Whole Wheat Dough

[famouspizza]

Are there any tricks to get a similar type dough using whole wheat flour? I would like to keep the same style crust but I did not know if certain ingredients should be adjusted when replacing regular flour.

Also, what ratio of whole wheat to regular should be used? 30% wheat 70% regular? Anybody do 100% wheat and is it too grainy?

I tried the par-baked frozen crusts from Rich’s but was not thrilled so I need to make my own…do those of you who make it sell enough to keep fresh or freeze and thaw? How long does it keep fresh?

Thanks!

 

[Pizzamancer]

I added in 8 and 1/3% whole wheat when I did my dough. It changed the color and the taste enough for what I was looking for. You will need to add more water though.

My dough was much better, taste and workability wise when I mixed the whole wheat flour and water well ahead of the dough making process.

 

[Tom_Lehmann]

By definition, whole-wheat dough/crust should be made from all, 100% whole-wheat flour (no white flour). Wheat dough/crust can be made from a blend of whole-wheat and white flour in any amounts you care to use. Most commonly, we see a blend of 25% whole-wheat flour and 75% white flour used to make a wheat crust. This is pretty straight forward. Put the whole-wheat flour in the mixing bowl and add 70% of it’s weight as water, mix to wet the flour and allow to hydrate for 60-minutes, then add the white flour and 55% of the weight of white flour as additional water. Add the remaining ingredients, except for the oil, and mix for 2-minutes at low speed, add the oil, and mix for 1-more minute at low speed, then finish mixing in your normal manner. If you want to do something a little different, add honey to the dough to replace any sugar you might have. The amount of honey to add is 3% of the total flour weight. Then, to take it another step further, replace any oil/olive oil with butter on a pound for pound substitution. Making a whole-wheat dough is a little different, but be fore warned, it typically isn’t the most popular type of crust.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

 

[Pizza_Tony1]

Famouspizza, I think that your 30-70 ratio is good. The problem is that technically you cant call it whole wheat because its not 100% wheat flour ( although many do). But you can call it wheat crust. Also on my Chicago style deep dish I used 50-50 ratio and it came out great. This is something Ive been experimenting with lately because we too will be adding it to our menu.

Good luck,

 

[Tom_Lehmann]

That’s why we call it “wheat” crust. To be correctly called whole-wheat, it should be made with 100% whole-whaet flour.
The key to making a wheat/whole-wheat dough/crust is in the soaker. If you don’t get the absorption right, the resulting dough will tighten up as the bran in the whole-wheat portion of the flour hydrates. This will reduce the volume/height of the resulting crust making for a heavier than desired crust/eating characteristic, plus a dough that is short on water will also have a somewhat dry, crumbly eating characteristic, this is especially so with wheat/whole-wheat crusts.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor