Powdered milk...

[Ronzo]

Yeah, I'm sure there are four hundred threads out there that explain this, but I don't really have the time to dig right now.


Can someone tell me what the purpose of adding powdered milk to pizza dough is? Also, when should you, and when shouldn't you add it?

How does the quantity of it being added affect the dough?

[Pete-zza]

Ron,

One of the main reasons for adding powdered milk to a dough is for crust color development (browning). Powdered (aka dried) milk includes lactose, a simple sugar, and it is the lactose that is primarily responsible for the browning. Powdered milk also contributes protein, a small amount of fat and calcium, and in, sufficient quantity, should help produce a softer crumb in the crust. I would guess that you would need something like 4-5% (by weight of flour) to get a flavor impact in the crust. The powdered  milk is best combined with the dry ingredients, not with the water, which can produce clumping and pilling when added to the dry ingredients.

What is more important is that the powdered milk be a high-heat baker's grade form, not the type you buy in the supermarket. The supermarket variety includes either an enzyme or protein (quite possibly the whey protein) that can unduly soften the dough and produce less than optimum performance. The same problem occurs with fresh milk. The conventional advice when using fresh milk is to boil it and let it cool down before using. That disables the offending element (enzyme or protein) in the milk. Most professional pizza operators don't use fresh milk because of safety (hygiene/regulatory) concerns. They are more likely to use dried dairy whey over dried milk because it is usually cheaper for them and it also provides lactose for browning purposes.

Peter

[Ronzo]

Good thing I only bought 3 packets of the powdered stuff in the supermarket last night... cuz I'm gonna have to churck it or drink it... Been a along time since I drank the reconstituted powdered milk. We were pretty poor growing up so we drank it a lot.

Man... can't use any store bought stuff to be a pizza addict. Always have to use specialty stuff that I can't find...

[Pete-zza]

Ron,

I wouldn't throw away the dried milk you have. It has many uses besides use in a pizza dough. However, if you want to try it in pizza dough, reconstitute it in water (you can use some of the water in the recipe) and heat it to the point of boiling (but be careful that it doesn't scorch or boil over) and let it cool. If there was any enzyme or protein that would cause a problem in the dough, it most likely will be disabled, just as with fresh milk. You may have to adjust the total liquid content of the recipe to compensate for some loss of water through evaporation during the boiling of the reconstituted dry milk.

Peter

[Ronzo]

Just when I thought I had to chuck it, you save the day, Pete.

What would I do without you man?



So... where do you get the baker's stuff? Know any good places on line (that I don't have to buy 50 pounds of it at a time ), because I highly doubt I'll find it here in town.

[Pete-zza]

Ron,

I personally wouldn't bother. You could inquire at the Whole Foods to see if what they sell in their bin is baker's grade, but I doubt that they will know. It's too fine a level of detail. However, they should be able to tell you who their supplier is (I've asked questions like this before at Whole Foods) and you might be able to call the supplier and ask them. The baker's grade dry milk is sold by bakery ingredients suppliers, usually in 50-lb bags. Although I have never checked, there may be places online where you can buy it in user-friendly quantities, but I would want to confirm exactly what I would be getting, that is, it is high-heat baker's grade.

The main reason why some pizza makers use the dry milk is for crust browning purposes. As I indicated earlier, if that is what you want, dairy whey is perhaps a better choice. It is also cheaper, both for professionals and for home pizza makers like ourselves. I found the dairy whey in the Whole Foods bin. There is also a baker's grade dairy whey powder, but I found the Whole Foods whey powder to work very well for my purposes (for browning without adding sweetness). Tom Lehmann says he doesn't understand why bakers choose to use any milk products in pizza doughs. He usually recommends dairy whey instead if it is better crust browning that is desired.

I don't think there is great danger in your experimenting with the dried milk you have. At 3-5% in the dough, it may well turn out that is OK. Who knows? You might even like the results. It's even possible, I suppose, that the Whole Foods dry milk in their bin is baker's grade and comes from the same folks that supply the product to professionals. It may be the dry milk that Carnation sells in boxes in the supermarket that is not baker's grade because it's not necessary for most users of that product.

Peter

[Bill/SFNM]

A while back I added KA dried milk to a bread recipe and it seemed to have a better texture. Just for yucks, I'm thinking of adding some to my next batch of Neapolitan dough - highly hydrated, Camaldoli starter, high temp. Any guesses what % would be good to try and what I might expect?

Bill/SFNM

[Pete-zza]

Bill,

I would try using 3-5% by weight of flour. How you use the dry milk will depend on what form you have. KA has two dried milk powders, Baker's Special Dry Milk and Dried Whole Milk (on pages 44 and 45, respectively, in the latest The Baker's Catalogue). The Baker's Special Dry Milk is a low-fat baker's grade dry milk that has been heated at high temperature and otherwise processed to disable either the whey protein or an enzyme (KA once told me that it is the protease enzyme) so that it doesn't result in an overly slack and soft dough. The dried Whole Milk is not similarly processed. Consequently, the best way to use it is to reconstitute it in water, heat it to the scald point, and let it cool off before using in your formulation.

Either way, the dry milk should result in a softer, more tender crumb. It was once described to me by a KA employee (I was told she was a baker) as having a "Wonder" bread texture. The dry milk will also increase browning of the crust. Dry milk has about 50% lactose, a form of sugar that is not metabolized by yeast, so it remains in the dough to the end to be available as a residual sugar to promote browning. It will also have a low sweetness value and not contribute to sweetness in the crust. A lot of bakers will use dried dairy whey instead of dry milk powder, mainly because the whey has a higher percent lactose (70%) but, more importantly, it is quite a bit cheaper than using dry milk. Of course, you will also get some calcium and other minerals in the dough from using the dry milk.

If you decide to go forward with the use of the dry milk, please let us know what kind of results you get.

Peter

[Bill/SFNM]

Thanks, Peter. What have is KA "Baker's Special Dry Milk" (1188). But the last thing I want is "Wonder Bread" pizza. I'll give it a try in a few weeks just to see what it does.

Bill/SFNM