Pizza Lab

What did we do?

At school, our assignment was to cook 2 pizzas. Pretty simple, right? Well, it's important to mention that the dough of these pizzas were very different. One of them had fresh yeast, while the other one contained dry or instant yeast. In this demonstration we observed (and tasted) the differences in the pizzas. We then analyzed our data to reach conclusions about how and why choosing different yeast affected the final outcome, taking into account our knowledge of fermentation processes. 

Here is a video of Valeria while we were preparing the dough:

After this, the yeast was added. One thing we noticed instantly was that the fresh yeast "bloomed" a lot quicker than the dry yeast. Why? It all comes down to the fermentation process that the yeast is performing.

Before being added to the pizza dough, the yeast was mixed with warm water and sugar and put in a glass jar covered with plastic.

The warm water was needed to "activate" the yeast, the sugar was added to give them energy, and the jar was covered to keep oxygen out of it. It sounds pretty cruel to "choke" the yeast by neglecting them oxygen, but it was necessary in order for them to initiate the fermentation process.

When yeast lack oxygen, they obtain energy by breaking down glucose into pyruvic acid and releasing ethanol and carbon dioxide. This CO2 being released is what makes the yeast "bloom", that is why it's used in many baked goods.After mixing the dough and yeast, we cooked the pizzas and we found some differences between them.The one made with dry yeast tasted better and was softer, while the fresh yeast had a bit of a harder crust.

PIZZA!

By: Valeria Arias, Laura Ibañez, Carolina Lopez, Juan Felipe Vasquez.