Experienced pizza and bread makers will agree one of the best ways to improve the taste of your dough is a cold ferment. Serious Eats explains why:
Retarding a dough is the act of placing it in a cold environment after it’s mixed in order to slow down the activity of the yeast. At cool fridge temperatures, yeast behaves differently, producing more of the desirable flavor compounds and fewer of the sour ones. It also produces carbon dioxide more slowly.
Some argue that 24 hours to 48 hours is a good starting point. Other experts argue for a longer ferment time. Most agree that the cold ferment will allow more complex flavors in your final product. When I spoke to Peter Reinhart he explained this is the most crucial aspect of making great pizza dough.
Enter Tony Gemignani, who is known for pushing the envelope. Sometimes, he not only pushes the envelope but he tears it up and throws it away. He explains on a recent trip to Italy he went to a flour mill called Ital Mill. He took a group of the World Pizza Champions Team and met with two masters Italian pizzioli there. As he worked with master pizza makers they discussed the benefits of a 24-hour rise, 48-hour rise, and some even discussed a 5-day rise.
They said, “Forget it, how about 4 hours?” They explained that in some locations in Italy, they do not have the luxury due to space to allow for a longer rise (Pre-ferment). They used a starter (biga) which was cold fermented the day before. The magic was in the flour which was able to break down complex sugars into simple sugars. He explains this in the following video. Please note the video contains several technical glitches due to Tony’s microphone. Here is the video where Tony explains the 4-hour ferment.
I was able to do a follow-up video with Tony, where he explained the 4-hour ferment in more detail. He states the process was very similar to what most pizza makers know about bulk fermentation. The big difference was that was enzymes in the flour itself made a difference. “It was the flour, it was the Ital Mill flour” which made the difference. He used black rice flour with a biga to create the dough. The flour was delicious, crispy, and airy. “And it blows away any 72-hour fermentation you have ever seen.” He also describes what actually is a “biga” to make dough.
He also discusses a recent appearance on the “Bar Rescue” with John Taffer. The bar rescued made pizza and Tony helped get their pizza on Track. Tony talks about his bakery in San Francisco “Toscano Brothers” and how he came up with the concept of “Dago Bagel”. Tony wrote the forward to the most definitive deep dive into pizza called Modernist Pizza. Here is the video:
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