Q Our customers have complained about the overly wide edge of our pizza crusts. We’ve tried docking them closer to the edge, but that doesn’t seem to help. Any suggestions? A This is a common problem for inexperienced pizza makers who stretch their dough by hand. They tend to … More
Tom Lehmann: In Lehmann's Terms
How to prepare refrigerated dough for pizza use
Q I keep having problems with bubbles in my refrigerated dough. What am I doing wrong? A Preparing refrigerated dough for use is a crucial step in the pizza making process. If it’s done wrong, your oven tender will develop a needless attraction to the bubble popper. After … More
Tom Lehmann: In Lehmann's Terms
Learning the basics of using a hot dough press
Q What’s the best hot press for my operation? A Last month, we considered how using a dough press might require changes to your dough formula. Now let’s talk about the hot press itself. The hot press utilizes heat to improve the pressing of the dough and to form a … More
Tom Lehmann: In Lehmann's Terms
Dough presses may require changes to your dough formula
Q: We’re expanding our operation and may need to use a dough press instead of stretching our dough by hand. Will we have to make any changes to our dough formula? A: If you’re planning to use a press, you’ll need to work with a very soft and extensible dough … More
Dough Information Center
Tom “The Dough Doctor” Lehmann explains how to make sure your pizza dough is properly mixed.
Q Is there a surefire way to determine when my pizza dough has been properly mixed? A There are two methods to make this determination—a visual test and a physical test. The latter is a bit complicated; it requires you to form the dough into a ball and … More
Tom Lehmann: In Lehmann's Terms
How to express your pizza sauce formula in percentages
Q Pizzaioli use baker’s percentage to formulate dough, but is there any way to express a sauce formula in percentages? A Yes, there is a way to express a sauce formula in percentages. With dough, the percentages are based on the total flour weight, whereas the percentages for … More
Tom Lehmann: In Lehmann's Terms
Changes to flour will affect your dough’s absorption rate, says Tom “The Dough Doctor” Lehmann.
Q: I’m having problems with my dough’s water absorption rate, even though I’m using the same ingredients I always used. What could be causing this? A: Year in and year out, we add a measured amount of water to the mixing bowl, add a specific quantity of flour … More
Dough Information Center
Tom “The Dough Doctor” Lehmann explains how salt, sugar and oil affect your pizza dough.
Q: Can you explain the roles that salt, sugar and oil play in the overall final dough product? A: Good question! Many people don’t realize that salt, sugar and oil do more than add flavor to pizza dough. Let’s consider these ingredients one at a time to determine … More
Dough Information Center
Adding Yeast to Your Dough Mix
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 … More
Dough Information Center
Making good use of scrap pizza dough
Q: What is the best way to handle leftover pizza dough? A: You can incorporate scrap dough into your fresh dough at a rate not to exceed 15% of the new dough weight. Just cut the scrap dough into pieces and add it to the dough mixer about halfway … More
Dough Information Center
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
Dough Information Center
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