im thinking of adding a multi-grain dough to my menu. anybody out there doing this. any suggestions? thanks in advance.
I am only talking from second hand info here so I would have you ask Tom about this one but the two places in my town that tried to offer a multi-grain crust only did so for a limited time and then they both quietly disappeared. The word I got from the one shop was that the dough was only good the day they made it and did not have a cooler life of 2-3 days like regular dough does. Something about toughness and an off-flavor that gets stronger over time. I guess it’s just the grains releasing their flavors. Again…not first hand but what I have heard. Talk to Tom Lehmann when he gets back from Orlando in a couple of weeks and he should be able to help you out.
We demonstrate multi-grain doughs every chance we get. A good way to make a multi-grain dough is to use your regular dough formula, and just replace 25% (1/4) of the white flour with a commercial, multi-grain blend, available from any commercial, bakery ingredients supplier. Based on the weight of multi-grain mix used, you will need to add 10% additional water to the dough. So, if you added 5-pounds of multi-grain mix to your dough, you would add 8-ounces (10% of 5-pounds) of additional water to the dough. It might feel a bit tacky after mixing, that’s normal, and it will go away as the dough ferments in the cooler. The dough will keep for two days in the cooler. Tip; Since there isn’t any gluten (to speak of) in the multi-grain mix, increase your dough scaling weights by 20% when making these multi-grain crusts.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
Caravan makes a great multi grain bagel mix that we use.