Re: kadio's Attempt at Pete-zza's Papa John's Clone (Split)

[Pete-zza]

maybe I skipped it, but the 24 hour recipe is the only one does not mentions the cover

kadio,

You apparently missed what I wrote in Reply 31: The bowl with the dough in it was then covered and placed in the refrigerator.

Peter

[November]

Just for the record, Peter has never posted on the subject of fermentation without mentioning the practice of covering the dough.

After about a minute of hand shaping and rounding, the dough ball was placed in an oiled 1-quart glass Pyrex bowl, covered with the accompanying plastic lid, and placed in the refrigerator.

That bowl went into the refrigerator, without its cover, for about 15 minutes, to allow the dough ball to dry out a bit. I then attached the cover to the bowl.

I then loosely covered the bowl with a plastic shower cap with an elastic band (a sheet of plastic wrap loosely secured to the container can also be used). [...] I put two more poppy seeds, spaced 1” apart, on the reshaped dough ball, covered the bowl again, and let the dough rise again.

The dough was loosely covered with a shower cap (with an elasticized band) and left to ferment at a room temperature of around 81 degrees F.

The dough ball in the Pyrex bowl was then covered (with the plastic Pyrex bowl lid with a small opening in the center) and placed in the refrigerator.

[kadio]

yes, I know it's my mistake I skipped one paragraph, it's clear stated that I should covered it, which I already did.

The dough after 16 hours has not rise significantly, can I take it out of the fridge, to acelearate the process? I know I would not get PJ clone but will be satisfied with a good crust pizza.

By the way on my first trial y had to move the pizza from the lowest to the highest place in the oven because the cheese was cooking much faster than the dough. Any tips? for the baking?

My oven is a gas oven it says it goes up to 500 (Can't prove) it has a top grill. I also have a double burner BBQ, which I'm willing to try anytime.

[Pete-zza]

kadio,

I would let the dough go out to at least 24 hours. Often the dough is expanding but it is hard to tell because of the way the dough can relax and expand laterally, often creating the impression that it hasn't risen at all or only slightly. That is the reason why I use the poppy seed method. If you can't wait for a sign that the dough has had a significant expansion, you can bring it out to room temperature and let it ferment for several hours until it is soft and puffy. If the dough doesn't rise after all that, then that would suggest that something was not done correctly.

It is hard to give good advice on matters relating to cheeses and ovens, especially for cheeses used outside of the U.S. and ovens that can differ materially from U.S. ovens. However, one of the things I often do when a cheese I have been using browns too quickly is to put the cheese (shredded or diced) on cold, right out of the refrigerator. Or, if your cheese is in block form, you can cut the cheese into small cubes to slow down the melting of the cheese so that it doesn't have as much a chance to burn or brown too quickly.

Unless you have an infrared thermometer, you will have to use a standard oven thermometer to determine how hot your oven gets.

Peter

[kadio]

Peter,

Wanted to thank you for your help, the dough did rise but side ways. It lost the sphere shape. It covered ed the hole pyrex, and looked like an angel cake. I took it off, had to pin rolled it (memory effect). It ended more like a NY style. It was way better than the 1st one. Now I will try to find a better flour and to try it once again.

TNKS again

[Pete-zza]

kadio,

With 56% hydration and 7.3% oil, the dough will be soft, so what you experienced was quite normal. You shouldn't re-knead the dough when you are ready to work with it since that will only mess up the gluten mesh and make the dough too elastic to shape and stretch out by hand. You shouldn't need a rolling pin at any stage.

Please keep us posted on your next effort using a better flour.

Peter