del popolo dough recipe

[thezaman]

 this was published on the popular science web site. can craig and the other natural leavened group analyze this to see how it compares to your methods
DARSKY'S RECIPE

Darsky uses flour from Utah and Colorado and leavens the pizza dough with a sourdough starter he got in San Francisco. Pizzamaking requires microscopic bacteria and yeast that make the dough rise, giving it a characteristic flavor and, of course, making the whole operation work. Darsky’s recipe (for 10 250-gram dough balls that serves 10 to 20 people):

Combine 14 ounces of natural starter with 30 ounces of tap water. Stir for 20 seconds. Add 47 ounces of All Purpose flour and 1.25 ounces of salt. Stir or mix for 5 to 10 minutes depending on the vigorousness of the mixing method. Let rest overnight in covered container in refrigerator. Remove from refrigerator, allow dough to warm up for approximately two hours, then apportion. Allow dough balls to relax for some time depending on ambient temperature. Stretch dough balls to approximately 12 inches.

[parallei]

thezaman,

I took the liberty of busting the formula into Baker's Percentages.  I had to assume a starter hydration of 100%. That seems to be fairly typical, but I guess we don't know what was really used.  As you can see below, he uses stater at about 15% of the total dough weight, or about 30% of the "added" flour (excluding the flour in the starter).  The Tartine Bread uses about 20% stater when calculated as a percentage of the "added" flour for what is about an 8 hour room temp, or slightly higher, rise and proof time frame.

Total Formula:
Flour (100%):    1532.45 g  |  54.05 oz | 3.38 lbs
Water (68%):    1042.07 g  |  36.76 oz | 2.3 lbs
Salt (2.66%):    40.76 g | 1.44 oz | 0.09 lbs | 7.3 tsp | 2.43 tbsp
Total (170.66%):   2615.29 g | 92.25 oz | 5.77 lbs | TF = N/A

Preferment:
Flour:    198.76 g | 7.01 oz | 0.44 lbs
Water:    198.76 g | 7.01 oz | 0.44 lbs
Total:    397.52 g | 14.02 oz | 0.88 lbs

Final Dough:
Flour:    1333.69 g | 47.04 oz | 2.94 lbs
Water:    843.31 g | 29.75 oz | 1.86 lbs
Salt:    40.76 g | 1.44 oz | 0.09 lbs | 7.3 tsp | 2.43 tbsp
Preferment:    397.52 g | 14.02 oz | 0.88 lbs
Total:    2615.29 g | 92.25 oz | 5.77 lbs  | TF = N/A

[thezaman]

thanks,for the break down.it seems to be a wet dough. is it the normal method to bulk overnight under refrigeration?

[TXCraig1]

It’s 63.8% hydration, so not excessively wet. 2.7% salt. I typically run closer to 62% and 3% respectively. The big difference from what I do is that I’m at 1.3% culture and 48 hours fermentation with most of that time around 65F. Darsky is at a whopping 29.8% culture and using overnight cold fermentation. I’m not a fan at all of fermenting SD dough at refrigerator temps.  I don’t think it delivers the flavor and I also think it has a negative impact on the texture and tenderness of the baked crust.

CL

[parallei]

thezaman,

I can only speak for myself and I don't do large amounts of dough at one time (2 to 6 balls typically).  I use (more or less) the Tartine bread work flow with my starter based pizza doughs, so the dough is typically at room temp for 4 to 6 hours before I ball and put it into the fridge.  So no, I don't bulk in the fridge.  I use 8% to 10% stater (by total dough weight) if I'm doing an extended fermentation in the fridge.  More like 20% if I'm doing a someday dough.

I'm sure others, with more experience, will chime in.

Paul

[parallei]

Craig,

Why do you say 63.8% hydration?  We must think about it in a different way.  There is (more or less) 7 oz of water in the starter.  Total flour is 1532g, total water is 1042g.  That's about 68%.  In other words, if you made a straight dough with those total water and flour amours you'd call it, I think, 68% HR.

Paul

[TXCraig1]

Craig,

Why do you say 63.8% hydration?  We must think about it in a different way.  There is (more or less) 7 oz of water in the starter.  Total flour is 1532g, total water is 1042g.  That's about 68%.  In other words, if you made a straight dough with those total water and flour amours you'd call it, I think, 68% HR.

Paul

Paul,

You are absolutely correct. My bad. I'm so used to thinking in insignificant starter percentages, I don't even include the starter in the hydration calculation. Here you need to for sure.

It probably behaves like an even wetter dough that 68% would suggest given that so much is starter that will have degraded gluten.

CL

[thezaman]

somewhere on slice there is a picture of his bulk dough in a 20 qt container it looks very wet.seem like it would take a lot of bench flour being worked in to get individual balls.
 a dumb question ,if i have been producing pizza in a building for 30 years can i capture a personalized strain that would be individual to my pizzeria

[dellavecchia]

Stating that the flour comes from Utah and Colorado gives away Central Milling. This flour needs the extra hydration and, depending on if it's the 00, easily takes a cold fermentation (or retard). This recipe and workflow would be difficult to execute with Caputo, owing to the low enzymatic activity.

John

[weemis]

Instead of using flour that has made this long plane trip (to and from the USA), Darsky mixes a combination of three flours that he buys from Central Milling in Utah.

Got this from the slice interview here:
http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2012/06/behind-the-scenes-in-the-epic-del-popolo-pizza-truck.html