Dough is great but needs a little something

R

ravikoth

New member
Hi Guys,

The dough turned out great with nice air pockets and a chewy texture, however the problem is that it lacks the Air and the crunch, the rim is pronounced and well developed however is a little breadlike and is tough, and gives a feeling of eating fatigue when chewed.
i have a feeling that the butter is causing the problem, this because when i used 4% oil and when i used the pizza cutter on the pizza, it gave a crunch as i ran the wheel through the crust. and now with the butter there definitely was not much crunch.
What do you pro’s think, should i bump up the hydration to 60% , my dough can handle it, and should i bring the oil to a little less than 4% and use olive oil? i am still in the dark regarding the optimum level of oil.
any ideas’

Thanks & regards
Ravikoth
 
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whats your mix time? The longer you mix the dough the chewier it becomes. I mix at 12 mins and works great.
 
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Hi Guys,
Thanks for all the insight, yes i was using butter and honey, however in my last batch i replaced it with oil & sugar, the crust turned out marvelous at 3% oil, however there was still a slight hint of toughness, but much lower than was experienced with butter, so i now plan to increase oil to 4% and then try. i see dough formulations with upto 7% oil, and was wondering if anyone here has any experience with that kind of an oil level.
and yes i use the mixer to mix until the dough is just bright & shiny no further, any advice on this procedure?
thank & regards
ravikoth
 
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The target temperature of the dough can be correlated to the texture. Measure the dough temperature during mixing. About 28C (82F) is a finished temperature used by many people. A higher temperature will make the dough softer.\

Another way is to take a golf ball size piece and spread it apart with your thumbs. If it stretches smoothly without cracking, it’s done.

Hey, your dough is half of your pizza. Experimenting is fun. However, once you’re done experimenting, you have to be consistent with the formula you choose. People expect it to be the same, always, without question, and under no circumstances should it ever be different, and don’t change it, and…

More hydration will give you more air pockets and crispness. Try 61 or 62%. It depends on your humidity, too. It may feel a little sticky, but try it. You won’t die. Dough is cheap.
 
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Hi Pizza_Garden,
Thanks for that input, my dough is out of the mixer at 79F, and then by the time it is scaled and rounded they are between 83-84F, at 58% hydration the dough is easy to manage, should i bump up the hydration to 60%, i guess proof is in the eating. thanks for all the inputs guys, should be able to try the 4% oil and 60% hydration and post by this weekend.
Thanks all.
and god bless.
ravikoth
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pizza_garden:
The target temperature of the dough can be correlated to the texture. Measure the dough temperature during mixing. About 28C (82F) is a finished temperature used by many people. A higher temperature will make the dough softer.\

Another way is to take a golf ball size piece and spread it apart with your thumbs. If it stretches smoothly without cracking, it’s done.

Hey, your dough is half of your pizza. Experimenting is fun. However, once you’re done experimenting, you have to be consistent with the formula you choose. People expect it to be the same, always, without question, and under no circumstances should it ever be different, and don’t change it, and…

More hydration will give you more air pockets and crispness. Try 61 or 62%. It depends on your humidity, too. It may feel a little sticky, but try it. You won’t die. Dough is cheap.
Click to expand...
 
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Ravi;
The switch between oil and butter should have no affect on crispiness, unless we’re talking about putting it in a pan as opposed to putting it in the dough as we are discussing here. The use of honey or sugar, on the other hand, can/will have a significant impact upon crispiness as you will get less crispiness when sugar or honey is added to the dough formulation. The reason for this is due to the fact that the sugar/honey will significantly contribute to the crust color characteristics of the baking dough/crust, which resulta in the pizza being removed from the oven when the crust is nice and brown, but it hasn’t been baked to optimum crispiness. Without any added sugar/honey, you will be forced to bake the pizza longer to get the desired crust color, making for a drier, crispier finished crust. Also, even a slightly underbaked crust will exhibit somewhat tougher than normal eating properties. If your crust is still eating too tough, try switching to a lower protein content flour. Actually, something in the 11 to 12.5% protein content can make a pretty decent crispy crust without the undesirable tough eating characteristics exhibited by the higher protein content flours normally used in pizza production. Keep in mind that we are talking about “dine-in” characteristics here, not carry-out or delivery pizza characteristics. Carry-out/delivered pizzas are almost always characterized by a soft, less than crispy crust that has what many describe as an undesirable tough, chewy eating characteristic.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
 
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Tom Lehmann:
Ravi;
The switch between oil and butter should have no affect on crispiness, unless we’re talking about putting it in a pan as opposed to putting it in the dough as we are discussing here. The use of honey or sugar, on the other hand, can/will have a significant impact upon crispiness as you will get less crispiness when sugar or honey is added to the dough formulation. The reason for this is due to the fact that the sugar/honey will significantly contribute to the crust color characteristics of the baking dough/crust, which resulta in the pizza being removed from the oven when the crust is nice and brown, but it hasn’t been baked to optimum crispiness. Without any added sugar/honey, you will be forced to bake the pizza longer to get the desired crust color, making for a drier, crispier finished crust. Also, even a slightly underbaked crust will exhibit somewhat tougher than normal eating properties. If your crust is still eating too tough, try switching to a lower protein content flour. Actually, something in the 11 to 12.5% protein content can make a pretty decent crispy crust without the undesirable tough eating characteristics exhibited by the higher protein content flours normally used in pizza production. Keep in mind that we are talking

about “dine-in” characteristics here, not carry-out or delivery pizza characteristics. Carry-out/delivered pizzas are almost always characterized by a soft, less than crispy crust that has what many describe as an undesirable tough, chewy eating characteristic.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
Click to expand...
Thanks Tom,
That was an excellent insight. i however have a sticky situation, wherein almost half of my sales are delivery customers, what formulation then would you recommend then for a crust that will provide a good delivery experience.
regards
ravikoth
 
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Ravi;
About the best thing I can suggest is to delete any sugar, milk, or eggs from the dough formulation, to prevent early browning of the crust. Give the pizza a good, solid bake, use a ripple sheet, or plastic mat under the pizza to hold it up off of the bottom of the box, and have a well ventilated box. That’s about all you can do. You cannot compare dine-in pizzas to DELCO pizzas. This is where take and bake as well as bake to rise pizzas step in to fill the quality gap.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
 
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Hello tom,
Thanks for your advice, i am just running a test batch for the same, what oil level would you recommend for delivery style pizza?
regards
ravikoth
 
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