Otis;
The affects of time on fermentation cannot be overestimated. Bringing the dough off of the mixer at say, 10F cooler (70F) will significantly slow the rate of fermentation necessitating a longer time in the cooler. Also, the longer time at a lower temperature affects the type of acids formed during fermentation, which will affect the finished flavor of the baked dough/crust. By allowing the dough to set out at room temperature for a longer time will affect the flavor of the crust to some extent and it will also significantly reduce the window of time available for you to use the dough in.
If you were to allow the dough to rise to some extent prior to scaling and balling, you will allow the dough to become less dense, making it more difficult to cool uniformly, if at all. I.E. The dough will continue to rise in the cooler and it would most likely “blow” by the following morning (not a good thing). BUT, in your case, you wil not be allowing the dough to set until the following day, but instead, you are planning to use the dough in about three hours time. This might work for you. Do keep in mind though that from work that Jeff and I did several years ago we found that a typical pizza dough needs 2 to 2.5 hours of total fermentation time to reduce/eliminate bubbling in the oven. You could mix a dough at 80F, then scale and ball, then put some into boxes for use after 2.5 hours at room temperature, put the rest in the cooler for say, an hour, and pull again what you will need for the next couple hours, keep repeating this as you need dough. Here is another option that you might be interested in. Manage your dough in the normal manner, overnight in the cooler, then use one of the heated shelves from PVI (Bob Brackle/800-554-7267) set the thermostat at 150F and lightly oil the shelf surface, set a bough ball on the heated shelf (right out of the cooler) then turn it over in about 45 seconds , allow the second side to warm for 45 seconds and take to the forming station to shape into a pizza skin. Works like a charm, in fact, it is being done this way by a pizza chain. You’ve got a few options to look at Otis, and don’t be afraid to make your own hybrid where you combine parts of different procedures. Remember, the main thing you need to do is to make sure your dough is getting enough fermentation to control bubbling, once you have acconplished that, you also need to make sure your dough isn’t cold when going to the oven, if it is, get ready to have fun poking bubbles on your crust as it bakes. Use the heated shelf to do away with the 90 minute tempering period. Go from cooler to heated shelf to prep area to oven.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
