Could have been to much olive oil . Or the brand you use . I had a wonderful focaccia the first time making it . Liguria bakery was my goal.
I thought it was a ridiculous amount of olive oil on the pan. I’d love your recipe if you still have it.
Okay, what did I do wrong??? I had a partial bag of “bread flour” in the pantry and thought, hey, I’m making bread, right? It was dry and it didn’t rise and it didn’t brown enough. It’s edible; doesn’t taste bad actually. But it’s got to be the flour, right? Please advise. TIA.
I make bread with bread flour, so it’s probably not the flour. Not rising means either your yeast is dead, or your water was too hot and you killed your yeast, or you didn’t give the dough enough time and/or warmth. Too dry means you used too little water - maybe the bread flour was drier than the AP flour you normally use. Or it was a dry day. Or you baked it too long. Bread has a lot of variables.
1 Like
What bread flour did you use and what protein amount does it contain (often written on the bag) ? If it is significantly higher than your regular flour you have to adjust your water amount. How did you measure the temp of your water (you can kill yeast quite easily with too hot water)
Cath -
The other commenters have a point. Bread flour is different from “regular” flour, and you may have needed more water. Plus if it was a partial bag? That might mean (as others said) that it was an older flour and thus, drier.
I will say that I have baked bread in Ohio and California. I definitely find the flour drier here and needing a tad more water than the more humid Ohio.
But also? As you have discovered… even imperfect homemade bread is pretty decent : ) Happy baking!
1 Like
I think that flour was years old. Have no idea how/when I got it. Or why. All the other ingredients and environment were the same. My range has a proofing setting. Etc. Etc. Etc. It had to be the flour. Glad that it’s gone 
But Bob’s still eating it
you can always add water in that situation until it feels the same as when you normally make it.
Thanks. I was ‘right there’ when I saw what was happening so I had no options. If it ever happens again…
Ooo - fancy!
And yay Bob : )
1 Like
I’ve been meaning to comment re the water temp. This recipe gave a great tip. 3/4 cup of tap water and add a 1/4 cup of boiling water. So “warm” has a very specific meaning.
Bob made bread again today with our ‘usual’ flour and it’s divine. It was the flour certainly.
Thanks, all, for weighing in. I really appreciate it. Cath
1 Like
That sounds like you are using too hot water - Just use a thermometer- the best temperature should be 105-110F/40-43C
I hear ya but this was a very specific way to make “warm” water. Plus once again the bread was perfect so the problem was clearly the flour. PS: You might want to try this recipe. So easy and so good.
It’s not a specific way to make warm water but just the typical (American) way of shortcuts in (baking) recipes which makes them often questionable - the even bigger issue is giving volume instead of weight in baking recipes which makes them prone to failure.
How do you make “warm” water? The next few times I make it I’ll check the temp to see how consistent it is.
If asked for a vote, I’d certainly go for my scale which give me the choice of grams or ounces.
Before kitchen scales were easily available and recipes only listed volume, most home bakers I knew were specific in their recipes - telling you whether to stir the flour, then scoop lightly into a cup and measure, or to sift then scoop, or simply scoop and level (which gives you more flour.)
I don’t see this as a shortcut or laziness more of - this is what they had in their kitchen and they knew how to work with it.
That recipe gave ounces, grams and cups 
And, even though I wasn’t baking I well remember those older recipes. I wish I had my mother’s biscuit recipe…but she didn’t have one
ETA: Wait a minute. I still have my mother’s sifter. Like this.
Can’t even think of when or why I used it. ???
1 Like
Yay for having your mom’s sifter!
Sifters aerate the flour. So it takes out lumps and mixes in a bit of air making it, well, fluffier. Way easier to mix in by hand, less dense. If a measurement said “Two cups sifted flour”? You sifted and then measured. If it said “Two cups flour, sifted” well then it might mean measure first, sift second. So then you call the person who gave you the recipe and ask : )
You’re so great, H. So if I sift the flour would that be a good thing? It certainly wouldn’t change the weight.
(I will always have her box grater, colander, rolling pin, etc. Priceless.)
ETA: have and use