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Excessive mixing, on the other hand, typically results in the finished pizza having a more bread-like crumb structure rather than the desirable, open, coarse, almost English muffin-like crumb structure (which leads to a crispier finished crust). The two exceptions to this rule are for those doughs used for making frozen dough balls or frozen pizza crusts, and for those doughs that are used in a bake-to-rise application.
In both of these instances, the dough will not receive sufficient post mixing fermentation to give the dough any level of bio-chemical gluten development, and since the dough needs this gluten development for structure, such as in supporting the weight of the toppings, the mixer is the only place where it can receive the needed gluten development. Hence, longer mixing times are needed with these specific applications. And yes, the cell structure does close up and become more bread like in these applications.
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Quite frequently the question arises: How long can I keep my pizza dough in the cooler? The second question: How can I keep it in the cooler for a longer time? To answer these questions, we need to understand some of the basic mechanics of yeast fermentation along with a little physics 101. But first, we must know what the actual shelf life of our dough is. If you find that your dough sometimes blows after only 12 to 15 hours in the cooler, then it must be assumed that your actual, effective shelf life is less than 12 to 15-hours. But sometimes we get dough that doesn’t blow right away in the cooler, and it may be good for two or three days.
Why is this?
The most common detractor to long refrigerated shelf life is incorrect dough management practices. Dough that is above the recommended temperature range of 80 to 85 F may take too long to efficiently cool down to a stabilizing temperature when the dough is taken to the cooler. This can result in excessive fermentation taking place during the refrigerated storage period, which results in over-proofed dough that is either on the verge of collapse or experiences total collapse when the dough balls are removed from the storage box.
Another, and possibly the most common problem, is that of allowing the dough balls to set at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour, or more, before being taken to the cooler, In this case, the dough balls are actively fermenting when they go to the cooler. As a result, they have become much less dense (more airy/gassy) and are better insulators than a just-mixed, fresh dough. So instead of cooling down uniformly, they end up blowing during the night. The common response to this is not to take the dough directly to the cooler, as it should be, but instead to reduce the yeast level to some point where the dough doesn’t blow.
The down side to this approach is that the yeast level is now so low that the dough doesn’t rise properly when it is finally taken to the oven for baking. So, what is the right thing to do? Don’t let the dough set out for more than about 10-minutes after it has been scaled and balled. This will ensure that the dough hasn’t yet started to ferment, and it is sufficient dense to allow for the efficient removal of heat from the dough balls within a reasonable time. Like I said, physics 101, heat is conducted better through a more dense material than through a less dense material.
The next thing to consider is cross stacking of the dough boxes in the cooler. Cross stacking is building the stack of dough boxes in the cooler with each box perpendicular to the box under it. This leaves the two ends of the box open from which warm air and humidity can freely escape from the dough balls. If the dough boxes are not cross stacked, but rather vertically stacked with each box completely sealed closed, the heat coming from the dough balls will be trapped within the box along with the humidity from the dough balls. This keeps the dough warm, allowing it to continue fermenting until it finally blows.
Yet another important step in dough management that is commonly missed is that of down stacking the dough boxes. This is where the top box on the cross stack is removed and placed to the bottom of the new stack being assembled. This allows for the warmer dough at the top of the stack to be exposed to the colder temperature at the bottom of the stack, (remember, heat rises, so the temperature is slightly warmer at the top of the stack in the cooler than at the bottom of the stack) This further aids in more consistent cooling of the dough.
The length of time that the dough should be allowed to remain in a cross stacked manner will vary to some extent depending upon the weight of the dough balls contained in the boxes. We have found that if the dough ball weights are above 12-ounces, the cross-stacked time should be 2-hours. If the dough ball weight is 12-ounces or less, 90-minutes cross stack time is sufficient. As always though, experiment al little to see what works best for you, with your dough, in your shop. Just strive to be consistent with whatever time you find works best for you.
Following these basic steps will provide dough that will last for up to three days in the cooler. But what if you want dough to last longer than three days? This is very easily accomplished by adjusting the finished dough temperature of the mixed dough. If we target, and achieve a lower temperature, than the normal temperature range of 80 to 85F, and still maintain the same dough management procedure, then the rate of dough fermentation will be effectively slowed, allowing us to hold the dough longer in the cooler, but remember, the dough will keep longer in the cooler, but it will not be ready to use as soon either..
For example; if we drop the finished dough temperature to the 70 to 75F range, the dough will keep for up to five days in the cooler, but it will not be ready to use until the third day after mixing. Your use window will still be three days, but in this case it will be days 3, 4, and 5 rather than days 1, 2, and three as it would be with a finished dough temperature in the 80 to 85F range. Why would you want dough that could only be used on days 3, 4, and 5 after mixing? This is a great way to provide dough from a commissary store to satellite stores as it allows you to develop a two-day dough inventory at the commissary, ship dough to the stores on the night of the second day, so they will have dough to use over the next three days (days 3, 4, and 5).
The last part of effective dough management is to condition the dough for forming into dough skins. To do this, remove a projected two to three hour inventory of dough from the cooler, leaving it sealed in the dough boxes, allow the dough to temper at room temperature for 60 to 90-minutes, or until the dough forms well by whatever forming method you have opted to use, then begin forming the dough. The dough will remain in good condition for forming up to three hours after you begin the forming process. Any dough that will not be needed within this period of time can be pre-formed and placed onto screen pans and stored in a wire tree rack in the cooler. Be sure to cover the rack of dough to prevent excessive drying of the formed dough skins. The dough can then be used when needed later in the day.
As you can see, effective dough management and consistent dough management procedures are a vital aspect in the refrigerated shelf life of our pizza dough, with this in place, you can easily keep your dough in the cooler for anything from one day through 5 or more days. The trick is, you have to do your part to make it work. .
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One aspect of pizza dough production that just doesn’t go away is that of flavored or herb infused dough. A number of years ago, several of the big box chains offered herb-flavored doughs. Then a lot of the independents got into the act, too. The trend waxed and waned over the years, but this time it appears to have come with some baggage –– today, herb and flavored doughs have captured the attention of industrial suppliers who want to make the use of various herbs and flavoring materials easier and more flavorful than ever before. If successful, flavored doughs may take on a whole new personality and level of acceptance in the months to come.
When making flavored doughs we must keep in mind that both garlic and onion need to be used in moderation as they can soften or weaken the dough. It is suggested that the combined level for both of these ingredients not exceed 0.15 percent of the total flour weight in the dough. To find what this weight should be, use your calculator and enter the flour weight –– preferably in ounces –– and then press “x” followed by 0.15. Next, press the “%” key and read the answer in the display window. Remember, it will be expressed in the same weight measures that the flour was given in. For example, if you are using
25 pounds of flour, the calculation would look like this: 25 x 16 = 400-ounces of flour; 400 x 0.15 press the “%” key and read 0.6 ounces of combined onion and garlic powder. If a level greater than this is added, you will need to make adjustments to the way you handle and manage your dough to accommodate the increased softness and weakness. If you are already using an L-cysteine, or dead yeast-based dough softener, you should be able to replace all or a portion of it with the onion, and/or garlic powder, thus getting the flavor and dough softening all at the same time and (possibly saving you a few pennies in the process).
No such precautions need to be taken with any of the other ingredients commonly used to flavor the dough/crust such as oregano, basil, pepper, sun-dried tomato, Parmesan cheese, Romano cheese, olives, rosemary, red and green peppers, etc. Sun-dried tomato is the only one of these that comes to mind as needing any special handling or treatment prior to addition to the dough. These need to be presoaked in oil (preferably olive oil) for several hours or overnight. Failure to do so will result in the tomatoes having all of the textural properties of little pieces of leather in the dough. Any of the other herbs can be added just as they are. They will hydrate from the moisture in the dough and give off a wonderful flavor and aroma as a result of the baking process. All of those little pieces of red and green will also provide an interesting and somewhat rustic appearance to the dough that compliments its unique flavor.
There is another side to flavoring of doughs that we don’t hear about, or even see very often, but deserves mention. That is the use of traditional flavoring materials such as cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla or even butter or butter flavorings. Cinnamon is the one flavoring material that takes consideration because it can dramatically slow down or even stop the yeast activity when added directly to the dough. This is the reason why we see such things as cinnamon swirl bagels, and cinnamon swirl bread. In both of these cases, the cinnamon is added to the dough as opposed to being incorporated into it. This greatly nullifies the adverse effect of the cinnamon on the yeast. In a pizza dough we can blend the cinnamon with a butter flavored oil or plain salad oil and add it to the dough during the last 30-seconds of the mixing time. This will allow the cinnamon paste to be swirled through the dough, creating a cinnamon swirl crust that might be just the ticket for making a dessert pizza. Or, you might find that blending the cinnamon into a quantity of melted butter to make a thin paste consistency can be easily spread onto a regular dough skin and then topped with pieces of fresh fruit, or drained fruit cocktail.
On an even easier note you can simply take one of your regular thin- crust dough skins and brush it with water, then sprinkle on a combination of cinnamon and sugar (16-ounces of granulated sugar and 1½ to 2 ounces of cinnamon). Dock the dough well and bake until it is set and just begins to brown. Cut the baked crust into strips 1 to 1½-inches wide and about 3 inches long and serve with a simple powdered sugar-water dipping icing to which a little vanilla flavoring has been added for a very fast and easy dessert offering.
While we’re on the topic of dough for dessert pizza, the addition of vanilla flavoring to the dough is often overlooked, or in many cases never even heard of. Vanilla or a blended vanilla-butter flavor can be added to the dough to create a unique and rich tasting crust flavor for any of your dessert pizzas. No other dough changes are needed, just portion out the needed amount of flavoring and process the dough in your normal manner. Due to the vast differences in the concentration of vanilla flavors, it is recommended that you experiment with a reputable brand product to find the amount that works best in your specific application.
When using fresh or dried herbs in your dough, begin using them at 10 percent of the flour weight and go up from there to a maximum of about 25 percent. Depending upon the composition of the herb mix that you elect to use, you will probably find that the best flavor, aroma and appearance characteristics are had at around the 15 percent level. If cheese is the only material being added to the dough, the best levels seem to be around 8 to 12 percent of the flour weight. And if cheese is included in an herb blend, you will probably find that an addition level of 15 to 20 percent works well. When fresh herbs such as fresh basil, oregano, onion or garlic are used in the herb blend, it is not uncommon to see the blends being used at levels approaching the 25 percent level. Like everything else though, you will need to experiment to find what works best for you in your specific application.u
Tom Lehmann is a director at the American Institute of Baking in Manhattan, Kansas.
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PHOTOS BY JOSH KEOWN
Why are pizza dough recipes/formulas expressed in percentages rather than in amounts?
The easiest way to express a dough formula is in what is referred to as baker’s percent. The amount of each ingredient is expressed as a percent of the total flour weight used in the dough formulation. This allows for easy checking to make sure all ingredients are in correct balance regardless of batch size, and it also allows you to adjust the batch/dough size up or down while keeping all ingredients in correct balance. To find the correct weight for each ingredient you must first decide how much flour you want to use. The total flour weight is always equal to 100 percent. Here is a typical dough formula in baker’s percent:
Flour: 100 percent
Salt: 1.75 percent
Sugar: 1.5 percent
Instant Dry Yeast: 0.375 percent
Oil: 2 percent Water: 58 percent
Let’s say we want to use 35 pounds of flour. To find the amount of each ingredient, using your handy calculator enter the flour weight X the ingredient percent and press the “%” key, then read the ingredient weight in the display window. Remember, the ingredient weight will be in the same weight units that the flour weight is expressed in. To manipulate the size of your dough, simply plug in the new flour weight and repeat the above calculator entries. It really is that easy.
If you already know the ingredient weights and you want to put the formula into baker’s percent, start out by putting 100 percent next to the flour weight. Flour is always equal to 100 percent. Then divide each ingredient weight by the flour weight and multiply by 100 to get the baker’s percent for each of the ingredients.
Here are a couple of neat things that you can use baker’s percent for:
If you add up all of the percentages, in the example formula above, we get 163.625 percent. Divide this by 100 and you get 1.63625 (call it 1.63). How much dough will this formula make? To answer that question just multiply the flour weight by 1.63. If we are using 35 pounds of flour we will get 1.63 x 35 = 57.05 (call it 57 pounds) of dough. If I were to increase the dough weight to 40 pounds we would get 1.63 x 40 = 65.2 (call it 65 pounds) of dough. u If you have an order for 30 large pizzas tomorrow, and your dough weight for each large pizza is 17½ ounces, how much dough would you need to make just for this order? Here is how you do it:
30 x 17.5-ounces = 525-ounces of dough will be needed. Divide the total dough weight (525 ounces) by 1.63 to find the total flour weight needed to make a dough weighing 525-ounces. 525 divided by 1.63 = 322.08 (call it 321ounces/20 pounds) of flour would be needed to make the dough for this order.
As you can see, baker’s percent can be a pretty handy tool to work with.
Tom Lehmann is a director at the American Institute of Baking in Manhattan, Kansas.
In This Issue
More Articles
PHOTOS BY JOSH KEOWN
Why are pizza dough recipes/formulas expressed in percentages rather than in amounts?
The easiest way to express a dough formula is in what is referred to as baker’s percent. The amount of each ingredient is expressed as a percent of the total flour weight used in the dough formulation. This allows for easy checking to make sure all ingredients are in correct balance regardless of batch size, and it also allows you to adjust the batch/dough size up or down while keeping all ingredients in correct balance. To find the correct weight for each ingredient you must first decide how much flour you want to use. The total flour weight is always equal to 100 percent. Here is a typical dough formula in baker’s percent:
Flour: 100 percent
Salt: 1.75 percent
Sugar: 1.5 percent
Instant Dry Yeast: 0.375 percent
Oil: 2 percent Water: 58 percent
Let’s say we want to use 35 pounds of flour. To find the amount of each ingredient, using your handy calculator enter the flour weight X the ingredient percent and press the “%” key, then read the ingredient weight in the display window. Remember, the ingredient weight will be in the same weight units that the flour weight is expressed in. To manipulate the size of your dough, simply plug in the new flour weight and repeat the above calculator entries. It really is that easy.
If you already know the ingredient weights and you want to put the formula into baker’s percent, start out by putting 100 percent next to the flour weight. Flour is always equal to 100 percent. Then divide each ingredient weight by the flour weight and multiply by 100 to get the baker’s percent for each of the ingredients.
Here are a couple of neat things that you can use baker’s percent for:
If you add up all of the percentages, in the example formula above, we get 163.625 percent. Divide this by 100 and you get 1.63625 (call it 1.63). How much dough will this formula make? To answer that question just multiply the flour weight by 1.63. If we are using 35 pounds of flour we will get 1.63 x 35 = 57.05 (call it 57 pounds) of dough. If I were to increase the dough weight to 40 pounds we would get 1.63 x 40 = 65.2 (call it 65 pounds) of dough. u If you have an order for 30 large pizzas tomorrow, and your dough weight for each large pizza is 17½ ounces, how much dough would you need to make just for this order? Here is how you do it:
30 x 17.5-ounces = 525-ounces of dough will be needed. Divide the total dough weight (525 ounces) by 1.63 to find the total flour weight needed to make a dough weighing 525-ounces. 525 divided by 1.63 = 322.08 (call it 321ounces/20 pounds) of flour would be needed to make the dough for this order.
As you can see, baker’s percent can be a pretty handy tool to work with.
Tom Lehmann is a director at the American Institute of Baking in Manhattan, Kansas.
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A sticky dough can indeed create a sticky situation. There are a number of things that can cause the condition, therefore there are a number of solutions to the problems. Some of the more common reasons for sticky dough and the appropriate solutions are as follows:
Excessive Dough Absorption: This results in a decidedly wet, tacky feel. The only real corrective action is to reduce the amount of water added to the dough. I generally recommend making these corrections in increments of two percent (based on the weight of flour in the dough).
Under-mixed Dough: This has a sticky feel. Any dough that has not been mixed long enough to develop a smooth skin on it during the mixing stage will likely be somewhat sticky. Some people don’t find this to be a problem because they use a lot of dusting flour as a part of their crust’s signature.
Excessive Use of Malt: This can result in a sticky dough that just doesn’t seem to be corrected by any changes to the dough absorption or mixing time. The only corrective action is to reduce the amount of malt syrup added to the dough, or to change over to a non-diastatic (enzyme free) malt syrup. What is happening here is that the amylase enzyme in the malt syrup is breaking down part of the starch in the flour and converting it to fermentable sugars for metabolism by the yeast. Wen these starches are hydrolyzed, the water that they are holding is released into the dough and that, combined with the newly formed sugars, creates a decidedly sticky dough feel.
Every few years we hear about wheat that has sprouted while it is still in the field awaiting harvest. When the wheat sprouts, the enzymatic activity increases in a hurry, and when this wheat finds its way into your flour, it will result in a higher than normal enzyme activity in the flour. Here in the U.S. this is seldom a problem as the flour millers are diligent in keeping this from happening. But for readers in other countries, you may not be as fortunate. In this case, just be sure to put a light coating of oil on the dough before you remove it from the mixer. This should help to alleviate some of the stickiness.
Insufficient Salt Content: This creates dough stickiness that can easily be corrected by increasing the salt level to at least 1.75 percent of the weight of flour used in the formula.
Incorrect Hydration of Active Dry Yeast: When this is the case, some of the glutathione from the ADY is leached out. ADY should always be hydrated in warm water (105-110 F). If the ADY is hydrated in cold water, the glutathione that is leached out of the yeast can easily cause a soft, slightly sticky dough condition. In this case, it should also be noted that the dough performance will probably be less than ideal due to the impaired yeast condition. This can also happen with instant dry yeast that is hydrated in cold water.
In the end, if you find yourself in a sticky situation, just remember that application of oil to the dough is probably the single most effective action to take, regardless of the cause of the stickiness.
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