First DKM Cracker - Is this right? Doesn't look right...

[Wazatron]

Hi all - I'm trying my first DKM thin crust today, and I've just finished putting the dough together - but it just doesn't look right.

I know it's supposed to be very loose when first mixing, but I was simply never able to form it into a cohesive ball no matter what I tried.  I've attached a picture of what I ended up with - note all the cracks that are in the ball.

I wonder if I need to use more water where I'm located.  Winter in Denver brings new meaning to the term "Dry".  Obviously this dough is super dry to begin with, but at over 5,000 ft in such a dry climate I wonder if I need to add a bit more water to compensate.  I did follow the directions 100%.

I take that back - I added some of the sugar to the yeast when proofing it.  Aren't you always supposed to do that?  THe recipe just says to add the water and yeast, but that won't give the yeast anything to feed on, so how does it ever proof that way?

Anyhow I'd really appreciate your guys' advice.  I'm tempted to start over again with a little more water and just not let it rest for the full 9 hours.  But I thought I'd check to see how this dough looks compared to how it's supposed to look.

Thanks all!

[Pete-zza]

Wazatron,

I will leave to DKM or other cracker-type crust experts to answer your question on the dough you made.

As for the yeast question, it is not necessary to add any sugar to the yeast while it is proofing although some people like to start the fermentation process early--during proofing--and, to do this, add a pinch of sugar (or a bit of flour) to the proofing water along with the yeast. The rest of the sugar can be added to the flour or to the proofing water but only after the yeast has been fully rehydrated. Active dry yeast (ADY) has a fairly large percent of dead cells, and the main purpose of the proofing of the yeast in water is to wash away the dead cells so as to be able to better penetrate the walls of the active cells of the yeast. And you should use only a small amount of proofing water, at around 90-105 degrees F, for about 10 minutes. The usual recommendation for the amount of proofing water is approximately 10 percent of the water called for in the recipe, but not less than 4 times the weight of yeast. Unless you added a good part of the sugar to the proofing water along with the ADY, you should be OK.

As for baking at high altitudes, if you do a search on "altitude" on the forum, you will find threads devoted to that topic. Different experts have different ideas as to what altitude should be exceeded before changing a dough formulation, but Tom Lehmann, a dough/pizza guru at the American Institute of Baking, uses 7500 feet (see http://www.pmq.com/cgi-bin/tt/index.cgi/noframes/read/25316).

Peter

[ctimmer]

Wazatron,

I had to increase the water to 1 cup to get this recipe to work for me. I just throw all of the ingredients except the flour into the mixing bowl and mix for a minute or 2, then start adding the flour.

You might try increasing the water in small increments to get the results you want.

Curt

[chiguy]

 Hello everyone,
 When making dry dough and crust you may consider holding back 20% of the flour, mix water and 80% of flour/ingrediants. After the dough comes together in a nice ball try adding the balance of flour slowly, even a teaspoon at a time. I experienced the same results as Wazatron when trying to mix lower hydration dough's( not this particular recipe), this process seems to help.    Chiguy

[Randy]

I've made this great recipe many times using 5.8-5.9 0z of water to 16 oz flour.  By your picture it has plenty of water.  When I do mine I have to pick up the crumbs left in the bowl and squeeze it onto the crumbling dough ball.  If you want in the morning squeeze it together again.

Randy

[Wazatron]

So I went ahead and made the dough again, following Curt's advice:

All the ingredients into the mixer bowl except flower, mix together.
Add flour a bit at at time until it comes together.
Mix for 10 min.

I ended up having to switch to the dough hook, but went ahead and mixed/kneaded on low for 10 min.  It's still resting now in the oven, but it's risen a decent amount and looks GREAT.  Or at least great compared to the picture of the first go around.  Just another hour or so 'till dinner and I'll be rolling it out!

Thanks so much for the suggestions - without them I'd probably be ording chinese tonight! 

[Randy]

If you made the dough today, it would not be ready until tomorrow night.  Curt has given you bad advice on this recipe I am afraid.  The dough picture you posted would have been fine if you had followed the instructions and let it rest overnight.

[Randy]

Here is a picture of my dough straight from the bowl and you thought yours was dry.  The pizza above came from this.

Randy

[Wazatron]

Wow, that is dry... haha!  I did make the pizza tonight.  I didn't think of waiting on the dough overnight and making it tomorrow since the recipe just called for a 9hr rise, not to hold it overnight.

Overall I was very happy with it.  The crust didn't crisp up as much as I'd hoped, but I'm thinking my oven did a poor job of maintaining 475.  The crust wasn't mushy at all though.  I used Margherita pepperoni, provalone cheese, and Cento pizza sauce (didn't have time to make my own).

Here are some pictures.  Next time I'll try doing it as before and letting that strange looking dough ball rest all night.

[Wazatron]

I also used a cutter pan, not a perforrated pan.  It rested total for about 6 hours, at around 90 degrees.

[Randy]

Steve documented DKM's recipe in this thread.
http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,779.0.html



Randy

[DKM]

Guess I'll comment on this if nobody minds

If the dough comes out as one nice ball, you have to much water.

The dough when mixed should be in scraps.

Anything between and including your dough ball and Randy's "crums" is fine.  The dough should rise at least 9 hours on the counter, but the longer the better the flavor and smell.

Darn, Soon as I'm over this flu bug I'm making me one of those!!!!

DKM

[Wazatron]

Cool - and straight from "the Man" himself.   I'll definitely be trying again at some point with everything I've learned on this post here - thanks everyone.  I'll post again when I'm able to make it!!