Sponsored by Saf Pro
In a world that’s increasingly divided, there’s one thing that unites us: a love for pizza, the ultimate comfort food. Every pizzeria wants patrons clamoring for their pizza, rather than the pie down the street. For many pizzaiolos, the defining factor is often the quality of their dough.
Baking in general is a science, and perfecting dough is no piece of cake. Gideon Butler-Smith, technical service manager at Lesaffre Baking, shares some of the biggest challenges pizzerias face when it comes to dough consistency and performance.
1. Shrinkage, bubbles and tearing, oh my!
We’ve all seen mesmerizing videos of bakers twirling the crust through the air effortlessly, but creating the perfect pie is far more complex. In fact, the most frustrating tasks are painstakingly tearing the dough, shaping the balls, and sheeting them, only to experience shrinkage.
Another common issue is bubbles forming during the bake. Sometimes those big bubbles or “blisters,” are coveted, such as in Neapolitan-style pizza. “The issue is when they are in the middle where the toppings are, and they push the cheese off,” Butler-Smith says.
The solution? A relaxer that helps with the extensibility property of the dough will result in less tear on rounding and “snap-back”—a process where dough shrinks or returns to an irregular shape—in sheeting.
2. Slow fermentation and mixing times hamper the process.
“Pizzerias need to let their dough rest—I’ve seen up to seven days—but to increase throughput and open storage space, there are options to shorten fermentation time,” Butler-Smith says. He recommends Saf Pro® Relax+YF, which reduces fermentation and mix time, making it easier and faster to get product to hungry customers.
“The flavor is so strong that fermentation can be reduced to 24 hours, with mix time reduced by 15–25 percent,” he says.
3. Frozen dough falls short of expectations.
Freezing dough can be practical, but not at the expense of quality and consistency. The biggest culprit is ice crystals, which damage the gluten network bakers have worked so hard to develop in mixing and fermentation. “Saf Pro’s frozen dough improvers give tolerance to the dough and support structure to the gluten, which contributes to more volume,” Butler-Smith says.
Avoiding the typical stress the freezer puts on the dough can extend the shelf life to six months or more, while maintaining the same quality in volume, taste, and texture. “Everything in the dough starts to experience a high amount of stress when it enters the freezer—just like when we’re outside in the bitter cold and reach for a jacket. Think of our Frozen 3.1 enzyme as a jacket to give the dough tolerance to last a little bit longer,” Butler-Smith says.
4. Patrons prefer a clean solution.
Consumers increasingly expect natural ingredients, which is why pizzerias can feel confident in Saf Pro products. “The vast majority of our ingredients are clean labels,” Butler-Smith says. “We understand how important it is to our clients to keep it natural.”
Making Great Pizza Better
Butler-Smith says his team’s goal is simple: help customers elevate their product. “We have a team of technical service managers all throughout North America who are eager to brainstorm with pizzaiolos,” he says. “We also partner with the North American Pizza and Culinary Academy, who are the real pizza experts.”
He recounts one pizzeria that used Lesaffre products to improve flavor and lift, easing the dough-shaping process for their employees. “When they described their needs, we were confident we could help, and since then patron satisfaction has soared,” Butler-Smith says. “We just want to make your pizza the best it can be.”
Click here to learn how Saf Pro® can improve your dough.
By Cathie Ericson
