Whereas a traditional pizzeria kneads dough in the morning and lets it rise until dinnertime, a new procedure combines leavening and baking into a single step.
When he was 25, materials scientist Ernesto Di Maio developed a yeast allergy and broke out in hives whenever he ate pizza, which was somewhat embarrassing for a son of Naples, Italy. “My wife loves pizza, and this sometimes creates tension on the night menu,” he says. Now, Di Maio can look forward to carefree dinners, for he and his colleagues have invented a yeast-free method of leavening pizza dough.
Di Maio’s team at the University of Naples Federico II thought it might be able to produce the same effect in a different way: by infusing the dough with gas at high pressure and releasing the pressure during baking, adapting a method they’d developed to manufacture polyurethane. “The aim was to try to make the same texture that we love so much in pizza without a chemical agent,” says co-author and UNINA materials scientist Rossana Pasquino.
The hard part was fine-tuning the pressure and temperature to reach peak foaming just as the dough is setting. Put simply, the researchers wanted the dough to foam like beer, not fizz and fade like Coke. “You have to reduce the pressure while it’s becoming solid,” Di Maio says. “If you are too late—you reduce the pressure after the dough is solid—then it cracks. … If the pressure release is too early … it collapses.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Best New Artist-Nominated Arooj Aftab Shares New Song 'Udhero Na'Aftab said of the track in a statement, “‘Udhero Na’ has been one of my dearest songs, written in 2005 and never released.'
Read more »
Mayor Eric Adams imposes new fire safety rules in New York CityMore than two months after the tragic Bronx high-rise fire that killed more than two dozen people, Mayor Adams has signed an executive order that creates new fire safety rules in the city. LisaRoznerTV reports.
Read more »
Several marks are lowered at the New Balance Nationals Indoors - New York Amsterdam NewsAs it has historically been, the New Balance Nationals Indoors held at the New Balance Track & Field Center at The Armory in Washington Heights this past weekend was a meet at which some of the best scholastic athletes in the country set new national standards.
Read more »
New vaccination push targets 5-11 year olds in New York CityThe effort comes amid concern about new COVID-19 infections from the BA-2 subvariant - and amid pushback against mask mandates from some parents of younger kids.
Read more »
The New York Philharmonic heralds a groundbreaking new seasonReturning to the newly renovated and reimagined David Geffen Hall, the Philharmonic offers an ambitious mix of large-scale celebrations and unconventional, intimate experiences.
Read more »
Coronavirus: L.A. County reported 370 new cases and 29 new deaths, March 21Los Angeles County public health officials reported 370 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases to 2,825,423 as of Monday, March 21. Officials reported 29 more deaths linke…
Read more »