Peter’s Blog, August 8th — Alright, Controversy!!
I’m packing and getting ready for the big book launch over the next two weeks in SF and the Bay Area, so will keep this short. The schedule is listed below in my previous Peter’s Blog, if any of you can make it to any of the classes or book signings. There are still a few seats left for the classes but you’ll have to call the venues for more info.
But this week I think we’re going to have to address the controversy that emerged in the Comments section of my last posting, thanks to someone named Scott007 and a few other voices, including another Scott — Scott123. It’s actually kind of exciting — apparently, I’ve pissed a few people off and am not sure why but would sure like to find out what I did (if you aren’t up to speed, please check out the Comments thread in the recent Peter’s Blog — last time I checked there were 14 comments). So, what I’d like to do is open up the discussion here on this posting, via a new Comments section, the one on this posting, and ask any and all of you to chime in. If I’ve trashed NY pizza culture, as Scott123 accuses, or passed on misinformation about pizza methodology or dough science, let’s get it all on the table so we can clear it up. Scott(s), how about getting specific and make your case — I hear that 123 is a well respected pizza authority so maybe I have something to learn from you. None of us have a monopoly on the whole truth and Pizza Quest was created to be a forum for the sharing of our mutual pizza journeys and celebration of artisanship. I’m open to learn from you but also would like to know the actual specifics of where you think I went wrong, rather than generalized attacks. The only rule for this discussion is civility — I reserve the right to edit out ad hominum attacks, unnecessary language, and nasty language. But differences of opinion — sure, I’m okay with that. So, for those who want to play along, go ahead and express yourselves — but let’s do it respectfully, please.
I won’t be posting another Peter’s Blog till I return at the end of the month, but will try to join in the Comments section from the road if my i-Pad and local WiFi will allow it. In the meantime, let’s get to the heart of it — we’re on a search for the truth (or, perhaps, truths). Let the discussion begin….
Recent Articles by Peter Reinhart
- Peter Scott Ruben: Why Frank Sinatra is the true “Chairman of the Board,” and the Greatest of the Greats
- Elizabeth Brasch, Mellow Mushroom’s Has a Vision
- Nipun Sharma: Pizza’s A-I Robotics Future is Now
- Maui Pizza with Chef Jeff Scheer of Restaurant Marlow
- The Pizza Yodi’s Are Back –John Arena and Brian Spangler are in the House!
- Arthur Bovino and Alfred Schulz and Their Pizza Pod Party
Add Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Pizza Quest Info
Resources
Vision Statement
Peter’s Books
...and other books by Peter Reinhart, available on Amazon.com
Technically acid is produced faster, and bacterial growth favoured at higher temperatures than cooler ones. (which brings up the interesting case of SF sourdough as studied by Sugihara et al but that’s a different discussion).
Pappy, I’m sorry if I didn’t articulate that very well but here’s someone who can:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10375/lactic-acid-fermentation-sourdough
Diagrams help! 😀
Tony, thank you for your excellent comments and the link, which is the best explanation of lactic acid fermentation I have found. That is the type of information I expect to find in a $35.00 book on bread or pizza making. Instead, Peter’s explanation is more simplified than mine, which is the basis for my criticism.
However, this sentence:
“At lower hydrations and temperatures (lower activity), more acetic acid is produced, but not because of temperature per se” and the following paragraph, confirms my thesis, with better, more exact science. A room temperature ferment will favor lactic acid production over ascetic, giving a different flavor profile. Cont…
Also this: There is a direct relationship between activity and lactic acid…under wetter, warmer conditions, where sugars are metabolized more rapidly, the tendency is toward lactic acid and alcohol production in obligate heterofermenters, and all lactic acid (homofermentation) in the facultative heterofermenters. Lactic acid production is directly related to activity during heterofermentation just as in homofermentation, even if only half the rate.
So I think you can see why it would have been tricky for me to get all of this into my books, though I did use Debra Wink, the source cited by Tony, as a consulting chemist/bread freak when I wrote “Whole Grain Breads.” In that book I covered a little more of what Pappy was hoping for, but still not to the degree that Pappy and Tony are getting into here, Prior to that, back when I met Gosselin and then wrote “The Bread Bakers Apprentice” none of the science side at this level was on anyone’s radar. And, judging by the dialogue here, much of this falls into the TMI realm for most home bakers. Sometimes, as an author, you just have to move the dial incrementally or you risk losing the rest of your audience, which is always the challenge for cook book authors. Thank goodness for share-sites like this where those who want to go deeper can do so. I’m not saying this as an excuse, because back when I wrote each book, from BBA onwards, I wrote to the limits of my unfolding knowledge — it was all new frontier stuff back then to me too, and I wrote about it to the best of my ability to first integrate it into my own knowledge base, then correlate and articulate it for the general public. Every book seems to have led to new info but also to more uncharted territory that only revealed itself in the next book, and so on. Thank you Pappy and Tony for pushing this conversation to such depths — are there any other fermentation freaks out there who can keep the ball rolling or who want to take it in other directions, especially regarding misinformation that’s out there, whether from me or from others?