Hey guys btw how long of a cold ferment would be best 24,36 or 48?
Longer ferments (with less yeast) tend to favor enzyme activity, which, in turn, favors sugar production. Longer ferments also favor byproducts, leading to a more flavorful crust. With Neapolitan, you have to be careful of the residual sugar in the dough- too much and the crust will burn very quickly. I would, for now, stick to a 24 hour ferment. You'll want to use enough yeast so that the dough doubles during that time. You can use Lahey's original recipe as a starting point for yeast quantity, but you're still going to have to watch the dough to see when it doubles. It really helps if you don't have an exact time when the pizzas need to be baked. If the yeast quantity is too much, then you'll need to move up the bake time. If it's too little, you can compensate, to an extent, by removing the dough from the fridge earlier. If it's way too little and the dough has barely risen, you can remove the dough from the fridge and put it in a warm place. Be aware, though, that the warmer the dough gets, the faster the yeast will multiply, so your window of usability will shrink a bit.
Your variations- more water and more yeast- I'm not so sure about. No knead breads favor very high hydrations, but neapolitan pizza dough is a different beast. High 50s is pretty typical. Adding more yeast to 'compensate' for WW- not something I'd recommend. I know that I said stick with your original recipe before, but, the more that I look at it, the more I'm tempted to recommend a complete overhaul.
I highly suggest going back to the basics:
Strong Flour (50%): 174.14 g | 6.14 oz | 0.38 lbs | 1 C. + 1/4 C. + 2 T.*
WW Flour (50%): 174.14 g | 6.14 oz | 0.38 lbs | 1 C. + 1/4 C. + 2 T. + 1 t. *
Water (room temp) (60%): 208.97 g | 7.37 oz | 0.46 lbs | 3/4 C. + 2 T. + 2 t.
IDY (.4%): 1.39 g | 0.05 oz | 0 lbs | 0.46 tsp | 0.15 tbsp
Salt (2%): 6.97 g | 0.25 oz | 0.02 lbs | 1.25 tsp | 0.42 tbsp
Total (162.4%): 565.6 g | 19.95 oz | 1.25 lbs | TF = N/A
Single Ball: 282.8 g | 9.98 oz | 0.62 lbs
Yield: Two 12" crusts
Bowl 1: Add yeast to water and whisk to dissolve. Bowl 2: Combine salt and flour. Dry into wet. Mix until dough forms a ball and then knead for 3 more minutes (about 4 minutes total). Split dough in half, ball each portion and place in lightly oiled, clear covered containers. Refrigerate for 24 hours. Remove from fridge and allow to come to room temp for 4-6 hours before baking.
*Spoon and level method (see image below)
Like I said before, the yeast quantity is just a guesstimate. I've also purposely scaled this down to a two ball recipe for testing purposes. If you can, don't multiply it by 4 and make eight crusts in the wood fired oven just yet. Make the dough today, taking lots of photos, then take photos of it 24 hours later and post them here. Make sure you get a shot of the bottom of the 24 hour dough. Once you post the photos, that will confirm the quantity of yeast (and kneading, and other aspects). We'll fine tune it and then you should be ready to make the dough for real. Either toss the test dough or form it into a loaf and try baking it in a regular oven. I'm aware that it's the weekend and you probably have plans to fire the oven, so if you absolutely have to go with the old way, I understand, but, bear in mind, that, until you approach the dough in a truly Neapolitan manner (as opposed to a highly modified NY recipe), it won't be the best it can be.
Lastly, baker's percentages are by weight. A cup of flour is a lot lighter than a cup of water, so 1.5 C. of water weighs more than half of 3 C. of flour.
