Question on Flax

[LoveGreece]

Hi,

I'm new to this forum, and relatively new to pizza making. I've been doing it at home with no direction for about 6 months, and recently got the Forno Bravo ebook. Last night we FINALLY made a pizza to put all local pizza places to shame following the ebook's recipe exactly, along with some "00" Italian flour we purchased. Now I want to expand on this and make it healthier so we can have it more often.

Does anyone have experience with using flax in the dough recipe? How much can you add without changing the characteristics of the dough, especially elasticity and formation of bubbles? I would be using Hodgson Mills flax. Thanks for your help, and I'll be sure to upload some recipes as I perfect it!!

[texassourdough]

Just try it! Start at 5% and increase by 5% until something happens that you don't like. You can probably go to 15 to 20% without significant problems. You MAY need to raise your hydration a bit if you are not making wet dough (say 68% or higher). I would expect it to make the dough a bit more fragile (easy to tear and less extensible). You could also try putting flax seeds in the dough if you want. Just be sure to soak the seeds overnight before you mix them into the dough (about equal valumes of seeds and water). The seeds will make an interesting jelly like substance. If you don't soak they the seeds will pull water from the dough. I think you will be able to pull a decent crust but the seeds MIGHT be a problem if you like your crust really thin.

Good Luck!
Jay

[LoveGreece]

Thanks! Tried it for the first time yesterday. Used 10% (by weight) ground flaxseed meal. Did not pre-hydrate. There was a touch of nuttiness to the dough, but otherwise the taste was not too affected. The elasticity was what suffered the most. There was a noticeable drop, which I was able to work with but definitely a little trickier. I do feel, however, that since there are such great health benefits, I can eat pizza more frequently without guilt! Thanks for your help; I MAY try 15% but that would be tough...