jwj101,
Just about all of us who have been actively involved in this thread have been trying to accurately reverse engineer and clone an MM dough. Moreover, in the case of Norma and me, we have for some time been freezing the MM clone dough balls and later defrosting them prior to use. We have not tried to come up with an emergency version such as you did, and that is why the dough you made did not rise enough. The biochemistry "programmed" into the MM clone doughs is specific to the versions of the dough that we have been testing, and not for an emergency dough. However, I think you should have better results with a one-day cold fermentation of the dough.
I believe that you use of the All Trumps flour should work. There are a lot of opinions on the use of bromated flours, both pro and con. That is something you will have to research and form your own opinion. The big pizza chains, and some of the smaller chains, do not use bromated flours because they want to do business in California, where there are very strict notice requirement for products containing bromates. MM is a rather small chain, with about 132 stores, but they have been moving west, and now have a store as far west as Portland, Oregon. Moreover, MM has indicated that it is exploring the possibility of using organic flours. Part of their culture is offering healthful products that have appeal to everyone, including vegans, vegetarians, and those seeking gluten-free products. Using bromated flours would not be consistent with their philosophy. At one time, MM did use wheat germ in their dough but no longer does so, even though some franchisees seem not to have gotten the message. For now, it appears that MM is using only a high-gluten flour.
As to your specific enumerated questions:
1. I would say that just about all IDY products are the same, although from time to time I will read reports from pizza operators and even some home pizza makers who claim that there are differences in the different brands. I am pretty confident that MM does not rehydrate their yeast in warm water before using, as you did. MM makes all of its dough in a commissary and rehydrating IDY would seem to complicate the processing of the dough. IDY can be added directly to the flour. However, since MM freezes its dough balls, there may be reasons why another form of yeast should be used (such as ADY) or for rehydrating the yeast. For example, it may be necessary or desirable to rehydrate the yeast in order to get some fermentation going even though the dough is to be frozen. In the MM clone dough balls that Norma and I have been making, and possibly other members, we have been using IDY and adding it directly to the flour.
2. It is possible to replace all or part of the formula water with beer, although according to Tom Lehmann in his posts at the PMQ Think Tank at
http://thinktank.pmq.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=10081&p=69119&hilit=#p69119 and at
http://thinktank.pmq.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8419&p=57042&hilit=#p57042, the more common practice is to replace only a part of the water. As those posts also point out, the beer will create a different flavor but it will not be a beer flavor. MM does not use beer in its dough. It holds itself out as a family-friendly place and using beer in its dough perhaps would not sit well with customers who bring their children with them to an MM store. It is the "social stigma" thing that Tom mentions in the latter PMQ TT post.
Peter
