Secrets of Yeast Baking and Pizza Dough

The secret to good dough, whether for baking bread, rolls or pizza, lies in the yeast. Take care of your yeast, and it will take care of you. Even if you are making bread machine bread, it pays to understand what the little microorganisms are doing, and what helps them do their job better.

Freshness is the key in cooking, and it’s especially true with yeast. Make sure that you keep your yeast refrigerated, not past its expiration date, and use fresh flour and other ingredients. Some preservatives can cause problems in baking: in particular, sulfur-based preservatives such as in dried apricots can keep your bread from being a success.

If you don’t plan on using a lot of yeast, or if you want to try different brands or types, the little packets are a good choice. Jars of yeast will keep for some time in the refrigerator, and with regular baking they are a good buy. Cakes of yeast are also available, but not all recipes are written to use them.

Of the types of yeast, there are bread machine yeasts, “active dry,” and rapid rising. These are the types generally available in grocery stores. Active dry is a good general purpose choice, and a good place to start.

Refrigerated yeast needs to come to room temperature before use. Temperature is one of the keys to working with yeast, along with salt, which inhibits yeast action, and sugar, which feeds it. Water used in dough generally should be about 120-130 degrees Fahrenheit, although some recipes will differ. It is very much like chemistry!

The yeast transforms the flour into the sticky, “glutinous” dough you have seen in pizza parlors and bakeries. In doing so, it also produces gas, which provides the “rise.” Dough recipes describe different ways to adjust this process for the desired result, which is why precision is so important. Teacup estimating doesn’t work well here! Even using whole wheat flour is tricky, because it has less gluten, and produces a weaker dough.

Kneading and rising is another area to really follow the recipe. It is here that the transformation made by the yeast is happening in earnest. Without the proper kneading and rising, you won’t get good dough! If you are trying to make a thin crust pizza, for example, you will find that you just can’t stretch the dough thin enough without putting in the time to knead the dough, and punching down during the rising to release the gas from the yeast reaction.

When the dough is rising, which can take a half hour or more, you want to have it at room temperature, nice and stable, with no drafts. A cold oven is perfect for this. Don’t handle or check the dough, just let it be for the time required, or until the dough size doubles, whatever the recipe instructs.

Once you have some experience with yeast dough, then you will be able to start experimenting. It’s easy to add some cinnamon, some raisins, and have delicious cinnamon bread. At Thanksgiving, I add dried cranberries – “Craisins” – for a special treat. You will learn how to add some whole wheat flour to regular to make a good whole wheat bread without the added complexities of using pure whole wheat flour and adding gluten separately. There is so much to learn, and to enjoy!

Kneading and preparing dough is a wonderful, meditative process. Everyone in the house will share in your happiness when they smell the bread, rolls or pizza baking, and you will enjoy it fresh and homemade – what is better than that! Sure, bread machines are nice, but when you’ve got the time, get to know the bread you’re making, and put the love into it that bakers for centuries have done, making the bread of life.