Q: What’s the best way to add yeast during the dough mixing process? A: Lately I’ve been getting a lot of questions about the basics of dough production. In the coming months, I plan to address many of these questions, one at a time, in this space. Yeast is an essential but … More
Making Good Use of Scrap Pizza Dough
You can add scrap dough to your fresh dough at no more than 15% of the new dough weight. You can also use leftover dough to make side items like breadsticks and garlic knots. Q: What is the best way to handle leftover pizza dough? A: To prevent food waste, … More
Video: Tom Lehmann’s Emergency Dough Recipe
Are you heading into a rush hour without all the pizza dough you need to satisfy those customers? Tom “The Dough Doctor” Lehmann has helped pizzeria operators deal with this problem for decades. In this PMQ exclusive video, Lehmann visited PMQ’s test kitchen and shared an emergency dough recipe with … More
Adding a Breakfast Item to Your Menu
Q: We have a small store in a high-traffic location and would like to offer an early-morning breakfast item. Any suggestions? A: How about a small, individual-size breakfast pizza or breakfast calzone? To make a breakfast pizza, size your dough to make a 6” or 8” pizza (thin crust … More
From Thin-Crust to Deep-Dish
QUESTION: Can you offer any tips on how to convert my thin-crust pizza dough to a deep-dish dough? ANSWER: Last month we tackled the pesky problem of tough, chewy deep-dish crusts. So it makes sense to delve a little deeper into the deep-dish dilemma: How do you add … More
Working with unmalted flours
QUESTION: What is the difference between malted and unmalted flour? ANSWER: Malted flour contains sprouted barley malt, a source of amylase, which is an enzyme that breaks some of the flour’s starch down into sugars. The yeast uses these sugars as nutrients to support fermentation. Unmalted flours don’t contain … More
Solving the soggy pizza problem
QUESTION: We have been struggling with soggy pizzas and soft crusts for some time now. No matter what we do, we can’t fix the problem. We bake our pies in deck ovens at 550°F, and we probably use more toppings than we should, but that’s what our customers want. … More
Expand Your Pizzeria’s Menu With These Signature Appetizers
The unknown person who first hit upon the secret of mixing flour and water to create dough did a big favor for the human race. Dough is one of the most versatile foodstuffs in the world, the basis of everything from flatbreads and dumplings to biscuits, cookies, pastries, pasta … More
From the screen to the deck
QUESTION: Why are some pizzas baked right on the oven deck while others are first baked on a screen and then finished on the deck? ANSWER: Many pizza makers prep the pizza skin on a screen, bake it in the oven for a couple of minutes on the … More
Creating healthier pies and distinctive sauces
Question: Many of our customers want to see healthier pizzas on our menu. What do you suggest? Answer: More and more pizza lovers want healthier options these days, and many pizza restaurants have responded, changing their recipes for some pizzas to accommodate the growing demand. Some pizzerias even distinguish these … More
Tips for using a hot press
QUESTION: We use a hot press with a heated top and bottom to form our crusts/pizza skins. What are the best top and bottom temperatures for pressing our dough? ANSWER: The heat from the top and bottom press plates helps to relax the dough for improved pressing characteristics with … More