and was developed in partnership with the WSU Bread Lab.

Notice that the primary basis for this recipe from Alexandra's Kitchen does not use Whole Wheat or Spelt flours. It calls only for Bread Flour. This is to taste. Eschew my flourishes if they do not suit you. Add more, or other ancient grains, like Emmer or Einkorn (but like Spelt be careful with how much water these can or cannot absorb, and how strong they are, which often comes down to protein content). There is a lot of flexibility here. Experiment. Find something that you like.

This is a wet dough. If that is intimidating, or the final product is lackluster, try reducing the amount of water used. A reasonable place to start would be 450g or 88%. Nothing else about the recipe or process need change, but notice how much easier it is to stretch and fold the dough, and how much stronger it feels before the bulk rise.

As mentioned previously, sourdough baking is temperamental, and how long fermentation takes depends on the environment (most commonly temperature), but, there is another way to influence the timing of this process: the amount of starter used. If a fermentation seems to be going too fast (especially during an overnight bulk rise) try using half the amount of Starter (50g). Conversely, perhaps in the Winter months, if things are going too slowly, use 150g of Starter to get a leg up. Water temperature can make a huge difference as well, and warmer water will contribute to the final dough temperature considerably (do not exceed 114 degrees).