Hello Tom:
Thirty years ago I was taught by an old Italian baker how to make par-baked pizza crusts.
I would prepare dough & bake the shells early in the AM to be baked into pizzas later.
These were tho old Italian style square & rectangular shells.
They were absolutely incredible.
The shells were so tender and light that even 8 hours after baking you could fold it into quarters and it would unfold and normally after a few seconds it returned to normal with no fold lines showing.
After adding toppings and baking, these shells turned into the most delicious pizzas, crisp & light yet with enough structural integrity to hold up under substantial toppings.
Here’s the problem.
I was taught to measure the flour and water by volume with a prticular container I had in my pizzeria way back then.
I hope you can help me duplicate this fine product if I describe the process I was taught.
I would like to be able to use the “Baker’s formula” so I can alter batch sizes.
1] I was taught to use the blocks of yeast which I “measured” by eye cut & placed in the warm water in the hobart mixer bowl. I would prefer to use the newer style yeast that needs no refrigeration & can be mixed with out proofing.
2] After the yeast began to “cook” I would measure my flour by volume into the bowl, add a little salt, again by eye, and mix.
3] After the dough was nearly done mixing I would stop mixing and cut off a piece of dough to save for the next day’s dough. This piece would be refrigerated until then, and I would take yesterday’s piece out of the cooler and cut it into smaller pieces. I would turn on the mixer & add those small pieces of yesterday’s dough one at a time.
4] I would then add olive oil by eye and mix until it was incorporated.
5] Now the dough is done mixing I would splash a small amount of oil into the bowl & roll the dough so it was completely coated. The bowl would be covered with cloth and left to rise.
That’s the process I was taught.
After rising in the bowl, the dought was weighed & balled & left to rise in pine proof boxes
on floured cloths. { I weighed & balled by hand, but the old baker did it by machine}
After rising in the proof boxes they were “slapped down”, and hand pressed into the pizza pans. { I did this by hand, but the old baker did with a “pizza press”}
[In the pizzeria I will open, I will be using a dough divder/rounder and a pizza press]
I’m at retirement age and have had five children and five grandchildren since my pizzeria was open.
But, I guess you never get the dough out of your blood.
I’m working on my business plan to open again.
If you can help me with a recipe to produce those wonderful pizza shells I would be most grateful.
Thanks
rabtj (Tom)
Thirty years ago I was taught by an old Italian baker how to make par-baked pizza crusts.
I would prepare dough & bake the shells early in the AM to be baked into pizzas later.
These were tho old Italian style square & rectangular shells.
They were absolutely incredible.
The shells were so tender and light that even 8 hours after baking you could fold it into quarters and it would unfold and normally after a few seconds it returned to normal with no fold lines showing.
After adding toppings and baking, these shells turned into the most delicious pizzas, crisp & light yet with enough structural integrity to hold up under substantial toppings.
Here’s the problem.
I was taught to measure the flour and water by volume with a prticular container I had in my pizzeria way back then.
I hope you can help me duplicate this fine product if I describe the process I was taught.
I would like to be able to use the “Baker’s formula” so I can alter batch sizes.
1] I was taught to use the blocks of yeast which I “measured” by eye cut & placed in the warm water in the hobart mixer bowl. I would prefer to use the newer style yeast that needs no refrigeration & can be mixed with out proofing.
2] After the yeast began to “cook” I would measure my flour by volume into the bowl, add a little salt, again by eye, and mix.
3] After the dough was nearly done mixing I would stop mixing and cut off a piece of dough to save for the next day’s dough. This piece would be refrigerated until then, and I would take yesterday’s piece out of the cooler and cut it into smaller pieces. I would turn on the mixer & add those small pieces of yesterday’s dough one at a time.
4] I would then add olive oil by eye and mix until it was incorporated.
5] Now the dough is done mixing I would splash a small amount of oil into the bowl & roll the dough so it was completely coated. The bowl would be covered with cloth and left to rise.
That’s the process I was taught.
After rising in the bowl, the dought was weighed & balled & left to rise in pine proof boxes
on floured cloths. { I weighed & balled by hand, but the old baker did it by machine}
After rising in the proof boxes they were “slapped down”, and hand pressed into the pizza pans. { I did this by hand, but the old baker did with a “pizza press”}
[In the pizzeria I will open, I will be using a dough divder/rounder and a pizza press]
I’m at retirement age and have had five children and five grandchildren since my pizzeria was open.
But, I guess you never get the dough out of your blood.
I’m working on my business plan to open again.
If you can help me with a recipe to produce those wonderful pizza shells I would be most grateful.
Thanks
rabtj (Tom)
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