Need help: crust, dough temp, proof time - too many bubbles

[Crusty]

Hi Pizza team.  My first post. 

My goal: NY Street Stlyle Pizza produced on consistent basis.

Saturday night:

(Dough was prepared on Thurday) Made Lehman pie with 11.8 oz KASL, 7.7 oz spring water 71 degrees, 1/4 t IDY, 3/4 t salt, 3/4 t olive oil.  Mixed in Viking mixer for 2 min on stir,  added olive oil and mixed for an additional 2 minutes on stir then 7 minutes on level 3. The dough weight was 20.25 oz and the dough temp was 76-78 degrees Lightly coated with olive oil and into the refrigerator.  This time I allowed the dough to proof for 48 hours and then took it out 2 hours prior to baking. After two hours I hand tosssed, created a rim and then spread one ladle of Stanislaus full red pizza sauce, part skim mozz/prov combo, oregano and placed it into a 550 degree oven on a stone that was preheated for 1.5 hours.

I was disappointed because the resulting dough had too many bubbles.  Yes my goal is to have bubbles in the crust indicating the proper level of yeast development but the bubbles I am referring to are the large nearly golf balll size
bubbles.  They were all over the pie including the center.

What were the key factors contributing to this defect?  Was it the inital water temp that lead to a less than 80-85 degree ending dough temp, or was it the 48 hour proof instead of 24 hours, or was it the two hours it rose once removed from the refrigerator or something else? (also, I noted that the tub that contained the dough had developed moisture inside of it perhaps from me opening a time or two during the 48 hour wait).

Thanks



 
 
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[Randy]

It is most likely your shaping that produces the large bubbles.  As an example if you rolled the dough most all the bubbles would be gone.
Knock the dough down into  a flat disk.  Strech the dough out leaving a small rim.  The bigger the rim the bigger the bubbles.  The dough should be see through in the very center then thicken to the outside.
Randy

[Pete-zza]

I am away from my home base at the moment, but the recipe looks like one I posted. I don't recall the specific kneading instructions, and am unfamiliar with the settings of your Viking unit to know how they differ from the Kitchen Aid unit I use.

From my experience, diagnosing the cause of bubbling is one of the most difficult tasks. Usually, bubbling occurs for the following reasons: 1.) Too much or too little yeast; 2.) Too little or too much fermentation; 3.) The dough is too cold (below 50 degrees F, typically); 4.) The oven is too hot; or 5.) If docking is used, it was used incorrectly or insufficiently.

From what you have said, I think we can safely rule out the first three possibilities, and most likely the last one. As to the fourth, sometimes, especially in winter, it may be necessary to let the dough remain at room temperature a bit longer before shaping. However, the 2 hours you used seems in the right range,even for a cool room temperature. I do note, however, that you refrigerated the dough for 48 hours before using. When I go out to 48 hours, I usually add a bit of sugar to the dough ingredients, or I use cooler water, or I do both. It's quite possible that the 48 hours, together with using a small amount of yeast, may have resulted in an overfermented condition (the yeast used up most of the natural and added sugars) that may have contributed to the results you achieved. I don't think the water temperature you used was the source of the problem and I don't think it was the moisture you referred to. I look at my dough at different stages of refrigeration all the time. I don't think your oven was too hot either, even after preheating for 1.5 hours, but you might consider lowering the bake temperature a bit to see if that helps.

On balance, I am leaning to the "too little yeast" diagnosis in your case, even though some people use little yeast in their Lehmann NY style doughs without experiencing bubbling after a 48 hour fermentation.

Peter