Question for Tom Lehmann - VCM yeast

Pizza Shop Talk The Think Tank
1

Hi Tom,

I saw your post about using IDY in a VCM in the other thread and have a question about that.

In my store with a planetary mixer we hydrate the ADY in 100 degree water and the dough comes off the mixer at about 85 - it is perfect for us and it bakes exactly the way we want.

In the store with a VCM, we found that using 100 degree water for the ADY the dough would come off the mixer at about 95 degrees by the time the dough is mixed. Trying to get the dough to come off at 85 we’ve found we have to use significantly colder water in the 60 degree range. The dough is significantly tougher than at our planetary store, doesn’t quite bake up the same and it much more difficult to work with (lots of snap-back.)

Could switching to IDY fix these problems? What suggestions would you have for getting the same results on the VCM that we get with our planetary?

Thanks in advance!

2

All of th ewater doesn’t need to be 100F for hydrating the ADY, just an amount equal to roughly 4 or 5 times the weight of the ADY. So, if you are hydrating 1-ounce of ADY, you would use only 4 to 5-ounces of water, at 100F to hydrate the yeast in. The remainder of the water would be at whatever temperature (probably close to 65 to 70F) to give you a mixed dough with a finished temperature in the 80 to 85F range. It’s a common misconception that all of the water needs to be at 95F (for hydrating IDY) or 100/105F (for hydrating ADY).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

3

Thank you so much Tom! I had no idea you could do that, but that will be a great solution. I’ll be giving it a try this weekend.