crunchy/soft dough

[velvet]

Hey guys, last night.I had a customer complaint about crust being too hard.to.bite into… Normally, I would.say.sorry.and.next time try DOMINOS,but…! my thoughts were exactly the same! we have a deck oven how would i make the dough to be crunchy and u bite into it but soft inside, like as if u bite into a loaft of fresh baked bread))

P.s. We got busier recently, so what i started doing is take the doughballs out of the trays and dip them into semolina- that way all i have to do when its busy is grab the doughball and strech- saves ton of time, but seem to make “hard crust” issue only worse.
any ideas???

 

[GotRocks]

without knowing your dough formula, and flour used, it is difficult to determine where your problem exists

 

[Bluebird]

I’ve had that complaint as well. One particular customer requests “not too crispy”, so we just take it out sooner. We bake on the well done side, and I see their point. Once in a while I bake mine on the light side to change it up. Good both ways, but most people prefer the crispier. Increasing the oil in your formula will soften the finished crust.

 

[velvet]

We used to make our own dough, but for a while i was struggling to find help and was overwhelmed by the amout of prep had to do myself or with very little help so we subcontracted a dough componey that makes dough according to our recepie - saved a ton of time and agrevation,but not only dough isnt the same as we would make it inhouse,but also inconsistent altogether…

 

[Tom_Lehmann]

Knowing your dough formula and dough management procredure as well as baking conditions would sure help in answering your question/identifying a potential solution so I’ll make a few comments that address the subject in very broad terms.

1. If your dough absorption is under 50%, try increasing it in 5% increments. This will help to increase oven spring of the dough resulting in a more tended bite.
2. Increase the fat content of the dough to at least 4%. This will have a tenderizing effect upon the finished crust making it more tender eating/softer to bite through.
3. Increase the baking temperature to reduce the bake time. Many times a long bake time will excessively dry out the crust resulting in the type of complaints you are receiving.
4. Add sugar to your dough formula, about 3 to 4% should be sufficient. This will cause the dough to brown faster during baking, thus leading you to removing the pizza from the oven sooner (less bake) to reduce the problem.
5. If the semolina flour that you are rolling the dough balls in prior to opening them is causing the dough to dry and skin over this might be a contributing factor. Try a few dough balls without the added semolina flour to see if it improves the finished crust.
   Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor