Yellow Dough???????

[dregnier]

Re: Yellow Dough???????

Aluminum foil

I like the idea of being able to do as much prep work ahead. Preforming the dough onto foil and placing in frig ahead of time would help. Has anyone tried this? If so, would it then be possible to top the pizza and place it directly into the oven on the foil to cook? This would (should) eliminate the embarrassing situation of not being able to get the pie off the peel!

Den

[heliman]

Re: Yellow Dough???????

Round number 2... slightly modified recipe...

I am giving the dough a good long rest on the bench before I cut it up and store it in the fridge for a few days to ferment.

This whole process has got me thinking about the overall consistency of the dough I have made before. There was never any of this real silkiness - with the previous doughs that I made a 65-69%hydration level. They were soft and floppy compared with the firmness of this latest creation which uses about a 50-51% hydration level. From what I have read - high hydration levels add to crunch but this can be recreated with semolina as has ben demonstrated here.

This really is a new adventure down the path to create a truly superb crust...

[david s]

Re: Yellow Dough???????

Den,
the trouble with leaving the dough on foil is the same as baking on trays. That is, moisture being trapped between the base and the foil. This results in an inferior and soggy base. Learn to slide the pizza off the peel and into the oven.The bottom of the base then gets a good cooking from the hot floor which draws moisture away.
We find that a quantity of dough (about2 Kg) stored in the fridge in plastic bags sprayed with cooking oil is a good method of storage and we then divide the dough as we need it.
Dave

[texassourdough]

Re: Yellow Dough???????

Hi Rossco!

I will give it a try. As I have said before, I am more of a refiner than an experimenter and I tend to repeat what I like once I find it.

I don't know semolina's hydration characteristics off the top of my head but 51% seems way low. More later!
Jay

[heliman]

Re: Yellow Dough???????

Hello Jay...

Just thinking that because I usea starter that is about 100% hydration, the final mix is probably a bit above the 51% hydration in reality so that may explain that it turned out ok. There must be a way to work out overall hydration level mathematically but I have gone on the feel of the dough (erring on the side of dryness to emulate the bought dough).

Baking a bit later on today so will report back on my latest batch of pizza dough.

[texassourdough]

Re: Yellow Dough???????

The proper measurement for hydration is total water (from both starter, water added in all expansions, honey, eggs, etc. in more complex doughs) divided by total flour (from starter, flour added in all expansions).

If you start with 100 grams of starter at 100% that is 50 grams of water and 50 of flour. First expansion should be about 200 grams of water and 200 of flour for a total of 250 each. Then the final expansion should be about 1250 of flour (for a total of 1500) and about 750 of water (for a total of 1000). The hydration is 66 % (1000/1500).

[heliman]

Re: Yellow Dough???????

Some more observations to report after making the next batch...

The 3 day old batch of sourdough was overproofed and very sour - kept one piece as "old dough".

New dough was a bit dry so next time I may up the the water component a bit.

Stretching was difficult and the dough hard despite a rest of a few hrs at room temperature.

Texture of dough not pliable (too little water??) Note pic of old and new dough side by side.

Browned nicely and was crispy.

Will have to rethink the process and maybe do a batch with a small amount of IDY. What is the minimum amount of IDY that one could use to get a similar rise to that of sourdough?

[texassourdough]

Re: Yellow Dough???????

Reinhart's recipes for pizza are about right but require more retard than sourdough (less time at room temp). I would just use his ratio and general recipe with your flour mix. That should work fine.

Good looking pizza!
Jay

[brokencookie]

Re: Yellow Dough???????

As long as you are experiementing....

I recently had a terrific WFO pizza at a street fair. While the vendor would not give me his complete recipe he did tell me his ingredients. The notable additions were semolina flour, egg and beer

I'm pretty sure the beer went into the crust and not the baker



Bruce

[texassourdough]

Re: Yellow Dough???????

There is nothing wrong with using beer in the place of water in dough. Try it with bread! Egg is a bit odd, but...to each his own!
Jay