We seem to be getting very inconsistent dough from our M802. Sometimes it rises and sometimes it doesn’t. We are using IDY yeast. The process is water, salt and sugar, yeast and then flour. Mix for about 2 minutes on speed 1 and add oil Then another 6 minutes on speed 2.
We have a spiral mixer at the other location, using the same recipe with the only exception being that we do water, flour, then salt and sugar. Mix for 30 seconds on reverse, then 2.5 minutes on speed 1, add oil, then speed 2 for 8 minutes.
Is it the mixer? Or is the salt killing the yeast due to the process being flour last? I’m down to these 2 options before saying it’s the mixer and throwing in the towel and getting another spiral mixer.
Picture attached has the planetary mixer pizza closest, then the spiral mixer pizza furthest away
I guess I should also clarify that when we do dough, we cut, round, flour, and bag. Then straight to the walk-in to rise for 2 days before use.
Rob, typically when we are making dough it’s before open so there hasn’t been any humidity from equipment yet. Are you saying it could be too cold or too warm when mixing?
What is the temperature of the dough when it comes out of the mixer at each location?
Each mixer will have a different affect on the temperature based on the friction during mixing. You may need to adjust the temperature of the water you are using to get the final temperature you desire.
I would also add the salt after the flour.
I don’t typically temp it when it comes out of the mixer. If I have drop guess it’s probably around 60 degrees To keep the dough from being sticky we do straight cold water. Weve always done it this way without an issue. When we’ve tried using warm water the dough balls are pretty sticky and and blow up too fast. We try to have 700-800 larges ready for Friday which take some time to proof in the walk in.
I agree, the salt, sugar and yeast should be going on after the flour is in.
We bought the mixer used on eBay and have had a number of repairs, wondering if it could be the mixer? Obviously the dough process needs to be fixed as well.
Oh my, as I’ve said so many time before “Without temperature control you cannot have effective dough management” As Daddio has alluded to, you might be paying the price for not controlling the finished (mixed) dough temperature in the form of poor or inconsistent dough performance. I would suggest targeting a finished dough temperature of 75 to 80F, and then adding the IDY into the flour (not into the water), just sprinkle it onto the flour and begin mixing, after 2-minutes at low speed add the oil and mix one more minute at low speed, then mix 8 to 10-minutes at medium speed.
Adjust the finished dough temperature by adjusting the dough water temperature (start out with 70F water). You will want to have the same finished dough temperature at both stores regardless of the type of mixer used. If you have a reach-in cooler at one or both of your stores you should DECREASE the targeted finished dough temperature by 5F. If you would like to have a copy of my Dough Management Procedure just email me at thedoughdoctor@hotmail.com and I’ll be glad to send you a copy. By the way, the type of mixer used is not responsible for the dough not rising, in this case it might be due to finished dough temperature being too low or damage to the yeast by putting it directly into the water.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
Turns out it is something to do with the mixer. We decided to stop using it and use dough from our other location. No issues whatsoever now. Now the only issue is we have 8-10 weeks to wait until the new mixer arrives. I’ve attached some photos from the old mixer dough and other store mixer dough. Huge differencehttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20181231/a36a59c700737d6e2d6325e60e604450.jpg
