?_Lehmann:

[system]

Tom,

I have been reading your column for a number of years in Pizza Today. I have learned so much from you. I have been formulating my dough recipe at home and I am now ready to open a pizzeria.

I have rented a space and it is nearly built out. I have developed the following recipe.
I really like the way the dough tastes. I have never made it up in large bathes. I have a Thunderbird 3 speed mixer, 30 qt. I thought I would mix 25 lbs of flour at a time.

Would you give me your opinion on mix times, potential problems, etc. As you can see the sugar content is high. I read your standard mixing procedures in PMQ. Many Thanks.
Sincerely,
Tony Uva

Recipe

Flour 100% Gen Mills All Trumps
Water 53%
Yeast Active Dry 1.6% (Red Star)
Sugar 9.3%
Salt 1.6%
Oil, (vegetable) 6%
Honey 6%

Mixed on Home Kitchen Aid mixer, dough hook, 6.5 minutes on speed 2
Finish dough temp 80 degrees
Retard in cooler at least 12 hours. Let stand ½ hour at room temp before using.

 

[Tom_Lehmann]

Stating that the sugar content is high is sorta like saying a T-Rex might not make the best house pet.
Your total sugar is at 15.3% of the flour weight, and considering that 6% of that is honey, which is sweeter than sucrose (table sugar) your total sweetness in comparable to something in the 16% sugar range. This is sweeter than a McDonalds hamburger bun.
This also explaing your high yeast level too (almost three times normal for a pizza dough). With the 6% oil level, you have actually passed into the realm of a lean pastry dough, much like would be used for making commercial cinnamon rolls. I’m not saying you’re wrong with what you are doing, I’m just stating the facts. This will be a totally different type of pizza for sure.
Regarding the 30-quart mixer. This is way too small for use in a shop, and 25-pounds of flour is pushing it too far. You will be much better off using not more than 20-pounds of flour, or my personal recommendation is to get a decent 60 or 80-quart mixer.
When it comer to baking your pizza, you wil most likely need to bake at a fairly low temperature, something in the 425 to 450F range would be about right. Then too, don’t look for a lot of crispiness. If you get much crispiness, it won’t last long due to the hydroscopic nature of the sugars.
Have you tried substituting a whole wheat flour for the All Trumps? With your formula, I would thing it might make a pretty good whole wheat crust. You would need to increase the water to about 60% or a little more with whole wheat flour. The dough will be a bit on the tacky side, but that is normal for a whole wheat dough.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor