1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

[rsandler]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

Balling cold dough works fine. I used to divide and ball my pizza dough and then refrigerate in individual ziplocks. Since they would lose shape in the bags, I would re-ball them as soon as I got them out of the fridge and then bake after an hour at room temperature. Since then I've switched to storing the dough balls in individual, oiled containers, so that I don't have to re-shape on bake day (makes it much easier to stretch the crust).

[V-wiz]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

Thanks for the info, id be interested to see what others say, id like to do it right.

[sclancy]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

I defer to someone who has more experience here but I think you need to bring the dough back to room temp before you can portion and ball. Balling cold dough may not work.. I m not sure. There is certainly a technique to doing it - there are good videos on it (check youtube) - I cant imagine it working with cold dough....

I have been doing a shorter 1-2 hr bulk rise at room temp, portion and ball and then do an extended cold rise/gluten build for 1-3 days.

[V-wiz]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

I think you should portion and ball the dough after rising (min 1-2 hrs if only going in the fridge for 24hrs before use) but before going in the fridge. You do not want to have to let the whole batch come back to room temp before you portion and ball it - that will take too long and you will be handling it too much trying to ball it the day of use. Whatever you do do not overknead - a few mins in the mixer and a couple of fold and kneads on the board before you let it rise and then just cut/weigh, fold 2-3 times and ball it. 24hrs in the fridge will build some more gluten.

Its been in the fridge in bulk over night and has risen... So tonight i will take it and portion them, so i should oil the containers they will be in? Thank you

[V-wiz]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

That is a nice countertop you have there!

One last bit of .02....Don't worry too much about this stuff. It's just pizza....things get way over thought (with the builds too) and that creates apprehension. Once you make a couple you will settle into a rhythm, and it will be fun. But take pics so we can all laugh at you.

Obviously the stonecutter notices the stone countrtop. Lol, thank you.

Lol, i will take photos.

[V-wiz]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

9.77 oz balls will make 18 pies from 11 lb of dough. That is a nice size to work with for 12 inch pizzas. They may be a little thicker than you will be able to achieve in the future but your guests will think it is the best they have ever had.

Try to keep them in a 12-14 inch range. You may find thinner pizzas harder to get into the oven.

Best of luck on your party.

Chip

Thank you chip, after posing i added a little bit of more flour and water, so ive got more dough (go big or go home) since then the dough has risen very nicely, almost coming out the sides of the large while container. I will make the balls. 280g.

[sclancy]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

Thanks man, Ill store it in bulk then, however room temp here is 78F, its warm here. so i will put it in the fridge sooner than that. I will make them into balls the morning of the event? will this work, and bring it to room temp before pulling the balls. lol.

I think you should portion and ball the dough after rising (min 1-2 hrs if only going in the fridge for 24hrs before use) but before going in the fridge. You do not want to have to let the whole batch come back to room temp before you portion and ball it - that will take too long and you will be handling it too much trying to ball it the day of use. Whatever you do do not overknead - a few mins in the mixer and a couple of fold and kneads on the board before you let it rise and then just cut/weigh, fold 2-3 times and ball it. 24hrs in the fridge will build some more gluten.

[mrchipster]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

That is a nice countertop you have there!

One last bit of .02....Don't worry too much about this stuff. It's just pizza....things get way over thought (with the builds too) and that creates apprehension. Once you make a couple you will settle into a rhythm, and it will be fun. But take pics so we can all laugh at you.

So true, I showed my first pie to this group and.... Well they wanted to make a string called "the ugliest real pizzas" I was in the running I am sure. The string never popped up but here is the upside. It still tasted great.

Tonight's dough balls 200g in oiled stretch wrap, loosely wrapped. Teaching a "making fresh mozzarella from milk" class tonight to 5 couples. We make cheese and then eat pizza and appetizers made from the cheese.

Chip

[stonecutter]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

For sauce, go to Walmart and buy Classico crushed tomatoes. Taste them and add a small amount of salt and/or sugar to balance them, and that is all you need to do. Walmart also has whole milk mozzarella and generally carries some fresh mozzarella that is OK in a pinch.

(I hate Wallie-World, but I do go there for those 2 items as they are excellent)

I can get Cento peeled tomatoes at ours...that's what we use for the sauce. Though after seeing herds of 400lb people stuffed into clothing 5 times too small, my appetite seems to disappear for the evening.

[stonecutter]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

That is a nice countertop you have there!

One last bit of .02....Don't worry too much about this stuff. It's just pizza....things get way over thought (with the builds too) and that creates apprehension. Once you make a couple you will settle into a rhythm, and it will be fun. But take pics so we can all laugh at you.

[mrchipster]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

9.77 oz balls will make 18 pies from 11 lb of dough. That is a nice size to work with for 12 inch pizzas. They may be a little thicker than you will be able to achieve in the future but your guests will think it is the best they have ever had.

Try to keep them in a 12-14 inch range. You may find thinner pizzas harder to get into the oven.

Best of luck on your party.

Chip

[V-wiz]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

Well i got the dough, Used 7.5 pounds of flower, 11 pounds of dough, should be enough for 18 pies right?

[Les]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

Ok i really need help here, i need to make 20 balls. How much total do i need of each ingredient? I have started the yeast, someone please help.

Sorry, I haven't been following this thread and I don't want to confuse you. But... (sounds like you need help) I have used this for a long time and I'm happy with it. It is something that James put together a while back. Go to link 21 for the recipe, it will make 4 pizza's

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/10/p...ht-691-15.html

[V-wiz]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

So you have not made dough before? Flour is cheap, start making it now to get a feel for it, even if you just throw it away, although I keep doughballs in the fridge for several weeks with no degradation in quality.

Hydration is measured as a percent of the total weight of the ingredients.

From the recipe I linked:

Ingredient Baker's Percent Grams Ounces Pounds
OO Flour (100%) 691.04 g 24.38 oz 1.52 lbs
Water (60%) 414.62 g 14.63 oz 0.91 lbs
ADY (.075%) 0.52 g 0.02 oz 0 lbs
Salt (2%) 13.82 g 0.49 oz 2.88 tsp
Total (162.075%) 1120 g 39.51 oz 2.47 lbs
Single Ball 280 g 9.88 oz 0.62 lbs


Flour is always 100%, then the weight of everything else is expressed as a percent of the weight of that. This allows you to scale the recipe up or down regarding batch size. That recipe is a 60% hydration, which is low for what I currently make, but still manageable for a newcomer.

If you do not weigh ingredients (I don't normally), you have to have a feel for what is supposed to be like at the various stages on making it.

The same recipe expressed in a volumetric notation:

5 cups OO flour
2-1/2 to 3 cups water
1 tsp ADY
almost 3 tsp salt


As you can see, it is much less precise, and is not really scalable to a larger or smaller batch.

Ok i really need help here, i need to make 20 balls. How much total do i need of each ingredient? I have started the yeast, someone please help.

[V-wiz]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

V-Wiz,
Down here we have a saying, coined by Bocephus, "a country boy can survive". But, he is more comfortable when he has air conditioning .

Ya i have air conditioning, lol. But why when i can conserve energy by opening my large sliding door and windows. We have natural breeze here in these part of the hills