ive seen some posts on the heated dough presses, but does anyone have any experience with the cold presses from Univex or Sigma that spin the dough to mimic the hands of a pizza maker?
I’d love to know if they work well, what types of dough they work best with, and any issues or problems they might have.
i have no clients using those type units. so I can not comment.
George Mills
We had one for demo at one of our pizza seminars at AIB a number of years ago. The dough has to be fine tuned to the use of the machine but once this is accomplished it seems to work pretty well but not as fast as opening by hand.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
I’m very surprised that opening by hand is faster? The demos I’ve seen on YouTube look much faster than I can open by hand.
I was told by a rep 65% hydration dough works fine in this machine. I was surprised to hear that.
Tom or George, is there a press or spreading system you like or would recommend? I am looking for consistency without compromising the end product much. The sheeter is a “no go” for me. The heated presses look like they might work okay with the right dough but I’m not sure.
The best options I’ve found seem to be this Sprizza unit or the heated cuppone press, but I’m unaware of other models if they exist. Unfortunately, the only place I can try the Sprizza is at the headquarters in New Hampshire - not an easy thing to make happen…
Most all of our clients use two pass dough rollers then finish off by hand.
George Mills
Boy have times changed - a dough press in Brooklyn? Is the demand for pizza exceeding the # of skilled pizza makers or is your concept a chain like thing? Growing up in the NYC area during 50’s-70’s a pizza maker job was hard to get and you had to work your way up through the ranks and be family or close friends to family.
Hotsauce;
You definitely want to look up my article on different dough opening processes in the “In Lehmann’s Terms” archives as each method of opening the dough imparts different visual and textural characteristics to the finished crust so none of the methods (hot press, cold press, sheeted/rolled, or hand opened can be substituted without imparting a change to the finished crust. Add to that the fact that all types of dough cannot be opened by all of the processes and some processes, especially the pressed process, may require the use of a reducing agent in the dough (RS-190/dead yeast or L-cysteine/PZ-44) to control dough memory/snap-back after pressing. Plus each method typically requires specific formulation requirements/considerations which may not be compatible with the type of pizza you’re making.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
I’m just a believer in advances of technology. I’m a pretty good pizzamaker but even I’m not always consistent. My goal is to increase productivity and provide a more consistent pie.
Unfortunately, no one in my area has a Sprizza to try.
L-cysteine/PZ-44
so just out of curiosity I googled this stuff…anyone bother to look up how it’s made???
L-cysteine the active ingredient in PZ-44 it synthesized out of human hair!!! it’s people…IT’S PEOPLE!!!
o_O and people wonder why everyone has cancer.