Hi Paula, refrigerating pizza dough is a great way to add depth of flavor to your crust, and many pizza recipes already include this as part of the process. Since there are so many different types of pizzas, it's hard to give you a universal method that will work for every type of recipe, but if you're making a standard yeasted pizza dough that calls for our unbleached all-purpose flour, this is my preferred method: allow the dough to rise for about an hour at room temperature and then shape the dough into fairly taut balls, based on the number of pizzas desired, and how much dough is allotted per crust. Place the dough ball on either a greased plate or pie pan, or if you're making a few balls, spread them out on a greased cookie sheet with plenty of room for them to spread out as they ferment in the fridge. I like to use olive oil to grease the pan and also rub a little olive oil on top of the dough balls to keep them moist and prevent sticking. Cover well with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator. If you're using a higher protien flour you may be able to let the dough sit in the refrigerator for longer, but when using our unbleached all-purpose flour I find the dough will perform best when used within 24 hours. The beauty of this method is you can stretch the dough directly from the refrigerator (no need for your proofer), and it will stretch super easily because it has relaxed so much in the fridge. Just place the dough on a floured surface and sprinkle a little flour on top to prevent sticking, and then go right to forming your crust. Once your pizza is shaped, the dough can be topped and baked immediately.
October 1, 2021 at 11:55am
In reply to What about pizza dough? … by Paula (not verified)
Hi Paula, refrigerating pizza dough is a great way to add depth of flavor to your crust, and many pizza recipes already include this as part of the process. Since there are so many different types of pizzas, it's hard to give you a universal method that will work for every type of recipe, but if you're making a standard yeasted pizza dough that calls for our unbleached all-purpose flour, this is my preferred method: allow the dough to rise for about an hour at room temperature and then shape the dough into fairly taut balls, based on the number of pizzas desired, and how much dough is allotted per crust. Place the dough ball on either a greased plate or pie pan, or if you're making a few balls, spread them out on a greased cookie sheet with plenty of room for them to spread out as they ferment in the fridge. I like to use olive oil to grease the pan and also rub a little olive oil on top of the dough balls to keep them moist and prevent sticking. Cover well with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator. If you're using a higher protien flour you may be able to let the dough sit in the refrigerator for longer, but when using our unbleached all-purpose flour I find the dough will perform best when used within 24 hours. The beauty of this method is you can stretch the dough directly from the refrigerator (no need for your proofer), and it will stretch super easily because it has relaxed so much in the fridge. Just place the dough on a floured surface and sprinkle a little flour on top to prevent sticking, and then go right to forming your crust. Once your pizza is shaped, the dough can be topped and baked immediately.