PS;
When we encounter unusually low yeast levels it is usually due to a fault in the dough management process, such as allowing the dough to sit out of the cooler too long before taking it to the cooler, or failure to cross stack the dough boxes. In essentially all cases, it was observed initially, that the dough would be blown, so the knee jerk reaction was to reduce the yeast level to a point where the dough didn’t blow anymore. So far, so good, but now the yeast level is so low that the dough doesn’t rise as well as it should during baking, and the low yeast level doesn’t provide sufficient yeast for good fermentation. Without sufficient fermentation, the dough will exhibit a pronounced tendency to bubble, no matter what you do, it will bubble. Other tell tale signs can be edges that don’t rise as well as they should, and a center section that tends to be rather dense and compact worst of all, a gum line across the center section of the pizza. To ascertain just why you are using a relatively low yeast level, we would need to have a close look at your complete dough management procedure. Then again, maybe that low yeast level just makes the finished pizza that your customers want.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
