Sourdough high-hydration focaccia
Sourdough Focaccia (Naturally Leavened, No Commercial Yeast)
A tangy, complex focaccia with a blistered open crumb and a wheaty, faintly sour aroma — raised entirely on an active sourdough starter.
- Total
- 19 hr
- Hands-on
- 25 min
- Hydration
- 80%
- Skill
- intermediate
By FocacciaRecipe editorial · Updated 2026-07-05 · In editorial development; independent bake-test pending
The short version
Use 100 g of active starter (20% inoculation) with 450 g flour, 350 g water, 10 g salt and olive oil — 500 g total flour and 80% hydration once the starter is counted. Bulk-ferment 4–6 hours at room temperature with folds, cold-retard overnight, then pan, proof, dimple, and bake at 230°C/450°F for about 24 minutes.
Why this works
A ripe starter carries both wild yeast for lift and lactic and acetic bacteria for flavor, so the slow rise develops tang and strength together. Counting the starter into the totals keeps the dough at a true 80% hydration for an open crumb, and an overnight cold retard deepens the sour notes while making the wet dough easy to handle.
The schedule
~50m hands-on of 8.6h total · multi day
- Mix & fold · 50m
- Bulk ferment · 5h
- Proof · 2h
- Bake · 24m
- Cool · 20m
Terracotta is active work; olive is unattended rising; red is the bake.
Ingredients
Method
- 1
Ripen the starter first
Feed your starter 4–8 hours ahead so it is at peak when you mix. It is ready when it has roughly doubled, domed, and a spoonful floats in water.
Look for: Bubbly, billowy, and smelling tangy-sweet rather than sharp or vinegary.
Avoid: A sluggish or hungry starter will not raise this dough — do not skip ripening it.
- 2
Mix
Dissolve the ripe starter in the 350 g water, add flour and 15 g oil, mix to a shaggy dough, rest 20 minutes, then work in the salt.
Look for: Slack and sticky; after the rest it feels more cohesive.
- 3
Bulk ferment with folds
Over the first 2–3 hours, give 3–4 sets of stretch-and-folds spaced 30–45 minutes apart, then let the dough finish rising.
Look for: It builds strength, smooths out, and grows by 50–75% with bubbles forming. Sourdough rises slower than yeast — judge by look, not the clock.
- 4
Cold retard overnight
Cover tightly and refrigerate 10–16 hours to develop flavor and firm the dough.
Look for: By morning it is risen, domed, and dotted with bubbles under the surface.
- 5
Pan and proof
Oil the 30×40 cm pan, ease the cold dough toward the edges, and proof at room temperature until relaxed and puffy.
Look for: A fingertip dent fills back slowly; the dough has lost its chill and fills the pan.
- 6
Dimple and bake
Drizzle oil, dimple deeply, scatter flaky salt, and bake at 230°C/450°F until deeply browned and blistered.
Look for: A dark, crackly top and big open bubbles; the base is firm and crisp.
- 7
Cool
Cool on a rack at least 20 minutes.
Look for: The tangy aroma settles and the crumb sets for clean slicing.
What good looks like
- Crumb: Open, blistered and slightly chewy with a moist interior.
- Crust: Deeply crisp fried base; dark, crackly, lacquered top.
- Height: About 2.5–3.5 cm tall.
- Color: Rich, dark gold — sourdough browns readily.
If something went wrong
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Barely rises | Starter not ripe or too little active leaven | Feed the starter and mix only at its bubbly peak; allow longer bulk and proof. |
| Flat and gummy | Under-fermented bulk or over-retarded and deflated | Look for a 50–75% rise before chilling; keep the retard within 16 hours. |
| Too sour | Long, warm fermentation favoring acetic acid | Shorten the room-temperature bulk and keep the retard cold. |
Storing & reheating
Storage: Best the day it is baked; sourdough keeps slightly better — wrapped at room temperature up to 3 days.
Freezing: Freeze cooled squares up to 1 month.
Reheating: Refresh in a 200°C/400°F oven 5 minutes.
Contains wheat/gluten.
Tools & ingredients for this focaccia
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Core pantry
- Sourdough starter (opens Amazon) ↗ — Grow your own, or buy a dried starter to rehydrate.
- Bread flour (opens Amazon) ↗ — High-protein bread flour or Italian “00” both work.
- Fine sea salt (opens Amazon) ↗ — Fine sea salt for the dough.
- Extra-virgin olive oil (opens Amazon) ↗ — Use a good EVOO you like the taste of.
- Flaky finishing salt (opens Amazon) ↗ — For the crunchy finish.
Required pan & tools
- Digital kitchen scale (0.1 g resolution) (opens Amazon) ↗ — Focaccia is a set of ratios; a scale is the single biggest upgrade to consistency. Fine resolution matters for small salt and yeast weights.
- Danish dough whisk (opens Amazon) ↗ — Mixes wet, high-hydration dough more easily than a spoon, without a mixer.
- Straight-sided proofing container with lid (opens Amazon) ↗ — A clear, straight-sided tub makes it easy to judge how far the dough has risen.
- Large flexible mixing bowl (opens Amazon) ↗ — A big bowl gives wet dough room to fold and rise; a flexible one releases sticky dough cleanly.
You don’t need to buy everything here — many items are already in most kitchens. Fresh produce, cheese and herbs are best bought local and in season.
Frequently asked
- Can I add a pinch of commercial yeast to be safe?
- You can, but then it is no longer purely naturally leavened; the point here is wild fermentation flavor. If your starter is strong, it is not needed.
- What does inoculation percentage mean?
- It is the starter weight relative to total flour — here 100 g starter to 500 g flour, or 20%. Lower means a slower, tangier rise.
Keep baking
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Source: https://www.focacciarecipe.com/recipes/sourdough-focaccia · © 2026 FocacciaRecipe.com
In editorial development — this recipe has not yet completed physical bake-testing.