July 6, 2019 - 4:49pm
Does 14% Protein flour give a crispy crust. Or does a 12% protein give crispy crust?
How to make your pizza piece not droop the moment you pick it up? It should be straight like cardboard ! Which formula works for a nice crispy crust? 12% protein with 60% hydration? Or 14% with 60% hydration? Will 55 to 58% hydration give me a crispier crust? Please help!
(Baking in a wood fired oven @ 350 deg C ) and some times my top edge gets baked/ charred while the base center remains soft
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I am no authority, but my limited experience may help.
The first thought deals with toppings. Ingredients that are heavy, or too much applied will have a great affect on the droop.
Ingredients that leech water, such as tomatoes, sauce, etc. can soak down into the crust. I always place a layer is sliced cheese down first before adding the sauce. This has had a noticeable affect towards keeping the crust dry.
Which type of pizza are you most interested in baking? NY style, Cracker Crust, etc?
You may be interested in out Community Bake featuring Pizza. It is going on right now. We invite you to post your pies. http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/60568/community-bake-pizza
Danny
Tnks so much Danyo! I am interested in New York style. The regular thin crust pizza. Not cracker crust. Could it be because of under kneading? I long ferment for 48-72 hours. But with 58 % hydration it’s difficult to attain a window pane consistency. I’am careful about toppings too which I learnt in pizza class. And my query yet again.. does a 58% hydration give a crispier crust?
“Does 58% hydration give a crispier crust”? I don’t have enough experience in that area to answer that with authority. I suggest you visit https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php and post your question there. There is a dedicated forum for New York style pizza. Although, we do deal with Pizza on TheFreshLoaf, PizzaMaking.com is completely committed to all things Pizza.
Have you considered mixing up several or more small dough balls at various hydrations and then baking them off as an experiment? Be careful to maintain the same floor temp for each bake. That should settle the hydration question.
This article may interest those without a wood fired oven.
https://slice.seriouseats.com/2012/09/the-pizza-lab-the-baking-steel-delivers.html
It claims that a pizza steel will produce a more crispy crust than a baking stone because of heat transfer.
Danny
Tnks Danyo!will check out the link..
Where are you measuring the oven temp? I drive more heat into the hearth by spreading embers across the floor during the final stage of firing. I only measure the environment by a non-contact IR gun on the floor. The floor temp should be 345-400C with a flame rolling to the middle of the dome. Forgive me if I'm preaching to the converted :).
My Neapolitan pizza dough is 59% hydration. I use 00 flour (9% protein) for Neapolitan dough. If you want a crispy crust, use a New York style dough 62% hydration using bread flour (12.5% protein) with a little oil added.
Cheers,
Gavin.
Tnks Gavin. The temp of the hearth is around 300. But the flame that runs across the dome of the oven tends to cook my pizza on the top before the base can get crispy. That’s why the base remains soft. I then wait for the fire to subside. You mean 62% will give me a crispier crust than 58%?
In my experience, the New York style dough is a crisp crust that can "stand up" on edge with lifted on the side with the peel. I not sure if it is the hydration or the addition of oil in the dough that gives the crisp. My favourite dough is the Neapolitan with no oil and lower hydration and it cooks in about 1:30 in my oven at 390°C floor temp, but the crust is not as crisp as you want.
I guess some experimentation is needed. Also, I recommend you crank up the floor temperature somewhat from 300°C and that may solve your issue.
Cheers,
Gavin
I'm no pizza expert, but the little experience I have is that hydration will not really affect your crispiness or stiffness nearly as much as your oven temperature and time in the oven. To bake a pizza at 350C, I think you need a really thin crust with few toppings so it bakes through and through quickly.
I would suggest trying the whole thing at a much lower temperature like 230C for longer. I think you will notice a huge improvement in your stiffness and crispiness.
You might want to check out Pizza Tonda Romana - thin, crispy base (but not cracker). I had a good one last time I was in Rome.
Sample recipe and pics here.
Lance