My adapted dough recipe

[Dutchoven]

The Harbor freight scale I mentioned is apporpriate to your needs Ed...I think...measures down to one gram and in tenths of ounces etc....and it weighs up to 11 pounds.
Check it out...not expensive and as for as we are concerned it works very well
Dutch

[carioca]

Originally Posted by asudavew

<SNIP>

$9.50 for 25lb bag.

<SNIP>

Aren't you lucky! We pay $A12.50 to $A13.50 for a 5 kg bag in our local supermarket or health food shop...

Thanks for the recipe, but! I've copied it into my ever useful little program Evernote with just a couple of clicks, and can call it up at will whenever I'm stuck again for a 'proper' pizza recipe!

Cheers,

LMH

[SimonWoodfield]

Dave,
I made some of your dough this morning and it seems much easier to handle than the standard recipe (I even managed a very thin in places 12" pie, for me a major result). This may be due to a couple of things. Firstly, I have been making the standard dough using the dough setting on a breadmaker. This seems to kneed the dough for around 20 mins total. I have read somewhere that it should be handled as little as possible, do you think the machine is kneeding too long?
Secondly I added 350 g of water rather than 330, mainly because the standard recipe was 325 and the extra 5 didn't seem much!!

Any thoughts on these?

Also, if I want to freeze these, at which point should I do it? I am assuming after the second rise?

I haven't seen it mentioned before, but is it possible to freeze in pie form rather than a ball?


Thanks

Simon

[70chevelle]

I use a similar recipe to the one posted, but I use a tsp of olive oil and only 63% hydration. I routinely make batches of dough at lunchtime to freeze. I freeze them before the rise. My procedure is as follows:

- Incorporate IDY & flour (I use hi-gluten also)
- Add cold/cool water until ball forms.
- Let rest for 20 minutes
- Add olive oil
- Then add salt
- Divide into balls
- Vacuum pack immediately & freeze

I use the slow rise method (24 hour rise in the fridge min) and pull the dough from the freezer the day before I use it and put it in a bowl in the fridge. I take it from the fridge to the counter 1.5-2 hours before I use it.

I've used my Kitchenaide, but have found that my Cuisenart food processor with the dough setting and blade is much easier to use.

One more important issue - for slow rise doughs that will rise in the fridge, you want to use cool/cold water and keep your dough temps under 80* (75* is good) while you knead. For quick doughs, use warm water and the dough temps are less of an issue.

[asudavew]

Originally Posted by SimonWoodfield

I have read somewhere that it should be handled as little as possible, do you think the machine is kneeding too long?

I don't think so. I used to use my bread maker for the dough, until it broke.
Now I just use my Kitchen Aid. Just watch for the heat up cycle (for quick rising) at the end. Get it out of the machine before that point. You could even cancel the process after about 10 minutes of kneading.

Secondly I added 350 g of water rather than 330, mainly because the standard recipe was 325 and the extra 5 didn't seem much!!

Any thoughts on these?

Are you using a wood fired oven?
I think the old recipe called for 300 grams of water. That worked well with Caputo flour, but with the high protein flour from Sam's it just wasn't enough.
So I increased it to 330 grams or 66% hydration.

Each lot of flour does change. So when Sam's gets a new batch, I sometimes have to make adjustments. I was using less water, but their new batch of flour seems to have a higher protein content than last years.

Also, if I want to freeze these, at which point should I do it? I am assuming after the second rise?

I would let it rise once. Then divide it into portions and freeze at that point.
When needed, just defrost and let it rise again.

I haven't seen it mentioned before, but is it possible to freeze in pie form rather than a ball?

Seems like it would work. I haven't tried it. But shouldn't be much difference.

Let me know how it turns out if you try it.

Dave

[asudavew]

Originally Posted by 70chevelle

One more important issue - for slow rise doughs that will rise in the fridge, you want to use cool/cold water and keep your dough temps under 80* (75* is good) while you knead. For quick doughs, use warm water and the dough temps are less of an issue.

Good point.

[SimonWoodfield]

Dave,
On James sticky Perfect Pizza Dough by Weight, he uses 325g water with 500g tipo 00 pizza flour. I must admit, I wasn't bright enough to think that it could vary by flour and even the same flour but different batches!
I have already put some pies in the freezer as the wife said "we might as well try it, it could be ages before you get a reply"!! We are supposed to be having them Thursday if the weather is OK, so I will try to remember to let you know, everything is an experiment at the moment with all efforts aimed at trying to mimimize time required on the day.
Chevelle, thanks for the input, I am not sure if I will have space in the fridge for the amount I am trying to do in one go, but I will try it out on another occasion.

Simon

[asudavew]

Let's us know how everything turns out.

[SimonWoodfield]

Thursday failed!
Pies that were frozen as opposed to balls, were too wet and wouldn't come off the grease proof paper! I made another batch of dough using my hydration level, just in case the frozen stuff didn't work. The pies stayed flat and burned on the edges rather than rising as they did before. Do you think this could be due to too much water or just that the oven was too hot? the floor was around 650 with a good fire.

Simon