cool weather dough question

[tngabe]

A few times a year, I make pizzas in the wood oven at a local historical farm during craft and garden show. I've done this a few times now and it is lots of fun and very popular. Saturday will be the first time I've done this in cooler weather and I'm wondering about my dough. Once I get there, the dough will be held at ambient temp, probably 40ish in the a.m. and maybe mid 50s by the end of the day.

Should I try and have the dough nearly fully proofed when I get there in the morning and assume it will hold pretty well with the outside temps? In the past I've pulled cool dough and let it warm during the day

[Tscarborough]

Re: cool weather dough question

I normally take my (24-168 hour) cold fermented dough straight from the 40 degree refrigerator and open the balls, so it shouldn't be a problem.

[KEmerson]

Re: cool weather dough question

This may be a bit late and it may not even be completely relevant.However, here I go. I've learned that working the dough in cold weather can be difficult. Not impossible, just difficult. The outside air is what it is and no matter how long the dough has been out of the refrigerator, it won't make a difference for working the dough after it has been sitting outside waiting to be used. Last night the temperatures dropped to the high 20's or low 30's. And as I was just about to work the dough & load the oven the evening winds kicked in and the wind-chill factor factored in. (I was raised mostly in the South and other warm climates. Care to ask me how I feel about cold weather? Don't ask. Well, at least my face was nice & toasty. My posterior, however...) I did 10 pizzas. The dough had been refrigerated and removed in good enough time to get to room temp. Then I had to take them out to the oven & work area. Of course, I wasn't baking all 10 at once so several of the balls had to wait. And as they did they got cooler. The last couple of pizzas were very difficult to stretch. Just took longer is all. They would stretch but quite reluctantly. So I'm not sure what to do to help that in the future, short of leaving the dough in the house and bringing them out only on the as-needed basis. And that isn't just a matter of popping in and popping out of the house. Then again, summer's coming, right?

[KEmerson]

Re: cool weather dough question

I was discussing this with the Mrs. last night and we thought that keeping the ready dough in an insulated ice chest might do the trick of keeping dough at room temp. till use. Insulated is insulated, right? So hot or cold won't matter. I happen to own a Carlisle insulated sheet pan carrier - holds seven full sheet pans - that I used when I baked & sold pastries at the local farmer's market. I haven't tried it yet - just occurred to me last night - but I have a strong feeling it will allow me to place room temp dough in it and keep it outside in sub freezing temps for the short while I'll need it. In those super cold temps outside the room temp dough just cools off too far and too quickly to work easily. I'm already planning the next pizza bake day just to try it out. We'll see.
Kim