Pinsa romana, pizza in teglia and pizza alla pala are often made with high-hydration dough. Managing these doughs calls for suitable flour, temperature control and a mixing process matched to the recipe.
What determines the success of a highly hydrated dough?
Hydration is the weight of water relative to flour: 750 g of water per 1 kg of flour means 75% hydration. Choose the percentage to suit the flour, recipe and intended result.
The goal is workable dough and the texture you want in the finished product. Recipe, fermentation, shaping and baking all contribute; adding more water alone does not determine the result.
Choose flour for the recipe and fermentation schedule. The W value is useful, but cannot by itself predict water absorption. Test how the selected flour behaves in your own process.
Choose water temperature according to room and flour temperatures and heat generated during mixing. Cold water is a control tool, not a universal requirement.
Hydration and mixing allow gliadin and glutenin proteins to contribute to the gluten network. This structure supports the dough and helps retain fermentation gases.
A developed gluten network helps support the dough. Crumb structure, crispness and softness also depend on fermentation and baking.
How can I get this "precious" gluten mesh?
Developing the gluten network requires coordinated water addition, mixing time and speed, with attention to final dough temperature. A higher speed is not always better.
For high-hydration dough, gradually adding part of the water after the dough has developed some structure can be useful. Adapt the starting amount and later additions to the recipe and flour; 80% is not a universal rule.
Even strong flour has its own mixing behaviour. Monitor consistency, strength and temperature rather than pursuing a water percentage regardless of the result.
Why is the Roma mixer ideal for high hydration doughs?
When choosing a mixer for high-hydration dough, consider how bowl and spiral movements work together, process control and a capacity suited to your batches. Compare Roma series configurations in their technical data sheets.
Bowl and spiral need to work together. Higher speeds alone are not the answer: the suitable combination depends on the mixer, recipe and amount of dough in the bowl.
Also assess the mixer’s construction and components against your bakery’s working requirements. Compare materials, transmission and equipment in the selected series data sheet.
Roma comes from a collaboration between Mecnosud and Pinsa School. The Pro X series features two independent motors and bowl reversal; check the relevant model data sheet for its equipment and dough capacity.
Two speeds separate initial ingredient incorporation from subsequent mixing. Set times and speeds according to the recipe, batch size and dough temperature.
Roma mixer features
- Configurations for high-hydration dough
- Two mixing speeds
- Different dough capacities depending on the model
- Stainless steel bowl and spiral
- Two independent motors and bowl reversal in the Pro X series
- Technical data sheets to compare equipment and dimensions