Fermentation, what is it and why does it matter to your pizza making?
Pizza dough is one of those things that is something far more than the sum of its parts. It’s made from just a few basic ingredients. Normally flour, salt, water, yeast and sometimes oil. On paper, it’s nothing spectacular. But thanks to a fascinating biochemical process it becomes something extraordinary. That process is called fermentation. And it’s a vast and complex web of processes and scientific principles that could make a lifetime’s worth of study!
Fortunately for the home pizza maker, it doesn’t require a PHD in biology to understand enough about it to know how to use it to create great pizzas.
Fermentation essentially describes 2 things which matter to us as home pizza makers.
1. How the dough rises
2. How the dough matures over time
Taking the first factor, the rise, this is caused by the yeast starting to feed on sugars in the flour, which causes the creation of CO2 within the dough, which then becomes trapped within the gluten network of the dough. This process causes the dough to physically expand, which is what we need to create a light and airy crust. Dough that hasn’t risen is flat and dense in texture, so the yeast is a friend to us when it comes to creating a pizza with a great open texture.
The second factor, which is how the dough matures, affects both the taste and texture of the final pizza. This is where the real magic happens in our dough. As the dough feeds on the sugars in the flour, it starts to set off various additional chemical reactions, the by-product of which are a softening of the dough, an increase in acidity of the dough and organic and aromatic compounds that start to turn the dough into something quite magical. As the fermentation process continues, the dough changes noticeably and starts to smell increasingly complex and aromatic. This maturation process and how it is controlled can be the difference between good pizza and great pizza!
The fermentation process is so scientifically complex that to date, nobody has managed to recreate the flavour of properly fermented dough. It’s a natural process that can’t be artificially replicated or rushed. Sometimes the good things in life just need time and patience!
So how do we use fermentation to make great pizza?
If you’re using a frozen dough ball, the dough needs to be kept in an airtight container and ideally defrosted overnight in the fridge. At this point, no fermentation has yet taken place, but the yeast has started to wake up from its frozen slumber. Once the dough is fully defrosted, fermentation will slowly start.
There are 2 ways to get fermentation underway.
1. Get the dough up to room temperature over a few hours. This will start the fermentation process by speeding up the re-activation of the yeast. The dough can be ready to use within around 4-5 hours on a warm day and possibly a little longer on a cooler day. It’s the quickest way to be able to use the dough, but unfortunately what we gain in time, we lose in taste and texture. Which brings us to the next method of fermentation.
2. Cold fermentation. This simply means leaving the dough in a chilled environment (ie the fridge) to work its magic over a longer period of time. Allowing fermentation to happen more slowly allows the dough more time to mature and develop, bringing out all those amazing flavour compounds, which will make for a much better tasting pizza. The most common question we often receive is ‘how long should I ferment my dough for?’. The answer to this is as long as possible! Dough can be safely left to mature for several days, with 48-72 hours being around the optimal time.
Once you’ve successfully fermented your dough, it’ll be complex, aromatic, bubbly and soft. But we’re not quite finished yet! Before baking it into a delicious disc of dough magic, we need to get it up to room temperature. Doing this makes it much easier to stretch and shape and also achieves a better bake in the oven. A properly fermented dough should get to room temperature in around 2-3 hours, depending on the ambient temperature. But once at room temperature, your dough is now ready to be stretched and shaped.
One point of caution here is that dough made with lower quality flour will not be strong enough to stand up to long fermentation, which unfortunately renders it useless when looking to achieve the best result possible. All Homemade Pizza Club doughs are made with high strength flour and are specially formulated to allow you to ferment them for a long period of time, allowing you to get great results every time.
Alternatively, if you want an even easier option, try our hand-stretched Romana pizza bases. These are pre-fermented to give a complex flavour and part-baked by us. Simply defrost, top and bake!
Having a basic understanding of the fermentation process is a huge help in creating outstanding pizzas. So take this knowledge and go boldly forth with confidence. We’re here to help you every step of the way in your journey to becoming a true pizza hero!
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