I tried making focaccia bread to learn why everyone is baking during the lockdown and found the process surprisingly relaxing

Frank OlitoApr 24, 2020, 02:04 IST

Baking focaccia bread is soothing.Frank Olito/ Insider

While in lockdown, people are baking bread to help pass the time.
In an effort to understand why so many people are doing this, I decided to bake focaccia bread.
I realized the repetitive motions of kneading the dough and brushing it with olive oil were very soothing.
It was a relaxing way to waste some hours in lockdown, and I feel like it even helped reduce some stress.
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If you're anything like me, you've noticed that your social media feed has been filled with friends and family baking bread while social distancing.

At first, I found it strange that everyone decided this was the time to perfect their bread-baking skills, but then I figured they might be on to something. In an effort to try and understand this growing lockdown fad, I decided to try my hand at baking focaccia bread. I enlisted the help of my roommate who knows more about baking than I do (which isn't much) to bake The Kitchn's focaccia recipe.

After several hours of mixing, proving, and baking, I finally understood why this activity is the perfect answer to our boredom and stress.

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After baking the focaccia and eating it, I finally understood why so many people are obsessed with baking these days.

The finished bread. Frank Olito/ Insider

Surprisingly, after just 45 minutes of baking, the bread was ready to come out of the oven.

Finish by brushing more olive oil. Frank Olito/ Insider

After an hour, it was finally time to put the dough in the oven.

Putting the bread in the oven. Frank Olito/ Insider

Next, we had to use our fingertips to create dimples so that the brine could easily seep into the dough.

Fingerprints in the dough. Frank Olito/ Insider

While my roommate stretched out the dough on the pan, I got to work on making the brine.

The brine. Frank Olito/ Insider

After kneading it for 10 minutes, it was time to place the dough into its pan.

The dough on the baking sheet. Frank Olito/ Insider

After leaving the dough to prove for an hour, it was time for the fun part: kneading.

Kneading the sticky bread. Frank Olito/ Insider

After forming the dough into a ball, we let it sit for one hour in the bowl, covered with a dish towel.

The covered dough. Frank Olito/ Insider

Slowly, the mixture turned into the desired dough texture.

The dough. Frank Olito/ Insider

It took a bit of elbow grease to really get all the ingredients incorporated.

Mixing all the ingredients together. Frank Olito/ Insider

After letting that bowl sit for a few minutes, we mixed the liquid with some flour, salt, and olive oil.

The flour, salt, oil, and yeast. Frank Olito/ Insider

Once the yeast was acquired, it was time to combine it with water and honey in a bowl.

The yeast, water, and honey in a bowl. Frank Olito/ Insider

The first — and possibly the most challenging — step was acquiring the yeast.

The yeast. Frank Olito/ Insider

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