On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 15:17:19 GMT
"Kent H." > wrote:

> How much, and what kind of yeast do you use for over overnight
> proofing, for a 3 cups of flour, or 1.5lb loaf? When you bring it out
> of frig the next A.M. what exactly do you do before it goes in the
> oven? What do you do with Pizza Dough? Our local pizza parlour rises
> as you do. Thanks


Same amount as i do when i'm proofing on the counter, or in a warm
oven.

I take it out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter while the
oven heats up. I have a lousy oven so this is probably more than a half
an hour. It's still cold when it goes in.=20

It doesn't rise as tall as it would on the counter or in a makeshift
proofing box, but i get a lot more oven spring, and the loaf comes out
pretty much the same size - but with a better crumb texture and mellower
flavor.=20

Pizza dough . . . You've gotta understand that I'm single, I make
enough dough for six 9" crusts, let the whole mass of dough rise
once, portion it out, dust five of them liberally with flour, bag 'em,
and put them in the fridge while #6 rises again on the counter to become
dinner. I don't really proof it, it just needs time to loosen up after
being portioned and kneaded into a ball.=20

The other five are transferred from the fridge to the freezer the
next day. They can live in there for at least a couple months. The
thing is, I like mushrooms saut=E9ed with reasonably fresh garlic on my
pizza, which makes pizza a little bit of a production as i have to find
a reasonably fresh bulb of garlic and some decent brown mushrooms every
time i decide to have pizza, and this can take time in such an
unenlightened grocery market as the one i live in. Say all you want
about the convenience of jars of chopped garlic, it doesn't taste the
same at all - neither does garlic cut an hour ago vs. garlic cut 30
seconds ago. Given the time investment in tracking down and preparing
toppings, i usually don't have pizza more frequently than every couple
or three weeks.=20

Anyway, when i do decide i want pizza on a particular day, if it's
the day after i made the batch i just transfer one ball from the fridge
to the counter and allow it to come to room temperature before working
it.=20

If it's come from the freezer, obviously there is more time invested
in the thawing process, and I'm not convinced that I've come up with a
perfect method. freezer to fridge the night before and then fridge to
counter after work, I've done sometimes. freezer to submersing the
ziplock bag containing the frozen ball in warm water, which will get the
dough a little wet in most cases, will thaw it in under an hour. In the
winter i can get away with transferring from the freezer to the counter
before going to work but even then it's sometimes proofed more than i'd
prefer when i get home.=20

For the record, the Papa John's chain has regional factories where
they manufacture balls of dough, proof them, refrigerate them, and truck
them out to the stores. The quality of their crust - for the kind of
crust they're trying to make - is pretty good. It's their alleged
'sauce' I take issue with. canned tomato paste is not a sauce.=20