Tiny air bubbles in the dough

[Fatima]

I am using a recipe that calls for 1 kg flour, 5 gr. IDY, 20 gr. salt, 20 gr. olive oil, 500 ml water. I follow the instructions shown on a Brazilian TV program (

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9rTou6rX3U" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9rTou6rX3U</a>

) , (

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KxDbzdTgGI&amp;feature=related" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KxDbzdTgGI&amp;feature=related</a>

). The crust is one of the tastiest I've gotten so far, but for some reason, it forms tiny bubbles during the first (between 2 to 4 hours)  and second rises (already divided into balls, for about 2 hours). Even when it looks like the dough is ready to be rolled out, it has bubbles. I place the skin with the bubbles in the oven and then it forms 2 inch large bubbles near the border when I par-bake topped with some sauce or cheese.
1) I use regular flour, type 1 or special (it means, the flour was obtained from clean grains, without the germ, with the maximun extration rate of 20% and maximum amount of ash of 0,385%). Nobody ever heard of high gluten, special flour for pizza or bread around here.
2) I use luke warm water
3) I add olive oil after all other ingredients are well incorporated, after some kneading.
4) I par-bake in a wood fired oven using a perfurated pizza sheet. (I par-bake because I still havenīt figured why my oven doesnīt get the floor as hot as the dome to be able to bake a whole pizza sincronized top and bottom.
How can I eliminate those bubbles in the dough? They don't seems right to me. Any idea?

[buceriasdon]

You need to dock the dough where you don't want bubbles by either using a dough docker or a fork to poke holes in the dough leaving the edge alone and not docked. Here is what they look like.    http://www.amazon.com/Ateco-01357-Pizza-Docker/dp/B000ZNPRJ6

[c0mpl3x]

you can work your fingers like chevron tractor tires from the center outwards, in small increments, chasing the air to the crust, if you are worried about sauce blowing through the holes during the bake

[Fatima]

Don and Compl3x,
Thank you so much for your suggestions. Really appreciated. From what you two didn't say I am assuming that tiny bubbles are something that happens; there is nothing too wrong with my dough.

[c0mpl3x]

Don and Compl3x,
Thank you so much for your suggestions. Really appreciated. From what you two didn't say I am assuming that tiny bubbles are something that happens; there is nothing too wrong with my dough.

if they are marble sized, there isn't an issue.  if you are getting large golfball sized bubbles, your technique needs adjusted

[Pete-zza]

Fatima,

If you are using a flour with an ash content of up to 0.385%, in the U.S. such a flour would fall in the category of a cake flour (see, for example, the specifications at http://www.gmflour.com/gmflour/Flour_SpecSheet/PURASNOW%20BL%20ENR.pdf). For such a flour, a hydration of 50% such as you used might be a bit on the low side (the rated absorption for a cake flour in the U.S. is about 53%) although I believe that 50% should work, especially with the additional "wetting" of the dough that comes with oil at 2%. In your case, what you might try doing is to use cooler water (to slow down the rate of fermentation) and a longer room temperature fermentation. Because a flour like yours has a low protein content (maybe around 8%), the overall gluten structure may be weaker than higher protein flours with more gluten, and be more prone to bubbling, both in the dough and in the finished pizza, and especially if you are pre-baking the skin. buceriasdon (Don) is right that one solution to reduce the likelihood of bubbling is to use a dough docker. A dough docker does not prevent bubbling. It only reduces the likelihood of bubbling. I think the ultimate solution is to be able to fully dress and bake your pizzas without pre-baking the skins.

Peter

[Fatima]

Pete-zza: I just love the whole science on pizza making. Itīs something that I miss here down in Brazil. I can find only two kinds of flours: one with more and the other with less impurities. Thatīs what we are left with. It's all-purpose. Changing brands won't make any difference. Thanks so much for your response.