Here are the details on the VWG procedure I tried a couple of days ago.
Like I said, I was reading the thread on the KASL flour and its protein content of 14.2% which is apparently used in NY-style pies the majority of the time, excluding the “elite” pies such as Totonno’s or Grimaldi’s.
Since I didn’t know much about the VWG flour, I did a search here on the forum and found some helpful info in this thread
http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,9243.msg79929.html#msg79929 and Peter’s reply pointed me in the right direction. I followed his suggestions and ran my formula through the Lehmann & RN’s Mass Calculator and came up with the following formula in order to get to the 14.2% of the KASL flour:
685 gr Flour (555 KABF & 130 VWG Flour) (100%)
431 gr Water (63%)
14 gr Organic sugar (2%)
10gr Sea salt (1.5%)
5gr Olive oil (.7%)
2 gr IDY (.3%)
3 dough balls @ 382 gr each/14” pizza
I sifted the two flours together, added the water to the bowl, 50% of the flour was sifted in and all the yeast, making a poolish/sponge. I let that sit for about two hours until it had a nice bubbly surface and then added the oil, sifted the rest of the flour in, added the salt and then the sugar. Using the dough hook, I mixed everything together until there was no more raw flaw visible and then gave the dough a rest period of 20 mins to give the flour time to become fully hydrated.
After 20 mins I did a knead period of 10 mins, pulled the dough out of the mixing bowl, did a couple of fold-overs on the counter and into the bowl it went for a 20 hr cold-rise and a 4 hr room-temp rise the next day.
The dough was divided right after the cold-rise into 3 dough balls at 382 gr each and the individual balls did a room-temp rise of another 4 hrs before use.
Like I said in my previous post, I was amazed how easily the dough stretched. I used one dough ball just for fun and stretched it until it tore and it was way beyond the 14” mark. I’d have to guess but I’d say it was almost 20” and extremely thin. Too bad my oven isn’t big enough for that size because I would have slapped it on the stone! The second dough ball was used for a “test bake”. The third,...well I posted some pics above. The crust was very light, airy but also had a good chew and crunch to it. I think with a little tweaking here and there it could become one of my favorites so far.
Saad,
I don't know if it was the VWG or the amount of sugar that contributed to the nice coloration. My chemical knowledge is limited in order to explain it well enough. maybe others can chime in.
Norma,
It is amazing. I was stunned, actually, about how the dough's structure and texture improved with the added VWG.
