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Focaccia (white Pizza, bun) with natural yeast

Focaccia with semi-whole flour just cooked

Pizza with semi-whole flour with mushrooms, sliced

Category: kitchen - bread, pizza, bun, focaccia
Yeast dough = Mother dough = natural leaven
This recipe is divided in 2 steps: first one to "activate" yeast, second one to make focaccia. With this recipe you will be able to make 1 Kg (2 lb) focaccia.
It's important to carefully read all (numerous) the notes that reveal all the tricks needed to get a good result: this recipe is not for beginners.
There's a similar recipe to make Bread with yeast dough.

Ingredients for yeast dough activation:
wheat flour (half-whole or whole, better if bio)
water (better if non chlorinated)
some yeast dough.

Yeast dough activation:
Yeast Dough (photo a) should be activated the evening before you bake. Put it in a bowl, add 2 tablespoons warm water, 2 tablespoons of flour and mix well (photo b). Leave to stand in a warm place and away from flowing air all night long. In the morning (photo c) put aside some yeast dough (usually 1/3) to make bread the next time: better see Yeast dough keeping.

	(photo a) Yeast dough just out of the refrigerator
	(photo b) Yeast dough activated and just before rest
	(photo c) Yeast dough after 8 hour long rest

Ingredients for focaccia:
600 gr (21 oz) wheat flour (white, half-whole or whole, better if bio)
250 gr (9 oz) water (better if non chlorinated)
150 cc (8 tablespoons) olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
some yeast dough.

Focaccia Preparation:
In the morning take 2/3 of yeast dough that rested all night long then add flour and warm water, in which salt has previously been dissolved and oil.
Work vigorously for at least 15 minutes (photo d) then put to rest and leave leaven until near doubled the size (1 hours long, but timing are greatly variable depending on temperature, humidity and baker's mood) (photo e).
Lay down on pan by using fingers. Dress with con crude olive oil, rosemary and some salt (photo d).
Leave to rest one hour long. Oven following your tastes: 30 minutes long in already warmed-up oven at 200°C (390 °C) or if you like it with low crust oven without pre-heating, same timing and temperature (photo e). It's difficult to give better indications because every oven is different.

Note: leaven times are indicatory. Temperature, humidity, draught and other elements have a great impact. Better to use as a reference the volume increase (it usually doubles). For instance if in winter you need 8-10 hours leaven time, in summer you only need 3-4.
Professional bakers use constant temperature and humidity chambers to always get the best possible result.
The ideal temperature for leaven is 30-38 °C (86-100 °F), to get it you can use one of these tricks. Put dough:

in a close environment (oven switched off for instance) within some warm water cans;
in oven (switched off) leaving the internal light on: warm generated by bulb is enough.
in a can on the refrigerator: the serpentine cooler on the back side becomes warm.

In any way NEVER put dough over the radiator: it's too warm.
Note: 15 minutes kneading are required to oxigen dough and break(pluck) gluten, by keeping it better accessible to yeast. All of this has a practical positive effect on leaven.
Note: yeast dough suffer draught, warm and cold. Must not be ermetically closed, but covered with a cotton cloth.
It's important the can or pot used for leaven to be narrow and high, because leaven works better if dough grows vertically.
Note: regarding water there are a couple of things to keep in mind.
1st. Add warm water is not correct: what really matter is dough temperature: it should be 27-28°C (80-82 °F) while working it. If dough is too much warm the risk is to let amides interfere with gluten or worst to kill ferments, if too cold leaven process gets stopped.
Add cold water if dough is too warm or add warmer water if dough is too cold. Example: external temperature 40 °C (100 °F), add icing water !.
Can use a thermometer or simply put a finger in dough and feel.
2nd. Chlorine interferes with leaven, use mineral water or leave tap water to rest for some hours. Best would be to use source water.
Note: dough is sensible to movements, the risk is to 'deflate' it. If possible use the same container (pot or grid) that will be used for cooking when making the latest working steps.
Note: if you go wrong with water / flour proportion you will get a hard unworkable or too soft dough. In 1st case add water and work for a while, in 2nd case do not add flour or you will compromise the previous kneading work (and the glutinic net already created). Leave near-liquid dough and put it in can with borders high enought to hold leaven: you will get a good result. Someone deliberately leaves dough near liquid and get wonderful rising (note from Francesco).
Note: when you open the oven door to insert bread, pizza or else, it'temperature drops. To keep it almost constant you can pre-heat oven at a higher temperature: 30-50°C (50-90 °F) more, then after having inserted the oven product you set it at what required by the recipe.
This trick is particularly useful for leavened products where the first 5-10 cooking minutes are required as leaven fixing. Other fundamental trick: never open the oven door during the first cooking minutes.
Note: to avoid too much crisp you can paint olive oil the top side of bread (or pizza, ...) just before ovening.
It is important olive oil to be used because other oils have a smoke point at low temperatures. For instance sunflower oil gets smoked at 160°C (320°F). To get further details see Smoke Point.
Note: to dress bread, pizza, focaccia you can proceed in two distinct ways. If dressing is water-aboundant as tomato juice, paint dressing before ovening, then add the rest (for instance mozzarella cheese) after ovening. Warning do not paint pizza with oil before dressing, or dressing will not get absorbed and will leak-out.
If very crisp or a good cheese melting is desired oven again switching grill on.
If tomato or other water-aboundant dressing are NOT used, paint some oil before ovening. At cooking end ad dressing (prepared apart mixing all the ingredients, oil included) and if you like very crisp oven again switching grill on.
Moozzarella cheese (and other fresh cheeses) can not resist for all the cooking time: the natural sugars caramelize. For this reason it is added at the end and for short time.
Note: to get low and crisp pizza or bread reduce yeast, reduce yeast nutrition (sugar), reduce oil.
At and of required cooking keep in oven again and reduce temperature.
At the opposite you you like higher and softer bread and pizza use flour with higher gluten amount, use longer leaven times, add oil or milk.
Note: obviously, the ingredients quality has a main role. Best is "fresh" bio flour and from a known source; water too is better if oligo-mineral or possibly source water is used.

	(photo d) Focaccia ready for oven
	(photo e) Focaccia made with semi-whole flour just ovened
	(photo f) Focaccia made with whole flour just ovened
	(photo g) Focaccia just ovened, detail

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