What's the Dough secret?

[PlanoPhil]

I'm getting real close to cooking my first pizza in my WFO and my nephew who worked in a pizzerea told me that he could tell by toughing the dough ball that it was gonna be easy or difficult to stretch. It's all in the making of the dough, he said. So, I'm looking at dough receipts and they all look basically the same.
What's the secret?

[fishn4daze]

Re: What's the Dough secret?

Use caputo 00 flour and don't use oil in the receipe. Also use a scale in grams to measure your product. Good luck and have fun.

[Tman1]

Re: What's the Dough secret?

Well, I beg to differ with no oil. Too many recipes, too little time. I started out with Wolfgang Puck's pizza dough recipe, but really like Reinhart's Neopolitan at the moment. I still want to try an overnight (or multiple day) ferment to see how that changes.
Different recipes are part of the fun.

[dmun]

Re: What's the Dough secret?

I'm looking a dough receipts and they all look basically the same.

If the recipe you're looking at has sugar, honey, milk solids, or anything of the sort, stay away. These additives are an attempt to get pizza to brown in a home oven.

I'm in the no-oil school as well. It's not like you're not putting a lot of fats on top of the skin.

[Tscarborough]

Re: What's the Dough secret?

The secret to dough is:

Flour, water, yeast, and salt.

Everything else is technique, and like a certain excretory orifice, everyone has one.

[heliman]

Re: What's the Dough secret?

Use an overnight fermented biga! Nothing more than water, flour & yeast and you will be pleasantly surprised at the results.

No additives for me ... against the law!! (as are rolling pins)....

[PlanoPhil]

Re: What's the Dough secret?

Heliman, what's a fermented biga?

[heliman]

Re: What's the Dough secret?

Heliman, what's a fermented biga?

I make a starter dough by mixing a 60% hydration flour, water and a small amount of yeast and placing it in the fridge overnight to make a "starter" for my main batch of dough. I calculate the amount of starter as a % of the main batch for consistency then factor to that into my final calculation to produce the required number of 270g dough balls. Da Michele and other well known pizzerias use a starter too. In my view it produces a smoother and lighter crust. After much experimentation I settled on this method and it has produced consistently good results for the past year.

[Faith In Virginia]

Re: What's the Dough secret?

I make a true sourdough pizza dough. I use a large amount of sourdough starter in my mix and I do prefer a bit of oil. I like a big breadie crust so in my opinion the oil keeps the inner part nice and soft and the outside soft enough so that the family members with false teeth can have an easier chew.

Biga is a pre-ferment. It adds nice flavor to your dough it is a mix of a small amount of yeast to flour and water and left on the counter to ferment usually for 12 to 24 hours then you add this to the dough mixture. This takes some pre-planning but is well worth the effort.

[scottz]

Re: What's the Dough secret?

I think the secret is just learning how to do it. The recipie on here is fantastic, but to get that dough just right takes a bit of pratice, I think 14 months is what it took me to get it right. Just use really good flour (strong bread '00'), really good sea or rock salt, filtered water and technique. I love to stretch mine, although my wife likes hers really thin, almost a crunchie base, so I docker it and sometimes (grrrrrr!!) roll hers out! Good luck and keep going

Scott

[heliman]

Re: What's the Dough secret?

I think the secret is just learning how to do it....
Scott

Perhaps one should see the dough preparation process as a "work in progress", constantly tweaking the variables to see what affect that may have on the end product. I don't think my tinkering will end any time soon...

[Tscarborough]

Re: What's the Dough secret?

I have been making pizza dough for a long time. Until recently, it was pretty much the same method, although the ingredients have always been subject to change. In the last year or so, my entire methodology has changed, although the work flow is the same.

The only major thing I have changed in 30 years of dough is that I now often do a 24 to 78+ cold fermented dough. Before, I always made same day warm fermented doughs. It makes a world of difference, so I would say that that is the real secret.

Go to pizzamaking.com and read. I have learned a ton between here and there about dough and pizza making in general.

[dmedico]

Re: What's the Dough secret?

HYDRATION. 68%+ of flour volume

then Pre-ferment
then extended cold ferment (24hrs=)

00 flour with 11.5% protein- no more is necessary

[PlanoPhil]

Re: What's the Dough secret?

Here is a url to the most detailed easy to follow explanation of the dough making process that I have read to date. Jeff Varasano's NY Pizza Recipe

I have ordered the book identified on the varasanos site, by Ed Woods from sour dough.com and am in the process of growing my own san francisco culture from a starter bought from the same site. Just completed my oven and am anxious to try it out.

Phil

[rodeair]

Re: What's the Dough secret?

Thanks for the link to Verasano's, Phil. Even though I hit "print" before I realized it was 54 pages, the answers to alot of my questions about pizza making were answered. My oven isn't completed yet, but I'm looking forward to trying out some of his ideas. Thanks again.
Leigh