Correcting for a cold fridge?

[ManChicken]

My old fridge was a POS and especially in the summer couldn't keep up - I'd make dough with cold water from the fridge and the next day the dough looked like I left it out on the counter to rise like bread.

Since replacing it with a new one which actually works, it's set at 34f (I like my milk COLD!) and it probably stays within a few degrees of that (but I don't have a thermometer for cold to test at the moment).  But now the issue is that my dough doesn't ferment very fast;  It takes at least 48 hours for the dough to become decent; less than that and I wind up with a fairly dense stiff crust that bakes perfectly smooth and doesn't rise much.  3 days is really ideal.  I'm back to using warm water, and my finished dough temp is around 81-82f.

So the question is, what is the best method for compensating for a colder fridge?  Should I increase the yeast amount, or let the dough sit out for awhile before putting it into the fridge?  Here's what I'm using at the moment:

Flour (100%):    427.73 g  |  15.09 oz | 0.94 lbs
Water (60%):    256.64 g  |  9.05 oz | 0.57 lbs
IDY (.25%):    1.07 g | 0.04 oz | 0 lbs | 0.35 tsp | 0.12 tbsp
Salt (2%):    8.55 g | 0.3 oz | 0.02 lbs | 1.78 tsp | 0.59 tbsp
Oil (1%):    4.28 g | 0.15 oz | 0.01 lbs | 0.95 tsp | 0.32 tbsp
Total (163.25%):   698.26 g | 24.63 oz | 1.54 lbs | TF = 0.08


Thanks for any suggestions.

[Pete-zza]

ManChicken,

I think you pretty much answered your own questions. It's just a matter of which method, or which combination of methods, is the best to use in your case. Using warmer water, letting the dough sit at room temperature for a while before refrigerating, and using more yeast should all work. I think the fastest results might come from a combination of warmer water and more yeast. You may have to do some experimenting on this to see what works best for you.

Looking at your dough formulation, it seems to me that for 24.63 ounces of dough and a thickness factor of 0.08 that you are using that amount of dough for more than one pizza. Is that for two 14" pizzas? If so, that means 12.32 ounces per dough ball, which is fairly small. Depending on which method or combination of methods described above you decide to use, you might store the dough containers toward the front of the refrigerator compartment where is is warmer than the back of that compartment.

Peter

[ManChicken]

Yes, sorry, that's for 2 dough balls, ostensibly for 14" but I usually make it out to around 16".

Well, I tried doubling the yeast this time around but it seemed to make pretty much no difference.  I might try one more time using 3g of yeast, and a 1.5 hour counter-rise before the fridge (I've left it out for probably 45 minutes once before.)

Barring that, it just occurred to me I have a small bar/beverage fridge in the basement that I'm not using, maybe it needs to turn into a dedicated dough fridge

[Jack]

My garage fridge runs about 33°F on the bottom where I ferment my dough.  I have to give it four hours on the counter in warm weather and about the same now, but on a pizza screen supported by large coolers, over a heating vent, to get it ready to cook during the winter months when the house is close to 70°F.  This is with a dough similar to a Lehman dough.

I like this method, as the doughs will last two weeks in the fridge, but can be ready after one day, if I provide more "counter" time.

Jack