Forno Caputo dough recipe

[Richie]

Nothing like beating a dead horse, but I have more questions on the "official" recipe for dough using Caputo flour. There are so many differnt ways to make this stuff on the internet it will make your head spin, so I come back to the experts and will use Jame's recipe.

Do your proof the dry active yeast in warm water before you add the water to the flour?

Or do you throw the flour, yeast and water all at once into the mixer and let rip?

What tempature should the water be?

Do you really need to use purified bottled water?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I have a dough making party Friday before the Charity pizza party we are hosting Saturday. The one extra ingrediant I know I need for Friday night with the guys - beer!

thanks

[Dutchoven]

Re: Forno Caputo dough recipe

Richie
You can proof the yeast in the water but IMO it isn't necessary. We usually mix the dry ingredients together and then add to the water in the mixer bowl and let is go. As for the temperature of the water it is our preference to use cooler water. It will allow you to use the mixer to knead the dough with little worry of overheating and we have on occasion used water in the 40F range. IMO no need to use bottled water either, if your water has a chlorinated smell just get what you need from the tap and let it sit out overnight. If it good enough to drink straight from the tap which it very likely is then it is good enough for the dough.
Good luck and all the best!
Dutch

Nothing like beating a dead horse, but I have more questions on the "official" recipe for dough using Caputo flour. There are so many differnt ways to make this stuff on the internet it will make your head spin, so I come back to the experts and will use Jame's recipe.

Do your proof the dry active yeast in warm water before you add the water to the flour?

Or do you throw the flour, yeast and water all at once into the mixer and let rip?

What tempature should the water be?

Do you really need to use purified bottled water?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I have a dough making party Friday before the Charity pizza party we are hosting Saturday. The one extra ingrediant I know I need for Friday night with the guys - beer!

thanks

[BrianShaw]

Re: Forno Caputo dough recipe

Do your proof the dry active yeast in warm water before you add the water to the flour?

Or do you throw the flour, yeast and water all at once into the mixer and let rip?

What tempature should the water be?

Do you really need to use purified bottled water?

No.

Yes.

Lukewarm.

No, but I generally do (Sparkletts).

[texassourdough]

Re: Forno Caputo dough recipe

Hi Richie!

I have a slightly different set of comments.

WRT Yeast: use instant yeast. That way it makes absolutely no difference whether you proof it or not. Regular dry yeast benefits from proofing because it is mostly dead. The instant has a much higher live yeast content.

Yes, simply mix everything.

Lukewarm is okay, but I don't worry about it. My dough is going to sit in the fridge overnight anyway so...who cares. The big deal is that the longer the dough takes to rise (within limits) the better it will taste. I typically mix my dough, let it rise for a half hour to hour, put it on trays and cover with saran, put it in the fridge until 2 hours before I want to use it. Pull it out, let it warm and rise and...enjoy.

I personally use reverse osmosis water but that is because I have very hard water that went through a softener and is thus a bit "salty". While you should not need to use bottled or special water, I would suggest making a couple of batches with tap so you get some consistency. Then make some with bottled water of some kind and see what happens. Better, worse, indifferent? No one can answer that question but you!

Good Luck!
Jay

[BrianShaw]

Re: Forno Caputo dough recipe

WRT Yeast: use instant yeast. That way it makes absolutely no difference whether you proof it or not. Regular dry yeast benefits from proofing because it is mostly dead. The instant has a much higher live yeast content.

I hear the advise often, yet I have enver used IDY myself. Perhaps I'm a slow learner; perhaps I bought too much ADY several years ago and don't bake enough. Either is possible!

The ADY I use is almost 8 years old (kept frozen) and still seems to have sufficient potency. I got lazy about 7.5 years ago and stopped 'proofing" or even melting the ADY in water. I literally dump it all in the mixer and turn it on. I'm not sure what happens to the dead yeast cells, but the living yeast gets happy without any of the fussing I once gave it.

I read something interesting in a science-of-baking book. IDY produces almost exactly twice as much CO2 gas, in controlled experiments, as ADY. I'll bet that helps reduce rise time, etc. But does it change the rise characteristics (especially the time) when refrigerated?

[dmun]

Re: Forno Caputo dough recipe

Now here's something I've wondered about. Do we need yeast at all for pizza, or does oven spring do most of the work? I've been tempted to make a trial ball of flour, water and salt, and stretch it within a couple of hours, like they do for passover matzoh, and see if it made a decent pizza. [/heresy]

[Modthyrth]

Re: Forno Caputo dough recipe

But yeast is yummy! That said, I do really want to try the matzoh recipe that was posted. My daughter has been asking me to buy it since she got to try some at school, and I'll bet it's a ton better than the limited selection available in grocery stores around here (who knows how long it's been on the shelves at my local grocer).

I use James' dough recipe by weight, and use IDY and water from our reverse osmosis system. As for technique, I dump it all in my bread machine and push the dough cycle button. An hour and a half later, voila, pizza dough. It's incredibly easy, but I'll have to come up with another plan when I need to make more than about 12 dough balls.

[texassourdough]

Re: Forno Caputo dough recipe

While most recipes don't distinguish between types of yeast the fact is that instant yeast does rise faster so needs less yeast than regular. But it isn't rocket science! And when you pull your dough balls 2 hours before baking - that is the start of baking. Some may sit out for 4 hours. No big deal.

WRT no yeast, the dough will definitely rise more with properly fermented yeast for theree will be mroe CO2 in the dough. But...there are good flatbread/cracker pizzas!

One last comment, Nikki! I strongly encourage you to make some dough the day before and put it in the fridge over night and use that batch and a fresh batch side by side. And you can decide which tastes better!

Bake On!
Jay

[Modthyrth]

Re: Forno Caputo dough recipe

Oh, I know that a long rise gives the yeast a chance to do its thing and tastes amazing. I just haven't gotten around to it yet, but I certainly intend to!