PMQ Pizza published interesting insights surrounding the practice of adding ice to your pizza dough during the mixing process.

When using Univex Planetary or Spiral mixers, its important to keep in mind that ice will not only increase your dough’s hydration ratio but create pressure under and around the hook and may take longer to fully incorporate (and potentially damaging the hook and connections). Although a common practice, it is not one Univex will recommend.

As noted by The late Tom “The Dough Doctor” Lehman; “If you still prefer to add ice to your dough, add it directly to the dough water and stir to dissolve some of the ice and chill the water. Then you can mix the dough as usual. This approach yields less ice to melt while still providing the benefit of cooling the water.”

Univex VP of Sales Daniel Tsiakos adds his own comments “Mixing with ice and then adjusting the water amount would be recommended until they find the mix they like where the end result is to their desired results.”

It is important to note that if ice must be used with your Univex equipment, it must be chipped or shaved. Cube ice will void warranties and can cause damage to your mixer.

To read more about how ice alters your process and product, visit PMQ.com