Nancy's dough

[jerrym]

have been interested in Nancy Silverton's dough (alla Mozza pizza) for some time. typ link below although the trail starts at pizza quest with peter reinhart and the search for memorable pizza.

would appreciate thoughts on the dough in particular the hydration which i calculate at ~ 80% (highest i've made 70%) . i'm sure it must be right. the wfo cooking time at 5 to 7 mins sounds wrong but becomes more meaningful with such a high hydration.

the wheat germ and barley malt are new to me and things i intend to try out.

recipe as i have it for 6 off ~11 ". although the recipe makes in 1 day further reading suggests 3 day (sponge, ball & ferment, use):

day1 sponge
bread flour 370g
rye flour 14g
wheat germ 8g
water 425g
ADY 3g

day2
bread flour 370g
water 200g
honey or barley malt 8g
salt 14g

www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/....ugh-recipe.html

[jerrym]

staggering. this dough is a step change and well worth trying.

increased the rye down to having no wheat germ locally. used honey and intend to track down some barley malt. reduced the hydration down from 83% to 77% (re pizzamaking.com link). incorporated 10% sourdough.

made it over 3 days: day1 sponge and into fridge, day 2 rest of ingredients back into fridge doing the corner turnover now and then, day 3 balled and prove.

the shaping took me by surprise - in the video the dough is held off the deck and sort of manhandled over the knuckles. i now realise why - it's too wet to shape on the deck.

i left off the brush of olive oil around the edge just to get equal comparison with my norm dough result. i already know the oil works a treat.

it's not without problems. the main for me being the bake at 5 to 7 mins against my norm in the kitchen oven being 3.5 min. at 5 min the base is charring too much and had to cut bake to 4.5 min. the problem with this was that the top dough was undercooked in the middle cheese circle. i probably used too many toppings for this dough setup (the video say to use little).

i found the spring back too much - the pizza coming out of the oven was much smaller than those going in. this did not help with the undercooking above.

overall - a real eye opener and can now see what all the fuss is about. am pretty sure i can over time sort the downsides (will probably aim to adopt a 2 day cold ferment all in at the start)


www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,16437.0.htm

[cannyfradock]

Jerry

I love your commitment to trial and error. Your Wood-fired oven wasn't to your liking at the first attempt but you carried on changing this or that to achieve a result which you were happy with. You have given the same commitment to your bread baking and I'm always interested in your trials especially the sponge process.

Your efforts....and links to the recipes you try are truly appreciated on the forum......keep up the good work and post some pics of your results when possible.

Terry

p.s.....I think you would enjoy the yearly get together of the members of Dan Lepard forum. 2010 was in Yorkshire dalesdoughdo.wordpress.com/tag/dales-dough-do/ ......2011 was in North wales bethesdabakin5.wordpress.com/ .....and this year was in West Wales. A few of our members attend and everybody chips in £50. It's just an amateur bakers yearly get together and the money goes towards the flour etc and meals for everyone for the weekend. Next years venue is still being sought but I will post the 2013 event when we can scrounge someone's farm or a rugby clubs buildings for the long weekend.

[jerrym]

Terry,

much appreciate kind words.

ovens are still not as good as i feel i can get - next year’s project.

the dough is well worth try. the high hydration seems to be the key to the step change.

will keep the dan get together in mind - does sound good

[jerrym]

just a word of caution on this dough. i tried the make in 1 day version and was well disappointed. it was not as open structure as i experienced with the 3 day make.

i've also tried the high hydration ~77% out on my normal 3 day cold ferment dough and had further disaster - the higher water content seems to speed up the ferment and i ended up with over fermented dough. i suspect it kick starts and turbo charges the sourdough putting the overall leaven out of balance.

still remaining positive and see the experience as a tad more learning. going to try a 2 day cold ferment next. the efforts being targeted at reducing the springback experience on the original make.

also trying out using the sourdough straight from the fridge ie leaving it in the fridge even for feeding in advance of using.