Peter,
I did the gluten mass test on the PG dough, I don't know if this is good news or conflicting news.
I took 255g of dough then kneaded it under a stream of water for 15 minutes the water was running clear I squeezed the as much water as I could out of it and let it rest on a paper towel for a minute then weighed it. It came in at 73.8g.
Ill do another test on the Spring king tomorrow to see if my results from today are in the ballpark in comparison to earlier todays results.
Jamie,
For now, I am comfortable with both gluten mass values you have come up with--the one for the approximately 9-ounce dough ball made only from the Spring King flour and water and the approximately 9-ounce dough ball that you purchased from Papa Gino's and made with flour, water, salt, yeast and oil. As far as I am concerned, the more data we have on the gluten for the Spring King flour and real PG doughs the better we will be able to zero in on the actual value (by averaging the multiple samples). To get more accurate values, one would have to use a piece of sophisticated laboratory equipment such as a Glutomatic (for details, see
http://www.granotec.com.br/arquivos/Sistema_Glutomatic.pdf). But even with that equipment, the instructions suggest using two samples and using the mean of the two samples. In some cases, a third sample might be required, in which case an average of the three samples is taken. Since we are operating in a nonscientific setting (e.g., the home), more samples is the best we can do to get an approximation of what a Glutomatic machine produces.
If Papa Gino's is still using the Spring King flour, that flour is considered a strong flour. You can see some of the specs for that flour at
http://www.progressivebaker.com/products/spring_wheat_flours/spring_king_spring_patent.html. Those specs, along with the gluten mass values you derived from your tests, tentatively suggest a flour that is between a bread flour and what we typically call a high-gluten flour. However, as I pointed out in Reply 12 at
http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,1881.msg28897/topicseen.html#msg28897, a flour with a protein content of the Spring King flour (nominally 13.2%) is sometimes called a "medium high gluten" flour. The gluten mass values you derived would seem to fit the medium high gluten description. That aside, the best that the raw gluten mass values can tell us is the type of flour. It can't tell us the brand of flour. Also, different flours with the same or similar protein contents can have different amounts of gluten. You can see that phenomenon in the Master list of gluten mass values that I mentioned earlier.
Where the gluten mass values will be most useful is after you have conducted the hydration bake test. The results of that test should help us dial in the hydration of the PG dough and also dial in values for the flour, yeast and salt. Once the oil test is conducted, and assuming it is successful, that should help us dial in a value for the oil. As you may know, Papa Gino's operates on a commissary model and delivers fresh dough balls to most of its stores within its delivery area on a twice-a-week basis (and on a three day cycle for some stores). Most of the PG stores are in Massachusetts but there are 16 stores in New Hampshire and a fair number of stores in Rhode Island. There are only a handful of stores in Connecticut and only one store in Maine, so I believe that those stores make their dough in-store. Can you tell me which NH store you purchase your PG dough from and do you know whether it is delivered from the PG commissary? The answer to the latter question will dictate the amount of yeast used in the dough at the particular PG store you visit. If it is delivered dough, then the yeast (I assume IDY) will be on the low side since the dough has to last up to, say, 3-5 days, or until the next delivery. As for the salt, I am guessing around 2% based on the PG pizzas I have purchased in the past. Since you are a professional and may have an idea as to salt levels from your work, do you have a feel for the salt level used by PG? For example, are the PG crusts saltier than the crusts where you work?
If you think of it, you might also want to weigh the future PG dough balls that you purchase. The first PG dough was 466 grams but commissary produced dough balls can vary on one side or the other by a a quarter- or half-ounce. For our purposes, we might use the average of the weights of the PG dough balls.
Are you having fun?
Peter
