TJ dough

[dusty]

OK, I gotta come clean.
For my first few pizza parties I made lots of dough using my Caputo flour and all. It was delicious but very time consuming and required planning ahead - that is we couldn't decide to have pizza on a whim 'cause we had no dough.
Then one night we bought pizza dough at Trader Joes. It comes fresh in a 1 lb bag and they have white, wheat, and some kind of herb-garlic. We got white. It was very good. Light and delicate and ready right out of the bag.
I am ashamed to say that I haven't made dough since. I have had the same 2 lbs. of Caputo in the cupboard for months!
Has anyone else tried it? Or am I the only outcast.

dusty

[RTflorida]

Re: TJ dough

you are an outcast In all honesty, I know where you are coming from. Between being "just plain busy" and traveling for work...pizza nights only seem to fall on Saturdays (with prior planning). Can't say I have gone the route of Trader Joes (probably only because we don't have them in FL), but I have tried the dough that Publix supermarkets sell here. Didn't have good success in the WFO.
I have actually resorted to ordering pizza (blasphemy) from the not so great NY style pizza place in town on several evenings when I had no dough and no time for fire building. A WFO is a wonderful thing, its a shame we can't slow down a bit and really enjoy having one, all the time.

RT

[Frances]

Re: TJ dough

... hehe ...

Nope, never bought dough!

I am shocked, absolutely shocked!!

I have cooked deep frozen pizza for the kids in my oven (only once, I swear! Well, maybe twice... They're so awful, I'm surprised the dome didn't collapse in disgust!)

The thing I often end up doing is being too tired or disorganised to make the dough a day in advance... and at its worst, the homemade dough has had tons of yeast and only an hour to rise. It still tastes sort of ok - but I don't know if your bought dough might not taste better in the end?

[BrianShaw]

Re: TJ dough

I'm not embarassed to say that I use TJ dough when I get a whim for pizza and failed to plan ahead by making dough. It actually works out good... and is MUCH better than no pizza at all. Only once did I get some that seemed "old and gray". I assume that it is made locally so I don't know how consistent it might be.

[BrianShaw]

Re: TJ dough

Oh... I've even been known to use the TJ sauce. It, however, seems to have become much too "pastey". It used to be better.

[asudavew]

Re: TJ dough

Cheater!


Actually, I understand where you are coming from.
Making dough can also be quite messy, and the clean up isn't much fun.


Dave

[70chevelle]

Re: TJ dough

I like fresh dough, but if I can't make it a day or 2 before, I find that freezing is the way to go. I mix up my dough, put it into balls and vacuum pack. A day or 2 before I'm ready to use I put them in a container at the back of the fridge for a 1 or 2 day raise. I pull them out of the fridge when I start the fire. By the time the ovens ready, the dough is room temp and ready to shape.

[asudavew]

Re: TJ dough

I like fresh dough, but if I can't make it a day or 2 before, I find that freezing is the way to go. I mix up my dough, put it into balls and vacuum pack. A day or 2 before I'm ready to use I put them in a container at the back of the fridge for a 1 or 2 day raise. I pull them out of the fridge when I start the fire. By the time the ovens ready, the dough is room temp and ready to shape.

That's what I need to do.
Make up a freezer full!

Do you freeze the dough ball before vacuum packing?

[BrianShaw]

Re: TJ dough

I like fresh dough, but if I can't make it a day or 2 before, I find that freezing is the way to go. I mix up my dough, put it into balls and vacuum pack. A day or 2 before I'm ready to use I put them in a container at the back of the fridge for a 1 or 2 day raise.

That is what I ONCE did... and will have to do it again. Except I didn't vacuum-pack, just used quart-size plastic baggies and doubble bagged them. Worked well!

[70chevelle]

Re: TJ dough

That's what I need to do.
Make up a freezer full!

Do you freeze the dough ball before vacuum packing?

No, once I form the ball, I place it in the bag & vacuum away!

I will say that buying dough may be forgivable, but sauce???? No way! I do a similar process for my sauce. I use canned San Marzano tomatoes. I take some dry spices - basil, rosemary, oregano, black pepper, fennel, & thyme. I put them in a bowl and break them up as small as I can. Then I wet them. Not wet enough to have water in the bowl, just enough for the spices to be wet. Then I put the spices in the microwave for 1 minute on defrost. Again, just enough to release the oils in the spices, not cook them. Then I place that mixture, some garlic powder, and the San Marzano's in my food processor until it's the consistency I want. Then it goes in a tupperware bowl and into the fridge for a day or two. Whatever I don't use I take a gravy ladle and ladle the appropriate portion into ziplock sandwich bags and freeze. Pennmac has a 106 oz can of San Marzanos for $6. I've been buying Dellalo brand locally - $5 for 28oz can.

[dusty]

Re: TJ dough

you are an outcast

Been said before

[dusty]

Re: TJ dough

Nope, never bought dough!
I am shocked, absolutely shocked!!

I know, I know...please don't think less of me.

[dusty]

Re: TJ dough

Cheater!

That may be hittin' a bit low, but I suppose I got it comin'.

[dusty]

Re: TJ dough

Truth is, RT said it best. We get so busy and rushed that we sometimes forget to slow down and smell (I mean MAKE ) the dough. Our ovens aren't the right tools for busy, always-on-the-goers. That's who microwaves are for.

Freezing the dough might work. But I didn't understand at what stage you freeze it. Before or after proofing?

I must honestly admit that I didn't enjoy the process much after the thrill was gone - after 2 or 3 batches. First ones were exciting, but messy( flour all over me and the kitchen) and, most of all, probably because I don't have a mixer, very laborous and time consuming.

But I vow to slow down, plan ahead, and make dough again. My friend and neighbor Eric has a mixer. I'm not so busy that I can't take a bit of time to experiment with the fine-points of my beloved oven.

Thanks RT and all.
But I still say, in a pinch, TJ has good dough!

dusty

[dmun]

Re: TJ dough

I must honestly admit that I didn't enjoy the process much after the thrill was gone - after 2 or 3 batches. First ones were exciting, but messy( flour all over me and the kitchen) and, most of all, probably because I don't have a mixer, very laborous and time consuming.

I don't have a mixer that will handle dough, and I have taken a page from the no-kneed movement and substituted cold retardation for mechanical mixing.

Three days before I am making pizza, at lunchtime, I stir together 500 grams of caputo, 310 grams of water, ten grams of salt, and half a teaspoon of instant yeast. (it's two grams but my digital scale is only accurate to full grams) I stir it up with a silicone spatula until the dry ingredients are just absorbed, and let it sit on the counter for 20 minutes. At this point the dough ball that was on the dry side has become a little sticky. I turn it out onto a floured board and give it, really, just half a dozen turns of kneeding. No more than thirty seconds. I then cover it with sprayed cling wrap, and put the bowl in a warm place for the afternoon. Before dinner, I turn it back out onto the floured board flatten it without kneeding again, divide it into four 200 gram dough balls, using a plastic dough scraper, and pull the pieces down and in, into balls. I put the balls, tucked side down, into individual plastic storage bowls that have a hole poked in the top, and throw them into the fridge for three days (two works, as does four) If at the end of three days, it doesn't look like they are going to be used, into the freezer. I've stored them for up to three weeks successfully. Thawed frozen dough is a little more difficult to pull into pizza skins than the fresh stuff, but not that much more difficult. The main thing is that you never re-kneed the finished dough balls. Turns them into rubber bands. You want to handle the dough as little as possible at this point.

Hey, pre-made dough? It's better than take-out. The main argument against it is that it is full of oils and sugars and dough conditioners and preservatives and who knows what all. At least if you are going to use someone else's dough, stop at the local pizzaria, and buy a ball from them. Keep the money in your community.