New and Improved Mozza Recipe

[tinroofrusted]

Great topic. I'm also making your recipe tomorrow.

I will just add a tsp of diastatic malt into the poolish, cuz I can't help experimenting a little bit.

One question, since this dough will make 6 pies, and my wife and I can only eat 3, what is the best way to freeze the dough (freeze at what stage?) and be able to bake the rest another time?

Btw, last time I froze Nancy's mozza dough for a week, then slowly thawed in the fridge, the dough came out "dead", pizza had zero spring, bad bad situation. I'm guessing the yeast died, or something? (at the same time I had some stored-bought frozen dough, which thawed and baked ok)

Sorry, I don't really have a lot of experience with freezing dough. You could cut the recipe in half though, especially now that there are baker's percentages available.  Or just make a big batch and leave the surplus in a closed container in your fridge and bake them up over the next week or so. The dough should keep up to a week with no big problems. 

If you can, post some pictures when you make the recipe!

Regards,

TinRoof

[proxy]

Yes will do pictures. I'll skip freezing this time.

[Pete-zza]

Btw, last time I froze Nancy's mozza dough for a week, then slowly thawed in the fridge, the dough came out "dead", pizza had zero spring, bad bad situation. I'm guessing the yeast died, or something? (at the same time I had some stored-bought frozen dough, which thawed and baked ok)

proxy,

Which Silverton recipe did you use? Was it one by tinroofrusted with 1/4 teaspoon of yeast, or the one at http://www.foodgal.com/2011/09/pure-pizza-dough-heaven-the-recipe-from-pizzeria-mozza/ with one teaspoon of yeast (ADY)? Also, which one were you originally planning to use tomorrow?

Peter

[proxy]

I had used the dough recipe from the book.

Today I'm baking based on tinroof's recipe. I didn't have time to do turns every 15mins, so I just kneaded in the mixer.
I went with 18oz KA bread flour and 10oz KA all purpose.  But during kneading added about 1/2-1 cup of flour gradually to make the dough ball harder.

Will see how it turns out.

[proxy]

Everything worked out very well.  I'm very pleased with the results.

Made 3 pizzas.

grilled eggplant + red sweet pepper + anchovies
grilled brussels sprouts + bacon
cheese + basil, mixed

but of course this trial was about the crust, not the toppings.

http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/2687/41163907.jpg
http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/9825/79595926.jpg
http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/672/45370156.jpg
http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/5316/86080202.jpg
http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/6905/11996017.jpg
http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/5642/79382995.jpg
http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/3888/86353767.jpg

[norma427]

Everything worked out very well.  I'm very pleased with the results.

Made 3 pizzas.

proxy,

Wow, they all look great.  Really nice crumb structure too!

Norma

[parallei]

TinRoof,

I gave the dough a try this evening.  It had a very nice taste from the sponge and, I think, the hint of rye.  I used a dark rye flour.  It surprised me that we picked up the taste of the small amount of rye.  It was just noticable in my pies and I would consider using again, in a small quantity, if i didn't feel like messing with a starter in other doughs.

I must have balled up the dough a bit late in the game as the dough was a bit elastic.  The first pie stuck just a bit to the peel and I got an oblong pie. Not the first time that has happened!  Also, I forgot to oil the rim prior to baking.  I'll try this again, but may cut back on the hydration a bit and possibly try it as a straight dough with a 48 hr cold fermentation.  Thanks for posting the recipe....

Paul

[tinroofrusted]

TinRoof,

I gave the dough a try this evening.  It had a very nice taste from the sponge and, I think, the hint of rye.  I used a dark rye flour.  It surprised me that we picked up the taste of the small amount of rye.  It was just noticable in my pies and I would consider using again, in a small quantity, if i didn't feel like messing with a starter in other doughs.

I must have balled up the dough a bit late in the game as the dough was a bit elastic.  The first pie stuck just a bit to the peel and I got an oblong pie. Not the first time that has happened!  Also, I forgot to oil the rim prior to baking.  I'll try this again, but may cut back on the hydration a bit and possibly try it as a straight dough with a 48 hr cold fermentation.  Thanks for posting the recipe....

Paul

Paul, those pizzas look delicious.

I've had the same problem with the dough being tight, and it really is just a question of giving the dough time to relax more.  But sometimes you can't wait (e.g., hungry people staring at you, wondering when the pizza will be ready...)

Glad you tried it out and liked it!

Regards,  

TinRoof

[tinroofrusted]

Everything worked out very well.  I'm very pleased with the results.

Made 3 pizzas.

grilled eggplant + red sweet pepper + anchovies
grilled brussels sprouts + bacon
cheese + basil, mixed

Those look like they came straight out of the oven at Mozza.  You pretty much nailed it.  Well done! I do love the flavor of this dough, but I never thought that maybe it is the rye that gives it that special flavor. I do think the barley malt gives it a bit of flavor too.  You can smell the barley malt when the dough is rising, that's for sure. 

Regards,

TinRoof

[proxy]

Thanks for the improved recipe and I think sourdough starter is the great additions and I will always use it.

[FVG]

Tried this today after 2 bakes with Nancy's original recipe. Made 2 changes though:

Used 1/2 teaspoon of yeast in the dough after the overnight rise with the sponge
Used 00 flour in place of the all purpose
No Sour Dough starter

Overall had a bit better flavor and browned up better than Nancy's original recipe - cooking in roughly 6 minutes at 550 degrees. How this springs in the oven is quite amazing. Good crunch to the crust but very light and airy on the inside. Biggest challenge is working with the dough - while it stretches fairly easily it also sticks to the counter almost instantly unless a fair amount of flour is used.

Will definitely use this recipe again.

[tinroofrusted]

Tried this today after 2 bakes with Nancy's original recipe. Made 2 changes though:

Used 1/2 teaspoon of yeast in the dough after the overnight rise with the sponge
Used 00 flour in place of the all purpose
No Sour Dough starter

Overall had a bit better flavor and browned up better than Nancy's original recipe - cooking in roughly 6 minutes at 550 degrees. How this springs in the oven is quite amazing. Good crunch to the crust but very light and airy on the inside. Biggest challenge is working with the dough - while it stretches fairly easily it also sticks to the counter almost instantly unless a fair amount of flour is used.

Will definitely use this recipe again.

Very nice pies, F.  I'm glad you tried it out, especially after having made the original recipe a couple of times.  I've got a batch of dough percolating on the counter right now for later on this week. 

Regards,

TinRoof

[proxy]

I also have half of my dough in the fridge. How long do you think this can stay in the fridge safely?  And how does dough degrade and spoil in the fridge?

[TXCraig1]

I also have half of my dough in the fridge. How long do you think this can stay in the fridge safely?  And how does dough degrade and spoil in the fridge?

It's not going to spoil per-se. At least not before it becomes unusable for other reasons. The yeast will continue to consume it and enzymes will break down the gluten. Sooner or later, it will start to loose its ability to hold water and the water it releases will make it wet and slimy. It will get weak, and if it doesn't fall apart in the fridge, it probably will when baking. I'm guessing you'll see noticeable degradation by the 7th day. Maybe sooner. Though I seem to remember people using dough much older than that.

[parallei]

Proxy,

I've never let an almost 80% HR dough go more than 24 hours or so.  No reason in particular, just have never done it.  Curious to see your results....go for 72 hrs!

[proxy]

i baked one today, took it out of the fridge, let it rest for 1 hour and shaped and baked.  It wasn't as good as the first batch. The flavor wasn't that good, wasn't as creamy, and crust didn't brown as readily. It seemed the acidity was higher than first batch (perhaps due to the sourdough starter working on the dough in the fridge)

[stephent]

I understand using less yeast if the rise is 18 hrs. as oppose to the much shorter version in the cookbook.  But I think the cookbook calls for cake/compressed yeast.  Is the consensus that some other yeast would be better for the longer-rise modification?  Also, would you recommend increasing the yeast if I don't use a sourdough starter?

[proxy]

Last weekend I made 2 batches of Nancy's dough based on tinroofrusted's improvements.

It didn't turn out as nice as the previous attempt.

Crust wasn't as tasty
The crust didn't spring up as quickly
The crust wasn't crusty & chrispy
The crust bubbled up averagely, but not browning with texture like a basketball (http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/9825/79595926.jpg)
Next day the remaining crusts didn't taste so good, i threw it out, last time (in the above photo, I ate all left over crust next day)

I am not sure where I went wrong.

I made the poolish at midnight. Let it sit at room temperate, nicely all bubbled up, Mixed the rest of the ingredients 12 hours later. Kneaded the dough like I did last time, in KA.
I let it rise for 3-4 hours , until it doubled up in size, maybe a bit more than double

Cut into 6 pieces each batch; each peace kneaded/pinched unto itself.  Started baking 3 hours later.  First batch had a lot of gas and bubbles when shaping the pies.

But flavor wasn't to die for.  It tasted flat.

One thing I did different, and perhaps it was the culprit, I added a little more sourdough starter than last time. Instead of 1tbsp I added about 3-4tbsp of my sourdough starter, because I thought maybe a little more sourdough flavor would help.  Could this be the reason things didn't go as well as last time?

I'm also curious about the interaction between overnight poolish (with 1/4 tsp of yeast) when mixed with fed sourdough.  How do these two ferment together?

Another problem was that my dough was getting too thin in the center, so once or twice the tomato sauce burnt onto the parchment paper on stone.

I don't know, but it is it possible that I let the dough rise too long after cutting into 6 pieces? maybe after cutting and shaping into 6 i should have not let it go more than 1.5-2hrs?

[tinroofrusted]

Hi Proxy.  It seems as though you did everything right. Hard to day why it didn't come out that good.  Sorry you had a less than great experience. 

Best regards,

TinRoof

[alrafa]

looking really good, this should be a perfect pizza.