Storing pizza dough?

[cozzie]

I made some pizza dough today that I planned on using tomorrow. Should I store it in the Refridgerator or leave it out? Maybe a crazy question but any info would be great.

Thank you
Scot

[UnConundrum]

Depends on how the dough was designed to function...  What percentage of yeast does it have?

[cozzie]

I know there is a conversion chart here somewhere but I can tell you that it is 3 1/2 cups of flour to 2 table spoons of yeast 1cup of water. Sorry I can't be more precise but it is the best I can do. Which will be a higher percentage then we normally do.

[UnConundrum]

Peter is the dough formula guru, but that seems to be a lot of yeast.  I'd get it in the fridge asap....

[Pete-zza]

cozzie,

I estimate that your recipe calls for about 4% yeast. Such a recipe is intended to make a dough that is usable within about an hour, if not less. If you leave the dough at room temperature, it will certainly "blow" within fairly short order and quite possibly make a big mess. Refrigerating the dough is one possible option but even then it is likely to overferment because of the excessively high amount of yeast. If I were in your shoes, I think that I would freeze the dough to stop the fermentation process and use it after defrosting it and letting it warm up.

Please let us know what you decide to do and with what results.

Peter

[cozzie]

Pete,

I agree with your thoughts. It is a unusually high amount of yeast, which we normally do not do. I have it in the freezer and I will give you an update later tonight to let you know my findings. Thank you for your information.

Scot

[cozzie]

Well what my wife decided to do is keep in the refridgerator over night then took it out around 11am. Let it sit there until about 5:30 and made a pizza. Honestly it was better then expected. Very easy to roll and it was the most thin crust pizza we have made and it cooked well on a pizza stone at 550 degrees. So overall it was a huge success and I do appreciate everyones help on this and I will be in touch.

Scot

[Pete-zza]

Scot,

As a point of clarification, did you put the dough in the freezer compartment as you previously indicated or did you change your mind and put the dough in the refrigerator compartment instead?

Peter

[cozzie]

Pete,

It was in the refridgerator ILO the Freezer as previously mentioned sorry for the confusion.

Scot

[PizzaVera]

Pete,

It was in the refridgerator ILO the Freezer as previously mentioned sorry for the confusion.

Scot

Im curious to know , what would of happened if you just let the down covered and stored in a cool dry place ....

[Pete-zza]

Im curious to know , what would of happened if you just let the down covered and stored in a cool dry place ....

With about 4% yeast and left at room temperature overnight, the dough would have expanded very quickly and ultimately would have peaked in volume (maybe by threefold or fourfold or more) and then collapsed. Unless one used a container big enough to hold the fast rising dough, until the point of collapse the dough would most likely overflow the container onto the counter and make a real mess and be almost impossible to handle (the dough is likely to be very sticky and wet). Also, most of the sugars in the dough, either added to the dough at the outset or released from the flour by enzyme activity, would most likely have been exhausted, leaving little residual sugar to contribute to crust color and oven spring. Even emergency doughs using far less yeast (say, around 1% for IDY) will last less than a couple hours after the initial rise. See, for example, the Q&A on emergency dough at http://www.pmq.com/mag/200708/lehmann.php.

Peter

EDIT (3/22/13): For the Wayback Machine link to the piece on emergency dough, see http://web.archive.org/web/20080321081127/http://www.pmq.com/mag/20070607/lehmann.php