Crust Issues

[modified9v]

Mick, thanks for taking the effort with the tests and posting results. Love your passion for nailing the perfect pie (if it really does exist). I totally agree on the flavor thing on the SD crust. Hands down the winner for me and my family as well.

My starter, the one on the counter, gets a lot of neglect to be honest. It's funky but lively. I have gone as many as 4 days without feeding it (I thought you fed it, Honey) and it rebounds nicely. Room temp in our home runs a constant degrees 68f. If I were to 'knock it down' right now and feed it, it will be bubbling in 2 hours... so, I know I have a very active culture at all times.

Concerning the 10 minute rest vs. several hours... I'm with you on the fact that the dough does very little while in the fridge with a 10 minute rest... I happen to think THAT is a VERY good thing because the little yeastie fellas don't waste their energy until I tell them too. :-). I find I get a little more sour dough flavor this way, but that could just be my taste buds telling me what they think I want to hear.

Note: My containers are not vented at all... after about 3 days in the fridge I get only a little rise, but my lids are bludging and sometimes pop off (Bad Deal, Dry Dough Balls)... The key is when I take them out to proof before I toss em. I give them enough time to double in size before I use them (up to 6 hours) with the lids not sealed. The lids just rest on top of the containers and self vent as needed.

I have to say that a few years ago I was ready to give up on making my own dough... I'd tried everything but never got the oven spring I was looking for... I hate to admit it, but I started going to my buddys Pizza Factory restaurant and bought dough balls from him. 5 bucks for an extra large dough ball that made me four 10" pies... and they were predictable and tastey everytime. But, my friends were ribbing me... of course they still ate me out of house and home... but still. That was until I found Jeff Varasano's website. I highly recommend it to anyone that wants to use a live culture.

Oh, i will say that I'm not currently using a WFO as I'm appartment bound until our house closes escrow... short sale and all, it's taking forever! First order of business to build the oven. I say because I'm not going with the 65% hydration at the moment... but it works just as well regarding spring on my Forno Bravo stone in the electric oven.