Pizza Today - September 2019 - 22

allowing it to rise and develop a light,
tender eating characteristic (which
should be your ultimate goal).
To do this, we must allow the shaped/
panned dough to rise for a period of
time anywhere from 45 minutes to three
hours or more prior to dressing and
baking. In working with a fresh-made
dough concept the problem is how to
have dough ready to bake at any/all times
of the day. Sure, it can be done, but it
takes a lot of dough manipulation such
as proofing, refrigerating and tempering
(optional) before dressing and baking.
Even when done well, there is still the
possibility of making a pizza with dough
that has not properly risen, resulting in a
less-than-ideal consumer experience. By
using a par-baked crust, we can allow the
dough to proof/rise to a predetermined
amount under close supervision and then
par-bake it. You might need to adjust
the baking time and temperature to get
the best par-baked crust characteristics,
but this generally isn't much of an

obstacle as the crusts can be baked prior
to opening or during slow time later in
the day, especially if you have multiple
ovens where one of the ovens can be
temporarily dedicated to baking parbaked crusts until needed.
TO MAKE A PAR-BAKED THICK CRUST
I LIKE TO USE EITHER AN 18- BY 26-INCH

sheet pan or individual round/square/
rectangular pans. Once you have
determined the dough weight best suited
for your application (I like to start with a
dough loading factor of 0.124 ounces per
square inch of pan surface area), sheet
or press the dough into the pan with oil
to ensure release and develop an extra
crispy fried crust characteristic. It may be
necessary to press the dough in the pan
several times after rest periods of 20 to
60 minutes to get it to completely fit the
pan without pulling away from the sides
of the pan.
Next, cover the pan to prevent drying;
allow the dough to proof/rise to about

½- to ¾-inch in thickness; and parbake just enough to set the dough.
The crust will have a very light tan to
golden color to it at this time.
Immediately remove the crust
from the pan and invert it onto a
screen or rack to cool. Inspect the
par-baked crusts to ensure that they
are fully baked. If you see what at
first appear to be translucent spots
(they look a lot like oil spots) these
are areas of dough collapse due to
insufficient baking. You will need
to adjust the baking time slightly
longer while possibly lowering the
baking temperature a little (15 to
25 F) to prevent developing too
much crust color. Once the crusts
are cooled, they can be bulk packed
(penny stacked) in a box with a food
contact approved plastic liner and
stored at room temperature for up to
four days.
TO USE THE PAR-BAKED CRUSTS
PLACE THE CRUST INTO THE SAME SIZE
PAN IT WAS originally baked in (with

a little added oil for an additional
fried effect) for an individual pizza,
or if it is a slice cut from a large
sheet pan size crust just place it onto
a suitably sized solid tray for baking.
While a screen can be used here, I
think the screen allows too much air
to pass over the cut side of the crust
slice creating a dry edge(s) on the
slice. At this point, the par-baked
crust can be dressed to the order and
baked.
Typical baking times will vary
with the type of oven used, but my
experience indicates that typical
baking times will run around four
minutes in an air impingement
oven, and five to six minutes in a
deck oven. Finished pizzas will be
characterized by very tender, almost
cotton candy-like, eating properties
and a crispy bottom crust. n
TOM LEHMANN is a former director at
the American Institute of Baking in
Manhattan, Kansas and Pizza Today's
resident dough expert.

2 2 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9
http://www.ammfg.com http://www.ammfg.com http://www.PIZZATODAY.COM
Pizza Today - September 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pizza Today - September 2019
