Salt... How much?

[V-wiz]

Hey gang, i never really got the amount of salt down right. How much salt should i use per pound of flour? honestly i don't measure anything, i do it all by feel, wright or wrong this is how im learning, im sure soon i will get it down. But in the meantime what would you guys recommend for salt?

Thank you.

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Salt... How much?

Beyond balance of taste, salt plays a number of important roles in bread (and pizza dough) namely tightening the gluten network and improving loaf volume. This balance is delicate and requires precise measurement, which is 2-2.5% of flour weight. Commercial bakers and many home bakers prefer to use baker's percentages, a system that weighs dough ingredients for accuracy and repeat-ability.

Using Bakers percentages is easy but requires a reasonably-priced scale (preferably digital that goes down to a tenth of a gram). You can get around this via measuring by volume, although this method is not quite as accurate.

2% of 1lb (453g) is 9g. Therefore, you need to add 9 grams of salt for every pound of flour. There are approximately 6g of salt in a teaspoon.

If you are interested, below is a link to pizza dough calculators that show how you can reliably build any size batch of dough to any specification you want, with ease.

Pizza Dough Calculation Tools - PizzaMaking.com

HTH,

John

[V-wiz]

Re: Salt... How much?

Thank you John, i really appreciate it. So 9 grams of salt per 1 pound of flour. Thanks

Btw i do have a digital scale, which i weight the dough balls with.

[Tscarborough]

Re: Salt... How much?

Do you know the solution method for measuring small amounts without a fine scale?

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Salt... How much?

Haven't a clue. Am very curious now...

[V-wiz]

Re: Salt... How much?

Lets hear it..

[V-wiz]

Re: Salt... How much?

This is what the dough calculator gave me.


Flour (100%): 4712.99 g | 166.24 oz | 10.39 lbs
Water (63%): 2969.18 g | 104.73 oz | 6.55 lbs
CY (0.50%): 23.56 g | 0.83 oz | 0.05 lbs |
Salt (2%): 94.26 g | 3.32 oz | 0.21 lbs | 5.63 tbsp | 0.35 cups
Total (165.5%): 7800 g | 275.13 oz | 17.2 lbs | TF = N/A
Single Ball: 260 g | 9.17 oz | 0.57 lbs

[TropicalCoasting]

Re: Salt... How much?

Do you know the solution method for measuring small amounts without a fine scale?

For me its
3 cups flour
1 tspn salt
2 tspns yeast
I cup and a bit of water (add a bit more by eye as I mix)
a glug of EVOO in the bowl ball and rest covered.

Its not accurate but when you do it a few times its becomes second nature

[Tscarborough]

Re: Salt... How much?

When you need to measure amounts smaller than your capability to do so, you multiply the amount to the point at which you CAN measure it accurately, then dissolve it into a known amount of water. Use whatever portion of the solution in proportion to get the small amount of dissolved ingredient you need you need.

[david s]

Re: Salt... How much?

For me its
3 cups flour
1 tspn salt
2 tspns yeast
I cup and a bit of water (add a bit more by eye as I mix)
a glug of EVOO in the bowl ball and rest covered.

Its not accurate but when you do it a few times its becomes second nature

Because of the high temperature that we cook our pizzas at, both sugar and oil (both will encourage browning and burning) are not required. WFO pizza dough is traditionally only flour, salt, water and yeast.

[TropicalCoasting]

Re: Salt... How much?

I dont use sugar I want a slow rise in the fridge.
The oil is just to keep the outside moist in the bowl
I am aware it will burn at high temp when in a wood fire

When I was in the Pizza place in Naples ( they supposedly invented the Margherita at )
They drizzled olive oil over the top of the pizza before they put it in their WFO

[Tscarborough]

Re: Salt... How much?

As a rule, if there is no meat you should drizzle a little oil. That is for all kinds of pizza, not just Neapolitan.

[david s]

Re: Salt... How much?

I dont use sugar I want a slow rise in the fridge.
The oil is just to keep the outside moist in the bowl
I am aware it will burn at high temp when in a wood fire

When I was in the Pizza place in Naples ( they supposedly invented the Margherita at )
They drizzled olive oil over the top of the pizza before they put it in their WFO

Yeah, I do similar. I spray oil inside a plastic bag and place the dough in it, then refrigerate it. The oil helps it slide out.

[cleverdick]

Re: Salt... How much?

If it's any help, for 750g flour I use 30g smoked Maldon sea salt crystals, unmilled. I've arrived at this figure through trial and error. (Not sure if these are sold in the US, but should be available mail-order.)

Don't know how this converts to pounds and ounces - sorry!

[V-wiz]

Re: Salt... How much?

Ive tried no sugar when trying to allow the yeast to activate/rise but it never worked, so ever since then I add a teaspoon of sugar to the yeast to kick start the reaction. Are you guys saying without sugar the yeast will work but just take longer?