Bob,
Maybe the best first step with the Lehmann emergency dough recipe is to rework it to make it more user friendly. Even if you decide not to try it out, others may wish to do so.
What I often do with a recipe like the Lehmann emergency dough recipe is to first convert it to baker's percent format as best I can. Because the conversion of flour measured out volumetrically to a weight is problematic, for the reasons mentioned before, I usually start with the amount of water called for in the recipe, on the theory that people are more likely to measure out water with fewer variations than is the case with flour that can be measured out in so many different ways. If the recipe also calls for a fair amount of oil, I also consider that in relation to the hydration of the flour because the combination of oil and water will affect the viscosity and softness and feel of the finished dough. So, for example, if we assume that a typical "cup" of water measured out by the average person weighs around 8.2 ounces and that two tablespoons of olive oil are to be used, I will use that combination to arrive at a hydration to be used. Knowing that a bread flour like the Pillsbury bread flour can handle a hydration of around 62%, I will reduce that amount based on the amount of oil to be used. In this example, I would use a hydration of around 56.5%. So, for a water weight of 8.2 ounces and a hydration of 56.5%, the amount of flour to use is 8.2/0.565, or 14.51 ounces. The weight of two tablespoons of olive oil in relation to that amount of flour comes to 6.56213%.
From this point forward, I adjust the values of the remaining ingredients in relation to the weight of flour. For example, because we both agree that the amount of salt called for in the recipe is too much, I will use 1.75% salt, which is within the normal range for salt. For the ADY, I will reduce it to 1.5% of the weight of flour because that amount should be sufficient to make an emergency dough, especially when used with the warm water as called for by the recipe. For the sugar, I am inclined to leave its value as is, that is, 1 1/2 tablespoons, which translates to 4.36023% of the weight of flour. If that turns out to be too much, its value can be adjusted the next time around.
Based on the above, and using the expanded dough calculating tool at
http://www.pizzamaking.com/expanded_calculator.html, a workable dough formulation might look like this:
Flour (100%):
Water (56.5%):
ADY (1.5%):
Salt (1.75%):
Olive Oil (6.56213%):
Sugar (4.36023%):
Total (170.67236%):
| 411.45 g | 14.51 oz | 0.91 lbs
232.47 g | 8.2 oz | 0.51 lbs
6.17 g | 0.22 oz | 0.01 lbs | 1.63 tsp | 0.54 tbsp
7.2 g | 0.25 oz | 0.02 lbs | 1.29 tsp | 0.43 tbsp
27 g | 0.95 oz | 0.06 lbs | 6 tsp | 2 tbsp
17.94 g | 0.63 oz | 0.04 lbs | 4.5 tsp | 1.5 tbsp
702.23 g | 24.77 oz | 1.55 lbs | TF = N/A
|
As noted in the above table, the total dough weight comes to 24.77 ounces. According to the original Lehmann emergency dough recipe, the dough made in accordance with that recipe should be enought to make three pizzas. So, each dough ball would weight 24.77/3 = 8.26 ounces. That amount of dough will make a fairly thin crust if the pizza size is, say, 10". In fact, the thickness factor for that amount of dough and pizza size equals 8.26/(3.14159 x 5 x 5) = 0.1051278. That value is typical of a NY thin "street" style pizza. However, a crust made using the above dough formulation won't taste like a NY style pizza, because of the very high levels of oil and sugar. The pizza will taste more like a "thin" Papa John's style pizza. For some examples of what the pizza is likely to look like, see this thread:
http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,1707.0.html.
If you prefer to make a single pizza but bigger than 10", for example, a 14" pizza, the modified dough formulation will look like this:
Flour (100%):
Water (56.5%):
ADY (1.5%):
Salt (1.75%):
Olive Oil (6.56213%):
Sugar (4.36023%):
Total (170.67236%):
| 268.82 g | 9.48 oz | 0.59 lbs
151.88 g | 5.36 oz | 0.33 lbs
4.03 g | 0.14 oz | 0.01 lbs | 1.07 tsp | 0.36 tbsp
4.7 g | 0.17 oz | 0.01 lbs | 0.84 tsp | 0.28 tbsp
17.64 g | 0.62 oz | 0.04 lbs | 3.92 tsp | 1.31 tbsp
11.72 g | 0.41 oz | 0.03 lbs | 2.94 tsp | 0.98 tbsp
458.79 g | 16.18 oz | 1.01 lbs | TF = 0.105128
|
Note: For a single 14" pizza
To come up with a formulation that more closely replicates a Papa John's pizza, I would use a thickness factor of around 0.136. If I plug that number into the expanded dough calculating tool, along with the same baker's percents as discussed above, and assuming a pizza size of 14", the dough formulation becomes:
Flour (100%):
Water (56.5%):
ADY (1.5%):
Salt (1.75%):
Olive Oil (6.56213%):
Sugar (4.36023%):
Total (170.67236%):
| 347.76 g | 12.27 oz | 0.77 lbs
196.48 g | 6.93 oz | 0.43 lbs
5.22 g | 0.18 oz | 0.01 lbs | 1.38 tsp | 0.46 tbsp
6.09 g | 0.21 oz | 0.01 lbs | 1.09 tsp | 0.36 tbsp
22.82 g | 0.8 oz | 0.05 lbs | 5.07 tsp | 1.69 tbsp
15.16 g | 0.53 oz | 0.03 lbs | 3.8 tsp | 1.27 tbsp
593.52 g | 20.94 oz | 1.31 lbs | TF = 0.136
|
Note: For a single 14" Papa John's style pizza
Using the last dough formulation, the finished pizza is likely to look like the one at Reply 52 at
http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,6758.msg66312.html#msg66312. I used honey instead of sugar in that dough formulation but note the overall similarity of the values of ingredients used.
As you can see, once you have the baker's percents for the recipe, along with thickness factors, it is quite easy to manipulate the recipe to produce pretty much anything you want in terms of numbers of pizzas, pizza size and crust thickness. When creating dough formulations as I have done above, I usually use a bowl residue compensation factor in the dough calculating tool to compensate for minor dough losses during preparation of the dough. For a stand mixer, I will usually use a value of 1.5%. For a hand kneaded dough, I will use a value of about 2.5-3%.
If there is a particular size or crust thickness that you would like to experiment with that is not presented above, or if you would like to change any of the baker's percents, feel free to let me know. You might even play around with the expanded dough calculating tool to get a better feel for how it works.
As for your wife, who prefers a thin and crispy crust, you might want to take a look at this thread:
http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,5762.0.html. That thread is based on one of the most popular cracker-style recipe on the forum, at
http://www.pizzamaking.com/pizzainnstyle.php, and discusses measures that I and others have taken to roll out the dough without the need for a sheeter/roller. As you will see there, the key is using heat to temper the dough before rolling it out.
Peter
