As the seasons tend to change, you need to consider the fluctuating air temperatures, dips in humidity, shifting weather patterns as they can deeply impact your pizza dough. You cannot control the weather but you can surely prevent your dough to be impacted by these conditions. Here are the practices you can follow even for the gluten free pizza in Phoenix.
- Try aligning the water and air temperatures
When it comes to mixing your own dough, you need to control the yeast activation in order to have the best crust flavour and texture. When you add warm water, you trigger the yeast fermentation while the dough is proofing but if the water and air temperatures are the same, then the dough may rise rapidly. When the days are warm, use ice water for slowing down the yeast fermentation. When the days are cold, warm water is the best choice.
- Adjust the dough formulation
Dough absorption is also influenced by humid weather conditions. In order to compensate, many pizza makers tend to adjust the amount of water being used and also add some oil for improving the crust quality and performance. As the viscosity of the oil doesn’t necessarily change when you add it to the dough. It acts like water, making the dough softer and easier to work with in humidity. Be wary when adding oil to the dough. Always use a delayed oil addition method after the flour is hydrated to make sure the gluten properly forms or else there may be crust inconsistencies that can ruin your complete batch which can be a costly lesson in making the dough from the scratch.
- Control the proofing of the dough ball
The pre made dough balls a save a lot of time and make consistent pie preparation. In order to make the most of the benefits, proper pizza dough proofing is the best particularly if it is related to temperature. Always designate a proofing area that is free from obstacles like temperature fluctuations like cooler doors or direct sunlight.
- Keep an eye on the equipment and prep area temperatures
Consider the extremes carefully when it comes to exposing your dough when preparing it. Be aware of the walk in cooler temps, calibrate the ovens on a regular basis, and adjust the heat or AC in the kitchen on the basis of the weather. Pay attention to these factors to have a nice pizza dough and crust integrity.
