How to focaccia ENTIRELY in the bread maker
April 17, 2024 7:06 PM Subscribe
I have a bread maker. I don't have an oven to use. I do have an air fryer. The recipes I see for focaccia bread only uses the bread maker to make the dough while doing the shaping and baking separately. With the understanding that I might not be making focaccia bread per se, can I just use a typical recipe but for the entire bread making cycle in the machine? What adjustments should I make? Otherwise, how should I interpret the recipes so I'll just make a proven dough that I can portion out to bake in the air fryer?
Best answer: There is no federal law preventing you from just pushing the "bake" button on your bread machine and seeing how it turns out.
The recipes I am seeing around do not look so very different from a basic bread machine white bread recipe. The only question might be exactly which bake cycle to use - if you have a recipe book you use with your breach machine you can see which recipe looks most similar to your focaccia recipe in terms of how much water and flour. Once you bake it once you'll know whether to use a longer or shorter baking time next time you try it.
If you catch it during the rise period you could even put some of the topping on, before the bake cycle.
Other than that topping, though, I doubt the result would be very much different than any other white bread recipe made in the bread machine. But there is nothing wrong with that and nothing wrong with trying to bake it in the machine!
posted by flug at 9:39 PM on April 17 [3 favorites]
The recipes I am seeing around do not look so very different from a basic bread machine white bread recipe. The only question might be exactly which bake cycle to use - if you have a recipe book you use with your breach machine you can see which recipe looks most similar to your focaccia recipe in terms of how much water and flour. Once you bake it once you'll know whether to use a longer or shorter baking time next time you try it.
If you catch it during the rise period you could even put some of the topping on, before the bake cycle.
Other than that topping, though, I doubt the result would be very much different than any other white bread recipe made in the bread machine. But there is nothing wrong with that and nothing wrong with trying to bake it in the machine!
posted by flug at 9:39 PM on April 17 [3 favorites]
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a key feature of focaccia that it's big and wide and flat compared to loaves? I don't see how that key feature is reproducible inside a bread machine, which is probably more loaf-shaped.
posted by timdiggerm at 5:24 AM on April 18 [5 favorites]
posted by timdiggerm at 5:24 AM on April 18 [5 favorites]
Best answer: I regularly make focaccia dough in the bread maker but, as you say, I then take out the dough and proof on the countertop and then bake in a full-sized oven. Without a separate proof and bake you won't get actual focaccia, but if you want a vague approximation here's what I would try:
(this is off the top of my head, untested!)
- 1 cup water
- 3 cups flour
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tsp crushed up rosemary
- 2 tsp yeast
Let the breadmaker do its thing but then after the punch-down cycle (ideally right after, before the second proof) pour in a couple tablespoons more olive oil so that the dough is coated in oil during the second proof and bake, this might give it a slightly more interesting crust than the standard low-temp pale breadmaker crust.
posted by eraserbones at 6:56 AM on April 18 [2 favorites]
(this is off the top of my head, untested!)
- 1 cup water
- 3 cups flour
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tsp crushed up rosemary
- 2 tsp yeast
Let the breadmaker do its thing but then after the punch-down cycle (ideally right after, before the second proof) pour in a couple tablespoons more olive oil so that the dough is coated in oil during the second proof and bake, this might give it a slightly more interesting crust than the standard low-temp pale breadmaker crust.
posted by eraserbones at 6:56 AM on April 18 [2 favorites]
Best answer: So I just did this using bread machine and air fryer. A few days ago I made bread machine focaccia, as per this recipe. I was using the bulk of the dough for a pizza, so as soon as the dough cycle finished in my bread machine, I started making pizza, not focaccia. I put the remaining dough in the fridge (if I had to guess, I would say I used 2/3 to 3/4 of the dough for the pizza)
This morning I remembered the dough in the fridge and let it set out until it became room temperature, then continued with the recipe, following the directions as if I'd just removed it from the bread machine. I'd greased an 8" cake pan because that's what fits in my air fryer and let the dough rise and finger poked it in that, and then put it in my air fryer set at 380 degrees. And now I have yummy focaccia!
I think that maybe I could've got 3 or 4 8in rounds from the entire recipe. If I wanted to do just the focaccia part of this and not use the dough for pizza, I would probably divide the dough into quarters and find a flat pan that fit into my bread machine and try baking a quarter of the recipe rather than a third, just to make sure it fits in the air fryer.
posted by newpotato at 11:53 AM on April 20 [1 favorite]
This morning I remembered the dough in the fridge and let it set out until it became room temperature, then continued with the recipe, following the directions as if I'd just removed it from the bread machine. I'd greased an 8" cake pan because that's what fits in my air fryer and let the dough rise and finger poked it in that, and then put it in my air fryer set at 380 degrees. And now I have yummy focaccia!
I think that maybe I could've got 3 or 4 8in rounds from the entire recipe. If I wanted to do just the focaccia part of this and not use the dough for pizza, I would probably divide the dough into quarters and find a flat pan that fit into my bread machine and try baking a quarter of the recipe rather than a third, just to make sure it fits in the air fryer.
posted by newpotato at 11:53 AM on April 20 [1 favorite]
« Older help me water/stain-proof light colored suede... | Updating from MacOS Catalina 10 ---> Sonoma 14 Newer »
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
I think you might have get better results just using the air fryer and perhaps a dedicated recipe for focaccia in an air fryer. If you use a repeated folding technique as the dough rises to develop the gluten, focaccia really doesn't need much kneading, so the work you are saving with a bread maker versus a bowl and a spoon is pretty minimal.
posted by ssg at 7:15 PM on April 17 [7 favorites]