Perfect Pizza Dough by Weight

[Ken524]

Re: Perfect Pizza Dough by Weight

Alrighty! We just finished cleaning up from our big pizza birthday party. We had 10 adults and 10 kids, so it was a really nice size crowd.

Yesterday we made 5 batches of dough with the Caputo. The only change I made from the FB recipe was using 10gr of salt instead of 20gr. After the initial rise we made 24 pizza balls, placed them in large Rubbermaid containers, sifted a bit of flour on top and put them in the fridge.

This afternoon the dough was as soft as silk. Really amazing. It handled 100% better than the last batch that had olive oil on them. I was able to make larger pies with less dough.

Of course, everyone raved about the pizza. Everyone made their own. I had to keep reminding everyone "Less toppings!". The teenagers showed little restraint, they showed up at the oven with pies heaped high with toppings. I just popped them in near the entrance of the oven where the floor was cooler. Without the oil, the Caputo handled the long cooking times extremely well. So all turned out fine.

Time for a beer.

One more quick question: How do you keep the dough balls from sticking together in the Tupperware? The first few balls came out fine, but as things warmed up outside, they started sticking together. Sift more flour on them before refrigerating?

[james]

Re: Perfect Pizza Dough by Weight

With a properly sized plastic container dough balls don't skin up.

That's right. If you do get is little skin, flip your dough ball over and use the soft underside and the pizza top.
James

[james]

Re: Perfect Pizza Dough by Weight

I really depends on the flour you are using. If you are going to the effort of using Caputo flour, definitely do not use olive oil. I can't tell you how many times pro's and restaurant owners have told me that. You don't need oil for the flavor when you use Caputo flour, and it can get in the way of making an extensible dough -- so that it is actually a negative.

James

[dmun]

Re: Perfect Pizza Dough by Weight

Oil in the dough promotes browning, you may not need it in the wood fired oven. I agree with oiling the ball. With a properly sized plastic container dough balls don't skin up.

[Ed_]

Re: Perfect Pizza Dough by Weight

Just to be clear, it's OK to mix a couple of Tbls of EVOO into the dough, right?

I've had good luck with a bit of oil in the dough, although I agree about not coating the ball. Of course my experience thus far is in the kitchen oven, so take it with a grain or two of salt.

Ed

[Ken524]

Re: Perfect Pizza Dough by Weight

And avoid the oil on the dough ball -- it seems to sink in and make the skin of the ball tough.

I concur with that. When we were making pizza's the other night, my Mom was forming her dough and commented "Which side should be up? The side with the skin or the soft side". So there you go!

Just to be clear, it's OK to mix a couple of Tbls of EVOO into the dough, right?

[james]

Re: Perfect Pizza Dough by Weight

I agree with both of those. And avoid the oil on the dough ball -- it seems to sink in and make the skin of the ball tough.

Let us know how it goes.
James

[Ken524]

Re: Perfect Pizza Dough by Weight

Thanks for all the great advice! I now have a good idea which direction I need to go. Sounds like if I up the hydration a smidge and refridge the balls overnight I should be in good shape.

[gjbingham]

Re: Perfect Pizza Dough by Weight

I did a half-recipe from the e-book, by weight, last weekend using bread flour vs. Caputo for just two pizzas. I halved all the weights and ended up with an overly dry dough. I added water till the consistency seemed right. Set aside for bulk raising with a light coat of spray oil, cut and formed dough balls, then hit them again with spray oil. 3 hours later, perfectly handling dough. Nice crust on baking too.

[dmun]

Re: Perfect Pizza Dough by Weight

I'd scoot the hydration up to 63 per cent (630 per 1000, 315 per 500), and knock the IDY down to 2 percent (1/2 t per 500). I mix the dry ingredients, add the water, stir with a silicon spatula until the flour is just absorbed. I let it sit 20 minutes to let the water soak in, at this point it's just a little sticky. I kneed it a few turns, really, just 30 seconds or so until I don't feel any big lumps, with minimal bench flour. If it sticks to your bench or hands, use the silicon spatula to get it loose, and another tiny sprinkle of flour. I tuck it under into a ball, and let it rise in a warm place for 3 hours with cling wrap over the ball, until doubled, or a cool place overnight. I then divide it into four (or 8) 200 gram balls (I know that's on the small size) and store it in round plastic containers for 2 or three days in the fridge. Long retardation makes gluten structure just as well as much kneeding, and develops additional flavor to boot.

Just what I do.

[Dutchoven]

Re: Perfect Pizza Dough by Weight

Ken
Have to ask where are you doing this final proof? In pizza boxes, on a counter, in ziploc containers? We are firm believers in making that final step happen overnight in the fridge. Our technique is basically the same as yours with the exception of that we divide the dough into balls and round them, then allow them to rest for 20 to 30 minutes, round into balls again and refridgerate overnight. We use pizzeria boxes and when the dough goes in it goes in without any oil on it and then we spray oil the tops to keep them from sticking(nothing on the bottom though because you want them to go up not out...the out makes for a tougher dough I have found and that may be what happened for you). We remove them about an hour or so before using. Ours is quite easily shapeable...check out the photos in the "pizza party" thread I posted last week...the pizza I spun in that one picture was about 40 seconds or so of stretching
Hope this helps!
Dutch

This should get this thread back on subject ...

I was just informed that I'm throwing a pizza party on Sunday for about 20 (I guess our pizza adventures this past weekend impressed my spouse).

I have a couple of dough questions. I used ASUDaveW's dough recipe Friday afternoon (500gr Bread Flour/300gr/10gr/3gr) with good success. The only concern I had was it was a bit tough to shape; a little rubbery (after cooking, it was awesome).

I mixed a double recipe, let it rise a couple of hours, formed dough balls, let it rise another 2 hours. I coated the dough balls with EVOO to keep them from sticking together.

Could the EVOO have caused the dough to be rubbery and tough to form? Maybe I didn't have quite enough water? In Dave's video, his dough seems to stretch paper thin with little effort (I realize a lot of that is skill).

What I would like to do for next Sunday is mix the dough and make the balls on Friday or Saturday and pop them in the fridge. I'm planning on pulling out all the stops and using my treasured stash of Caputo Tipo 00, so I don't want to screw this up!

Any advice??

Thanks a million!

[Ed_]

Re: Perfect Pizza Dough by Weight

I think leaving it in the fridge for a couple of days will only help, especially with the flavor. As George says, it's easier to work with when it warms.

I don't think the oil is probably causing any trouble. The recipe I've had good success with recently actually includes a little oil, as well as a bit of sugar. I'm sure you don't want to do anything rash and use your 20 guests as guinea pigs, but I'll include the recipe here with credit to Peter Reinhart (see the Apr/May 2008 Fine Cooking magazine, probably still on the newsstands):

1 lb. flour
2 tsp. sugar or honey
1 1/2 tsp table salt
1 1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 1/2 Tbsp EVOO

Mix the above, then add 11 fl. oz. water. Mix, rest 5 minutes, knead, form in balls, refrigerate (8 hours to 3 days). You know the rest of the drill. Enough for about 4 individual-sized pizzas. I'm too lazy to do the metric conversions to compare to Dave's.

[gjbingham]

Re: Perfect Pizza Dough by Weight

I doubt it Ken. Make sure the dough is at room temp. Press it out into 5 inch disks, more or less. Let it sit a few minutes. Try Dave's technique. If the dough is too elastic, cover it and give it some more time. Try again. It should loosen up.

Anyone else?

[Ken524]

Re: Perfect Pizza Dough by Weight

This should get this thread back on subject ...

I was just informed that I'm throwing a pizza party on Sunday for about 20 (I guess our pizza adventures this past weekend impressed my spouse).

I have a couple of dough questions. I used ASUDaveW's dough recipe Friday afternoon (500gr Bread Flour/300gr/10gr/3gr) with good success. The only concern I had was it was a bit tough to shape; a little rubbery (after cooking, it was awesome).

I mixed a double recipe, let it rise a couple of hours, formed dough balls, let it rise another 2 hours. I coated the dough balls with EVOO to keep them from sticking together.

Could the EVOO have caused the dough to be rubbery and tough to form? Maybe I didn't have quite enough water? In Dave's video, his dough seems to stretch paper thin with little effort (I realize a lot of that is skill).

What I would like to do for next Sunday is mix the dough and make the balls on Friday or Saturday and pop them in the fridge. I'm planning on pulling out all the stops and using my treasured stash of Caputo Tipo 00, so I don't want to screw this up!

Any advice??

Thanks a million!

[Frances]

Re: Perfect Pizza Dough by Weight

Well, cooked in a perfect oven... we're not that far off subject, are we?