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Question:
I recently heard about mapping an oven hearth for temperature. What does this mean?
Answer:
When we map an oven deck or stone hearth for temperature we are using an infra-red thermometer to identify hot spots on the oven hearth or deck surface. Mapping an oven saves us the time of needing to discover where the hot and cold spots are through trial and error. I was recently working in a new store with a stone hearth oven and we mapped the hearth temperature before baking any pizzas. By knowing where the hot and cold spots were we were able to establish a sequence of pizza rotation/movement through the oven even before the first pizza was baked. The map was so accurate that even after we got into some pretty hefty production we never had to change or alter the rotation/movement of the pizzas through the oven. A few years ago infrared thermometers with a temperature range of up to 750˚ or 1000˚F were priced at close to 200 dollars, but recently I’ve seen them priced at under 100 dollars, so they should be within reach of anyone wanting to map their oven deck temperature. When using your newly gained oven map, keep in mind that you will typically want to start with the pizza in a relatively cool spot. This will usually be in the front of the oven near the door. The pizza is allowed to remain here for about 15 to 20 seconds. It is then moved to the second hottest location where it receives most of the bake. In most ovens you will probably need to spin the pizza a couple of times while it is in this spot to maintain an even bake, The pizza is then moved to the hottest part of the oven to get the desired crust color, again be prepared to spin the pizza once or twice while it is in this position, and remember that the pizza will color in this position very quickly. As soon as the desired crust color characteristics are achieved, the pizza is ready to remove from the oven. If you are adding basil leaves to the finished pizza, leave the pizza on the peel, apply the leaves and push the pizza back into the front middle of the oven for just a couple of seconds to wilt the leaves. I’ve seen a number of operators even hold the peel up high in the oven to accomplish this in a matter of three to five seconds.
Question:
Is it possible to make a pizza dough/crust without any oil or shortening?
Answer:
Yes it is. In fact it is commonly done. The oil or shortening in the dough helps it to retain some of those great flavors released during baking, but it isn’t necessary to add any oil or shortening to the dough to make a good quality crust. Since oil/shortening is a tenderizer you might find that your crust is a little chewier, but in a pizza crust this is seldom to the point of being objectionable. If you are forming your dough skins by pressing you will probably need to adjust the water content (absorption) of the dough upwards by three to five percent of the flour weight. The reason for this is because oil/shortening is a lubricant that helps the dough to be spread into a dough skin under the pressure of the press. Without the fat in the dough there is a possibility of the dough tearing as it is pressed into shape. If you experience this problem after eliminating the fat, the increase in water absorption should help to correct the problem.
Question:
We are trying to hold our dough overnight in plastic dough boxes but the dough keeps “blowing”. To correct this we have reduced the yeast level to almost nothing but now the dough is always wet and sticky when we take it out of the box. Is this correct? Every other dough recipe that I see posted in the RECIPE BANK has a higher yeast level.
Answer:
You have missed one very important step in managing your dough. When placing the dough in the cooler it should be cross-stacked for something between 60 and 120 minutes. The cross stacking of the dough boxes allows the dough to cool quickly and uniformly, and also eliminates sweating of the dough in the boxes (common when boxes are not cross-stacked). After the boxes have been cross-stacked for at least 60 minutes, they should be down-stacked and nested or covered to prevent excessive drying. By including this one important step in your dough management procedure your yeast levels should return to more normal levels and you should begin seeing better overall dough performance not to mention elimination of that wet sticky dough consistency that makes forming of the dough so such a nightmare.
Question:
How long can I hold my dough in the cooler?
Answer:
Dough that contains the equivalent of not more than 1.5% compressed yeast, and which comes off of the mixer within the temperature range of 80 to 85F, and is properly managed, can be stored in the cooler for up to three days with great success, and it will go to the fourth day with a little luck and finesse in handling the dough. If that isn’t enough time in the cooler, you can drop the finished (mixed) dough temperature to the 70 to 75F range and move the holding time out another day. This will give you great performing dough on days two, three and four after mixing with one additional day on the side as described above. The only down side to going with the lower dough temperature to get the shelf life of the dough out to day four or five after mixing is that the dough will generally exhibit inconsistent performance on the first day after preparation, so its best use time frame is still over only three days, but in this case those days are the second, third and fourth days after mixing rather than the first, second and third days as you get with the higher finished dough temperature.