I had a Nick-N-Willy’s pizza recently and the pizza crust was really good. I saw the ones in the recipe page within this site, but was wondering if anyone has had any experience with the Nick-N-Willy’s crust and, if so, is it as good as the ones on here?
I would like to try to make some of the dough on this site, but I’ll be making just enough dough for the wife and I to experiment with. If I reduce the ingredients to a fraction of what these big batches call for, will it turn out the same?
Yes, using the Baker’s %, you can make any size batch.
For smaller batches, the math is simple, the measurement takes a little more. Especially for IDY, convert to grams, 1 oz. equals 28 grams.
I use a digital scale from Wal-Mart, cost about $30.
If you need 1/4 ounce of IDY, you can put the scale on grams, and measure out 7 grams. It’s a little more accurate that way. Also, I think each package contains 1/4 ounce.
I hope that helps.
Guest;
I’ve got one posted in the RECIPE BANK that is based on a sponge-dough syatem. When we developed it and did some consumer testing with it it blew the socks off of P.M.'s take and bake pizza. We don’t have a N & W near us so I can say how it will compare.
As for making small batches, all of my dough formulas are given if bakers percent so it is very easy to effectively and accurately reduce the size of the dough to just about any size you want. Since you will be making something on the order of a pound or so of dough you wil need to have an accurate scale that weighs in grams, and then you will need to have a steady hand too as the amounts will be quite small, and even a fraction of a gram (remember, there are roughly 28.4 grams in an ounce) error in scaling weight can be of a significant magnitude. For example, if the weight of an ingredient is 1-gram, your scale must be accurate to within 0.1 gram. Even at this, 0.1 gram is a 10% error. That’s the problem in dealing with small size formulas. It can be done, we do it all the time here, but you need to have the right equipment or you won’t learn a thing from all of your work, much less be able to repeat it.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
I had a Nick N Willy’s once and do not recall anything particular about it, except that it was good.
I feel your pain about doing small batches at home and I replied about the digital scale.
After sleeping on it last night, I will share with you what I wish I knew when I got started.
Those little envelopes of yeast, either instant or active, regardless of brand, have 1/4 oz. or 7 grams of yeast. I use instant yeast because it is easier and I think the results are as good.
Here is the formula*, in Baker’s %, that I often use, measured so that it requires exactly 7 grams of instant dry yeast (IDY), so you can use the envelope and do not have to measure the yeast, which is the most difficult to measure for small batches.
flour* 100 % 50 oz, or 3 lbs, 2 oz
water 55 % 27.5 oz, or 1 lb, 11.5 oz
salt 2 % 1 oz
IDY .5 % .25 oz, or 7 g, exactly what’s in the envelope !
this is a simple formula that works for me. many formulas add oil and sugar, see recipe bank if you want to add them and follow directions.
I coat the dough balls in olive oil just before refrigerating them
*higher protein flour is better, like bread flour, about 13% protein, all purpose is about 10%
I recommend kneading that amout by hand. That is on the upper end of what an average person can do by hand, I usually do about half of that by hand. That will yeild you 78 3/4 ounce dough ball that you can divide into almost 5 1 lb. dough balls. 1 lb. dough ball will sheet into roughly a 14" pizza, give or take how thick you want your crust.
You still need a scale to weigh out your other stuff, besides the IDY.
The other stuff does not come in small premeasured containers.
If you want some tips I have learned about kneading, just ask.
I set up a pizzeria in Quartzite, AZ, the planetary mixer arm broke on the second batch, it took a while to get another one, so we kneaded all out dough by hand for over a month. Fortunately, we were not so busy, still did 20-30 pizzas daily by hand kneading. Needless to say, I got better at hand kneading. The other benefit is that you can get the feel of the dough and know better when it is adequately kneaded. Hand kneaders rarely over-knead.
Get about 6 oz of sauce and 8 oz of cheese for each pizza and enjoy,
have a party !
Tom,
Does Nick N Willy’s use the sponge-dough technique ? I had their pizza before and it was good.
Also, I could not find the sponge-dough system recipe in the Recipe Bank.
I thought I had seen it before, did not find it today.
What name is it under ?
I looked under take n bake formula.
Otis