caputo 00 flour resulted in more of a 'bready' crust

[Tory]

This past Friday I cooked a pizza using Caputo 00 'Chef's Flour' (http://www.amazon.com/Antimo-Caputo-Flour-2-2-bags/dp/B0064R7FLA/ref=pd_sim_sbs_gro_1)

And I used a recipe I found on Forno Bravo.

I cooked the pizza in a conventional oven @ 550 degrees (on a stone about 2 inches below the top broiler). The pizza cooked nicely and I even got a little 'char'.
The strange thing was, how 'bready' the crust turned out. Is this normal?  Or is it a result of cooking it in a conventional oven?

Any ideas of why the crust might have come out so bready?  I'd appreciate any suggestions or advice. Thanks.

Tory

[The Dough Doctor]

I'm guessing that your dough may not have had a sufficiently high absorption. The use of high dough absorption promotes good oven spring and a very light/open crumb structure. If you used a mixer to mix your dough, you might have also over mixed the dough. For best results you should only mix the sough until it takes on a smooth appearance. Save the full gluten development for the bread doughs.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

[Tory]

Ok, that's good to know. Thank you.

The recipe I followed indicated to mix the dough for 2 min on slow, 5 min on medium, and 2 more min on slow. I probably went about half this time because all the dough seemed to be doing is
spinning on the hook rather than being 'mixed' or kneaded.

I'll take your advice and do it less next time. Thanks again.

Tory

[The Dough Doctor]

Tory;
When the dough just grabs onto the hook and goes for a free ride around the bowl this is an indication of poor hook design (what we call a "J" hook). The newer hook designs are what are referred to as a reverse spiral design. This hook design pushes the dough off of the hook and into the bottom of the bowl for much better mixing action. In some cases you can improve the mixing action of a "J" hook by increasing the dough size, or increasing the mixing speed. Just be careful so as not to over load your mixer. With the hook issue I doubt that you are over mixing the dough, so I would look at increasing the total dough absorption to achieve a softer dough which, should open up better during baking to achieve the open crumb structure you're looking for.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

[Tory]

Oh, I wasn't aware of any difference in hook configuration, but I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.

I'm using a Kitchen Aid mixer and the hook that came with it. I noticed on several occasions that the bigger the dough ball in the bowl, the more likely the hook efficiently mixes and kneads the dough, and conversely, the smaller the dough ball, the more likely it is to just grab the hook and go spinning around.

Thank you for your info again.

Tory

[The Dough Doctor]

Tory;
You might check with Hobart to see if they have a replacement reverse spiral design dough hook for your mixer. We have the Hobart N-50 (5-quart) mixers which are essentially an industrial version of your mixer and they have the reverse spiral dough hook option available for that mixer, but I don't know if the agitator shaft is the same diameter of not. Something to look into if you're interested.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

[Tory]

Ok, thank you for the info. I'll look to see if Hobart has something.

I checked with Kitchen Aid, and they do have a reverse spiral hook, unfortunately it won't work with my mixer.

Thanks again though.


While I'm here, let me ask you, if I'm making pizza dough using the Caputo 00 flour, is there a optimum hydration percentage?

Tory