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Question for bread makers - Pizza Express Dough Balls

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Question for bread makers - Pizza Express Dough Balls

Postby Lokelani » Wed Apr 29, 2020 12:40 pm

I going to make the dough balls Pizza Express have put on their website. They've also given a couple of their pizza recipes:

https://www.pizzaexpress.com/homemade-favourites

A quick question for more experienced bread makers. I'm guessing that if you use dried yeast you wouldn't do the first step of putting the yeast in water & waiting for it to foam? Or should I do it, does it add flavour as well as activating the yeast? I'm using Allinson Easy bake yeast, which it says is a quick action one & I've always gone straight onto putting it in with the flour & making the dough straight away.

Also has anyone had any success with using these sachets out of date? I have some in date, but also some from Feb 2019. As each sachet only contains 1.5 teasp & the recipe ideally needs 2, I was thinking of adding some of the old yeast too, I can't imagine it doing any harm, I guess I might just have to wait longer for the rise? Or I could just proportion the recipe down to 1.5 teasp worth of the in date yeast, if I'm being optimistic about the older stuff?! :lol:

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Re: Question for bread makers - Pizza Express Dough Balls

Postby Sakkarin » Wed Apr 29, 2020 1:45 pm

Those 7g sachets are 2 level teaspoonsful...

If you wanted to use dried active yeast, as opposed to easy bake you'd still have to kickstart it with warm water though.

I'm think the "out of date" business you'd have try it and see...

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Re: Question for bread makers - Pizza Express Dough Balls

Postby Suffs » Wed Apr 29, 2020 1:58 pm

I wouldn’t normally bother with out of date quick yeast ... I’ve found it runs out of oomph pretty quickly... but in these days of yeast shortages why not try ...

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Re: Question for bread makers - Pizza Express Dough Balls

Postby Pampy » Wed Apr 29, 2020 2:16 pm

I've got some in my fridge that I opened in August last year and it's still working fine so I'd definitely say it's worth a try - just make the smallest amount of dough that you can so if it doesn't work, you've minimised the flour loss.

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Re: Question for bread makers - Pizza Express Dough Balls

Postby Badger's Mate » Wed Apr 29, 2020 3:07 pm

My experience with packets of dried yeast is that they last very well unopened, but subsequently become much less active over time. Keeping them in the fridge or freezer prolongs their useful life after opening, but that's less of an issue with sachets than a big packet or tub.

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Re: Question for bread makers - Pizza Express Dough Balls

Postby ZeroCook » Wed Apr 29, 2020 4:28 pm

Lokelani - whole slew of stuff re your OP.

First, the recipe.
It looks like one of those *homemade bread* recipes that abounded before people started making real bread at home about 10 years ago. Sugar water yeast froth, plain flour etc etc. I'd bet you dollars to donuts that it's absolutely nothing like the pizza dough Pizza Ex makes commercially. Want real pizza dough? You need the right bread flour for starters and instant yeast - which you have btw. No sugar - it's redundant as yeast feeds on the flour in bread recipes and a myth propagated by commercial bread making suppliers to make sure inexperienced home bakers never get a great result. It's an exercise in home entertainment, not great - or even close to good - breadmaking.

Dried yeast.
Rule of thumb from my experience - has a long life if kept in the freezer. I use commercial 500g vacuum packs which after opening are kept frozen - they last almost indefinitely that way.

Sachets are not usually vacuum packed in the UK (elsewhere they often are) and seem to go off after not too long if just kept around. Sainsbury's is particularly unreliable that way, I've found.

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Re: Question for bread makers - Pizza Express Dough Balls

Postby Lokelani » Wed Apr 29, 2020 10:25 pm

Lots of information there, thank you! :)

Just to confuse things further, I'm actually planning on using Pizza 00 flour as that's what I have most of. It's strong white bread flour I haven't got, hence why this recipe appealed using plain flour. I think the pizza 00 is just like plain flour, but finer milled, if I've researched that correctly, so not strong in gluten like bread flour. I'm hoping it'll be okay for dough balls, as well as pizza bases & I'm not sure what else. I've only used it before for making fresh pasta.

Years ago I used to make a lovely pizza dough in my bread machine, but think I probably used proper bread flour.

I will measure the packet contents with a teasp measure, as it only claims to be 1.5 tsp. At least if I have to add a little old it will only be to make up the other 0.5 teasp if it is skimpy.

I wonder if there is a way of testing the older packets to see if they are still active, maybe put them in warm water & see if they do anything, froth up hopefully? Then add that to flour, or will they have used their one bit of activity, being fast acting easy yeast?

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Re: Question for bread makers - Pizza Express Dough Balls

Postby aero280 » Wed Apr 29, 2020 10:52 pm

I've not had a problem with the 7g yeast sachets, but I did buy a small tub of Allinsons dried yeast, but it didn't give any rise after I had used two-thirds.

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Re: Question for bread makers - Pizza Express Dough Balls

Postby ZeroCook » Thu Apr 30, 2020 12:30 am

Actually it occurs to me that yeast/sugar/ water frothing step possibly came about as way for occasional home yeast bakers to test i.e. literally prove whether the yeast is still good. In that case the thing to do is test a small amount - say 1/4 teaspoon? If it froths it's alive... Won't tell you what rate but you'll be able to extend times if nec by watching dough volume. Maybe make a reduced dough recipe quantity for timings etc and go from there.

BTW my usual method for yeast recipes is flour/dry ingredients added to liquid + yeast mixture - no sugar unless it's a sweet dough - but I would do the froth step if I thought the yeast was iffy.

Lucky you Lokelani to have plenty of 00!

Aero - do you freeze your yeast? I think yeast does especially badly sitting around in the perennially damp UK climate.

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Re: Question for bread makers - Pizza Express Dough Balls

Postby Lokelani » Thu Apr 30, 2020 1:08 pm

Well a bit like watching a kettle boil, I did the yeast/sugar/warm water test about half an hour ago. It's still sitting on the sunny windowsill with barely a few bubbles & not really what you'd call froth just in the very centre. It's separated into darker yeasty water at the bottom & cloudy white water at the top. So it's not looking good. Possbily minimal action left in it! That was the Allinson's from Feb 19 expiry.

So I have used a new in date sachet, and Sakkarin was right, even though it says it only contains 1.5 teasp, it definitely contained a very good 2 teas worth. So I didn't need the old yeast anyway.

I put it all in at once rather than doing the water/sugar/yeast thing again, it is now resting & hopefully rising! I used half the amount of sugar, just in case it's needed for flavour, but as some of you have explained, it seems like it's only needed for the first stage that I've skipped.

I've just read the rest of the instructions in more depth and they say to roll it out into a continuous 1.2 metre length!! :lol: Like that's going to happen. :lol:

Will report what they were like later. Hopefully :yum

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Re: Question for bread makers - Pizza Express Dough Balls

Postby dennispc » Thu Apr 30, 2020 1:40 pm

At least you didn't waste flour.

A great nephew told me Dominos use plain flour for pizzas - it was his job to make them.

I freeze fresh yeast - made a loaf with some this morning - break it into 15gm pieces, make a little 'sachet' from waxed paper, and crumble it in. Freeze.

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Re: Question for bread makers - Pizza Express Dough Balls

Postby Lokelani » Thu Apr 30, 2020 4:20 pm

dennispc wrote:At least you didn't waste flour.

A great nephew told me Dominos use plain flour for pizzas - it was his job to make them.

I freeze fresh yeast - made a loaf with some this morning - break it into 15gm pieces, make a little 'sachet' from waxed paper, and crumble it in. Freeze.


I guess it's much cheaper with the amount they get through & maybe it gives quicker results.

So the dough balls have been baked & consumed! I'm glad I made them, as I was keen to try them. However I won't bother again, the texture wasn't great & not at all like in the restaurant. Not even as good as the ones they sell in supermarkets. It was fun to try though. Freshly made garlic butter was delicious and it's just as well neither of us can go out anywhere as we probably reek of it! :lol:

Thanks for all the help everyone. :)

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