How do you get that nice shiny blistered dough crust?

[FeCheF]

With alittle help from Tom I finally got the rise and browning i have been looking for. But i am still looking to get that nice shiny crust like it was brushed with butter straight out of the oven, (is that the secret?) with those nice blisters all over the crust. (like a deep fried homemade perogie)

I do brush my crust with olive oil right before it goes in the oven, but it always comes out dull with no shine. I know eggwash can put a nice shine on apple pie crust, but it can also make a stromboli crust a bit leathery to chew without a knife so im going to dismiss eggwash.

So is blisters caused by a higher oil % in the dough during kneading, or only achieved in a really long fermentation?

[The Dough Doctor]

F.C.;
The secret to getting that characteristic is to use higher levels of L-cysteine, a reducing agent in the dough. You can find L-cysteine in a product called PZ-44 available from Foremost Farms <www.foremostfarms.com>. Be careful when using this though as it can/will quickly turn a dough into something that more closely resembles a cake batter. I would recommend starting out at 2% of the total flour weight, and working up in 0.5% increments from there. Another option to explore is to form your dough into pucks and freeze it for several days. This will damage the yeast, releasing glutathione (first cousin to L-cysteine) into the dough, and it may give you some of the characteristics you're looking for. In this case experiment with the holding time in the freezer. Something between 3 and 10-days should give you some result similar to what you are looking for. Note: If you buy frozen pizza dough you will see this characteristic right from the start.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

EDIT (2/7/13): For a link to the PZ-44 product, which was recently sold to another company, see http://web.archive.org/web/20060311221117/http://www.foremostfarms.com/products/ingredient/pdf/450PZ44.pdf.

[Pete-zza]

FeCheF,

If you are up for some heavy duty reading, you might check out this thread: http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,7740.0.html.

Peter

[FeCheF]

FeCheF,

If you are up for some heavy duty reading, you might check out this thread: http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,7740.0.html.

Peter

I read that entire thread and pretty much left me just as confused as i was before reading it.
I think i will give toms suggestion about that human hair/duck feather product a try.

[norma427]

FeChef,

I can’t really tell you how to get a nice shiny blistered crust, because sometime I get them and sometimes I don’t. I have even frozen dough balls for a week and sometimes don’t get them. Maybe you want to read Chau’s thread on “Pimples” to give you more ideas. http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,10656.0.html

I don’t know if you want to read about commercial dough enhancers, but I have done some experiments with them at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,13820.0.html

I used the stretch-out product, describe at Reply 8 http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,13820.msg138841.html#msg138841  which also includes the ingredient L-Cysteine, as does PZ-44.

My one experiment I did use PZ-44 at Reply 210 http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,13820.msg153489.html#msg153489  but that was with a cracker-style dough, so my results with PZ-44 are limited so far.  I want to do more experiments with the difference commercial dough enhancers sometime soon.

Norma

[FeCheF]

Thanks for the links norma. I recall the term "chasing the dragon" is used to describe this elusive look and texture on this forum. So i am probably not going to get what im looking for. But for $hits and giggles, this is the look im talking about, that occurs in homemade perogie dough that is deep fried. I figured this could be replicated in a pizza crust with maybe spraying oil on the crust during cooking.

[norma427]

FeCheF,

I think I got those kind of blisters you are talking about in this thread http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,13373.msg132363.html#msg132363   But then that dough was fried like homemade pierogi dough.

Best of luck with getting the kind of blisters you want!  

Norma

[chickenparm]

Check out my pizza full of blisters on the crust.

http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,14486.0.html

The pie with the blisters,did not have any oil brushed on the rim before baking.I have made other pies like this,with oil brushed,it becomes shiny when removed.

Here is a close up of the blisters on the crust from that same link,but no oil was brushed on the rim before baking.

http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=14486.0;attach=38525;image

There is no super secret to getting it.Add 2 % oil to the dough,and then before you put the dough ball away,spray the ball with an oil spray.Put dough away for a cold rise,The oil will pool around the doughball,so when you go to open it,it will help fry the rim a little bit when baking.Dont use alot of bench flour on an oiled doughball either.Use enough to open,but keep the rim wet from the oiled bowl if you can help it.

When you make a crust with it,you will get blisters everywhere.If you want it more shiny,brush some olive oil/buttery mix,you choose,on the rim before baking.
 

[c0mpl3x]

papa johns dough frequently does this.

how i've produced the results you seek?

drizzle your salt/flour with your oil.   mix/cut it around, like cutting shortening into flour for pie crust.

add your sugar/water/yeast, taking care to fold the dough from side to center as you go, when mixing it

[FeCheF]

I have to say the best crust i have seen with a nice shine and blisters is glutenboys pizza here http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,7761.0.html
It must be either the flour he uses, or the 8 day ferment that cause those blisters and shine.

I am going to try doing a longer ferment and see if i notice any blisters forming on the crust. I will start off with a 48 hour cold ferment and work my way up to 8 days.