Resusing yesterdays dough

[vernonpurcell]

We make our dough for 2 days, but its not as good the next day, so I was wondering if anyone remixes there previous dough in the current days batch. If so ill it have any effect on the current batch? in regards to the previous fermentation. Will we get it as good as 1 day old dough?

 

[Tom_Lehmann]

Vernon;
Yes, you can salvage unused dough by mixing it back into fresh, new dough. The rule is to not add more than 15% old dough into the new dough. This amounts to about 12-pounds of old dough going into a new batch of dough based on 50# of flour weight. At this level there is little or no impact of the old dough on the new dough. You can experiment with adding more of the old dough to see if the impact is within your range of acceptability. However, if the dough is correctly formulated and managed, you SHOULD be able to get three days refrigerated life from the dough. The most common causes for shorter than normal refrigerated shelf life are as follows:
Excessive yeast level
Dough temperature too high
Allowing dough to stand at room temperature prior to putting it in the cooler (dough management)
Failure to cross stack the dough boxes in the cooler (dough management)
Making the dough at the wrong time of the day (dough management)
Placing the dough boxes too close to the door in the cooler.
With three days of refrigerated shelf life you make the dough on day 1, use it on day 2 (24-hours), try to finish it by day 3 (48-hours) and finish off anything not used on day 4 (72-hours). If you are consistently using a lot of dough in that day 4 time slot you really need to rething about how much dough you’re making, do keep in mind though, any dough not used on day 4 is a candidate for addition back into fresh, new dough.

Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

 

[vernonpurcell]

Hi Tom
The formulation is as follows

Flour 16kg
Salt 272g
IDY 80g
Oil 240g
Water 9 lts

Is there anything wrong with the formulation?

 

[bodegahwy]

Our dough is usable the day we make it, BEST on the second day and quite usable on the 3rd day. We make dough every day though. Each day we build back to a forecast for that day plus the next. This is crucial to our dough management since it allows us to have two day’s dough on hand at all times… What this means is that we can do double the sales forecast without running out of dough! If we do less than forecast, we just have less to make the next day.

Have a look through Tom’s suggestions for ways to adjust your recipe to address your problem.

To answer your original post, we still find ourself with an extra tray here and there that goes beyond ideal for use. We mix back one tray of dough per batch of new dough when this happens. That is about 20% of the combined batch. We have nad no issues.

 

[Tom_Lehmann]

Vernon;
Your IDY is a little high at 0.5% of the total flour weight. You might try reducing it back to 0.375% (60-grams). You don’t say anything about how you are managing the dough which can have a significant impact upon how long you can keep the dough in the cooler. At the pizza seminar that we just finished, we were using dough that was up to 72-hours old with great results. But it MUST be properly managed. Do you have a copy of our Dough Management Procedure?
If not, e-mail me at [email protected] and ask for a copy, I’ll gladly send you one.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

 

[vernonpurcell]

I have reduced the yeast down to 60gms, used water 10 c, left longer crossed stack. I will follow up on my results. Thanks guys

 

[Patriot_sPizza]

I’ve been guilty of using scrape dough from time to time, tho we get over 3 days from our dough (all cold water)…

But…

I’ve never been satisfied with the finished product, most of the time…maybe because I use to much old dough, as I only make a 1/2 batch with old dough…

I only do it if we’ve been slow and missed forecasts…

 

[zippsphotos.com]

Is it me or am I nuts to say that I think my dough is better after setting 48 hours and then using on day 3, 4, and 5.
I have tested 3,4,5 dough against fresh batch dough. Then against day 2 dough. Day 2 is much better than day one. And It just gets better with age.
We have even taste tested it with customers and they agree with the older making better crust.
MIne starts out with cold water, mixed and then straight into the cooler. Sets there for at least 24 hours and then brought out and balled when it can be balled quickly and not sit out waiting to get done.

 

[vernonpurcell]

I have noticed my crust are darker on the second day, I have a much better crust color and texture, just reduced my yeast down, this allows me to use my dough on the second day, but as I say the crust is darker and smaller, perhaps I should do a test on a 160 g dough ball over three days with the same toppings and take a picture of them.

 

[Tom_Lehmann]

Vernon;
The reason why your crusts are darker on the second is due to imptoved/greater porosity in the crumb structure. Reducing the yeast level to get a 2-day cold ferment is not the best approach as it will lead to the development of a dreaded gum line. The best approach is to address the heart of the problem and lower the finished dough temperature. If you are having problems getting only 2-days life out of the dough in the cooler your finished dough temperature is most likely the problem (too high). Check the temperature of your dough immediately after mixing, it should be at about 80F or a little less depending upon conditions specific to your shop. Longer fermented doughs as well as those containing a CONTROLLED amount of scrap dough will almost always be judged as having a better flavor as well as a more tender eating characteristic, and due to the improved crumb porosity a crispier texture.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor