Pizza & conveyor ovens.

[ekang]

Hi,

I’m looking to make a crust that is crispy on the outside and soft and tender on the inside without being too bready…what style would that be considered?

I’ve read that conveyor are best for American style pizzas where the crust is soft and chewy because of the high sugar and oil content but more importantly because the oven temp is not hot enough for crispy crusts.

Is there any way to make an airy, crispy yet soft and tender crust in a conveyor oven? Can one reduce the oil and sugar content and bump up the hydration to say 60% in order to do this?

Was thinking to try this recipe but if one can see a glaring error from experience please advise so that I don’t waste a batch of dough.

High gluten flour 100%
Water 60%
Sugar 2%
Oil 2.8%
Salt 1.5%
Yeast .025% (for a long room temp ferment)

Thanks for your help.

-ekang

 

[Tom_Lehmann]

EK;
What you are asking for sounds a lot like the old Domino’s crust of MANY years ago. If you want a very light, open, porous crumb structure, you will need to allow the dough skin to rise for about 20 to 30-minutes between forming and dressing, and then baking. Ait impingement ovens can certainly give you a finished crust that is crispy on the outside and somewhat bready on the inside, and about 1/4-inch (6.5 mm) thick. Your dough formula should work OK, but I don’t know about the yeast level. What type of yeast are you planning to use? 0.025% is a very low level, especially when you consider that you are going to need to allow the dough (formed dough skin) to rise after shaping. As for baking, bake on a screen or Hex Disk, and bake hot and fast. With that said, you’re probably going to be looking at a baking temperature of 450 to 485F (232 to 252C) with a baking time of something like 5-minutes. This will be variable to some extent depending upon the the oven and finger profile you end up using.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

 

[ekang]

Hi Tom,

I plan on using IDY and the low percentage is because I want to be able to do a long room temp ferment to increase flavour. Because of refrigerator space limitations, I have to store the dough at room temp for the days use so I would make it 12 hours prior before the first punch down. Is there a way to increase flavour of the dough without having to do a long room ferment?

What would you recommend for a IDY% for the type of dough I’m trying to achieve? Also, if I find the dough is not crispy enough would reducing the oil and increasing hydration be the logical adjustment to make?

Thanks again for all your great insight!

-ekang

 

[Tom_Lehmann]

Ekang;
I would suggest going with 0.09% IDY (based on the total flour weight). As room temperature meansdifferent things to different people in different locations, at different times of the year (highly variable) you will need to experiment to determine how long you will need to ferment the dough. Back in the 50’s it was common to bulk ferment the dough to something just short of the first full rise, and then use the dough over the next six hours, or so. At the end of the day, toss any remaining dough and start over again on the following day. Only thin crust pizzas were made from these doughs asthe proofing time would have been horrendously long if they were to try to make a deep-dish or thick crust.
Pay special attention to getting a consistent finished dough temperature. I would suggest something it the 75 to 80F range, probably favoring the 75F end.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

 

[ekang]

Thanks Tom! I asked a similar type question in another thread of mine…sorry for the redundancy as I wrote it prior to reading your reply here.

-ekang