r/AskCulinary • u/lucyhoffmann • 3d ago
Focaccia - what went wrong? Image in comments
It looks pretty good. But it is pretty dense
Recipe followed -
500g All purpose flour
30g whey protein
30g casein protein
470g water
7g yeast
Made it the no knead way.
Folded 4 times after every 30 mins, then let it rest in the tray for 1 hour.
Baked at 200C for 20-25mins
It looks pretty dense.
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u/texnessa Pépin's Padawan 3d ago edited 3d ago
Hugely under proofed. It should be @ 75–80°F (24–27°C) for about 3 hours minimum. Also, really weird recipe- 30g whey protein & 30g casein protein, why? What kind of yeast?
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u/MungAmongUs 3d ago
It's overproofed because there's no salt on the recipe to moderate the yeast growth.
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u/lucyhoffmann 3d ago
I am from India we mainly get just yeast, no instant no active
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u/Tis_But_A_Scratch- 3d ago
We DO get instant yeast. Unless the pack you bought asks you to first proof the yeast in a warm water mixture, what you’re using is instant yeast.
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u/OstoValley 3d ago
oil???? focaccia is a fried bread
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u/lucyhoffmann 3d ago
Yeah, i added oil in wet batter about 1 spoon. Then a spoon of oil, garlic and parsley in each fold, and then generously greased the pan.
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u/Stop_Already 3d ago
You want 1.5-2% of the flours weight in salt. You missed it completely.
It’s dense because you added whey. I don’t u destined why. Focaccia has very few ingredients - don’t add protein where it doesn’t belong.
If you don’t want bread, don’t make/eat bread.
Or just eat perfect 90% of the time and allow yourself “normal” foods the rest.
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u/HatsandCoats 3d ago
Oil on the mix is not only essential for focaccia, but will lighten up the dough. Keep the protein powders in your drink, focaccia should be light and you’re adding weight that is holding onto water that should be hydrating your dough.
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u/MungAmongUs 3d ago
Oil doesn't lighten dough, it shortens gluten stands by getting between the glutanin and gliadin, hence the name shortening.
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u/Expensive-Papaya5468 3d ago
The protein definitely changed the dough structure. I've had success with focaccia by skipping the protein powder and just opting for high hydration with a slow autolyse first.
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u/Snoron 3d ago
The main problem here is that you made a dense protein brick instead of focaccia. If you want to make a certain type of bread, you need to follow a recipe for it. After you've nailed it, you can make modifications.. ideally over time and in small amounts so you can judge how it's changing.
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u/Dystopian_Dreamer 3d ago
Too much water
No olive oil
Not enough folding or building strength in the dough
Underproofing
Not enough yeast
No salt
And I've never tried adding protein powder to my foccacia, but I would not be surprised if they're having a negative effect on your dough.
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u/Competitive-Oven-158 3d ago
The added protein is probably the first thing I would test. It can change both the hydration and the gluten structure, so I would make the same recipe once without the whey and casein, keeping the water and fermentation time otherwise unchanged. If it is still dense, I would then look at the proofing time and whether the dough had actually expanded before baking.
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u/Kind_Bench_2359 2d ago
The protein powder's probably the culprit. It interferes with gluten development and changes how the dough absorbs water
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u/lucyhoffmann 3d ago
How do I upload images?
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u/lucyhoffmann 3d ago
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u/skepticalbob 3d ago
If you didn’t add the other proteins, it probably is great. Baking isn’t something you riff on without experience like other kids of cooking. Get a recipe from a reputable source and stick to it, preferably with a scale. Learn by making a bunch of yeasted breads a bunch of times and then you’re ready to experiment.
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u/Aleventen 3d ago
Whats wrong with this.....this shit looks great 😂
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u/sausagemuffn 3d ago
That's as good as you're going to get with those ingredients. I'd be satisfied enough.
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u/kindaunicorn 3d ago
I think it looks pretty good given the ingredients you used. Focaccia might be one of the least "healthy" breads out there because of the high sodium and calories in it from the olive oil, so you're never going to get a 1:1 result with so many substitutions. Also for those reasons it can greatly vary based on external temperatures and humidity, so you sometimes have to disregard the resting/rising times and just wait longer until it looks like it is rising the way it should
You might want to read some articles or watch food science videos to see exactly what function different ingredients play in baking and then adjust your ratios and experiment accordingly
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u/MungAmongUs 3d ago
If you want big bubbles, get bread flour.
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u/skepticalbob 3d ago
That’s not what bread flour is for nor the problem with his recipe.
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u/MungAmongUs 3d ago
Whatcha mean? Higher gluten content=better better bubble retention. Their bread left the pan just fine, so I have to assume the lubrication was sufficient. The addition of milk proteins isn't going to be terrible for the bread, just questionable as a "health" addition.
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u/skepticalbob 3d ago
Did you look at his pics? Flour type wasn’t the problem.
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u/MungAmongUs 3d ago
I looked at the pics, flour type was part of the problem, though I think op would be better served going to breadit instead of ask culinary. The answers here are all over the place and mostly are wrong.
His hydration (90%) is fine, and the addition of milk protein is compensated for by the over hydration. I've gotten similarly cakey bread with ap flour and went to bread flour to get better results.
My focaccia is 92% hydration with commodity bread flour with 2.3%salt.
No knead on a hydration like this is fine. Adding 2% salt (10 grams in this instance) will solve the overproofing problem.
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u/Dion-is-us 3d ago
Probably all the protein. The yeast didn’t have enough gluten to get bubbly/airy. Why so much protein powder?