HELP - End Crust Inconsistency

[pythonic]

In the last two weeks I've went through the following pizza making journey.


Average oven spring, overly chewy and non tender end crust
to
Finally a perfect pie.  Great oven spring, crispy end crust but nice and tender inside
to
Weak oven spring but still crispy and nice and tender end crust.


I'm trying to find out why these changes have occurred.  I changed 4 things with the last batch of dough I made and want to know if this is causing the issue.

1.  Poolish ferment was 3 hrs less than previous one (15hrs down to 12hrs)
2.  Added a 30 minute autolypse
3.  Didn't use oil in the dough this time
4.  Used a smaller container for cold fermenting this time around

Cold Ferment times was exactly the same.  Made three different pies and they all lacked the oven spring.


Nathan

[tdub154420]

My questions are

How much did they rise after the cold ferment?  And

Do you have a consistent amount of time in which you take the dough out of the fridge before you cook it?  

Allowing a consistent time for the dough to reach room temp and proof a little more before you slide in the oven will often effect the oven spring.  If I throw in the dough before its warmed to room temp and proofed a little it lacks spring.  On the other hand I've left it out to long before and its been way too puffy.  

[pythonic]

My dough is rising a ton in the fridge.  Probably by 30-35% daily.  Im letting the doughball sit at room temp for about 2 hrs before making the skins.

[pythonic]

Here are some pics fellows of the pizza I made with the weak spring.

[pythonic]

Now here are the pies I made before this batch of dough.  Perfect spring.

[chickenparm]

Most NY slices I have seen,have very little oven spring and a small rim,alot like the first pictures you posted.

I guess I'm saying do not get so hung up on oven spring for NY style.I got too busy chasing that I neglected the pie itself.

I have made explosive ones and small ones.I love the other pics of the more explosive rim you have,but the pizza is smaller and thicker to achieve it.

If you really want the rim to blow up,after the dough ferments,theres a way you can put the dough down and shape it,to press all the air bubbles towards the rim.

Make a rim,slowly press the dough around on the counter by hand,before stretching,and press all the air bubbles starting from the center,and press them into the rim.

The stretch and shape the dough.The rim should be nice and puffy after cooking.

[pythonic]

Most NY slices I have seen,have very little oven spring and a small rim,alot like the first pictures you posted.

I guess I'm saying do not get so hung up on oven spring for NY style.I got too busy chasing that I neglected the pie itself.

I have made explosive ones and small ones.I love the other pics of the more explosive rim you have,but the pizza is smaller and thicker to achieve it.

If you really want the rim to blow up,after the dough ferments,theres a way you can put the dough down and shape it,to press all the air bubbles towards the rim.

Make a rim,slowly press the dough around on the counter by hand,before stretching,and press all the air bubbles starting from the center,and press them into the rim.

The stretch and shape the dough.The rim should be nice and puffy after cooking.

Chickenparm,

So do you think the ovenspring is more in the actual skin shaping or dough making techniques.  I prefer more spring for some reason.  Prolly because there is more tender crust to eat rather than a flatter one.

[chickenparm]

Chickenparm,

So do you think the ovenspring is more in the actual skin shaping or dough making techniques.  I prefer more spring for some reason.  Prolly because there is more tender crust to eat rather than a flatter one.

Py,

I get better oven spring when I create a rim,then press all the bubbles from the middle of the dough,into the rim.Its only a bit more technique for me because of the temps I bake at are not hot enough to create large rims by heat alone.I have some pics somewhere,I will post them later or tomorrow,its getting late here for me.

I bake at 550-600 F at times.From what I Understand,very hot ovens can blow the rims up nicely with the heat they use.Neapolitan pies,the rim looks flat when making a pie,then blows up huge from the intense heat when cooked.Its incredible.Home ovens just do not make pies like that unless they are modded and get very hot.

Then again,Im not a expert,just sharing my experience.Chau and others might be able to explain it better.

 
-Bill

[tdub154420]

Hmmm. Well if you don't already, try baking on a stone.  Pete-za posted on a forum I recently read that cooking on a screen can sometimes reduce oven spring. 

[JerryMac]

Nathaniel,

     Were you trying to acomplish something specific by making changes in your dough? All I know is that making 4 changes at one time makes it dificult to tell what the final outcome will be. Try the changes one at a time.

Mangia Bene 
Jerry