Neo-Neopolitan.....way too easy....very, very good

[Judon]

John - Your pies look amazing. I too am a fan of Neo-Neopolitan dough but didn't go the extra mile til I read your post. Thanks so much for sharing your expertise.

My question. In Peter Reinhart's instructions he says to put the dough in the frig after the stretch & folds. Do you still scale your balls first or do you refrigerate in bulk?

Judy

[fazzari]

I always scale, ball, and refrigerate...so I can use one dough a day til there gone.  It also makes good experimenting when wanting to know what time does to each batch of dough.

John

[mattharris75]

I just made some of this dough tonight. It's the first 'high hydration' dough that I've tried to make. Wow! It was a lot different and tougher to work with than what I'm used to. Rather than 'dough balls', they are like 'dough gloops'. Still a little nervous about trying to work with them when I go stretch them. I'll be giving them at least 2 days in the fridge, possibly 3. We'll see. Hopefully it will work out! Wish me luck!

[buceriasdon]

It's true higher hydration doughs can be somewhat intimidating at first to work with. Don't be afraid of using what seems to be a lot of bench flour at first. I use a small plate with flour that after carefully extracting the dough glop I drop it onto the flour and then turn over or sprinkle flour on the top then move to a floured work surface. I smooth out the dusting flour then with flattend hands press the dough ball out somewhat. There are a number of methods to opening and stretching so find one that works for you. With my fingertips I press to form a rim all the way around then starting with light pressure at the center and increasing pressure as I press out towards the rim with a flat hand at a slight angle turning as I go. I have seen others do the opposite starting at the rim and moving to the center. I leave more dough in the center so that when I pick the skin up to stretch my knuckles are supporting the thinned area and the center can be stretched. It won't take much force for the skin to stretch. Go easy, it will come to you. You'll find a technique that works for you and you can start cutting back on bench flour.
Don

I just made some of this dough tonight. It's the first 'high hydration' dough that I've tried to make. Wow! It was a lot different and tougher to work with than what I'm used to. Rather than 'dough balls', they are like 'dough gloops'. Still a little nervous about trying to work with them when I go stretch them. I'll be giving them at least 2 days in the fridge, possibly 3. We'll see. Hopefully it will work out! Wish me luck!

[mattharris75]

Thanks for the tips buceriasdon, I'll be sure to report back with how it works out! I've learned so much from everyone here, and I really appreciate the great environment and how willing everyone is to share their tips and tricks.

[buceriasdon]

I forgot to mention there are a number of You Tube videos that worth looking at also on opening and stretching pizza dough.
Don

[mattharris75]

I've watched a number of them in the past, including several showing the 'stretch & fold' technique, and this is the first time I've used that particular technique. I've been making pizzas with lower hydration dough for a while and have developed a technique that works pretty well for those, but this is a different animal altogether.

[mattharris75]

Well, I'd say I like this dough recipe pretty well. It was certainly tougher to work with than what I'm used to. The dough was fragile, tearing fairly easily, and didn't have much elasticity. Admittedly, I don't have any experience with dough of this hydration level, so perhaps that's just how it is. But I wasn't shy with the bench flour, and by the 3rd and 4th pizzas I felt much more comfortable working with it. And the best part is how it puffed up beautifully in the oven.

I'd also say it was significantly better after 72 hours of fermentation than it was at 48.

These were cooked at 550 on my BGE stone, 5 minutes total, with the broiler on for the last 2.

First one is pepperoni, roasted sweet red peppers and basil with fresh motz and parmigiano reggiano on a crushed san marzano sauce.

Second one is chevre, caramelized onions (with malt vinegar), rosemary, and local wildflower honey.

[dellavecchia]

Well, I'd say I like this dough recipe pretty well. It was certainly tougher to work with than what I'm used to. The dough was fragile, tearing fairly easily, and didn't have much elasticity. Admittedly, I don't have any experience with dough of this hydration level, so perhaps that's just how it is. But I wasn't shy with the bench flour, and by the 3rd and 4th pizzas I felt much more comfortable working with it. And the best part is how it puffed up beautifully in the oven.

I'd also say it was significantly better after 72 hours of fermentation than it was at 48.

These were cooked at 550 on my BGE stone, 5 minutes total, with the broiler on for the last 2.

First one is pepperoni, roasted sweet red peppers and basil with fresh motz and parmigiano reggiano on a crushed san marzano sauce.

Second one is chevre, caramelized onions (with malt vinegar), rosemary, and local wildflower honey.

You made some beautiful looking pizzas. I really like your topping selections and aesthetic, and you got some great oven spring.

These high hydration doughs are a bit difficult to get used to, but they should not tear easily and should be very extensible. If you let the dough go too long, it can over ferment. This causes the dough to become acidic, and tear instead of stretching.

John

[buceriasdon]

mattharris, Great job! Ya done us proud.
Don

[norma427]

mattharris75,

I agree, great looking pizzas, with really good choice of toppings.    Also really nice oven spring!

Norma

[fazzari]

Agreed Matt,
Great job!!!!!

John

[mattharris75]

Thanks everyone, overall I was very happy with the pizzas!

Dellavecchia, I probably wasn't clear enough, I'm not yet well versed in pizza making vocabulary. The dough was definitely extensible, it stretched very easily and much more quickly than I'm used to, it didn't really spring back on me at all. I think it's likely that, being used to 60% hydration dough, it was my 'bull in a china shop' technique that caused the tearing. And it wasn't too bad, once I realized what was happening I was able to take it easy with it, it's just all relative to what one is used to I suppose.

Also, I don't think it was over fermentation, because I used 2 dough balls after 48 hours and 2 after 72 hours, and the 72 hour dough balls had better oven spring and were slightly easier to work with.

Thanks again everyone for the tips and tricks as well as the feedback!

[dellavecchia]

Good to hear Matt. It sounds like you had a perfect dough ball to work with.

John