Zojirushi BBCC-X20

[Zensojourner]

First off, I apologize, but I had to take the h t t p:  // (and put blanks in that because it was STILL counting it) off the links to YOUR OWN WEBSITE because apparently it's against the rules for me to "post messages containing hyperlinks".

And even that wasn't enough so now I'm deleting the w w w part as well, see if it will let me post that . . .

Lot of hoop to jump through, bear with me.  Don't know what the problem is pointing back into this very forum, but I'm not allowed.  Aren't I special!  LOL!

Sorry!  You'll have to copy and paste to see what I'm talking about.

I used my Zojirushi to knead the dough.  I followed the directions at

pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,9815.0.html

for 2 12" pizzas

Last time I used my KA mixer and the NY style recipe you have posted on the website at

pizzamaking.com/newyorkstyle.php

That came out kind of thicker than I wanted and kind of hard (may have been a little overcooked), so I went ahead and followed the directions that were mentioned specifically on that first thread for a bread machine.

However, my bread machine has the horizontal loaf pan rather than the vertical, and it ended up sort of chasing the dough ball from one side of the machine to the other.  I'm not sure it really kneaded it very well.  The other thing is I'm not sure it was "enough" dough for a 2 lb loaf pan.  I read on one of the bread machine threads (sorry, can't remember which one) that there should be AT LEAST a certain amount of dough for the dough to be well kneaded.  I can't find any info in my manual about minimum amounts of ingredients.

The MAX capacity is 5 c flour and 2 c liquids.

Since I was baking the pizza the same day (today, it's warming up in the kitchen as I type) I increased sugar, salt, and yeast to 1 tsp sugar, 3/4 tsp salt, and 1 tsp yeast.  It rose in the fridge for about 5 hours and approximately doubled in size.  Breaking the dough ball in half punched it back down a little.  After an hour out of the fridge, the dough is still cold and slightly sticky.  I put the other half of the dough back in the fridge for tomorrow.

My Zojirushi is fully programmable.  I can also disable the pre-warming cycle when using the dough setting.  that would leave me with a 21 minute knead, 45 minute rise, and 22 min second rise (doesn't say how long the "stir down" portion of the second rise is).  I can leave the lid open on this machine at any time without stopping the cycle (eg it will continue to knead with the lid up).

So my questions are:

how much dough should I be making to be "enough"
since I can program it, how would I program it
would simply eliminating the preheat phase and just using the dough setting be sufficient
anything else I should know that I'm not smart enough to specifically ask

I haven't baked the current batch of dough yet - still cold after an hour out of the fridge.  I'll give it another hour then shape and bake.  I think that recipe from the first thread is roughly equivalent to the recipe that came with the machine, which calls for 3.75 c of flour.  I think the weight measure translates to roughly 3.5 cups of flour.  So maybe capacity was "enough" for a good knead?  I'm not sure.

[Zensojourner]

Ok it's been baked and eaten.  It made a very thin crust, too thin actually for my tastes.  I probably slightly overcooked it - the crust was way thinner than I'm used to (almost paper thin) and it cooked faster than I thought it would.

I couldn't shape it in the air, it was very stretchy but wouldn't hold its shape well.  I had to lay it on my super parchment and form it without lifting.

It tasted fine but I would have preferred it to be a little thicker and to have a little more, I don't know what you'd call it, body?

Hoping someone can help me figure out what I need to improve. 

[Zensojourner]

Any help?

[Jet_deck]

Sure, I'll try.  If you followed the recipe exactly, it calls for King Arthur Bread Flour.  Did you use KABF?  If by your eye you felt that the mixer was chasing the ball around and probably wasn't kneaded well, then it probably wasn't.(except for the fact that it kneaded it for 22 minutes, which seems like a very long time)  Are you measuring ingredients by weight or by volume?  What is your oven setup?  Max temp, heatup time, do you use a stone?  Do you cook on the bottom or near the top, gas or electric?  Are you using ADY or IDY, do you proof it before you add it to the dry ingredients?  What amount of sauce are you topping the pizza with, what kind of cheese are you using.

Lets get everything narrowed down as concise as we can.

[Pete-zza]

Zensojourner,

Once you get to a total of five posts, you should be able to post active links in your replies. This limit is to discourage spammers.

The two active links for your original post are http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,9815.0.html and http://www.pizzamaking.com/newyorkstyle.php.

I also have a Zo machine and although it is a different model it also has a horizontal pan arrangement. I have never had any problems with kneading the dough in my machine.

The NY style dough recipe you used is for a dough that is to be cold fermented for 24 hours. Although that recipe does not call for dividing the total amount of dough into two pieces, in your case the recommended time to do that is right after the dough is removed from the mixer pan. You also should not have needed 21 minutes of kneading. Also, you should have gone to the refrigerator right after the dough has been kneaded, not after rises of 45 minutes and 22 minutes. What you did changed the rules of the game, and no doubt produced results that were different than if you followed the specified game plan.

In your case, I suggest that you decide on which dough recipe you want to use, what brand and type of flour you want to use, and how many pizzas you want to make and their size. That information should then allow us to come up with numbers that will work in your Zo, or else tell us that there is a problem. Assuming there is no problem, then I would suggest that you read or re-read the posts I referenced in the next to the last paragraph in Reply 1 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,9815.msg85268.html#msg85268. As you can see from those posts, I do not use most of the features of my Zo machine. I am only interested in using the mixing/kneading features and getting a finished dough that is not too warm.

It will also help if you have a good digital scale. Many of the recipes on the forum are recited in baker's percents, which makes it easier to scale them up or down.

Peter