Tyler,
You aren't the first one to have that problem. See, for example, the thread at
http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,11463.msg104700.html#msg104700.
In your case, I think you can get away with the protocol you mentioned. Normally, an autolyse is fairly brief but there are instances where it can be fairly long. I don't know if you have been following the thread at
http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,19129.0.html, but there is something called a soaker that comprises just flour and water and can be held for long periods of time, typically in the refrigerator for many hours. The soaker is usually combined with some of the remaining formula flour and water (the part not used in the soaker) as part of the final mix, in addition to the yeast, salt and sugar, if used. In your case, adding the oil to the flour/water mix should not be a problem, and I think your dough should survive 5-8 hours of travel time. To be on the safe side, you might put the autolysed dough with the oil in it in a cooler for the duration of the trip, maybe with some ice. At your destination, you can transfer the autolysed dough to a refrigerator. You didn't say anything about salt, which I assume you would be using, but the salt can also be added at the time of the final mix. En route, without yeast in the dough, it will not ferment and it will not rise. The amylase and protease enzymes will still be at work but if you keep the dough cool, the enzymes will not work as fast as at ambient temperature.
Another alternative is to prepare the dough as you would normally and freeze it, letting it slowly defrost in the cooler en route to your destination. You might add a bit more yeast to the dough since freezing will kill some of it. I discussed this possibility in the abovereferenced thread at Reply 6 at
http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,11463.msg104732.html#msg104732. Both Norma and I have made several frozen doughs, as discussed most recently over at the Mellow Mushroom thread, and they work out really well for short term (one or two days) freezing regimens.
I might also add that in my travels I will often find a mozzarella cheese that I would like to try at home. I typically freeze the mozzarella and pack it in an insulated carrier that I put into my suitcase. I remove the mozzarella cheese from the freezer and put it in the insulated carrier just as I am heading to the airport for the trip home. The travel time from that point to home can be five or six hours. But, by the time I get back home, the mozzarella cheese is largely defrosted, but not completly. I then put it in the refrigerator or freezer until I am ready to use it. I would think that a frozen dough should behave similarly.
Good luck. Whatever you decide to do, let us know what you did and how things turned out.
Peter
