Pizza Today - December 2021 - 22

der should I be adding ingredients?
If my recipe includes a preferment/
starter, there are two ways to approach
a mix. Some add a portion of water to
the bowl first and then add the preferment.
Mixing these two ingredients
together first ensures the preferment
is mostly dissolved before proceeding
with the flour and the rest of the ingredients.
The
other method is to either begin
with water or flour in the bowl, add
your yeast and then the other ingredient
you did not start with, be it water
or flour. And then add your preferment
into the mix before your flour and
water have become a complete
homogeneous mass. If using this second
method, you do not want to wait
too long to add your preferment. Once
the water and flour have started to
develop gluten, it can become hard to
incorporate a preferment that has also
developed gluten. It becomes like two
pieces of taffy trying to become one.
They do not always come together
completely.
Yeast is another ingredient to take
into consideration. If I am using
instant yeast, this can be added directly
into the bowl with the flour. If I am
using dry active yeast, I need to first
bloom it in warm water and then add it
to the bowl in a different stage. If you
do not bloom active dry yeast, it does
not mean your dough will not come
out correct; it may just take a little longer
to really get going.
When to add water can be done a
few different ways.
Some people add water to the bowl
first and then the flour and then some
people do the reverse. Regardless of
the method I choose I never add all the
water at once. Even if I am making the
same batch of dough I make every day,
temperature, humidity, the flour itself
and even how hot the mixer is
from use will change my batch of
dough. I always reserve a small
portion and gradually add my
water in. You can always add, but
once it is in you can never take
it out.
Autolyze is another method
regarding water that ensures flour
is as completely hydrated as it
can be. This method requires a
resting period after a gentle mix
of a portion of the flour and water
before adding the remaining
water and other ingredients. The
downside to this method is that it
requires time and space. If you
only have one mixer, then you
could be making dough for hours
because of the wait time between
steps.
For recipes without a fat, salt is
always my last ingredient going
in. Some people dissolve salt
into the water, but salt can kill
yeast and even though it is not
a guarantee that the salt will kill
the yeast, it is just a precaution
of mine to separate them as best
I can.
If my recipe calls for a fat this
is always my last ingredient. Fats
do not mix well with water and
if it is added too early on, it can
create little pockets where water
cannot penetrate. Fats are binders
and emulsifiers. We want to add
this at the end to bring everything
together.
The way I approach mixing a
batch regardless of the equipment
and ingredients is I always aim
to hydrate my flour as best I can
and incorporate each ingredient
completely before adding the next.
My goal is to make sure I can
maximize fermentation by giving
the ingredients the best head start
possible. n
LAURA MEYER is Administrator
& Instructor, The International School
of Pizza.
22 / PIZZATODAY.COM / DECEMBER 2021
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Pizza Today - December 2021

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