Frequently Asked Questions - Pizza

Could corn flour be blended with wheat flour in making pizza crusts?

The addition of a maximum of 5% corn flour or preferably very fine grind cornmeal will produce a more crisp pizza crust.

How much dry whey is recommended for pizza crust dough for producing better crust color?

Two to three percent dry whey, flour basis, is recommended for this purpose.

In changing from sugar to honey in pizza dough, what adjustments are necessary?

To determine the level of honey, divide the sugar weight by 0.8. The difference in weight is water that should be subtracted from the dough water.

What formula changes are needed when changing from a dough to be used immediately to one which is retarded overnight and to as long as three days?

The important change is to increase the sugar level to provide nutrient for the yeast.

Is there an advantage for brushing oil on raw or par baked crust before topping?

At one time we reported that there was no advantage in the application of oil the the dough or crust surface prior to baking, and this still holds true if all of your pizzas are made to order, and they are baked in a traditional, deck type oven, on the oven hearth, but with the change to faster baking, air impingement ovens, and a greater tendency to pre-prep pizzas in anticipation of high sales periods, a light oil application to the surface of the untopped dough or par-baked crust has shown the ability to resist migration of moisture from both the sauce, and the vegetable toppings into the dough or crust during the baking process, thus effectively reducing the possibility of developing a soggy crust or the development of a gum line resulting from moisture migration.

Is the addition of oil to the sauce beneficial?

Most spices are oil soluble and less volatiles from the seasonings are lost during baking when oil is added to the sauce. The recommendations are one half cup or four ounces of oil to 15 pounds of sauce.

What is the recommended shortening level for thick type pizza crust?

The recommended level is a minimum two percent and a maximum four percent. Usually a lower level of shortening is used in a thick crust than in a thin crust pizza.

What is the recommended final proofer temperature for an automatic pizza line?

90-100°F (equal or slightly (2°F) higher than the dough temperature).

How do various processing techniques affect characteristics of the pizza crust produced from the same dough?

Sheeting produces a slightly tougher crust than stamping. Hand tossing produces a thinner crust with more expansion in the oven.

Which is the preferred material for greasing of pizza pans for press type pizzas?

For the pressing or stamping process, oil is preferred due to ease and uniformity of application.

How much cheese is recommended in the topping for thin and thick crust pizza?

A general guide would be seven ounces of cheese on a 12 inch thin crust pizza and 12 ounces on a 12 inch thick crust pizza.

What final proofer temperature and humidity is recommended for thick pan pizza?

85°F and 80% humidity.

What are the recommendations for manufacture of a microwavable pizza crust?

1. Keep the water in the dough at a minimum.
2. Keep the water in the sauce at a minimum, even to the point of increasing the oil.
3. Rice flour will improve the dryness of the dough and reduce sogginess. The recommended usage level is three to eight percent, flour weight basis.
4. Partially bake the crust in a conventional oven, apply the topping, then fully bake in a conventional oven before freezing.
5. When reheating in a microwave oven, support the pizza slightly above the bottom surface of the oven.

When the pizza dough is retarded as a ball, should the ball be covered?

Yes, preferably with a coating of oil.

How long can retarded dough pieces be stored and when does deterioration begin?

Pizza dough pieces can be retarded for three days with no problem, changes begin on the fourth day. If pizza dough is stored for five days or less, retarding is recommended. For longer periods of storage, such as for several weeks, freezing is recommended.

If a double stamp process is used for pizza dough, what is the ideal rest time between the two stamping steps?

A two minute rest time is optimum, 30 seconds is minimum.

What is the maximum dough temperature for removing the pizza dough from the blast freezer and what is the proper holding temperature?

The dough should be frozen to an internal (core) temperature of 20°F. The hold or storage freezer should be 0°F or lower, preferably -10°F.

We manufacture a few pizzas each day to put out in a freezer for sale to those customers who wish to take our pizzas home with them to bake and enjoy at a later date. We have been receiving complaints that these pizzas are difficult to bake, and always have a lot of water on them during and after baking.

This is a common problem with pizzas that contain fresh vegetable toppings and have been slow frozen by freezing the pizzas in a conventional, as opposed to a blast freezer.

What happens is that the slow freezing process (at temperatures of 0 to +10°F) allows the formation of large ice crystals within the vegetable toppings. These large ice crystals tend to rupture the internal cell structure of the vegetables, causing them to break down and release their bound water upon thawing, thus creating a wet, soggy pizza.

The most obvious solution is to blast freeze the pizza at temperatures of -20°F or lower. However, this won't be practical or even possible at the pizzeria level, so a different approach must be taken.

The most feasible is to use canned, or sautéed vegetables, and to apply them sparingly on your frozen pizza. This really works quite well. Another approach is to use individual quick frozen (IQF) vegetable toppings, and apply them frozen, then immediately place the topped pizza into your conventional freezer, unwrapped, for at least several hours, or until the pizza is thoroughly frozen. It can then be wrapped, or packaged and put out for sale. Keep in mind though that in a home type freezer, shelf life should be limited to only two or three weeks, while in a commercial freezer the shelflife may be as long as 45 days or more.

My pizzas are rather bland in flavor. We've tried adding extra seasonings, but the flavor just gets sharper and not more flavorful.

When pizzas are bland in flavor it is generally due to one of two things, insufficient salt in the dough and, or the sauce, or a lack of oil/shortening in the dough or the sauce. Either of these conditions can result in a loss or lack of flavor in the baked pizza.

Salt levels below 1% of the flour weight in the dough will produce a crust with a very bland flavor. If the salt level in the sauce should fall below 2% of the total sauce weight this too will reduce the flavor potential of the sauce.

In some cases I've found that oil or shortening is not added to the dough, or no oil is added to the sauce. In both applications, the added oil helps to capture volatile flavor and aroma compounds released during baking, thus making the finished pizza more flavorful.

We have found that oil levels as low as 1% of the flour weight in the dough and 1% of the total sauce weight will exhibit a flavor enhancing affect, with a maximum benefit obtained at somewhere between 1.5 and 2% levels.

In attempt to achieve a crispier crust texture we have reduced the amount of water added to the dough to 40% of the flour weight, but we don't seem to be getting a crispier texture.

Believe it or not, less water does not make for a crispier crust texture in this case. When the water is reduced to a point where the dough becomes so stiff that it cannot expand freely, or that there is not sufficient water present to fully gelatinize the starch present in the flour, you will begin getting a tougher, more leathery, less crispy crust with further reductions in the water level. In both cases if the dough cannot expand freely during baking, or if the starch cannot be fully gelatinized the, end result will resemble a crust that has not been sufficiently baked, except in this case more baking won't correct the problem.

Instead, the addition of water in many cases will make the dough more pliable, and better able to expand during baking. Additionally, the extra water will ensure that the starch will be properly gelatinized during baking to give a crust with the desired firm, slightly dry mouthfeel, and crispy texture. This is the very same principal used by the gourmet bread bakers to produce those popular thick, crispy crusted breads.

We produce a pizza which has a lot of fresh vegetable toppings, but the pizza always has a lot of water on the surface after baking, and we must blot it off of the pizza before serving it to the customer. What can we do to reduce, or eliminate this problem?

This problem is caused by the breakdown of the vegetables during baking. Remember, most of these toppings are about 90% water. When excess water becomes a problem on your pizzas, any of the following steps can be taken to help reduce or eliminate the problem:

1. Thin slice the vegetables, this helps reduce the amount of water remaining on the pizza, as more of the water is baked off as steam earlier in the baking process.
2. Coat your vegetables in oil, a light tossing in oil, such as olive oil, will help to reduce the watering out tendency of many vegetable toppings. It really seems to work well with mushrooms.
3. Reduce the amount of vegetable topping(s) used. Remember, the amount of water released is proportional to the amount of vegetables used.
4. Be sure that the vegetable toppings are positioned on the very top of the pizza, not under any of the cheese.
5. Try baking the pizzas at a slightly lower temperature, for a slightly longer time. This will allow more time for some of the water to bake off.
6. If you have a choice of ovens to use, think about the impingement type ovens. The highly focused, high air velocity employed in these types of ovens do an exceptionally good job of evaporating excess water off of the top surface of the pizza. Just remember to employ #5 above, and don't try to bake the pizzas too fast.
7. Use sauteed, grilled, or canned vegetable toppings. These toppings do not release as much of their water content during baking as fresh vegetables do.
8. Occasionally, I have also found that too much sauce can be at least partially responsible for this problem. When using an abundance of vegetable toppings, try going lighter on the sauce than you might for a normal pizza. Or you might try using a somewhat thicker sauce, one which has not been reduced with very much water, remember, you'll get that extra water from the vegetables.

For more information:
Telephone: 785-537-4750 or 800-633-5137
FAX: 785-537-1493
Email: tlehmann@aibonline.org