Next attempt at a Mellow Mushroom Pizza 11/08/2011

The attempt with the MM clone dough formulation with the Malt products #732 molasses, brown sugar and 55% hydration went well.  The dough could be opened very easily, and could be tossed and twirled well.  The rim really had a nice texture and the bottom crust browned well, but I did have to add a screen for part of the bake, because the bottom crust did want to brown too fast.  I didn’t have to add a screen in my last attempt, or my attempt with the Brer Rabbit molasses and brown sugar.  I don’t know why a screen was needed.

The color of the crumb looked about the same as a MM’s crumb, and the molasses taste was there in the crumb.  I couldn’t detect the brown sugar in the crumb, and it had a nice amount of sweetness, something like a real MM pizza.  Steve said the sweetness level was better in my other attempt with the Brer Rabbit molasses and the brown sugar.  I agree that that pie had a little more sweetness in the crumb.  As I posted before, my pizzas at MM’s had the right amount of sweetness for me in the crumb, at least for my tastes.  I don’t know where to go from this last attempt, because I am now stumped on what to try.  I was satisfied with the MM clone pizza attempt, but not with using a screen.  Even using the Malt Products #732 molasses in the formula needed extra sugar added to give the sweetness in the crust.  That still leads me to believe either MM is using a different brand of molasses, or also is adding some other kinds of sweeteners to their dough to be able to get sweetness in their crusts.

The MM dough ball was left to sit at room temperature beside my oven and on my counter for about 2 ½ hrs.  Even letting the dough defrosted and cold ferment for longer, didn’t seem to make any difference in the way the dough fermented.  It sure didn’t ferment very fast.  My dough ball wasn’t gassy at all.

I had wanted to mix some other mixtures and brush them on the crust, to see if they would make the crust sweeter, but I didn’t have time for those experiments yesterday.

The dressings used on the MM clone attempt were my regular tomato sauce, a 6 blend of cheeses, (3 mozzarella, mild white cheddar, Asiago, and Romano), spinach, red and green peppers, and sausage.

Steve, my taste testers, and me thought the MM’s clone tasted very good.

Norma