Why is Lou's crust so yellow?

[Tomster2]

I am trying to figure out why Lou's crust is so yellow.  One posting here indicates it is just yellow food coloring.

Do the rest of the contributors here concur with that or are there other things that could contribute to the deep yellow color?

Appreciate the feed back.

[Pete-zza]

Tompster2,

Some of the Chicago-area deep-dish places use egg shade or other food colorings in their doughs. To the best of my knowledge, Malnati's does not. However, they do use both corn oil and olive oil in their deep-dish dough. See http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,571.msg5245.html#msg5245.

Peter

[Chicago Bob]

Tom,
Maybe you are thinking of Geno's East?

[Pete-zza]

For ingredients information as of 2008, see Reply 2 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,7467.msg64252/topicseen.html#msg64252.

Peter

[Tomster2]

Pete-zza,

No, definitely thinking of Lou's.  Confess I have not had a Gino's or Uno's for years - so don't recall if theirs is "more" yellow. Lou's is close by and relatively consistent - with very much a gold tone to the crust interior.

What I have tried is using only corn oil in the dough which does bring it closer to Lou's color... but not quite.  I use a light layer of olive oil in the bottom of the pan before I put the dough in.

Thanks to all for the quick feedback.  It is appreciated.

Tomster2

[Garvey]

Try dim, incandescent lighting, like they have at Lou's.   

[La Sera]

Yellow food color.

[Chicago Bob]

Is this the yellowness(along w/some GBD)you are talking about?

[Chicago Bob]

Here's a Geno's East...

[Tomster2]

Garvey: I see the same shade of "yellow" on their frozen pizzas so I can rule out the incandescent lighting... I could try tinted glasses!

Chicago Bob: Tough to compare colors over the web, but thanks for the picture. Although I have not been to Gino's in a long time, I did purchase some of their frozen product - and it has that glow in the dark yellow quality about it.  That is way over the top from what I am thinking of.

I guess "yellow" is in the eye of the beholder.  I might just try yellow food coloring on one... and if that does it, then I can leave it out in the future and not feel like I am missing anything else.

Will also experiment with %semolina and %oil types.

Thanks for the feedback.  Good eating everyone!!!

Tomster2

[Pete-zza]

Tomster2,

When Boy Hits Car (Mike) and I were designing the deep-dish dough calculating tool at http://www.pizzamaking.com/dd_calculator.html, we were aware of the use of food colorings in deep-dish crusts and, for that reason, we included it as one of the possible ingredients in such crusts. We also discussed the use of such food colorings in the document at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,4931.msg41756.html#msg41756, under Ingredients.

Peter

[Tomster2]

Thanks for the links... the info on the food coloring really helps understand that part of it.

As far as the dd calculator... I have been using it for a couple of months now and it is absolutely fantastic.  In the past, if I changed sizes of pizzas it was like starting from scratch all over again.

You did a great job with it.  It is a wonderful tool.

Thanks again.

Tomster2

[pythonic]

Tomster,

The yellow tint comes from the butter and corn oil most likely.

[TXCraig1]

Every time this thread pops up, the same thing comes to my mind for some reason...

[Tomster2]

Yep... makes you hope it really is just food coloring that some of these places use!!!!!

I have gradually experiemented with corn oil, and wondered how "yellow" it would be if I used 100% corn oil in the dough.  When I made a batch that way it definitely made a difference in the color.

I know that people say it is a mix of olive oil and corn oil, but:

1) maybe the olive oil is listed on Lou's ingredients list (for their frozen product) refers to the olive oil that is put in the bottom of the pan before the dough is added?

2) There is a video here somewhere that shows the ingredients being dumped into a mixer - I recall that the "oil" was dumped from only one container. Could have been premeasured mix... but there was no indication of that in the video. Seemed to be one item, that is why I am wondering if it is 100% corn oil. In any case, 100% corn oil, with olive oil only in the bottom of the pan, has become my own standard recipe.

Anyway, I have been getting closer to what I really enjoy.  Not exactly Lou's crust... but pretty darn good.  A bit of Semolina also "yellows" it up a bit - and fits under the label of "flour".

I am not a food labeling expert so not sure what the exact rules are for labeling.  If someone has a better background on that, would appreciate your comments on how the above "guesses" might apply or be ruled out.

[Chicago Bob]

Maybe it's some kind of really cheap(?) oil...you know like used to pop the movie theater popcorn?