Answer:
An industry standard for the addition of scrap dough to fresh made dough is 15 percent of the fresh dough weight. At this level, the scrap should have very little influence on the dough or finished crust properties. The maximum amount of scrap dough that should be incorporated is 25 percent of the fresh dough weight. With this said though, there are certain conditions that will affect the amount of scrap dough that can be added back to any dough. The dough formulation, mixed dough temperature, dough management procedure and ability to effectively cool or retard the dough will all have a significant influence on the amount of scrap dough that can be added without distorting the quality of the fresh dough or pizza crusts made from it. To utilize the maximum of 25 percent scrap, the scrap dough must be kept refrigerated to reduce the affects of fermentation on the dough. Excessive fermentation of the scrap dough can result in weak doughs that might fail to rise properly during baking, and finished crusts with a stronger than normal (fermentation) flavor. Under really severe conditions the scrap dough might be so acidic that it inhibits the browning of the finished crusts and a lighter than normal finished crust will be the order of the day, and even extra baking time won’t give you much of a darker crust color. When working with scrap dough to be added back to fresh dough production, it is best to keep the scrap as fresh as possible and to keep it under constant refrigeration until the time that it is used. If the scrap has collapsed on its own before you use it you are well advised to limit its use to not more than 15 percent of the weight of the dough to which it is being added, but if the dough still looks lively (not collapsed) you will probably be able to add something more than 15 percent back to your dough without any problems.

Question:
We are trying to make a Tex-Mex flavored crust but we can’t seem to get the corn chip flavor that we are looking for. What’s the secret?

Answer:
The secret to making a great Tex-Mex type of crust is to use some Masa Flour/Maseca in the dough formula. I like to use 25 percent Maseca (a specially treated type of corn flour) in the dough formula in addition to my regular white pizza flour.If this does not give you the intensity of flavor that you want, you can use more, but I don’t recommend going much above 35 percent as the dough may become too weak and tear too easily during the forming process. To keep things simple, just figure 25 percent of the flour weight in your regular pizza crust dough formula, then add this amount to the dough as Maseca, then increase the water content of the dough by 50 percent of the weight of Maseca that you added. Mix and process the dough in your normal manner and you should be good to go. Maseca is the same type of treated corn flour that is used to make corn chips, corn tortillas, and tamales. It provides an entirely different flavor than any type of regular corn flour or corn meal. You can give the crust a finishing touch if you want by using 5 to 8 percent lard in the dough formula rather than olive or vegetable oil. We have demonstrated this formula/crust type in a number of our pizza seminars and it has shown very good acceptance.

Question:
We are wanting to get our crust to color up better and faster during baking but we don’t want to get a sweeter tasting crust by adding more sugar to the dough, what can we do?

Answer:
I’ve been faced with this very same issue any number of times over the years. The most effective approach is to add sweet dairy whey to the dough formula. Sweet dairy whey is very high in lactose (milk sugar). Lactose contributes significantly to crust color development during baking, but it is also one of the least sweet sugars, so it really doesn’t contribute much in the form of additional sweetness to the finished crust flavor profile. If you go looking for sweet dairy whey you may not be able to find it at your local distributor, but you will find it at any distributor who supplies ingredients to the baking industry. It is typically sold in 50-pound bags at a reasonable cost. To use the whey, just scale it off and add it along with the flour to the dough ingredients. Since this is mostly a sugar product, it should not require any other formula changes such as additional water. The amount of crust color development can be controlled by increasing or decreasing the amount of whey included in the dough formulation. For starters, I would recommend starting with the addition of 4 percent whey (based on flour weight) and benchmarking from there.

Question:
We buy frozen dough balls for making our crusts. What can we do to personalize the crusts so they are not so plain tasting?

Answer:
Frozen dough does present some challenges in this regard as you can’t do much with the dough itself, but you can do a few things to it to personalize or signature the finished crust to distinguish it as yours.
  After slacking out (thawing) the dough balls in the cooler overnight, and allowing them to warm at room temperature for an hour or so, they are ready to be shaped. Once shaped, brush the dough skins with a flavored oil such as a commercial garlic oil, butter flavored oil or butter, or even sesame oil. The skins are then ready to dress and bake as needed. Another option is to brush or spray the skins with a little water and then sprinkle sesame seeds onto the rim of the skins. The seeds will bake to a golden brown color and impart a very rich and pleasant flavor to the finished crust. If you are making a pan style pizza you can sprinkle some seeds in the pan just before you shape the dough to the pan. The seeds will be baked onto the bottom of the crust giving it a very unique flavor. In addition to these steps, you could also sprinkle the crusts with an Italian herb mixture to give something like the herb-flavored crusts that were all the rage several years ago. Or lastly, you might even put an application of fine grated Parmesan cheese over the edge of the dough skin as a last step just before baking the pizza. This will provide both flavor and appearance to the finished crust making it uniquely yours.
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