Any way you slice it, Lake Michigan water makes the dough rise slow and the crust too dark.
That`s why officials at Gonnella Baking Co. in Schaumburg were relieved Thursday after trustees recommended that the company be allowed to continue using well water in making its frozen dough.
The village`s Engineering and Public Works Committee this week voted to exempt the bakery from the village`s requirement that businesses hook up to its supply of Lake Michigan water.
The recommendation still needs Village Board approval, which is expected at Tuesday`s meeting.
Kenneth Gonnella, grandson of the company`s founder, said using the lake water ”made a massive formula change that would have to do with the production here as well as controlling the temperature of Lake Michigan water.”
The change in water was tampering with ”12 years` worth of development and formulation,” said Gonnella, general manager of the Schaumburg frozen dough division of the company.
After months of testing, the bakery found that lake water can be as much as 17 degrees warmer than well water in the summer months.
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The increased temperature adds 10 minutes to the time in-store bakers have to wait for the dough to rise.
Bakeries ”are buying the frozen dough because it takes them less time to prepare,” Gonnella said. ”It would put us at a non-competitive edge. . . . Wouldn`t you rather spend 25 minutes preparing a meal instead of 35?”
Through nine months of testing, the bakery found the alkaline levels were different in Lake Michigan water, and affected a dozen of the 78 products made in the bakery.
”To the normal consumer, (a darker crust) might be insignificant, but to us, we take pride in our product looks,” Gonnella said.
While the recipes could have been adapted to the chemically different lake water, it would have been time-consuming and costly, said officials.
The company opened the frozen dough bakery in Schaumburg 12 years ago, and now ships products to 13 states.