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Frequently Asked Questions:

Categories:
Dough | Crust | Par Bake | Sugar | Oven | How To | Healthy | Oil | Take & Bake | Miscellaneous

DOUGH - (Back to top)

• Why have flour prices been skyrocketing?
• What can we do to mix our dough faster?
• What size dough mixer do you recommend?
• Rather than percents how to I mix dough using 40 pounds of flour?
• How long can I hold my dough in the cooler?
• Why is there so much variation in the amount of yeast called for in a dough recipe?
• How do I convert to weight measurements (instead of percentages) for making a dough?
• Do you have any recommendations on dough shelf-life extenders?
• What is the rule for adjusting the amount of water added to the dough as a result of outside weather?
• How much “old” dough can be added to our fresh made dough so we don’t need to throw out?
• How much should I mix my dough?
• Is there any special handling that is needed to use milk in our dough formula?
• What are our options for using a different type of sugar in our dough and how much should we use?
• How do I calculate the cost of my dough?
• How do I achieve that yellow, almost orange color for my Chicago pizza?
• With all the different speeds that vertical and spiral type mixers have, what is the correct speed to mix the dough on?
• What do I do about dough over-rising in the cooler?
• Why is it important to have a fat encapsulated baking powder when making pizza dough?
• What is the best way to form our dough so it still looks like hand-tossed?
• What’s the best way to make an ingredient bag that we add to our flour to make our dough from?
• How much dough should we use for an 18’ pizza?
• I'd like to freeze my dough, but I don't have a clue as to how to begin.
• What do I need to make my own sub rolls using my existing pizza dough?
• What is the benefit of eggs in pizza dough?
• Is it possible to fully shape and freeze our pizza dough? 
• Is there anyway to salvage dough that is past its shelf life, rather than having to throw it into the trash?
• What is the “sponge-dough” process for making pizza and other products?
• Can I let my dough balls sit at room temperature before putting them into the cooler for overnight storage?
• Is there a special coated leavening material for use in making take and bake pizza dough and how is it different from regular baking powder?
• Can you tell me how to determine what water temperature to use in order to achieve a specified dough temperature?
• Which method of dough forming works better?
• What can we do to improve the browning characteristics of our dough?
• How do you use Baker's Percent to calculate the amount of dough that might be needed to fill an order, and what’s an easy way to calculate the amount of dough that can be made from any amount of flour?
• Can you describe the use of dough forming equipment and the procedures?
• How can I achieve a chewy texture with my dough?
• I have been told that if we use brewer’s yeast, we’ll obtain a stronger, more beer-like flavor in our dough? How much brewer’s yeast?
• You always recommend plastic dough dockers. What’s wrong with metal dockers?
• How can we correct the problem of our garlic and herb-flavored dough becoming soft and hard to handle?
• Can you describe the natural process where dough rises without help from chemical leavening?
• What is the advantage of using a conditioner for my dough?
• Why is it that pizza doughs are usually under-mixed, as compared to bread doughs which are mixed more to increase gluten development?
• We make emergency dough soft and workable by using more yeast, water and oil, and by increasing the dough temperature to 95-100 degrees. Any dangers, or potential problems in this?
• If I use a conditioner, do I have to change the way I make my dough?  Will it change the product that my customers are used to receiving?
• What is the advantage in using conditioners in my dough?
• We’ve been open for only about three months, but we’re already having some major problems with our dough. We can’t keep it in the cooler for more than one day, and once we bring it out and begin prepping the dough, it doesn’t last for much more than an hour. Can you tell us what we’re doing wrong?
• How should I manage my dough overnight, or for up to several days in the cooler?

CRUST - (Back to top)

• What’s the secret to a crispy crust?
• How do you keep whole-wheat and multi-grain crusts from coming out flat and dry?
• Is it possible to make a pizza dough/crust without any oil or shortening?
• For a Tex-Mex flavored crust, what’s the secret to getting a good corn chip flavor?
• We are wanting to get our crust to color up better and faster during baking but we don’t want to get a sweeter tasting crust by adding more sugar to the dough, what can we do?
• We buy frozen dough balls for making our crusts. How can we make them taste better?
• How can we prevent the mold growth on our crusts that have been in our cooler for a week?
• How do you go about lowering the carbohydrate content in a pizza crust?
• How can I get my crust to develop a darker color during baking?
• What can I do to get a more consistent crust color over the life of my dough?
• Why is cornmeal occasionally used on the bottom of some pizza crusts, but not on the bottom of others?
• What can I do to get a more consistent crust color over the life of my dough?
• I refrigerate my dough over three days but can’t always get good browning color. What can I do to get a more consistent crust color?

PAR BAKE - (Back to top)

• Can we par-bake our garlic knots to help speed up the turn around time on them?
• Why do I hear so much negativity regarding the use of par-baked pizza crusts? 

SUGAR - (Back to top)

• What’s the difference between regular white table sugar and brown sugar?
• Will adding sugar cause our sauce to scorch during baking?

OVEN - (Back to top)

• What is mapping an oven hearth for temperature?
• Why doesn’t our new conveyor ovens bake pizzas as crispy as our old deck ovens?
• Is it possible to get New York-style pizza characteristics when using one of the new conveyor ovens?
• I’ve been reading and hearing a lot about some of the new conveyor ovens being able to bake pizzas in less than five minutes. What is your opinion about this?

HOW TO - (Back to top)

• How to make: French Bread and rolls, Italian
• How to make: Tuscan Bread Dough

HEALTHY - (Back to top)

• What can we do to make the cheese on our pizza look healthier to our customers?
• How do you make healthy pizza?

OIL - (Back to top)

• Does it really make any difference what type oil I use when I make my pizza's dough?
• What causes cheese to oil so badly?
• How much butter should we use to replace the vegetable oil in our dough formula?

TAKE and BAKE - (Back to top)

• Can I get some info on take and bake?

MISC. - (Back to top)

• We sell pizzas from a trailer, and we get a lot of requests for a dessert pizza. We don’t have much room or storage space, so how can we make a fast, easy dessert pizza without having to inventory a lot of extra ingredients?
• We want to make a chicken-topped pizza, but we don’t want to use a regular red sauce. What do you recommend?
• Due to the small size of my business, I don’t want to get involved in making my sauce from scratch. Are there any really good ready-made sauces?
• Are there any advantages of wood peels versus metal peels?
• Why do some recipes call for more yeast than others and what is the proper amount?
• What is the best way to determine the correct mixing time with a new mixer?
• How do I get rid of gum line in my pizza? Best prevention method?
• Are Kosher salts better for flavor than regular salt?
• We’re thinking of making wheat or whole wheat grilled calzones. I’ve read about making grilled pizzas, but what about calzones?
• We want to start making personal pan pizzas, but we’re put off by the high cost of the pans; do you have any suggestions?