Advice needed please.
My son has a small pizzeria, a family run affair.
Since 2011 we have made several thousand pizza, one size fits all.
A problem we are hitting now is inconsistency of dough mix. Hydration has been varied over the years starting at 59% and now at 56%. Even at this lower figure it seems the dough is now coming out too wet for our needs.
We use zero zero flour from the same supplier in 25 kg bags. Oil added at the end of the mixing. All ingredients have stayed the same for the last 3 years, no improvers are added.
Our local temperature while mixing the dough is between 29C and 35C and humidity from 65 to 75% based in central Indonesia.
All items into the dough are measured within one gram
We work accurately so I must assume that it’s the variation of temperature and humidity that is making the dough sticky.
I have cross checked the scales with gold scale weights and it’s accurate.
If my assumption is right about humidity and temperature being a factor; is there a table where I can refer to adjust the hydration?
Dough – Pizza dough changed from usable to sticky
doughpizza
Related Solutions
Just make the base bigger than you need with the edge pulled slightly thiner than the main base, and then roll the edge inward on itself
You need to have nearly twice the extra width available than what you wish to roll up, otherwise it will unroll. Pinch it down at you go round and it should stay in place. Try not to get olive oil or other toppings on the edge before you complete it, or it may unwind during cooking
Put the pizza tray on a turntable (cake decorating or "lazy susan") to make the task easy. It is sort of a continuous motion of rolling, folding, and pinching down
You can put a little of some contrasting taste (to main toppings) on before you roll the edge, like olives, anchovies, chillies or herbs
BTW in traditional pizza with a properly hot oven, the crust (cornicione) puffs up because it has no topping on it, but this results in a crust that is only slightly fatter than the main base, or just big bubbles that break when you hold it. By doubling up the dough you get a real substantial crust
Funny enough I was until recently working under a certified pizzaiolo. Are you allowing it to rest properly? How long are you kneading it for? What is your method for shaping your dough?
Edited to add from a later comment (I don't really see the point, it's right there after all):
Pizza dough, particularly if you are using proper 00 flour, needs a solid ten minutes of kneading before it rests. Resting time will vary depending on temperature and so on, but 2 hours seems excessive to me. Don't ever use a rolling pin to shape pizza dough; you've spent all that time working air into the dough, why squeeze it all out? Shape by hand, pulling towards you with your left while pushing away in a windshield wiper motion with your right and rotating the dough slightly on each pass.
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Best Answer
Thanks for the replies. I have experimented a bit with hydration with a 2 kilo of flour batch. I found reducing the water by 25 grams to have 1100 gram of water gave better dough. That was at shade temperature 29.5C and 90% relative humidity. The reason I started the question is a friend’s son worked for a large pizza franchise and they had correction tables for temperature and humidity changes. Yes it is possible the flour mix has changed but they are the only supplier available so I cannot try another brand yet. I have not measured the water PH. I do know it is high in calcium and magnesium salts. It’s from a bore 33 metres deep. It’s been used for pizza dough for 2 years but a change in its make up is possible. I will try the longer kneading, maybe that will work. Our present system is ‘just in time’ dough making as we are running out of fridge space. Water at 40C is weighed out part is used to activate the yeast which takes minutes. When mixing of the dough is done it is proofed in covered stainless steel bowls. First rise takes about 40 minutes. It is turned over and punched down. Then it stays in a refrigerator up to 2 days. Using cold water is not an option as we sell thousands of pizza a year.