bigpix,
Thank you for identifying the Lehmann dough recipe you used. That particular recipe was formulated specifically for fellow member Friz to enable him to make a high-hydration dough (63%) for a 16-inch pizza.
That recipe should have worked using the basic processing techniques (paddle, dough hook, etc.) you followed. However, if you used volume measurements rather than weight measurements, as it appears you did, then it may be necessary for you to make minor adjustments to the formulation as you prepare the dough. No matter how much care is taken to convert weight measurements to volume measurements, and especially for the flour and water, the conversions are not perfect or particularly accurate. Hence, to overcome these conversion issues, it may well be necessary for you to add small amounts of flour and/or water to the dough as it is being kneaded, until the desired final dough characteristics are achieved. I personally make these additions a teaspoon at a time so as not to deviate from the recipe any more than necessary.
The ideal dough condition that you should strive to achieve is one in which the finished dough is soft and elastic (not tough or hard), smooth (without tears on the outer surface), elastic, and not overly wet or overly dry, but rather a bit tacky. To achieve this "ideal" condition, in addition to making the minor "adjustments" I have mentioned, you should not be afraid to stop your mixer from time to time to reorient the dough if it gets hung up on the dough hook, or to use a bit of hand kneading to help the dough incorporate the olive oil, which sometimes doesn't incorporate easily in a stand mixer. You should especially not succumb to the temptation to add too much flour to a dough that appears to be too sticky as it comes out of the mixer bowl. If you do a minute or two of hand kneading you will see that the stickiness pretty much disappears. If the dough is still sticky, you can add a bit more flour, but only the slightest amount necessary, working it into the dough on a lightly floured work surface. If you can achieve the dough conditions described above, you will have pretty much mastered what I consider to be the most difficult and challenging aspects of dough production.
Once the dough ball has been properly kneaded, it should be oiled with a small amount of oil, put into a container, and then into the refrigerator. I prefer to put the dough ball into a plastic storage bag because it is lightweight and of low mass, and promotes faster cooling of the dough. I usually flatten the dough ball into a disk by pressing against it from the outside of the storage bag, to further promote faster cooling. From this point on, the internal temperature of your refrigerator (together with the degree of hydration of the dough) will have a material effect on the rate of fermentation of the dough. If your refrigerator is on the cool side (e.g, 35-45 degrees F), and all other things being equal, the dough will ferment at a slower rate and require more time to reach the stage at which it can be used; if your refrigerator is on the warm side (e.g., above 50 degrees F), then the dough will ferment at a faster rate and require less time to reach the stage at which it can be used. In your case, you indicated that you used an 18-hour retardation. It is quite possible that that was not long enough. Most of the Lehmann recipes call for 24 hours, and although that is not a sacred number, it is a good guideline to follow. If the retardation period you used was too short, the 2-hour warmup period you used before trying to shape the dough, while in itself reasonable, may not have been enough to overcome the foreshortened 24 hours retardation period (and/or an underhydrated dough). I believe that is why your dough was so elastic and difficult to shape. It should have been highly extensible (stretchy) and easy to shape.
All things considered, I think the problems you encountered were as a result of having a dough that was too dry, i.e., not enough water was used, or you didn't let the dough ferment long enough, or possibly a combination of both. I think if you can overcome these problems you should be in good shape. As a final note, I will add that you should use the proper measuring tools to measure ingredients if you do not have a scale. I use a Pyrex measuring cup to measure water and a set of measuring cups designed to measure dry ingredients to measure the flour, all for greater accuracy in the measurements.
Peter
