Bryan,
Using the expanded dough calculating tool at
http://www.pizzamaking.com/expanded_calculator.html, I came up with the following preferment-based billnield dough formulation for you to try:
Harvest King Flour (100%):
Water (58%):
ADY (0.85%):
Salt (1.75%):
Olive Oil (3%):
Sugar (1%):
Total (164.6%):
| 297.65 g | 10.5 oz | 0.66 lbs
172.64 g | 6.09 oz | 0.38 lbs
2.53 g | 0.09 oz | 0.01 lbs | 0.67 tsp | 0.22 tbsp
5.21 g | 0.18 oz | 0.01 lbs | 0.93 tsp | 0.31 tbsp
8.93 g | 0.31 oz | 0.02 lbs | 1.98 tsp | 0.66 tbsp
2.98 g | 0.1 oz | 0.01 lbs | 0.75 tsp | 0.25 tbsp
489.93 g | 17.28 oz | 1.08 lbs | TF = N/A
|
Note: Bowl residue compensation = 2.5%
As you will note, I made a few changes to the dough formulation I previously posted for a single 15” pizza. Specifically, I increased the salt level and I added some sugar, mainly to help with crust coloration, and I also lowered the nominal hydration to 58%. The hydration change was purely to simplify the math and some of the preparation steps because you will be using ADY, which requires activation (rehydration) in a small amount of warm water. I decided to treat the water used for ADY activation separately. When it is added to the formula water noted above, the effective hydration will be close to the original 63%. I also used a bowl residue compensation of 2.5% to compensate for minor dough losses during preparation. Even with the above changes, I think you should be close to the originally calculated amount of dough for a 15” pizza. To do the conversions of weights of flour and water to volumes, I used member November’s Mass-Volume Conversion Calculator at
http://tools.foodsim.com/. In both cases, I selected the “textbook” option, which I will describe more fully below.
Preparation of the PrefermentTo prepare the preferment, you should measure out all of the formula water (6.09 oz.) into a work bowl. The 6.09 ounces of water translates into ½ c. + 3 T. + 2 t. This water can be around 70 degrees F. When measuring out the water, you should view the marking on your measuring cup at eye level with the measuring cup on a flat surface (you should view the bottom of the meniscus). This is the “textbook” method of measuring out water by volume. Next, you should place one-half of the ADY (1/3 t.) into a small container and add three teaspoons of additional water, which should be at around 105 degrees F. Stir to dissolve and let the mixture set for about 10 minutes. It should then be added to the water in the work bowl. The next step is to add 5.29 ounces of the flour to the work bowl. That amount of flour translates into 1 c. + 4 T. To measure out that flour volumetrically, you should first stir the flour in your flour container to loosen the flour. Then, using a scoop or a tablespoon, repeatedly lift the flour from the container into your measuring cup until it is above the level of the measuring cup. Then, sweep a flat edge, such as the flat edge of a knife, across the top of the measuring cup to level the flour in the cup. This is the textbook method of measuring out flour volumetrically. When using measuring spoons, you want level measurements, not heaping or scant.
After the above steps, mix the flour, water and IDY in the bowl with a sturdy spoon. You can also use an electric hand mixer if you wish. Either way, you want the ingredients to be well combined. Once you have done this, cover the bowl. I usually use a plastic hotel shower cap so that I can see what is happening in the bowl, but you can also put a sheet of plastic wrap and secure it to the bowl with a rubber band. The bowl should then sit at room temperature for about 4 hours, or until the preferment expands and there are bubbles throughout the preferment, which will be especially noticeable at the surface. The preferment should look something like the first photo in this post:
http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,6515.msg56131.html#msg56131 (Reply 4). I was using a more classic poolish, so your preferment, which has a hydration of around 125%, may be even more bubbly than the one shown in the photo. The time for the preferment to become really bubbly will depend on the temperature of the preferment (which is related to the temperature of the formula water) and the room temperature of the room where the preferment will ferment (rise). Usually, you want to use the preferment within a reasonable period of time after it peaks and starts to collapse upon itself. This is called the “break”. I have found that using the preferment an hour or so after the break point does not adversely affect the final results. In fact, the crust flavors may be even more pronounced. But you don’t want to go overboard and let the preferment sit for several hours beyond the break point. Doing that may toughen the gluten structure of the final dough and yield a crust that is light in color because of the sugar depletion.
The Final MixTo prepare the final dough, you should combine the preferment with the remaining ingredients. As with the preferment, you will have to first activate the remaining ADY (1/3 t.) with three teaspoons of warm water (at around 105 degrees F) and let it sit for about 10 minutes. It can then be combined with the preferment, the remaining flour (5.21 oz.), and the salt, sugar and olive oil. The 5.21 ounces of flour translates volumetrically into 1 c. + 3 T. + a bit less than 2 t., also measured out textbook style as previously described. If you plan to use your bread maker, I suggest that you bypass the preheat cycle if that is possible and use only the knead cycle. You may find that you will need to add a little bit of water or flour to the bread pan to get the desired final condition of the dough (smooth and pliable yet a bit tacky).
I will leave to you to decide whether to use the machine’s rise cycle. My personal preference would be to let the dough (shaped into a round ball) ferment at room temperature in a covered container until it about doubles, punch it down and reshape it into a round ball, and let it proof until it about doubles again. The times for these conditions to occur will be governed by the temperature of the dough and your room temperature. Once the proof period is over, I would gently press down the dough and shape and stretch it out to the desired final size (15” in this case). I would not re-knead or re-work the dough ball since that will only toughen the gluten structure and make it difficult to work with the dough. Once the 15” skin has been formed, it can be dressed and baked on your pizza stone. Since you are familiar with these steps, I will not elaborate further on them.
Good luck, and please let us know how things turn out.
Peter
