Your Pizza Steel is not just for pizza. The same intense, even heat that blisters a pizza base turns focaccia into something closer to a bakery loaf: a deep golden bottom, an open airy crumb and a crackling crust of olive oil and sea salt. A baking tray alone cannot do this. The steel hits the dough with a burst of stored heat the moment it goes in, driving the oven spring that gives focaccia its lift.

This recipe uses a slow overnight rise in the fridge. It takes about fifteen minutes of actual work spread over two days, and the long ferment is what builds the flavour.

Why bake focaccia on a pizza steel?

Focaccia lives or dies on its base. Baked in a tin on a wire rack, the bottom steams in its own moisture and turns pale and soft. Set that same tin on a preheated Pizza Steel and the base cooks from below at speed, so the oil in the pan fries the underside to a crisp golden shell while the top stays soft and open.

Solid carbon steel conducts heat far faster than stone or an empty oven rack, which is the same reason it produces a crisp pizza base in five to eight minutes. For focaccia it means a shorter bake, better browning and no soggy middle.

Ingredients

For the dough

• 500g baker's flour or plain flour
• 400ml lukewarm water
• 7g dried yeast (one sachet)
• 10g fine salt
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

For the pan and topping

• 60ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves picked
• Flaky sea salt
• Optional: sliced garlic, cherry tomatoes, olives or thinly sliced red onion

Method

Day one: mix and rest

1. Whisk the yeast into the lukewarm water and leave for five minutes until it foams.
2. Combine the flour and fine salt in a large bowl. Pour in the yeast water and the 2 tablespoons of olive oil, then mix with a spatula or your hand until no dry flour remains. The dough will be wet and shaggy. Do not knead it.
3. Cover the bowl and leave at room temperature for 30 minutes.
4. Wet your hand, reach under one side of the dough, stretch it up and fold it over the top. Turn the bowl a quarter and repeat three more times. Cover again.
5. Repeat that set of folds twice more at 30 minute intervals. The dough will go from sticky and slack to smooth and elastic.
6. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight, or up to 48 hours. The cold ferment is where the flavour develops.

Day two: shape and prove

1. Pour 60ml of olive oil into a 20cm x 30cm baking tin and spread it across the base and up the sides.
2. Tip the cold dough into the tin and turn it once to coat in oil. Leave it at room temperature for two to three hours, until it has relaxed to fill the tin and looks visibly puffy.

Preheat the steel

1. Place your Pizza Steel on the middle rack and preheat the oven to 240°C for at least 30 minutes. The steel needs the full time to reach temperature all the way through, so do not shortcut this step.

Dimple and bake

1. Oil your fingers and press straight down into the dough, all the way to the base of the tin, working across the whole surface. Those dimples hold the oil and give focaccia its character.
2. Drizzle generously with more olive oil, scatter over the rosemary and finish with flaky sea salt. Add any other toppings now.
3. Set the tin directly onto the preheated Pizza Steel and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the top is deep golden and the edges have pulled away from the sides.
4. Lift a corner with a spatula to check the base. It should be crisp and evenly browned. If it needs more colour, give it another three minutes.
5. Turn the focaccia out onto a wire rack immediately so the base does not steam. Rest for ten minutes before cutting.

Tips for the best focaccia

• Do not skip the overnight rest. A same-day focaccia will rise, but it will taste flat. The cold ferment is doing the flavour work.
• Use more oil than feels sensible. The oil in the base of the tin is what fries the bottom crust against the heat of the steel.
• Dimple firmly. Timid dimples disappear during the bake. Press all the way down.
• Bake it in a metal tin, not glass or ceramic. Metal transfers the steel's heat straight into the dough. Glass insulates and defeats the purpose.
• Leave the steel in the oven. It will not damage the oven and it evens out hot spots for everything else you bake.

Variations

Swap the rosemary for thyme and lemon zest, or press halved cherry tomatoes and torn oregano into the dimples before baking. For a sweeter version, leave out the rosemary and top with thinly sliced grapes and a little sugar with the sea salt.

Leftover focaccia splits beautifully for sandwiches. Slice it horizontally and warm the cut sides face down on the steel on the stovetop for a minute.

Frequently asked questions

Can I bake focaccia directly on the pizza steel without a tin?

You can, but you will lose the oil-fried base that makes focaccia what it is. Baked directly on the steel the dough behaves more like a thick flatbread, which is delicious in its own right but a different thing. Use the tin for true focaccia.

What temperature should the oven be?

240°C with the steel preheated for a full 30 minutes. Focaccia goes in slightly cooler than pizza because it needs longer in the oven to cook through.

How long should I preheat the pizza steel?

At least 30 minutes at 240°C. Solid carbon steel holds a lot of heat, and that stored energy is the whole point, but it takes time to absorb. A steel that looks hot on the surface after ten minutes is still cold in the middle.

Why is my focaccia base pale and soft?

Almost always one of three things: not enough oil in the tin, a glass or ceramic dish insulating the dough from the heat, or an under-preheated steel. Fix those and the base crisps every time.

Can I use this dough for pizza?

It is wetter than a standard pizza dough, so it is better suited to a pan pizza than a thin base you launch from a peel. For classic thin-crust results, use a firmer dough.

Bake more than pizza

Focaccia is one of the easiest ways to see what your Pizza Steel does beyond pizza night. The same steel handles sourdough, flatbreads, cookies and pastry, and doubles as a stovetop griddle for smash burgers and steaks.