Hi,
I've sort of gone the other direction. I've been mixing cake flour with bread flour (both King Arthur of course!). I've been trying to approximate the low protein flour used in Italy. But my questions really is about yeast.
I have a bunch of recipes for pizza dough at home and they all use a lot of yeast for the amount of flour used - usually about 4 1/2 teaspoons per 2 1/4 cups of flour. Most bread recipes I have use a fraction of this amount of yeast. I can't find my Italian recipe from my cooking class in Italy sadly.
Why do most pizza doughs use so much yeast? Why does yours use so much less? My latest batch of dough I tried using half the amount I usually use. I like slow-rise pizza dough and usually let it rise for about five days to a week and this has made a big difference in the rise time. I won't know how it tastes until this Friday.
Thanks
Hi Aaron - Not sure why others like to use so much yeast - I assume because they want fast results rather than flavor. Maybe they figure most pizza bakers are newbies, and can't bear to wait for dough to rise... I like a slow rise (as you say), as it develops the flavor beautifully. There's no substitute for time. I don't usually go over about 36 hours, as I don't like the acidic taste (sourdough) the dough starts to develop. But for sourdough fans, a longer rise is appropriate - all in the fridge, of course. Hope your Friday pizza tastes great! PJH
March 23, 2009 at 8:15am