Reusing Dough Balls in New Mix

[theandrews]

I started a take and bake pizza place about 6 months ago and lucky for us we have showed a small profit every month since. Not that I have taken a pay check yet but am getting there.

My question today is this. We premake our dough every night for the next day and let it rise in walk in over night. I can generally get it to last out 2-3 days beofre it starts to skin. I have read that you can take skinned dough balls and cut them back into your new mix and it will enrich the flavor over time of your dough. I have recently tried this and you know what it seems to work.

Oh I was going ask a question - If anyone else has done this what percentage of old dough can I cut into my mix without affecting the rise of my dough. I do not add new yeast to compensate for the old dough and have found it is not needed.

Anyone out there with this experience or what advice on how I do it?

Brad

 

[perfect_pizzas]

If we have to remix dough, we try to put no more than 10% remix back into a batch. I have gone as high as 20%, but the dough gets a tougher consistency and rises up more than out.

 

[Patriot_sPizza]

A slippery slope indeed…especially for a take & bake…

I got into the habit or recycling dough and after a while I noticed the change in taste & performance…

I stopped doing it & I believe the original flavor profile was not improved w/old dough

 

[Tom_Lehmann]

In a fresh bake operation where the dough is used in the store, you can add 15 to 20% of the total dough weight, back as scrap dough, but in a take and bake operation, where you don’t have any control over how the pizzas will be held or baked, it is best to not use any scrap in the dough. Instead, I like to convert and potential scrap dough into things like breadsticks, or sheet it out very thin, brush with olive oil and sprinkle with a Parmesan/Romano cheese mix, cut into squares or rounds and bake until crispy in a toaster oven, then toss a few into random orders during the day. I like to put them into a small bag with printing on it or an attached note: “Thank You For Your Order”.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

 

[theandrews]

Thank you all for your input. I have found what most of you have commented that in the take and bake world it hard to reuse old dough. I have talked to one business that does this but he has a large customer base so his dough is turned over more often.

As we a re a new business and still growing I do not turn over my dough as often and as one person commneted the dough tends to become tough after cutting in the old dough. It loses the original flavor that people come to us for.

Thanks again for all your input.

Brad