Pizza Today - March 2019 - 28

I have found that
increasing the yeast content
to double the normal level
helps to speed things up a
bit. Increasing the finished
dough temperature to
something in the 90 to
95 F range really helps
to get the dough on line
within the two-hour time
limit as well. The quickest
way to do this is to just
increase the temperature
of the water that you are
adding to the dough by 15 F
(assuming you are presently
targeting a finished dough
temperature of 80 to 85 F).
If you are not targeting your
finished dough temperature
in that range, give it your
best estimation for water
temperature to get your
dough to come from the
mixer within 90 to 95 F.
I also like to have a bag
of reducing agent, such as
PZ-44, on hand for these
occasions. By including a
reducing agent in the emergency dough
formulation you will have a greater
assurance that the dough will handle
well without excessive snap-back
during the forming procedure.
Lastly, adding a small amount of
regular household vinegar (white
vinegar/50 grain strength) will help to
restore at least some of the flavor to the
finished crust that you are going to lose
due to the lack of fermentation. When
adding vinegar, add it at one percent of
the flour weight and reduce the water
weight by the same amount. This will
help to keep your dough formula in
proper balance.
WHEN MIXING AN EMERGENCY DOUGH,

keep in mind that the total mixing time
will be about 75 percent of the mixing
time used for your regular dough. This
means if you normally mix your dough
for 12 minutes, you will be looking at a
total mixing time of about nine minutes
2 8 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / M A R C H 2 0 1 9

ready to use with a minimum of
preparation when I get slammed
later in the day. When using
these refrigerated dough skins,
be sure to pull them from the
cooler about 20 minutes before
you anticipate needing them.
This will allow them to warm
slightly, which makes for a better
overall bake with less bubbling.
While we're on the topic of
bubbling, be sure to dock all of
the emergency dough skins just
before dressing them to help
control bubbling.
YOU WILL NEED TO MAKE
ADDITIONAL EMERGENCY DOUGHS
DURING THE DAY UNTIL YOU CAN
GET BACK INTO YOUR REGULAR
DOUGH AGAIN (which will

for your emergency dough.
Immediately after mixing, scale the
dough into desired weight pieces and
form into balls. Wipe the dough balls
with salad oil and place into dough
boxes or your regular dough containers.
Cover the dough containers to prevent
drying and allow the dough to remain
at room temperature for approximately
two hours before you use it. Once you
begin using the dough it will remain
good to use for approximately
90 minutes. After that it will become
too gassy to continue using and will
need to be discarded.
One trick I use with an emergency
dough is to watch the way it handles.
As soon as I think it is approaching
the end of its life, I will shift into high
gear and begin forming dough skins
that I can put onto screens and place
on a wire rack in the cooler. By doing
this I don't need to discard as much
of the dough, and I'm building an
inventory of dough skins that will be

probably be on the following
day). When you are making
emergency dough during the
day, you will probably find that
you need to make a batch every
75 to 90 minutes to provide a
continual supply of fresh dough.
If you are like most shops and
experience a slow period during the
afternoon, you will probably be able to
get away with using your refrigerated
dough skins during this time, but you
will need to gear back up for the busy
evening hours.
Also, when making your emergency
dough keep in mind that you can,
and should, add back as much of your
unused scrap dough as possible. Even
if the dough is gassy, you can add
it back to your new dough without
any problems. Just don't overload the
capacity of your mixer when doing so.
Emergency dough is like an
insurance policy. You hope you will
never need to use it, but when the time
comes, you're mighty glad you've got it
to fall back on. n
TOM LEHMANN is a former director at
the American Institute of Baking in
Manhattan, Kansas and Pizza Today's
resident dough expert.
http://www.PIZZATODAY.COM
Pizza Today - March 2019

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