Pizza Dough Secret - Cold Fermentation Part 1 | Use cold to manage your timeline and improve quality

In order to work around my schedule I use cold fermentation with the direct pizza dough recipe. The results? Great pizza, of course!
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[@lostmykeysagain]

Thanks for the video. I would, like to know how you formed the balls after the cold fermentation process; this was not shown. Specifically, do you do additional folding of the dough once it is cut to size or do you merely press the dough into a ball??

[@BitontoPizza]

Good question. I cut the dough into strips and pull them into balls that I twist off. My other videos show that process. I do it the same way no matter how I make the dough.

[@monirsossain2757]

Sir i needed for days farmamtetion cold water processes some you very good processes

[@BitontoPizza]

I'm so glad to hear this was useful, Sir! I hope your pizzas are always amazing!

[@mikesr3011]

Your all out of breath! I'd have a heart attack doing that! I think I need a mixer. Very informative video. One question.... how do I know/find the "W" rating on flour if it's not printed on the bag?

[@BitontoPizza]

Unfortunately, not all the mills actually measure of publish the W rating. King Arthur, in the US, for example does not. Most of the Italian mills do. It has to be measured in a lab under controlled conditions.

[@mikesr3011]

@@BitontoPizza Thank you, I usually use KAF Bread Flour with okay results. Just looking to up my game.

[@dhavaljain2732]

Suppose they are good to go at 4 as you say but then until when they are good to use ? Until when they start over proofing ?

[@BitontoPizza]

Depending on the ambient temperature, they should be good to use for about 4 to 6 hours though I prefer to get them in the oven within 2. Thanks for asking.

[@roccosdough]

Hola my friend Marco ! I am noticing high moisture buildup while my dough is cold fermenting in sealed dough boxes. Moisture is on inside top cover from the dough. Is this normal or something wrong ?

[@BitontoPizza]

So, I’m not Marco, but, I can answer your question. That is normal but not desired. You don’t want your boxes completely sealed. You need a little air gap. If you use proofing boxes, there is just enough air passage to avoid this!

[@anthonyvink7153]

The moisture is condensation from warm dough (temp in box) vs temp on the outside of the box. Pizzerias will cross stack boxes for an hour or two to let the dough temp drop before sealing

[@jet37]

I've seen different recommended temperature ranges for cold fermentation; 4c to 7c (39f - 44f), and 15c to 18c (59f - 64f). My fridge is normally set at 37f. Is one range better than the other for 48 - 72 hours?

[@BitontoPizza]

That's a tough one. My fridge is on the lower end of that. However, I generally don't do the cold fermentation for more than 48 hours. In theory, depending on your dough technique, you should be able to cold ferment for 72 hours. I don't know if that really gives better taste or not.

[@anthonyvink7153]

If you ferment at warmer then fridge temperature you will need way less yeast, the flavour will build quicker as well. I just did some garlic bread today in a 6”X6” Lloyd Pan. It was started 7 days ago. 6 days as a dough in the fridge

[@BitontoPizza]

Yes, temperature is probably the most important variable in the fermentation process.

[@morehn]

I would think it all depends how much yeast you use. The slower the better, in terms of flavor.

[@anthonyvink7153]

@@morehn think of like a road map. You are headed to the same place but you might choose different roads to get there. Many many years ago we were driving from London On to Niagara Falls. We took the highway out but it was so busy and crazy that my wife and I decided to take the slower country roads back, we had enjoyed a previous trip on this route during our honeymoon. Well it was a great trip years earlier on the way to Niagara, but when your just trying to get back to where your staying. It wasn’t the same. Sometimes you have the mindset and time to do a 5 day fermented dough, sometimes you want it in 20 hours. You need to understand what to do in each case to get to the same place or you might end up with a faulty route that doesn’t lead to where your trying to go.

[@rbiv5]

Awesome. I think I am going to make some Bari Style pizza this weekend! I am paranoid about over fermenting. Last night my dough was over fermented and it is just a nightmare to handle, even if you don't stretch it too much and stretch most if it on the peel. Very difficult to keep shape...

[@BitontoPizza]

You're absolutely right about over-fermenting. The dough is easy to shape but becomes sticky, loses strength which leads to holes, etc. I like to be shaping the dough at the beginning of the fermentation window (i.e., it just became ready).

[@braddixon3338]

ok, what I learned from this video is that you don't do a bulk fermentation after taking the dough out of the fridge. I tried a cold fermentation once, and it didn't turn out well. My poolish is cold fermented, but then I mix in the morning and bulk ferment, then ball like you would normally.

[@BitontoPizza]

That sounds like it would work well. I stopped doing preferments like poolish and biga a while ago. I think I’m going to try levian soon, though.

[@Wallstreetavarice]

I have great results doing an overnight poolish ferment, followed by making the dough, doing a cold bulk ferment for a day or so, and then balling it up and letting it cold ferment for another day.

[@josephsaroce4991]

Thanks for not having a stroke!

[@BitontoPizza]

You're welcome, I guess??? Thanks for watching!

[@DeenaMorando]

Good info, thanks. One suggestion, such a wide camera angle isn’t necessary - we don’t need to see that much of your kitchen! An overhead camera would be nice too…

[@BitontoPizza]

Thanks for the tip!

[@Broncoseela]

Use a mixer before you get a heart attack kneading

[@BitontoPizza]

Good idea

[@cheapcopy1]

Your method is incorrect, balk and cold Fermentation makes no sense.

[@BitontoPizza]

Uh... not sure the standard you are using. I do agree that the ideal is fermentation at about 16C and not putting it in the refrigerator. In any case, the pizza was great!

[@jelly8594]

That statement is just nonsense. Why would bulk and cold make no sense?

[@cheapcopy1]

@@jelly8594 When you learn from other people's videos or work from a recipe, you act like a robot and don't understand the process at all. What the gentleman in this video is doing has 2 mistakes that are not suitable for refrigerated fermentation, the first is that he does not understand what he is doing, the second is that he record a video and instructs others to do the same. What is the purpose of refrigerated fermentation? to cool the dough to the temperature of the refrigerator and ferment the dough for the desired time you choose. What he actually did was knead the dough with his hands, the good old method bakers used since the invention of pizza, the only thing that is different today is that back then there were no refrigerators at all, they didn't measure the temperature of the dough after they finished kneading it, and they would let it rise on the counter, every baker according to his method, but the fermentations were shorter and less supervised, In this video, the dough that the man kneaded with his hands started the process of fermentation, which means that the yeast started to work and create air pockets inside the dough, air which itself inside the dough is an excellent insulating material and because of the size of the dough, it will not be able to cool down from the inside, which means that this dough will have temperature differences, outside temperature and internal temperature. and what this actually causes is that the dough will be uneven at all with a varying level of acidity, some of it will brown quickly in the oven and some of it will remain with light parts, the oven spring will not be even also.

[@jelly8594]

@@cheapcopy1 you could sum up all this writing in one sentence: A bulk will need more time to cool down than little balls of dough. You are very much overdramatizing the whole process. If you refrigerate a bulk for 48 or 72 hours and sometimes fold the dough in between, it is perfectly even in temperature after a few hours in the fridge. (Source: my thermometer) Various levels of acidity and all: you take out the bulk, fold it, divide into balls and every ball is mixed evenly.

[@cheapcopy1]

@@jelly8594 👍