When asked about the thing Italy is known for the most, most people will tell you it’s pizza. Millions of people worldwide enjoy this dish every day in various forms.
However, it started as the simple pairing of bread, cheese, and marinara sauce. Over time, many regions around the world have introduced their version of pizza and claimed them to be the best.
Knowing how to store pizza dough is a trick worth knowing regardless of you being a chef of a five-star hotel or a cooking enthusiast in your kitchen.
A well-made pizza will go excellently in a small get-together with friends as well as corporate dinners. So learning how to prepare and preserve pizza is a trick anyone will do well to know.
Making the Perfect Pizza Dough
The hardest part of baking a pizza is making the pizza dough. There is a complexity in making the pizza dough that is difficult enough to be considered as art. It is the most time-consuming step and takes a lot of effort too.
Therefore, in case of gatherings or commercial restaurants, it’s best to have the pizza dough prepared in bulk and stored to bake them when necessary. Similar to making the pizza dough, storing it is also equally tricky and sensitive.
The Process
Regardless of how taxing the entire process of making pizza dough is, the steps itself are quite easy to understand. Start by mixing activated yeast with water and let it sit for a couple of minutes.
This step will allow the yeast to become alive. Then add some flour, sugar, olive oil, and salt into it and thoroughly knead the dough. Once the mixture becomes smooth enough, let it rest for a while.
And this timeframe will be when the yeast starts to grow and allows the dough to rise nicely. This process is the secret to making a pizza crust soft and warm.
Start punching the dough once the rising is complete to have it deflated to start forming the shape of the pizza crust. Keep a close eye on the recipe as there might be some additional steps depending on the type of pizza you plan on making.
Reasons for Making Extra Dough
Making extra pizza dough is quite easy. The recipe doesn’t require any complex changes at all. All you need to do is multiply it. You’d be able to maintain the same level of quality for multiple pizza batches. With a little extra effort, you can bypass the grueling process of making pizza dough for the next hangout with ease.
Be sure to divide the dough according to the number of pizzas you want to make with it. This strategy will help you make pizza faster the next time you have a craving for pizza. It sure beats the stress of having to make pizza dough from scratch!
How to Store Pizza Dough
Before we address the various ways to store pizza dough, we must understand that we can store the pizza dough only after fulfilling a certain amount of requirements. You’ll need to let your dough rise at least once before you move to store it.
One of the places you should never store pizza dough in is room temperature. Keeping the dough there would cause it to continue rising. This method will lead to the dough fermenting more than necessary and will leave a disgusting taste in your mouth.
Even if you’re using inactive yeast, keeping it in a place like a kitchen counter will cause the dough to become hard and chewy.
The best place for storing pizza dough are those with chilly temperatures. Cold places decelerate the growth rate of yeast and eventually cause it to become dormant. Here are a few places for storing pizza dough.
1. Popping It in the Refrigerator
Have the entire dough divided into balls that are enough to make a single pizza, then wrap it up in airtight storage units after fulfilling the initial requirements. A plastic container with a lid would work correctly, or a zip-lock bag would serve well. Be sure to get all the air out of the packet to seal it in properly.
Once the containers are ready, pop it in the fridge. Pizza dough can last up to two weeks in the refrigerator. Before using the dough, have it unwrapped and placed in a bowl with a little bit of flour. Have the dough covered in flour and wait for it to be of room temperature.
The time for this will depend mainly on the weight of the dough. Once the process is over, simply add your preferred toppings and begin baking!
2. Storing It in a Freezer
Similar to that of a refrigerator, storing pizza dough in a freezer requires following the same process. There’s a high chance of getting the dough all dry, so make sure you’re wrapping it as tightly as possible. The dough will last in the freezer for as long as three months, at least.
When you want to use the pizza dough, remove it from the freezer the night before and let it thaw throughout the night. Once the process is over, unwrap the dough. Transfer it into a surface lightly covered in flour and wait for it to reach room temperature.
Once it hits room temperature, form it into the crust of your choice and start making it.
Conclusion
As you can see, storing pizza dough is pretty easy compared to actually making it. Knowing how to store pizza dough will save you a lot of time.
Be sure to keep an eye on the cookbook when making your pizza crust, though. The recipe tends to vary a lot, depending on the type of pizza. Making pizza will certainly be easier for you now!