March 19, 2014 - 2:24pm
pizza dough
To whom it may concern,
I am running some pizza restaurants in California. I would like to get more complexity in my dough.
We are using a same day dough with 20% of yesterdays dough added.
the dough also consists of fresh yeast, vitamin C, malt, salt, flour and water.
I am looking to get a little more sourness or complexity.
Any help would be appreciated.
//B
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Some things that pop right to my mind would be, use a little whole wheat/rye flour, cut the yeast a little and overnight bulk ferment, try going naturally leavened or if thats not possible try naturally leavened spiked with a little commercial yeast. I don't know if these suggestions will fit in with your production schedule or if they would be too different from what your customers expect but thats what I'd do in your shoes.
Combining natural leavening with commercial yeast is the first thing on my mind. The other thing is cornmeal. Having cornmeal around the dough while you shape it and using it on the peel adds a welcome crunchiness to the dough. I always use it when making pizza at home.
...but I like adding herbs. My issue with a pizza crust where you try to give it the complexity via yeast activity, is that the flavor is delicate & nuanced. It can be hard to detect that nuance if you're putting a bunch of sauce/cheese/toppings on it. I guess the question is, you can add time/effort to get a better tasting crust, but will anyone even notice it with the toppings?
Also, HOW you cook it have have a dramatic effect. I believe a brick oven is the golden standard for great crusts. I have a kamado grill at home (which if you're doing commercial will do you no good), but cooking on a stone/with smoke gives GREAT flavor to nearly anything. Convection oven can only do so much. I just got it so I'll be adding things here probably weekly (nothing this weekend, as brisket will be occupying my time :) ).
Good luck!