This is the entry that gets baked most often, because it needs nothing planned. A hundred grams of cold discard straight from the jar, bread flour, 84% water, 2.3% salt, and a 28 cm cast-iron skillet. Mix at noon, eat at seven. The discard is not just a rising agent here, it is the flavour: it has been sitting in the fridge developing acidity for days, and that acidity is what a same-day focaccia normally lacks.
The pan is the proofing vessel and the baking vessel
Mixing happens in the skillet itself. Add 300 g bread flour, 252 g water, 100 g discard, 7 g salt, stir with a spatula until no dry flour is left, then dimple and fold the dough in the oiled pan three times, 20 minutes apart. No bench, no banneton, one bowl and one cloth.
| Clock | Action | Dough state |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00 | Mix in the oiled pan, cover | Shaggy, sticky |
| 0:20 | Fold 1 | Holds a soft shape |
| 0:40 | Fold 2, add 20 g olive oil | Glossy |
| 1:00 | Fold 3, spread to the pan edges | Fills the pan |
| 1:00-5:30 | Leave at 24 °C | Doubles, dome forms |
| 5:30 | Dimple, top with rosemary and flaky salt | Rippled surface |
| 7:00 | Bake 250 °C, 22 min | Deep gold underside |
Five and a half hours of bulk at room temperature
The rise goes to about 90% of the original volume, which is more than you would push a shaped loaf. Tray breads cannot spring from below the way a free-form loaf does, so all the volume has to be in the dough before it goes in. If the dough has only risen 50% by hour five, put the pan in a 30 °C oven with the light on for the last 30 minutes.
Dimpling, oil and the crisp base
Dimple with oiled fingertips, pressing all the way to the pan. Do not dimple with dry hands and do not use a fork: the point is to deflate the big bubbles in a controlled way and leave the small ones alone. Twenty grams of olive oil poured around the edge just before baking is what fries the bottom crust — a focaccia baked in a dry pan has a pale, soft base.
Discard straight from the fridge is cold and acidic, so the first hour of this schedule is slow. If your kitchen is below 21 °C, warm the discard for 30 seconds in the microwave before mixing.