If you have just prepared or purchased some excellent focaccia bread and are unable to consume it all in one day, you may be wondering how to properly keep it. You’d want to make sure it remains fresh for as long as possible so you can consume it.

Fortunately, there are several alternatives and ways for storing bread without sacrificing its flavor or texture.

What Is Focaccia Bread?

Focaccia bread is an oven-baked flat-leavened bread from Italy. In both flavor and texture, it is identical to the foundation of a pizza.

The biggest difference is that focaccia is much thicker. It is most often used as sandwich bread, although it may be utilized in a variety of ways.

What is Focaccia Bread Used For?

Since focaccia bread is so similar to the basis of a pizza, many people transform it into a tiny pizza. This may be as basic as sprinkling some tomato puree and mozzarella on top of the bread. It may also be served with garlic, spinach, roasted peppers, and shredded meat, such as ham.

Another common use for this bread is as sandwich bread. Although it may seem apparent, the bread is excellent in sandwiches. Since the interior is so light and fluffy, it’s a lighter sandwich that’s easy to digest.

Moreover, it naturally complements all of the ingredients in a sandwich. If you want a nutritious salad-filled sandwich, this is a great option.

You may also stuff the sandwich with a lot of meat and cheese. It’ll be just as good!

Storing Focaccia Bread

You may keep focaccia bread in a variety of ways. Several of the approaches will be employed for longer or shorter periods of storage. While the majority of these methods are acceptable, some of them may reduce the quality or texture of your bread slightly. The dough can also be refrigerated before baking. This is very useful if you don’t have time to bake the dough after you make it.

It might be difficult to store any sort of bread, dough, or noodle. In certain circumstances, you must account for whether they are raw, cooked, or toasted. Foods like pasta, bread, gnocchi, cinnamon buns, and other similar items might be difficult to preserve while retaining quality.

Short-Term Storage

If you have a newly made loaf of focaccia bread that you plan to consume within the next 48 hours, keep it at room temperature. Wrap your bread in plastic wrap or store it in an airtight container to keep it from drying out. This will help keep the bread wet and prevent it from becoming dry and stale.

Although the bread will not last forever, it should last up to a week. Nevertheless the texture’s quality may deteriorate after the first 24-48 hours.

How To Refrigerate Focaccia Bread

It is best to keep your focaccia at room temperature. But, if it has perishable toppings, such as cheese, you will want to prevent drawing any hazardous microorganisms. The easiest method to accomplish this is to keep it in the refrigerator. Bacteria cannot develop in the chilly environment of your refrigerator.

To ensure that the bread remains as fresh as possible, keep it in a Ziploc bag or wrap it in plastic wrap. If you store it in a Ziploc bag, attempt to get as much air out as possible to keep your bread from staling.

The bread will stay in the fridge for up to 4 days, however it may seem tougher when you take it out. This is typical and may be corrected by warming the focaccia.

How To Freeze Focaccia Bread

If you want to keep your focaccia for a long period, the best option is to freeze it.

It is really recommended to freeze focaccia rather than store it in the refrigerator. When you defrost and reheat bread, it may taste and feel as fresh as it did when it was frozen. If you have access to a blast freezer, which is capable of flash freezing, your bread will be OK since the faster it freezes, the fresher it will be thereafter.

To effectively preserve your focaccia in the freezer, let it to come to room temperature before cutting it into sections. These pieces may be frozen for 2 hours on a baking pan. Wrap them firmly in cling wrap and aluminum foil when this time has elapsed. The flash freezing technique for 2 hours keeps them from clinging to the wrap or foil. If you correctly flash freeze a large amount of food, you may keep it in close proximity to other foods since the odds of sticking are reduced.

Covering the bread helps to avoid freezer burn, which is caused by air in the freezer. If you prefer to use a Ziploc bag, remove as much air as possible beforehand. It’s also important to wrap your bread tightly. It prevents the formation of ice crystals, which may cause your bread to get mushy when thawing.

Thawing Focaccia Bread

Whether you decide to consume the frozen focaccia bread is entirely up to you. You will need to prepare ahead of time to ensure that it is thoroughly thawed by the time you arrive to consume it.

To defrost it, place it in the fridge overnight or leave it at room temperature for a few hours. It is important to keep it wrapped securely throughout this procedure so that it can retain moisture.

Par-Baking Focaccia

You can always partly bake your bread if you know you’ll be putting it in the freezer for an extended period of time. This helps the yeast to function correctly. It will also enable you to remove it from the freezer and continue baking it, making it seem freshly baked.

To do this, stop baking your bread halfway through and freeze it. After you’ve decided it’s time to utilize it, sprinkle it with olive oil and re-bake it. This may take longer than usual since it is cooked from frozen, but it will be well worth it.

How To Reheat Focaccia Bread

If you’ve kept your focaccia bread in the fridge or freezer, you’ll want to warm it before eating it. There are several approaches that differ in terms of ease, time, and quality.

Reheating Focaccia In The Oven

The oven is without a doubt the greatest technique to reheat focaccia bread. This approach will restore it to its original condition. The interior will be soft, while the outside will be crisp.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F and wait for it to warm up before reheating your bread. Place your bread on a baking pan and drizzle it with a few drips, roughly a tablespoon, of water. This will help rehydrate the bread and keep it from being too dry when you consume it. This may be roasted in the oven for 5-10 minutes. Check it often until it is crispy and heated throughout.

If your focaccia bread is frozen, let it to thaw and come to room temperature before putting it in the oven. If this is not an option, you will have to cover it with aluminum foil. When cooking, the foil will assist maintain the moisture in the bread. But, it should be removed a few minutes before the bread is finished so that the crust can firm up.

Reheating Focaccia In The Microwave

The microwave is by far the fastest way to reheat things. However many people avoid this since it tends to dry up your meal. This is readily avoidable if you know how to deal with it.

Wrap the focaccia bread in a moist paper towel before heating it for 30 seconds. This will hydrate the bread during the cooking process, preventing it from becoming dry at the end. If it’s still not heated enough, heat it up for another 20 seconds.

The main disadvantage of using a microwave for this is that the crust and edges will not crisp because of the absence of focused heat. If this is a major concern, bake the bread in the oven or use a broiler until it crisps up.

Reheating Focaccia In The Toaster

If your focaccia pieces are thin enough to fit in your toaster, it may be a wonderfully fast and simple method to reheat them, not to mention convenient. This may be done from both room temperature and frozen. Put your slices in the toaster for approximately a minute to warm up. The borders should be clean and sharp. If it is still not warm enough, put it back in and wait a bit longer.

Storing Focaccia Dough

The dough for focaccia is surprisingly simple to preserve. Some recipes even ask for it to be refrigerated overnight. This gives the yeast sufficient time to grow and flavor the bread. This is known as cold proving and is fairly prevalent in recipes that call for a dough.

If you are not planning to use the dough that day, it is better to keep it in the fridge. When the dough is ready, put it in a basin large enough to hold it until it has doubled in size. Coat the bowl with olive oil, then drop the dough in it and sprinkle a little more oil on top. After that, wrap the bowl with plastic wrap. The olive oil keeps the dough from adhering to the bowl or plastic wrap while it rises.

The bowl may then be refrigerated for up to 48 hours. The yeast will still function in the fridge, albeit at a much slower rate. This gives you 48 hours to keep the dough before it over ferments.

Overfermentation causes the bread to taste like alcohol and entirely destroys its flavor. Some individuals keep their dough in the fridge for a week without too much fermentation. You’ll have to use your best judgment to choose how long you’re comfortable preserving it for.

Storing Frozen Focaccia Dough

In the freezer, the yeast is significantly slowed but not completely halted. When your dough’s initial development has slowed, it’s preferable to freeze it. To solidify the dough, lay it on a baking sheet and freeze it for 2 hours. Following that, cover it with plastic wrap, followed by another layer of aluminum foil. This will aid in the prevention of freezer burn.

When it’s time to use the dough, place it in the refrigerator to gently defrost. The yeast will still be in its early stages. Thus you have plenty of time and may leave your dough for many days. Once it has thawed somewhat, put it to a dish. This allows it to rise and expand a second time as the yeast grows.

FAQs On Storing Focaccia Bread