Warming cold dough makes it easier to roll out or hand stretch pizza dough because of the protein in gluten that makes pizza dough chewy and stretchy. Additionally, if you have proofed pizza dough at room temperature for an hour or two, and turned it into a
Bring your dough to room temperature.
Before you begin stretching, warm up your cold dough for at least 30 minutes at room temperature. Gluten, the protein that makes pizza dough chewy, is tighter in cold conditions like the fridge, which is why cold pizza dough will stretch out and snap back just like a rubber band.
Warm dough is much easier to work with, so be sure to allow your pizza dough to warm up to at least room temperature before stretching it. Prepare your work surface with a sprinkling of flour to keep the dough from sticking.
Doughs that are shaped and proofed after a slow, cold fermentation demonstrate noticeably better flavor and better structure.
Store it, covered, in the refrigerator for 1-3* days. Allow room for the dough to expand as it will continue to rise. The pizza dough will actually be more flavorful after a day in the fridge, but the dough will begin to deteriorate after the yeast have eaten all the good food available.
The longer the yeast has had to feast – ideally 24 to 48 hours – the lighter and more flavorful the pizza dough will be. It will also be easier to digest because the yeast has done the job of breaking down ingredients that your stomach would have otherwise had to handle.
How to use refrigerated pizza dough. When you're going to use the refrigerated dough, take it out of the fridge at least 1 hour before you're planning to bake pizza, to let it come to room temperature. You can now use it just like any room temperature fermented pizza dough.
Dough Recipes
When stretching pizza dough, you should never use a rolling pin, as it will push out all the gas, negatively effecting oven spring and resulting in a condensed, tough texture. Generously flour both sides of rounded and proofed pizza dough. Gently flatten into a disc using the palm of your hand.
Just be sure to allow at least 90 minutes for the pizza dough to rise in a warm, draft-free spot in your kitchen before using it.
Marble is preferred because it doesn't hold onto cold temperatures the same way stainless steel does, and there will be none of the reactions that concern some when stainless steel and food come into contact with each other.
The main reason your pizza dough is not stretchy is improper gluten development, the gluten strands are too tight due to too little time to relax, you're using the wrong type of flour, the dough is too dry, or the dough is too cold.
Why is my dough springing back into place when I try to form it into a pizza shape? If your dough is springing back into place when you try to stretch it out, this usually means that the gluten hasn't had enough time to develop. Gluten is what makes dough elastic and stretchy.
If the dough is under proofed, the indentation springs back really fast and does not stay. If the dough is over proofed, the indentation stays, the surface is sticky, and the structure may collapse.
Leave the dough to prove in a warm place for 60-90 minutes or cold prove in the fridge for 1-3 days. When cold proving, take the dough out 2 hours before starting to cook.
In short, it means to intermittently fold the dough over onto itself during the fermentation stage. What this accomplishes is to strengthen the bonding of the gluten protein threads that hold the dough together and thus trap the carbon dioxide created by the yeast.
You could also roll-out and pre-bake the dough, add toppings and store in the fridge for a take-and-bake style pizza. To Freeze: once the dough is mixed, wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in a freezer safe container to freeze for up to 3 months.
Whether you should hand stretch or roll pizza dough depends on your preference. If you like thicker, airier crusts, stretch your dough, or if you want thinner, chewier crusts, roll your dough. Each method is suited to different kinds of pizza and can be adapted to your preferences.
After the dough has rested, turn it out onto a very lightly floured work surface and knead it by hand about 20-30 times. (If your dough has the perfect consistency, you don't even need to flour the surface.)
Can pizza dough be over proofed? Well yes, pizza dough can be over proofed. In the most extreme cases, over proofed dough can lead to a dense and tough dough that makes poor quality pizza.
The best place to let dough rise is a very warm place. On a warm day, your counter will probably do just fine. But if your kitchen is cold, your oven is actually a great place. Preheat oven to 200 degrees for 1-2 minutes to get it nice and toasty, then turn it off.
“If the dough has risen too long, it's going to feel fragile and might even collapse as you poke it,” says Maggie. If this is the case, there's a chance you can save your dough by giving it a quick re-shape. Learn more about this fix in our blog on saving overproofed dough.