Making small dough batches - importance of dividing the dough

[jsaras]

Most of the dough recipes on this board makes several 12-16 inch pizzas and the instructions generally have a "divide into x-number of pieces" step.  If I scale down a recipe to make a single i8-inch pizza I obviously will not be performing that step.  Will this have any negative impact on the final result?

[norma427]

Most of the dough recipes on this board makes several 12-16 inch pizzas and the instructions generally have a "divide into x-number of pieces" step.  If I scale down a recipe to make a single i8-inch pizza I obviously will not be performing that step.  Will this have any negative impact on the final result?

jsaras,

Welcome to the forum! 

What style of pizza do you want to make?  I don’t think it matters if you want to just make one dough ball.  I have done that many times.  If you see a formulation you like, you can scale it down on one of the  Pizza Dough Calculation Tools at http://www.pizzamaking.com/dough_tools.html

It would also help to know if you have a pizza stone and scales.

Norma

[jsaras]

I've got a lot of gear: thermometer, scale, scraper, docker, pastry roller, wooden peel,sifter and a cake lifter.  I use a 14-in Lodge cast iron pan to do the baking instead of a stone.  I broke two pizza stones after using them 1-x each, so I gave up on that idea.  I am just making single pizza balls and I've experimented with mostly Lehmann variations as well as a Reinhart thin NY recipe. 

This is the pie I made tonight. It's Lehmann's, 2007 NAPICS Thin NY Style Dough. I didn't get any rise for some reason, so it was a cracker-like (which is fine by me) and very tasty!

 

[norma427]

jsaras ,

Your pizza does look good even though it didn’t rise.  Glad to hear it was tasty. 

I never tried to make any pizzas in a cast iron pan.  Maybe someone that has made pizzas in one could help you with that. 

Do you own a food processor?  If you are only going to be making small dough balls either you could a food processor or mix by hand.  How are you mixing your dough?  By that I mean, how are you putting the ingredients in and how long do you mix?  Do you open up your dough ball by hand or use your pastry roller?  Do you understand how to use the dough calculation tools to scale down a larger formulation to a smaller one?  I don’t know why you didn’t get any rise in your dough, but if you post how you went about making your dough, what ingredients you used by weight, how much yeast you used and how long it was fermented that might help to start solving the problem of why you pizza didn’t rise.  Also what kind of flour are you using?  Sorry to be asking all the questions, but to help someone over a computer it would help to know exactly what you are doing.

I don’t think I ever tried the Lehmann’s 2007 Napics Thin NY Style Dough, or at least not by that name. 

Norma

[jsaras]

Everything was mixed according to procedure using a Kitchen Aid mixer. I am familiar with the dough calculation tool and scaling recipes. I read a post by Tom Lehmann yesterday that indicated that the right water temp when using IDY is precisely 95 degrees. I used room temperature water....but whaddabout all those recipes that specify cold water? There are so many variables that at times I think I'm trying to capture lightning in a bottle!

In any event, I think my basic question has been answered.

[jsaras]

Here's the link to the recipe: http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,4800.msg40779.html#msg40779

[The Dough Doctor]

J;
Actually, when you use IDY you are correct that the water temperature should be at 95F, and if using ADY the water temperature should be at 100F, but this is ONLY the temperature of the water in which the yeast is activated in, which is only a small portion of the total water used in the dough. The amount of water used to activate the yeast is typically around 5-times the weight of the yeast, the rest of the water should be tempered to give you the targeted finished dough temperature that you are looking for (typically around 80 to 85F).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

[norma427]

Everything was mixed according to procedure using a Kitchen Aid mixer. I am familiar with the dough calculation tool and scaling recipes. I read a post by Tom Lehmann yesterday that indicated that the right water temp when using IDY is precisely 95 degrees. I used room temperature water....but whaddabout all those recipes that specify cold water? There are so many variables that at times I think I'm trying to capture lightning in a bottle!

In any event, I think my basic question has been answered.

Here's the link to the recipe: http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,4800.msg40779.html#msg40779

jsaras,

I have used different water temperatures with IDY, but just usually add the IDY to the flour, which usually is at room temperature.  I strive for a finished dough temperature of anywhere between 70-85 degrees, unless I know I want to cold ferment my dough for longer than a few days.  Using cold water is usually for dough that is to be cold fermented for maybe more than a few days or might contain higher amounts of IDY.  I think it is better to try and adjust the amount of IDY in the formulation to be able to see how dough cold ferments with lower and higher amounts of IDY.  If you watch in the fridge how your dough is fermenting you will learn when it looks fermented enough. 

I know there are many variables in learning about dough and how it will perform.  I am still learning.  Each variable can change something.  I think it is a good idea to just practice with one formulation and get it perfected first before you move onto another one.  If you would have seen how long it took me to understand a basic Lehmann dough you would laugh. 

The amount of IDY in the link you referenced was used to make a dough that would be cold fermented for much more than a day.  How long did you cold ferment the dough?

Norma