dough question

[Chet]

  I made this dough recipe http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/pizza-dough.aspx, about 18 hrs before I used it, came out well, but had 2 dough balls left on the counter after I removed them from the fridge and come to room temp, I punched them down and froze them in a plastic bag, will they rise again to make pizza or should I throw them away.


    Chet

[Pete-zza]

Chet,

Freezing pizza dough in general is not a good thing because of the damage that is done to the dough as the water expands and ruptures the cellular structure of the dough. The freezing also reduces the performance of the yeast, which is why commercial operators who make frozen dough balls increase the amount of yeast from the outset to compensate for the yeast damage. In your case, I would defrost the dough balls in the refrigerator for about a day before you plan to use them, then bring them out to room temperature for a while before using. I think you will get an edible product but maybe not quite as good as you would get with an unfrozen dough. It will also help in your case that your dough is fairly "young", not one that has been frozen for weeks or months. With about 0.83% IDY called for in the recipe you used, I think a loss of some fermentation power may not be fatal in your case. So, I wouldn't throw away the dough at this point.

If you decide to proceed, please let us know how things turn out. I, for one, would like to know just in case the question comes up again.

Peter

[Pete-zza]

Chet,

Today I received my weekly email from Cook's Illustrated that included a report on freezing pizza dough. As I have reported before, my practice is to make the dough and then freeze it. My doughs are for the most part low in yeast (a fraction of your 0.83%) and can take a few days to rise in any noticeable fashion so I end up using them rather than freezing them at that point. However, as the CI report reproduced below states, pizza doughs that are frozen after rising do better than those that are frozen right after they have been made.

Published September 1, 2007. From Cook's Illustrated.

When should I freeze pizza dough? Before or after rising?

To answer this question, we made our basic pizza dough recipe—which makes enough for two pizza crusts—and froze it at two stages: immediately after mixing the dough and after allowing the dough to fully rise. After we shaped the dough into balls, we wrapped them in plastic wrap coated with nonstick cooking spray, placed them in zipper-lock bags, and froze them. A few days later, we thawed both doughs on the countertop, letting the unrisen dough rise for the two hours specified in the recipe. Next, we shaped both batches of dough-in addition to a freshly made batch and refrigerated dough from the supermarket-topped them with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese, and baked them at 500 degrees for 10 minutes.

Tasted side by side, one of the frozen versions was nearly as good as the freshly made dough: The dough that had been frozen after rising was easy to shape (the gluten strands had had ample time to relax), crisp on the outside, chewy in the middle, and fresh-tasting. The dough that had been frozen before rising, on the other hand, was flatter and slightly tough. The freezing step had killed many of the yeast cells, resulting in a partially arrested rise and lackluster crust. Finally, the store-bought pizza dough received surprisingly good ratings from tasters.

If you have extra dough you'd like to keep around for later, be sure to let it rise fully before freezing. The best way to defrost dough is to let it sit on the countertop for a couple of hours or overnight in the refrigerator. (Thawing pizza dough in a microwave or low oven isn't recommended as it will dry the dough out.) And for last-minute pizza cravings, store-bought refrigerated dough is an entirely acceptable option.

Peter

[billneild]

Peter - I guess I'll have to try the "rise then freeze" method sometime for a comparison.  As to the store bought dough from Cooks Illustrated, they must have a better store than I do.  The most convenient store bought dough I can get is a pale comparison to my frozen dough in terms of taste and texture.

[uncleherm]

So after making the dough, do you let it rise on the counter for a few hours or stick in the refrigerator over night before freezing.  Also, do you knock it down before freezing or leave it all puffed up?  Thanks!

[pizza812]

So after making the dough, do you let it rise on the counter for a few hours or stick in the refrigerator over night before freezing.  Also, do you knock it down before freezing or leave it all puffed up?  Thanks!

This is a great forum.  I am asking that someone comment on this so we have it crystal clear....

1) Make dough balls
2) Let rise
3) Put ball in freezer (do we punch it back down into smaller ball here or leave alone?)
4) On pizza day, remove from freezer, put on counter, let it equilibrate to room temp and rise
5) Shape the dough into pizza size pie
6) Cook

Thanks!

[Pete-zza]

pizza812,

I do not recommend that you freeze dough balls in the risen (fermented) state. That can cause the moisture in the dough to expand during freezing and cause damage to the yeast cells and gluten structure. Also, glutathione, an amino acid, can leach out of the damaged cells and have a softening effect on the dough and reduce its oven spring and limit the rise of the crust. 

The way that I would recommend that you freeze the risen dough balls is to first flatten them by hand or with a rolling pin to a thickness of about 1 1/2 inches. The flattened dough pieces can then be placed into the freezer on a wire screen or rack and frozen completely through—not just at the outer surfaces. Once this is achieved, the dough pieces can be put into airtight containers, as densely packed as possible (to reduce air space), and placed back into the freezer until ready for use.

Peter

[Pete-zza]

4) On pizza day, remove from freezer, put on counter, let it equilibrate to room temp and rise

pizza812,

Technically, a dough ball, whether fresh or defrosted, should be usable at around 55 degrees F. I personally shoot for something in the 65-70 degrees F range. That usually takes about and hour or two of tempering at room temperature (depending on the time of year and the room temperature). The dough does not have to "equilibrate to room temperature". Tom Lehmann very often makes the distinction between tempering a dough ball at room temperature and tempering it to room temperature by capitalizing the word AT, as you can see at one of his PMQ Think Tank posts at http://thinktank.pmq.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9574&p=65729&hilit=#p65729.

Peter

[pizza812]

Thank you, that is good information.  Understand it now.  I'm just doing it at home, enjoy the time savings of making a bunch of dough on a weekend for use later on.  We eat pizza at least once a week at this house and I make 2 x 16" pizzas.  Tempering a frozen dough makes it easier for me, much more time savings.