Hi everyone I have a few questions regarding dough management.
What is the benefit derived from keeping dough balls in those special tubs as opposed to sheet pans in a walk in rolling rack? I’ve been working part time at a place and they put balls on sheet t trays right into cooler.
What is importance of tight dough ball especially if I’m using sheeter?
Does anyone use a dough rounder? Is it worth it to you? How do you think it would handle an oilier dough like Chicago deep dish?
RG;
The only benefit of using a dough box as opposed to a sheet pan is that the dough boxes and be sealed to prevent drying while sheet pans should be placed in a food contact approved plastic bag which has a cost over time. When using the dough boxes you can also pull just the number of box you will need rather than a whole rack or cabinet of sheet pans. With extended storage the dough is easier to control in the dough boxes too. One big advantage of using sheet pans wrapped in a plastic bag is that when properly done, the dough balls don’t need to be cross stacked whereas when using dough boxes they need to be cross stacked for consistent cooling of the dough balls. Tight or loose dough ball rounding isn’t an issue if you are managing your dough within 36-hours, but if you go beyond that it is suggested that you use tight rounding to better allow the dough balls to hold their shape and not all flow toghther as the dough slowly ferments in the cooler. The mechanical dough rounders are a great asset if you are rounding a lot of dough. It is recommended that a dough be cut, scaled, rounded and in the cooler within 20-minutes of taking the dough off of the mixer. Two trained bench hands can do this with a dough based on 50-pounds of flour without much of a problem. However, you can have two unskilled or partially skilled people do the same thing with east using a dough rounder. The rounders will handle your dough without any problem at all. Another big asset of the rounder is that it is portable, is never late to work, never calls in sick, and is always fast. With only four pieces to it they are also a snap to clean too.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
An alternative to dough bags would be 24" plastic wrap that comes in a 2000’? roll. This is around $30, but lasts us a few weeks. Dough management is easy with dough racks and aluminum trays - don’t have to worry about cross stacking, etc.
Dur;
Excellent point with the plastic wrap, but for the most part it is a single use product whereas the bags covering the sheet pans cvan normally be stripped from the pans of dough and placed into a suitable container for reuse. Unless the health department takes issue, (you can’t fight city hall) I have used the bags over a one week period before replacing them weekly. I’ve never done a comparison of the cost of bags v/s plastic wrap when the bags are reused multiple times, but if the bags are used only once and discarded, the plastic wrap will probably come out the winner. We even demonstrate the use of individual bread bage for storing the dough in during our annual pizza seminar here in Manhattan, Kansas every year. The bread bags are very low cost and are easy to reuse, but COULD be more expensive than plastic wrap if not reused… Any bakery supplier will be able to provide prices for 0.65 to 1.0-mil thickness bread bags sold by the case of 1,000. The bags normally sell for about $35.00 a case.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
Tom I saw an interview on YouTube where you said dried herbs are the cause behind heart burn in pizza. Does that apply to garlic powder too? Again thanks.
Not that we have seen. The main culprits seem to be dried basil and oregano. Try it some time and you’ll see what I mean. When we have used the fresh herbs (green leaf) people have also commented on the cheese and askes us what type or brand we are using because it tastes so good. Truth is we were using Grande whole milk mozzarella but without the dried herbs so they could actually taste the tomato in the sauce and the cheese on top of the pizza. This has lead us to believe that this might possibly be the reason why we are seeing the amount of cheese on the pizzas creeping up over the years.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
Aha I wonder what the science is behind it. I made my first batch of sauce with fresh basil and oregano yesterday and first off so much more tomato flavor comes through. I’m making a Chicago sweet thick sauce that I plan on using for both deep dish and thin crust. It’ll be interesting to see how it tastes after a few days chilled.
RG;
I don’t know what the scvience behind it is but if you put a fresh leaf of basil in your mouth you get one flavor and if you put a small amount of dried basil in your mouth you get an entirely different flavor, whatever it is that causes the basil or oregano to turn so pungent during drying is the culprit.
Have you ever tried making bruchetta with dried basil? Hard to imagine.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
Tom,
What size bag would you recommend for a full sheet pan so that the bag will fit over and seal closed somehow? With that in mind, how do you recommend sealing the bag closed? Tuck it under the dough, tape it? Never used them for this purpose before. Do I want a gusseted bag, or not? So many options!
Dan;
I can’t say what the bag size is, but the bun pan is 18 X 26 so you will need a bag that is a bit wider and at least 8-inches longer. The best way to seal the bag closed is to slide the bagged sheet pan of dough into a rack and then pull the top of the bag down over the end of the sheet pan, pick up the bottom of the bag that is hanging off of the end of the sheet pan and fold it over the top of the sheet pan, bring the two sides around the sides of the sheet pan and tuck them under the sheet pan. In summary: Down, up, around and under. As you empty a sheet pan of dough balls, toss the bag(s) into a clean bucket or dough box to be reused. One of the other Think Tankers might be able to provide you with more specific information on the exact bag to order.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor