Pizza Today - April 2019 - 20

Knead To Know

JOHN ARENA

Water World
How high hydration levels create artisan pizza dough
percent hydration range. New Yorkstyle is usually 60 to 65 percent, and
Detroit-style hovers around 70 percent
hydration. This means that if your
dough formula calls for 62 percent
water and you bump it up to 85 percent
you will be adding 37 percent more
water! Not only will the end result
be much lighter, you will also get a
higher yield. While a 50-pound bag of
flour was giving you about 83 pounds
of finished dough (including salt
and yeast), the 85-percent hydration
method is going to produce about 94
pounds of dough.
HERE'S A FORMULA FOR YOU TO
PLAY AROUND WITH:

P

robably the biggest change
in pizza dough formulation
in recent years has been the
introduction of bread baking techniques
into the process. Starters, natural
fermentation, autolyze, indirect mixing
method and bulk fermentation, once rare
in our industry, have become common
practice. But the biggest change that has
taken place, and the one most challenging
for old-school pizza makers to implement,
is the ever-increasing hydration levels in
pizza dough that have taken our craft to a
new level.
So, what can higher hydration do for
you? For modern pizza makers the holy
grail is to create a dough that is crunchy
on the bottom, light and airy on the
inside with open crumb structure - and
so delicate inside that it practically melts
in your mouth. Increasing hydration,
combined with proper technique, will
2 0 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / A P R I L 2 0 1 9

put you on the path to creating the large,
irregular internal holes and lace-like gluten
structure that has become the benchmark
of artisan pizza dough.
I recently spent a few days in the test
kitchen/classroom of Noel Brohner,
founder of Slow Rise Pizza Co. Besides
being the pizza chef to an enviable list of
entertainment superstars, Noel is one of the
foremost advocates of what many consider
to be extreme hydration dough. His demos
at Pizza Expo, featuring dough with up
to 100-percent hydration, have earned
him a reputation as an innovator unafraid
to explore the outer limits in search of
improved results.
While 100-percent hydration may be a
bit too unmanageable for most of us, I've
found that hydration of 80 to 90 percent
is workable and can create a great result.
Let's put that in perspective. Typical
Chicago-style dough may be in the 55

50 percent High Gluten Pizza
Flour- - 10 pounds (4.53 kilo)
50 percent All Purpose Flour - 10
pounds (4.53 kilo)
85 percent Water - 17 pounds
at 40 F
2.75 percent Kosher Salt - 8.8
ounces (250 grams)
2 percent Olive oil (optional) -
6.4 ounces (181 grams)
.5 percent Diastatic Malt (optional)
- 1.6 ounces (45 grams)
.2 percent Instant Dry Yeast - .6
ounce (17 grams)
The method:
Water must be very cold. The goal
is to have a completed dough at 65 F.
We will be using a very aggressive mix
schedule, so the friction factor will
be quite high. Start with 40 F water
and adjust temperature appropriately
according to your mixer and dough
room conditions.
Place water and flour (and oil and
malt, if using) in mixer and combine on
slow speed for 3 minutes. Let dough
rest for 20 minutes.
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