Solid Fat

[Chicago Bob]

In the early 70's we whisked lard into the flour fist thing on thin crust dough making (restaurant)

[charbo]

I once made a pizza that I let rise on the pan after shaping, but before topping.  Except for

that one, the one I made last night with 4% leaf lard was the highest.  I keep the lard frozen.

 After weighing it out in a dish, I chopped it into small pieces to facilitate dispersal part

way into dough mixing.  It's a lot easier than trying to incorporate 6% oil late in the

process, and I got more rise.  The difference from my usual 3% oil recipe is not huge, and I

haven't yet been able to capture it in a photo.   One negative I noticed with 4% lard, 4%

Crisco, and 6% oil is a finer crumb.  However, I'm not going back to 3% oil while using whole

wheat.

[Chicago Bob]

In the early 70's we whisked lard into the flour fist thing on thin crust dough making (restaurant)

Please bear in mind that back then the dough was used the same day. Lard was cheap. But it defiantly did add a major flavor component to the overall pie. Beyond that, I'm not really sure what it contributed to the bake parameters. These pizzas had a very slight gum layer, baked in a pan the bottom crust was an even light golden color...cut in squares you could fold a piece over and enjoy a really fine taste of pizza pie....

[Tscarborough]

OK, I tried this and all it did was make a big-ass mess.  Nothing but a clump on the whisk.

[Chicago Bob]

Throw another 5 degrees timing in on the mixer motor....
Seriously, I sure do wish I could remember our old dough formula...but that was 40 rears ago..
 Big 'ol honkin Hobart...flour an lard in...wrastle pumpkin sized wisk onto shaft...spin it like hell for about 3-4 min....careful start'in out, she'll sling flour on your cool school shirt...replace basket-o-rama with dough hook an procede with caution. Hope this somehow helps Tom.   

[charbo]

I mix by hand, and I was thinking that I might not be getting a good mix of the lard into the dough.  Then I ran across an article called “Cereal Lipids” by W. R. Morrison, found in Advances in Cereal Science and Technology Vol II, ed. Pomeranz 1978. 

Morrison states “Loaf volume, texture, and crumb are improved if high-melting-point fat is included in mechanically developed doughs; but the effect is not observed in doughs mixed at lower work levels.”  “Improvement occurs only if there is enough free lipid and if the high-melting-point fat is adequately dispersed.”

So there is a dilemma.  Mixing solid fat into the dough by hand is likely to be inadequate for the best rise.  On the other hand, significant oil should be added only after most or all the flour is wet, which is a hassle.

Experiments continue.

[Chicago Bob]

WE always whisked the lard into the flour FIRST thing and then changed to the hook for rest of mix. That takes care of your disbursement issue.

[pizzaneer]

Since you are hand mixing, here is a pointer for lard whisking by hand.

"The best alternative to a weak mixer is not a spoon, but your bare hand. Whip and beat the lard with a rapid folding motion until you feel the lard is fluffy and full of air. It should be as light as butter creamed for the lightest butter cake."

[Chicago Bob]

Since you are hand mixing, here is a pointer for lard whisking by hand.

"The best alternative to a weak mixer is not a spoon, but your bare hand. Whip and beat the lard with a rapid folding motion until you feel the lard is fluffy and full of air. It should be as light as butter creamed for the lightest butter cake."

We are talking about a very small amount here...certainly not enough to slap around in a bowl with your hand/fingers...jus get in there with one of those small/baby whisks and git er done man!     It won't take long and you will see nice little pelletized flour granuals...

[The Dough Doctor]

Please not that all of that work was done on bread doughs, using pan bread, not pizza dough using pizzas as the end product. There is a huge difference in how a dough responds when being pushed to a height of 4 to 5-inches as opposed to a maximum height of maybe 1.5 or 2-inches as is the case with a pizza crust. When making pan pizzas we have seen a slight improvement in proofing time when a solid fat is used over oil, but I sure wouldn't think that in a home setting 5-minutes in proof time would make a big difference, especially when we typically see greater differences than that due to differences in finished dough temperature, gluten development, and scaling accuracy of the ingredients. What I'm saying is I wouldn't sweat it. If you want to add a solid fat/plastic fat, just heat it slightly to soften it, then work it in right behind the water. I make dough by hand all the time at home and I find it pretty easy to work it in as I stir and knead the dough.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

[charbo]

I devised a way to get a pretty good distribution of 3% lard into the dough, but the process, from set-up to clean-up, adds 10 minutes.   On the other hand, I seem to get just as good a rise with 3% oil, incorporated as follows:  Wait until 85% of the flour is wet, and then add the oil 1% at a time.  The oil process takes less time, gives a little more open crumb, is cheaper, and is healthier.