Perfect Pizza Dough by Weight Pizza Discuss Perfect Pizza Dough by Weight in the Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart forums; I can at least answer the rolling spiky thing... that's called "docking" the dough and it puts small pin holes ...

[Momo]

I can at least answer the rolling spiky thing... that's called "docking" the dough and it puts small pin holes in the dough to prevent huge bubbles from forming in the crust. About the rolling pin, I have never done it, but I believe you can roll to an extent... like, out close to the edge of the dough but do not roll completely off the edge or you will push out the gas bubbles. If a cracker-like crust is desired, then I guess rolling would be okay.

[CanuckJim]

TDI,

Quick answer: you're doing it the correct Neopolitan way. The result is a creamy crust with good crunch at the cornice. The other guys are doing it the North American way, developed because they're using harder flour. The result is a dense, cracker crust that lacks personality. That's why N Am pizzas are heaped with toppings, to make up for a sub-par crust. The rolling pin guarantees a tough crust, no matter how well shaped. They use a docking wheel so the pizza does not develop a large bubble in the centre. With such a tough crust, it's almost a certainty unless one is used.

Just keep doing what your doing. Who cares about perfect shape? Your looking for perfect taste.

Jim

[FigliodiMariaeGiovanni]

Originally Posted by CanuckJim

TDI,

Quick answer: you're doing it the correct Neopolitan way. The result is a creamy crust with good crunch at the cornice. The other guys are doing it the North American way, developed because they're using harder flour. The result is a dense, cracker crust that lacks personality. That's why N Am pizzas are heaped with toppings, to make up for a sub-par crust. The rolling pin guarantees a tough crust, no matter how well shaped. They use a docking wheel so the pizza does not develop a large bubble in the centre. With such a tough crust, it's almost a certainty unless one is used.

Just keep doing what your doing. Who cares about perfect shape? Your looking for perfect taste.

Jim

All of this time I was fretting about roundness [the pizza I mean]

[brokencookie]

Just wanted to jump in with praise for using weight recipes. I recently was tearing out my hair. I could not figure out why my pizzas were so thin and small. James has reported using 275 gram dough balls for 11 inch pizzas. I was using 300 grams and ending up with a credit card thin 9 inch. Everything was great except for the small amount of dough. After a few weeks of frustration I realized that I had my scale set on a funky unit. When I set the scale back to grams I found that I was actually using about 40% of the ingredients I should have used.
So why am I praising using weight ? Because, even thought I screwed up.. the recipe still worked !! The units become unimportant as long as the percentages stay the same. Using the recipe by weight allowed me to continue to enjoy excellent pizza while I figured out the problem.

[ERASMO]

I am having a hard time finding the active fresh yeast. Does anyone know a conversion from active fresh to dry yeast?
Thanks

[ERASMO]

I have found the fresh yeast at a local bakery. Does any one know how long it lasts? I heard you can freeze it.

[james]

I think it lasts about a week, and then it goes moldy. Fresh is all they have in Italy, and came to like it. I'm not sure about freezing.

Any takers on that?
James

[FigliodiMariaeGiovanni]

Originally Posted by james

I think it lasts about a week, and then it goes moldy. Fresh is all they have in Italy, and came to like it. I'm not sure about freezing.

Any takers on that?
James

I have used the 'brewer's yeast' and I do like the aroma a lot. I have a big bag of RedSTAr granulated in a ziplock in the fridge, and just dissolve in warm water to get that ferment aroma happening.
I have found that 'brewer's yeast' does freeze pretty well, but not more than a month. I think that a week or so in the fridge probably would be fine. THAT's a whole lot of yeast to use in a week unless you're using commercially?

[ERASMO]

James and Fig
Thanks for the info. I am getting a pound which is the smallest I could purchase. I would be glad to ship you some if you would like. I will never be able to use all that fast enough.

[FigliodiMariaeGiovanni]

Originally Posted by ERASMO

James and Fig
Thanks for the info. I am getting a pound which is the smallest I could purchase. I would be glad to ship you some if you would like. I will never be able to use all that fast enough.

Just hand out pizza and bread samples to family and friends. Then get to making dough! They will all yell, "Ancora, Ancora" Soon all of the yeast will be used up.