Q: What is an “emergency” dough, and when would a pizzeria owner ever need to use it? A: An emergency dough is a dough that you make in the event that you should lose all of the dough that you have stored in the cooler. For example, a lightning strike might blow out a … More
Tom Lehmann: In Lehmann's Terms
Will Mixing In Salt and Sugar Kill Your Yeast? Tom Lehmann Says "Not Always."
I’ve heard so many conflicting stories about mixing yeast with salt and sugar. Will doing this kill the yeast? I can understand your confusion. This issue has seemed a cardinal rule for a long time now, but it doesn’t apply in all situations. The problem is that when wet … More
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Go For The Dough – Shawn Randazzo's Detroit Style Dough
Enjoy this Detroit style pizza dough recipe, courtesy of award-winning pizza chef Shawn Randazzo of Detroit Style Pizza Co. For one of Shawn's award-winning pizza recipes, visit PMQ.com/detroittwist … More
Dough Information Center
The Dough Must Go On: 5 Pizza Tips From the Dough Doctor
We don’t call Tom Lehmann the “Dough Doctor” for nothing. He can diagnose your pizza dough problems and write out a prescription for treatment on the spot. Now if only we could get him to make house calls. Here, Lehmann offers five useful tips for managing your dough and making … More
Tom Lehmann: In Lehmann's Terms
Quick-Fire Questions with The Dough Doctor
I tried making my pizza dough using malt syrup rather than the usual white sugar but, over time, my dough became very sticky. Is there a solution? You are most likely using a diastatic malt syrup, which is enzyme-active and is nothing more than a malt-flavored sugar syrup. The … More
Dough Information Center
The Secret to Cracker-Crust or Crispy-Crust Pizza Dough
If you’ve ever tried to use a dough press to form skins for a crispy-thin or cracker-crust pizza, you may have realized the dough becomes too stiff to press out. But there’s a way around that problem. The key is to have a soft and relaxed dough consistency at the … More
Tom Lehmann: In Lehmann's Terms
What exactly is bakers percent?
Q I’ll be opening my first shop soon. When discussing my dough, everyone talks in bakers percent. Why is this? A When a dough is given in bakers percent, it is very easy to immediately see any issues with ingredient amounts. For example, if a dough based on … More
Tom Lehmann: In Lehmann's Terms
Keep your thin crust from becoming tough and chewy
Q: Our thin crust is always tough and chewy, and nothing we do seems to help. What are we doing wrong? A: There are a number of things that can impact a thin crust, resulting in a tough, chewy crust. One of the most common causes is insufficient dough … More
Tom Lehmann: In Lehmann's Terms
The Dough Doctor tackles effective dough management strategies
Dough management is an all-inclusive term used to encompass everything we do to the dough, from the time we begin mixing the ingredients until it is finally opened into pizza skins or formed into another product (breadsticks, garlic knots, calzones, etc.). Effective dough management means identifying the parameters necessary … More
Dough Information Center
How to Make Whole-Wheat Pizza Dough
If you’re looking to add healthier pizzas to your menu, whole-wheat crusts may be the answer. One slice of whole-wheat pizza dough offers four grams of fiber, or 10% of the recommended daily intake of fiber for men and 15% for women. Whole wheat is also a good source of … More
Tom Lehmann: In Lehmann's Terms
Getting a Better Bake With Air Impingement Ovens
Q: We switched to an air impingement oven but can’t get a good, balanced bake between the top and bottom of our pizzas. Why? A: Your question is a fairly common one. I assume you’ve already worked with the baking time and temperature and made sure the oven … More
Dough Information Center
Video: How to Make Pizza Dough the Easy Way
He may be known far and wide as “the Dough Doctor,” but Tom Lehmann likes to make pizza dough the easy way. “Having worked in pizza all these years, I’ve become very lazy,” he says. “And I like to do things the easy way … I’ve got other things to … More