No-Knead Skillet Focaccia

This Organic Italian Bread is Suitable for a Dipping Sauce or As-Is

Photo of Kelly R. Smith   by Kelly R. Smith
No-knead skillet focaccia
No-knead skillet focaccia
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Focaccia is a flat oven-baked Italian bread similar in style and texture to pizza; in some places, it is called “pizza bianca”. Focaccia can be served as a side dish or as homemade sandwich bread.

This recipe is rich with olive oil (which keeps it extra moist), topped with fragrant lemon zest, Parmesan cheese, and rosemary, and baked in a skillet to give it a perfectly golden, crispy crust.

You will be using an oven-safe skillet for this recipe. A cast iron skillet is best for achieving a super-crispy crust (and an effort-free way of getting a bit more iron into your diet)), but any oven-proof skillet will work.

Focaccia Ingredient List

Note: Use organic ingredients whenever possible.

  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon pink or Himalayan salt
  • 1/2 cup flaxseed meal
  • 1 package Fleischmann’s RapidRise yeast (or comparable)
  • 1 cup lukewarm water
  • Extra-virgin olive oil, as needed
  • 2 teaspoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary leaves (straight from my herb garden)
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest (I just picked one off my Improved Meyer Lemon tree in my garden)
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
  • Chopped fresh basil to taste, if desired


Preparation Steps

  1. If you have a food processor, put the flour, salt, and yeast in it, fitted with the blade attachment, and pulse to combine. Add the water and 2 tablespoons of the oil. Pulse until a rough ball of dough forms, about 15 (2-second) pulses. If you don’t have one, mix by hand in a mixing bowl.
  2. Drizzle 2 teaspoons oil in a large bowl. Flour your hands, scoop the dough out of the food processor, and form into a smooth ball. Put the ball of dough in the oiled bowl and turn it so it’s coated on all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let it sit at warm room temperature for 2 to 3 hours.
  3. Drizzle 1 teaspoon of the oil into your cast iron or other ovenproof skillet and rub it well over the bottom and sides. Punch down the dough and place the dough in the skillet. Coax and stretch the dough to cover the bottom of the skillet until it reaches all the way to the edges. Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let it rest at warm room temperature for 30 to 40 minutes. Meanwhile, arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 450°F.
  4. Lightly dimple the surface of the dough with 2 knuckles. Drizzle the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil over the dough so that it pools in some of the indentations and lightly coats the rest of the surface. Sprinkle with the rosemary, lemon zest, Parmesan cheese, basil if you opted for it, and a bit more salt if desired. Of course, if you have high blood pressure, don’t.
  5. Place your skillet in the oven and immediately turn the heat down to 400°F. Bake until lightly golden-brown. Start checking at 20 to 25 minutes but it may take longer than that.
  6. Remove your skillet from the oven and cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving. Focaccia is best eaten when warm, but is also good at room temperature. If the crust gets too soft, reheat in a 350°F oven to crisp it up.



See, making no-knead skillet focaccia is a breeze, although it sounds very ooh-la la and exotic. The grocery store certainly prices it that way. But, throw off your consumer price shackles and make your own. Don’t be afraid to modify and experiment.

More Recipes and Cooking Tips



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About the Author:

Photo of Kelly R. SmithKelly R. Smith is an Air Force veteran and was a commercial carpenter for 20 years before returning to night school at the University of Houston where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science. After working at NASA for a few years, he went on to develop software for the transportation, financial, and energy-trading industries. He has been writing, in one capacity or another, since he could hold a pencil. As a freelance writer now, he specializes in producing articles and blog content for a variety of clients. His personal blog is at I Can Fix Up My Home Blog where he muses on many different topics.

Zulay Cold Brew Coffee Maker – Product Review

by Kelly R. Smith

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Zulay Cold Brew Coffee Maker
Zulay Cold Brew Coffee Maker

This article was updated on 09/30/20.

If you’re anything like me, you like your coffee. I typically enjoy a brobdingnagian mug or two in the morning in my home office and another in the afternoon. Sure, a lot of people favor Starbucks, and there are 2 very close to me, but that’s not my style. My wife is the same way and we are going through quite a bit of coffee since we are both working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sometimes I prefer my afternoon cuppa from the Zulay cold Brew coffee maker.

I like this slow brewer. I’ve been using it for about 8 months now so I’ve got it down. Joking there; you can’t make a coffee brewing mistake because it’s very easy to use. It only has the 3 components as you can see in the photo above. The carafe, the stainless steel filter, and the lid.

Key Features of the Zulay Cold Coffee Maker

  • BPA-free
  • FDA-cleared
  • Shock-proof glass, brews cold or hot coffee
  • Dual silicone seals
  • Stainless steel filter, the mesh perforations are tiny enough for fine grinds
  • Doesn’t take up too much room in the refrigerator
  • Easy to clean
  • Anti-slip silicone base

Preparing the Cold Brew Coffee

  • This is a fairly simple process. For best results, start with whole coffee beans and grind them right before using. I use Black Rifle Coffee. It’s made in small batches and isn’t roasted until you order it.
  • Stick the filter into the mouth of the carafe. Fill the filter about 3/4 of the way with the grounds. I typically layer mine — coffee, fresh mint leaves from my herb garden, crumbled cinnamon stick, more coffee.
  • Pour filtered water into the filter. I usually go above the top mark on the carafe.
  • Stick on the cap.
  • Put the carafe into your refrigerator and wait at least 12 hours.

There you have it. I highly recommend the Zulay cold brew coffee maker. It is sturdy, has high-quality components and is reasonably priced. If you are curious and want to learn more about coffee and how it has shaped culture and society, check out Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World. Here is my book review.

This site is free of course, but I would appreciate it if you would take a moment to participate in the poll on the right-hand sidebar of this page. Nothing to buy and no data-harvesting; I’m just conducting some research for a follow-up article. Thanks!



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About the Author:

Photo of Kelly R. SmithKelly R. Smith is an Air Force veteran and was a commercial carpenter for 20 years before returning to night school at the University of Houston where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science. After working at NASA for a few years, he went on to develop software for the transportation, financial, and energy-trading industries. He has been writing, in one capacity or another, since he could hold a pencil. As a freelance writer now, he specializes in producing articles and blog content for a variety of clients. His personal blog is at I Can Fix Up My Home Blog where he muses on many different topics.

Enjoying Cold Brew Coffee Makers

Soulhand Cold Brew Coffee Maker
Soulhand Cold Brew Coffee Maker
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“Cold brew coffee” is a trendy item nowadays but the term itself is different from what it was back in the day. My mother used to drink it, but back then it was percolator-brewed coffee that had gone cool and then had ice added.

It’s something quite different today. It’s trendy and gourmet, in other words, pricey. Since it has been going mainstream in local grocery stores in the refrigerated section, and was so expensive, I had to try it. I mean, I’m a coffee fiend, right? Just see my post on making the perfect cup of coffee.

How Cold Brew Coffee Differs from Hot Brew

The first observable difference is that cold brew takes so much longer to make. It’s slow but if you are going to enjoy it on the drive to work, or sitting around in the home office, just start it before you go to bed the night before.

The next thing to note is that it can be strong and caffeine-heavy without the bitterness of a hot brew. This is because the grounds haven’t been hot-water “burned” which results in a cuppa where you can really get the true taste of the beans. It’s slow but the drip is just about one per second so the ice water really does have time to extract all the goodness.

How Much Does Cold Brew Coffee Cost?

The short answer is: whatever you want it to. What I mean to say is that if you have a quality burr-grinder and use whole beans anyway, your day-to-day expense is going to be the same. You should always grind whole beans as you need them because the essential oils that yield the flavor begin to degrade as soon as the grinding is done. This is why commercial ground coffee is vacuum-sealed. But, how long ago? How long has it sat on the grocery store shelf? With all this being said, I drink and recommend Black Rifle Coffee. It’s roasted in small batches, only when you order it.

As far as the cold brew coffee maker is concerned, the cost is all over the place. The functional parts are negligent price-wise but it goes up from there. I suppose some people like to showcase their brewer as a work of kitchen art (and I can appreciate that as a woodworker) but I just want a good cup of Joe. So as a reference, the one I use (pictured above) is thirty-some-odd dollars, but the fancy tall wooden-frame ones with artistic looking flasks get into the hundreds of dollars. I’m currently using the Zulay cold brew coffee maker and I like it very much.

What Coffee Blend to Use?

That’s up to individual taste and I would suggest experimenting. For myself, I use dark or espresso beans and set the coffee grinder to fine. I have experimented with pre-flavored beans. I have also added ground cinnamon and/or chocolate extract. I commonly add some fresh mint from my herb garden which is the perennial part of my raised bed garden.

Keep in mind that additives don’t always have to be just for flavor. Many also offer health benefits. The cinnamon and mint are good examples but I am planning to try some fresh-grated ginger in the near future.

The bottom line is that if you enjoy your coffee, a cold brew coffee maker could be just the thing during the hot summer months. For my experience, buying it off the shelf at the grocers is just wrong, financially. And doing it myself I can customize it as I like.




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About the author:

Photo of Kelly R. SmithKelly R. Smith is an Air Force veteran and was a commercial carpenter for 20 years before returning to night school at the University of Houston where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science. After working at NASA for a few years, he went on to develop software for the transportation and financial and energy trading industries. He has been writing, in one capacity or another, since he could hold a pencil. As a freelance writer now, he specializes in producing articles and blog content for a variety of clients. His personal blog is at I Can Fix Up My Home Blog where he muses on many different topics.


Brewing the Perfect Cup of Coffee

Avoid Making These Mistakes With Your Caffeine Fix

Photo of Kelly R. Smith   by Kelly R. Smith

Cup of coffee and coffee beans
Love a hot cup of coffee!
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This article was updated on 03/26/21.

Ads we feature have been independently selected and reviewed. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn a commission, which helps support the site. Thank you for your support.

Coffee; there’s nothing like it, whether when waking up to a breakfast of toast made with homemade bread, taking a social break, of settling a satisfying dinner. It seems so easy but many people make the following mistakes when brewing the perfect cup of coffee. Don’t be that guy or gal.

Using Water from the Faucet

Tap water can be full of impurities and various minerals. This is not to say that it will make you sick, but there is a strong possibility that it will throw the flavor of your java off and deposit scale in your coffee pot. Instead of using tap water, use bottled spring water or filtered water.

Buying Grocery Store Cold Brew Coffee

This is convenient but expensive. Why? I’m guessing because it’s trendy with the hipsters. Instead, invest in a good quality cold brew coffee maker. Then you can spend that big money on high-quality beans. I use the Zulay cold coffee maker (there’s a link to my product review at the bottom of this page). This allows me to amend the grounds with cinnamon and fresh mint from my garden. Complete control.



Purchasing Pre-Ground Beans

OK, in today’s busy world, you might not want to take the time to grind up some beans in the morning. Just grind it before you go to bed the night before. It will still be great in the morning. Why is this important? Many of the aromas contained in coffee are volatiles. This means they are in a gas form and they are imprisoned in the cells of the beans. But when you grind the beans, these gasses are liberated. Ground coffee from the store, whether it is Free Trade or not, has lost aromas 40 times faster than whole beans by the time you see it. This is why a home grinder is a must-have for someone whose java is near and dear to them.

What Kind of Grinder? I’m Confused.

There are basically two kinds of coffee grinders, blade grinders and burr grinders. The blade models have just that–blades, similar to your blender. Of course they are the less expensive of the two.  

Burr grinders utilize two revolving abrasive surfaces (the burrs), in between which the coffee is ground, a few beans at a time. Coffee aficionados will pick burr grinders over blades every time. The reason is that that the beans are ground in a uniform size, the machine is sturdier and will last longer, and you have more control over your grind than you do with a blade. I use the Capresso 560.01 Infinity. It has commercial-grade solid conical steel burrs with advanced cutting design. And the price is reasonable.

Using a Cold Coffee Cup/Mug

This one is a no-brainer, right? There is no sense in having a hot beverage if you are just going to pour it into a container that is going to cool it off. So pre-heat your cup!

You can either pour boiling water into it or pour cold water into it and microzap it for 45 seconds or so. Either way you will be off to a good start. I work out of my home office and use a small heated coaster (a Cosori Automatic Coffee Warmer) on my desk to keep my brew hot so I can drink it sloooowly.

Not Using the Correct Sugar and Milk

OK, if you’ve made it this far in the article, you are serious about your cuppa Joe. There’s no point in not doing it right all the way. Now, I am a stickler about drinking mine black and strong but I realize that many of you like the milk and sugar thing. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that, as Seinfeld would say.)

As far as the sugar goes, raw sugar (turbinado sugar) simply tastes better than white sugar. As for milk, put away the skim, nonfat, or 2% stuff; it will just water down your brew. Instead opt for whole milk or half-and-half. It won’t add that much cholesterol to your diet. If that’s a concern, ask your doctor about statins. A good cup is worth it.

Storing Coffee Beans in the Wrong Place

A popular misconception is that the freezer is a good place to store your coffee beans and grounds. That might sound logical but it doesn’t work that way, no matter what Grandma said.

Ideally, they should be stored in a cool, dry place. They will remain in tip-top shape for 1-3 weeks in your pantry if you should store them in an airtight opaque container. They degrade quickly in the presence of light, heat, or oxygen. In our home, we enjoy Black Rifle Coffee. A new package arrives in the mail every other week.

So there you have it. Following these tips will ensure that you don’t make the most common mistakes brewing the perfect cup of coffee. And it never hurts to buy organic coffee beans.

Further Reading


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Visit Kelly’s profile on Pinterest.

About the Author:

Photo of Kelly R. SmithKelly R. Smith is an Air Force veteran and was a commercial carpenter for 20 years before returning to night school at the University of Houston where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science. After working at NASA for a few years, he went on to develop software for the transportation, financial, and energy-trading industries. He has been writing, in one capacity or another, since he could hold a pencil. As a freelance writer now, he specializes in producing articles and blog content for a variety of clients. His personal blog is at I Can Fix Up My Home Blog where he muses on many different topics.

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