6 - Pizza Dough Management -- Pizzeria Operations -- CorrellConcepts.com

CONTENTS
Proper Dough Rise
• Managing Dough Temperature
How to Retard Dough Rising
How to Speed-up Dough Rising
Dough Management is Continuous
Planning and Rotation
Crusting Control
Dough Formula Adjustments
• To Increase Amount of Fermentation
• To Decrease Amount of Fermentation

NOTE: Visit the Encyclopizza home page for the complete Table of Contents, including pizza dough/crust/sauce recipes.

DUE to fermentation, yeast dough has a life cycle. Dough is born in the mixer and enters childhood or early development as it comes from the mixer. At which time it’s undeveloped and shouldn’t be used. If allowed to undergo fermentation it eventually rises to peak development, at which time it should be used. If not made into a pizza it proceeds past middle age and into over-development. And if never used, it eventually collapses and dies. To have dough at peak condition, or optimal rise, you must manage the rate of fermentation. This chapter describes how to do that.

Lengths, weights, temperatures, and volume measurements are given in inches, pounds and ounces, degrees Fahrenheit, and quarts and cups (U.S. version). The following abbreviations are used: lb = pounds, oz = ounces, F = Fahrenheit, and qt = quarts. For conversion to other measurement systems, refer to the chapter on Measurements and Conversions.

Proper Dough Rise

Proper rise is a key ingredient to quality pizza. Properly risen dough produces a crust of maximum volume, even grain, white crumb, golden-brown surface, and full-bodied yeast bread flavor. Under-risen dough makes a crust that’s flat with a tight, dense grain and bland, biscuity flavor. During baking it tends to split like pita bread, creating large, flat bubbles. Over-risen dough, which often has a beer-like odor, makes a flat crust with an irregular grain, a gummy-grayish crumb, a white (unbrowned) surface that tends to blister, and bland flavor. If the dough hasn’t collapsed before baking it often produces small bubbles that burn and turn black in the oven.

Dough rising results from fermentation—a process whereby yeast digests sugar and produces CO2 (carbon dioxide) gas in the dough. The gas collects in minute air cells and, as fermentation progresses, expands the cells, which causes the dough to rise or increase in volume. For more details on fermentation, see the section on Yeast in the Dough Ingredients chapter.

The period during which dough is allowed to rise is called the proofing period, or, simply, proofing. Dough that has undergone this period is said to be proofed. Dough that is lacking in proofing time will be under-risen—and, as such, is called under-proofed. Dough that has had too much proofing time will be over-risen—and is called over-proofed.

In a pizzeria, dough can be proofed in two forms: (1) as a dough ball and (2) rolled-out. Hearth-baked pizzas and most screen pizzas are proofed as a dough ball. Pan pizza dough is usually proofed after it’s rolled-out and has been placed in the pan.

Dough is properly risen or proofed when it’s about double the volume of when it came from the mixer. For a dough ball in a tray, that amounts to about a 50 percent increase in diameter. In terms of rolled dough, it is a doubling of height (although some pizzerias allow it to almost triple in height). Under-risen dough is tight and springy, and when gently poked the indentation tends to spring back. Over-risen dough is loose and has a ripply surface caused by large air cells. If not exposed to air it will be wet or tacky, too. When poked it loses gas and collapses. If it has already collapsed or smells like beer, it’s severely over-risen and should not be used. Properly risen dough will hold an indentation when gently poked but won’t lose gas and collapse.

To achieve proper rise the rate of fermentation must be controlled by the pizza-maker. If not, either under-risen or over-risen dough will likely result.

Managing Dough Temperature

The section on Yeast in the Dough Ingredients chapter details the factors affecting dough’s fermentation rate. It might be worth reviewing. Most of the factors involve the composition of the dough. However, one factor—namely, temperature—affects fermentation after mixing. The higher the dough’s temperature, the faster the rise (up to 100 degrees F). The rule is: For every 18 degrees F (or 10 degrees C) increase in dough temperature (up to 100 degrees F), yeast activity doubles, or increases by 100 percent. So, for example, 88 degree F dough will have double the fermentation rate of 70 degree F dough; and 70 degree dough will rise twice as fast as 52 degree dough.

The process of managing dough temperature during proofing and, in the case of retarded dough, during refrigerated storage, is called dough management. The main principle of dough management is: The less time the dough is at 40 degrees F or above, the slower the rising process will be. Basically, dough management involves either cooling or warming the dough so that fermentation is either slowed down (retarded) or speeded-up. The manager must decide what is needed. We will describe the various options.

How to Retard Dough Rising

Fermentation, or rate of rise, is slowest at 33 degrees F. As temperature increases, fermentation accelerates, up to 100 degrees F, after which it begins to slow down until it reaches 140 degrees, when the yeast dies. So to retard dough rising we must decrease the time at which dough is above 40 degrees F.

We must point out that dough continues to rise at any temperature above 32 degrees F. So, eventually even refrigerated dough, if not used, will become over-risen. The only way to stop dough from rising is to freeze it. Unfortunately the freezing technology employed in most pizzerias often results in poor quality dough. Plus, proper freezer equipment is costly.

If you find it necessary to slow down your dough’s rate of rising, here’s some things to try.

A basic way to retard dough rising is to bring dough from the mixer at a colder temperature. The colder the dough, the slower the rate of fermentation. The fastest fermentation rate occurs in 90 to 100 degrees F dough. To lower dough temperature use colder dough water—say, 55 degrees or lower. To get very cold water, use ice; but remove the ice before adding the water to the mixer. Just a 10 degree drop in dough temperature will slow down fermentation substantially.

Refrigerate the dough sooner after mixing. The longer that dough sits at room temperature after mixing, the faster it undergoes fermentation. To reduce the rate of fermentation, move the dough into the cooler sooner.

With bulk dough, divide it into smaller pieces. The larger a piece of dough is, the longer it takes to cool down (and warm up). If you’re using the bulk dough method, try storing the dough in smaller pieces if you need to cool it faster.

Lower the refrigerator temperature. Place a separate thermometer in your refrigerator and check the temperature. If it’s above 38 degrees F, you might try lowering the temperature to about 34 degrees.

Keep the walk-in refrigerator door closed as much as possible. In some cases the walk-in’s temperature is set low enough, but the door is left open so often the temperature hovers at 50 to 60 degrees F. In this case it takes an hour or more for the cooler temp to drop back to normal. A plastic freezer curtain can help retain the cold. However, you must still manage the situation because the same people who prop open the door will often tie up the curtain to one side.

Allow full air flow around dough trays. To ensure a rapid drop in dough temperature the cold air in a cooler must be able to circulate completely around the trays. Keep at least a 3-inch gap between the stacks of trays and also between the trays and cooler wall. After the dough has dropped to 40 degrees F the stacks can be moved closer together. Don’t set dough trays on the floor—a dolly or pallet allows better air flow.

Cross-stack dough trays in the cooler for about an hour before nesting them together. If they’re nested immediately after going into the cooler it takes a long time for dough temperature to drop. After 1 to 1-1/2 hours the trays must be nested to prevent crusting.

The potential drawback to cross-stacking is that a slight crust forms on the dough balls. The degree of crusting depends on the humidity and altitude. The lower the humidity and higher the altitude, the greater the crusting. Normally, if the trays are nested in 60 to 90 minutes the crust will disappear in about eight hours as the dough undergoes slow fermentation.

How to Speed-up Dough Rising

If your dough isn’t rising fast enough you need to keep it at warmer temperature for a longer time. Here’s some things to try for speeding up fermentation.

Use warmer water for dough mixing. To create the quickest rate of fermentation, bring dough from the mixer at about 90 to 100 degrees F.

Let the dough bench rest for a longer time before putting it into the cooler. The longer dough is at room temperature, the faster is fermentation. You can let bulk dough or dough balls sit at room temperature before chilling them—if, indeed, you chill them at all.

Remove dough balls from the cooler and let them sit at room temperature before using them. If you use retarded dough, bring the dough balls from the cooler several hours before using them. The exact amount of time will depend on the air temperature and how much they’ve already risen.

Put dough balls or rolled dough into a proof box, or at a warmer spot in the store. Faster fermentation can be achieved by putting dough balls or rolled (panned) dough at a warm spot in the store, such as in the sunlight, next to an oven, or under a heat vent. To speed up warming of dough balls in trays, criss-cross the dough trays at room temperature for 10 to 20 minutes.

For many pizzerias one or more of these methods is good enough. However, for more uniform temperature control, try a proof box. This has the advantage of high humidity, which prevents dough crusting. A proof box can be set for optimum conditions, or 100 to 110 degrees F and 80 to 85 percent humidity, which will produce a full rise in 30 to 60 minutes.

There are other ways to quick-proof a tray or two of dough in an emergency. One way is to put it on top of a pizza box on top of a hot oven. Another way is to fill a tray with warm (120 to 130 degree) water and set the tray of dough on top of it. If you must speed-proof a number of trays, criss-cross a stack of trays with a tray of hot water inserted every two trays (see diagram below).

Dough Management is Continuous

Dough management is a continuous process. Every hour, dough balls and/or panned dough that is being proofed must be checked for amount of rise and a decision must be made regarding whether to leave them as is, or move them to a warmer or colder spot.

Basically, dough proofing must be synchronized with pizza production. This requires having fairly accurate sales projections. Without projections a manager doesn’t know how much dough to proof hour by hour. And the store ends up with either too little, which means that pizzas must be made with under-risen dough, or with too much, which means that pizzas will be made with over-risen dough or that dough must be discarded.

To aid in projecting pizza usage, record pizza sales (i.e., the number sold of each size) by the hour. With an hourly sales history a manager can make fairly accurate predictions about the current day’s hourly usage. And with hourly usage predictions a manager can determine, hour by hour, how much dough to proof for the day’s remaining sales and, thereby, produce the maximum possible number of properly risen pizzas.

In addition, a pizzeria that also proofs rolled or sheeted dough—that is, rolls it out 1 to 2 hours in advance of pizza orders—must assess the sales situation hourly. For example, if rolled dough should have about one hour proofing time, then at 4 pm the manager should project what will be sold between 5 to 6 pm and, accordingly, should roll out that amount between 4 to 4:30 pm.

There’s a couple other considerations in dough management. First, when proofing dough and then putting it into the walk-in cooler, put it into the cooler when it has achieved about 75 percent of full rise. The reason is, dough will continue rapid fermentation in the cooler for at least an hour, which is how long it takes for dough temperature to drop to 55 degrees F. Second, the longer dough is in the cooler, the more risen it will become and, so, the less time it needs at room temperature to finish proofing. So, two day old retarded (i.e., refrigerated) dough will likely need less proofing time at room temperature than will one day old dough.

Planning and Rotation

In addition to managing dough temperature and proofing, two other conditions play a key role in dough management.

PRODUCTION PLANNING. For properly risen dough, dough-making must be well planned. When too much dough is made it results in a surplus, which eventually results in over-risen dough. When too little is made it results in making emergency dough that’s used in under-risen condition. To achieve proper rise, dough-making must be synchronized with pizza production. Once again, tracking pizza sales helps. In short, before each dough-making session a manager should project dough consumption for the upcoming period, subtract the amount on hand, and make only what will be used (plus, say, a 10 percent buffer). By synchronizing dough-making with dough usage you reduce the amount of over-risen and under-risen dough.

ROTATION AND FIFO. Retarded dough should be tagged, showing when it was made. Then, stock should be rotated in the cooler so the oldest is always used first. Without proper rotation, over- and under-risen dough results. In short, follow the FIFO (first-in, first-out) method of inventory usage.

Crusting Control

During proofing, dough is often exposed to air. Unless it’s high humidity air, such as in a proof box, the dough will form a crust. When crusted dough is subsequently covered, a thin crust will disappear during fermentation, but a thick one won’t. A thick crust makes dough difficult to roll and also produces a pizza with hard, ugly bumps—so it shouldn’t be sold.

To minimize crusting keep dough covered as much as possible. Another method that helps is brushing or spraying dough with oil. If crusting is a major problem, such as often occurs at high altitudes, a humidity-controlled proof box can be a worthwhile tool.

Once a slight crust has formed it can be softened by spraying the dough with water or by covering it and letting it rise further. Some pizza-makers turn the balls upside-down in the tray. However, we recommend that thickly crusted dough be discarded, as none of these methods can overcome it.

Interestingly, panned dough can be allowed to crust fairly heavily and still produce a quality pizza, as long as the crusty portion is covered with plenty of sauce and cheese. In fact, crusting can result in less rawness just under the sauce, which is the part where raw dough in pan pizza most commonly occurs.

Dough Formula Adjustments

If dough management methods are employed and there’s still a consistent problem of over-risen or under-risen dough, it may be time to adjust the dough formula. For a detailed discussion of factors affecting fermentation rate, review the section on Yeast in the Dough Ingredients chapter. The main factors are summarized here.

To Increase Amount of Fermentation

Here’s some things to try:

• Increase the yeast portion. Test 10 to 20 percent more with each batch, until you reach the desired rate of rise.

• Try a new or different yeast. Old yeast can lack full fermentation power. If using compressed yeast or regular active dry yeast, test instant yeast, instead.

• Add more sugar, up to a total of 3 to 4 percent of flour weight. (Over 5 percent will slow down fermentation.)

To Decrease Amount of Fermentation

Here’s some things to try:

• Reduce the yeast portion. Test 10 to 20 percent less with each batch, until you reach the desired rate of rise.

• If you’re using instant yeast, test regular active dry, instead.

• Use less sugar, or no sugar. Also eliminate use of malted flour and malt syrup or powder. If you reduce sugar and also lose surface browning, add non-fat dry milk in an amount equal to twice the reduction of sugar.

In most cases adjusting the yeast portion is all that’s needed to effect the desired amount of rise. Normally, yeast portion must be adjusted from season to season—sometimes as much as 20 to 30 percent—to offset the change in air temperature.