For a recipe that only needs a few simple ingredients, making pizza dough can be quite cumbersome and requires some finesse.
If you are putting your culinary skills to the test and making your pizza dough at home, you will also need ample room to transform your flour, water and yeast mixture into a delicious pizza.
With all the hours, hard work and dedication that goes into making pizza dough, it’s understandable if you want to savour every piece of the dough and not let any go to waste.
So, what happens if you have extra pizza dough and no stomachs to feed?
Should you just make extra pizza or can you freeze your pizza dough and cook it at another time?
The good news is yes, you can freeze pizza dough and you don’t need to let all your hard work go to waste.
In this blog, we will detail the methods for freezing homemade pizza dough.
How Do You Freeze Uncooked Pizza Dough?
There are a few different options and methods for freezing your uncooked pizza dough. You can also freeze your pizza dough at different stages of the proofing and blooming cycle.
You can freeze your pizza dough just after you have kneaded the dough and before the first rise, or you can freeze your pizza dough after the first rise once you have separated the dough into individual pizza dough balls.
For either option, you will need to lightly coat all sides of the dough in oil and place it in a freezer bag or airtight container.
Equipment needed to freeze pizza dough:
- Pizza dough
- Freezer bags or plastic wrap
- Oil or canola spray
- A permanent marker and labels
- Plastic containers
You can also wrap the dough in plastic wrap before placing the dough in the freezer bag or container. Remember to label your dough with the date and detail at which stage of the rising process you have chosen to freeze your pizza dough.
Thawing Your Frozen Pizza Dough
The pizza dough can be stored in the freezer for up to four months.
Before using, just thaw the dough overnight in the fridge, or for up to approximately 12 hours.
Take the pizza dough and let it come to room temperature for up to 30 minutes to an hour. Once the pizza dough has come to room temperature, you can begin to shape the pizza dough and cook it.
Alternatively, you can thaw dough on your kitchen counter. The balls will need approximately two hours to defrost completely, however, this will depend on the portion size and temperature. It is important to refrigerate the dough after they have thawed to prevent bacteria growth.
Does Freezing Pizza Dough Ruin It?
When you freeze pizza dough, the yeast activity slows down.
While the yeast becomes inactive when the dough is frozen, this will not ruin the dough. The yeast will reactivate once it is thawed, which will produce the has that caused the dough to rise.
Now that you know how to freeze your pizza dough, we hope you enjoy cooking homemade pizza dough in bulk.