It's a good idea to give your dough one fermentation stage as a bulk, then knock the air out, split it into balls, and give it a final proof before you stretch or roll it out. You can split the balls all at once, or you can keep the bulk of the dough in the refrigerator and cut off amounts for pizzas as you need it.
You don't want to remove too much air or the dough will take too long to prove. At the end of the day, it comes down to experience. The more times you do it, the better feel you'll develop for it. Just don't be afriad to experiment, knocking back can be an invaluable tool.
I know that deflating the gas brings oxygen into the dough and CO2 out, which is good for yeast development. I have a calculator app for the amount of yeast in pizza dough. If I for example set that I want the dough to ferment 10 hours at 20 °C, then it calculates the right amount of yeast.
Pizza dough should proof in room temperature anywhere from 1 to 24-hours or even more. While cold-proofing a pizza dough can take anywhere from 24 to 72 hours.
Let the dough reach its first rising point before deciding on refrigerating it. Apply a small amount of olive oil on the portioned dough balls to prevent dryness. Place each dough ball in a separate airtight container, sealed plastic bag, or bowl covered in plastic wrap.
Yes. After the first rise, you can knead the dough lightly to remove some gas that causes air bubbles.
How to store pizza dough on the counter. Standard pizza dough (with more yeast) can sit out on the counter for 2-4 hours, while a Neapolitan-style pizza dough (with less yeast) can be left out for up to 24 hours. Pizza dough should be stored in an airtight container, zip lock bags, or covered with plastic wrap.
Pizza dough reacts similarly, turning stiff and inflexible when it's chilled. That's why it's important to let the dough come up to room temperature before stretching it. This might take about an hour, so pull the dough out of the fridge when you preheat the baking steel and/or stone.
Warm the dough
The first step on rolling out pizza dough starts with letting the dough sit at room temperature for around 30 minutes to relax the gluten. 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.
If the dough is not knocked back the fermentation rate slows down as time goes by. Of course, there are only so many times that you can knock it back and expect it to rise again. But in most cases, we don't have to worry about it as there is no good reason to degas the dough multiple times during bulk fermentation.
When to Punch Down Dough. Yeast bread recipes typically require two stages of proofing, also known as rising. After the first rise, it's important to punch down the dough to prevent it from over-proofing. Overproofed bread is dense and unable to retain the gas bubbles necessary for the structure of the bread loaf.
Strategically poking holes in the dough creates little openings that permit air to escape while your pizza is baking. This prevents an undesirable puffing of the pizza dough, avoiding unwanted bubbles and preserving a superior texture for your final product.
Generally speaking, yes, you need to cover the dough while it's rising. Covering the dough will create a warm moist atmosphere for the dough to rise nicely in. If it's cold or dry the dough won't rise as well as it should. So covering the dough while it rises keeps the moisture IN and the drying air out.
The kneading of the dough is crucial- I did attempt a pizza without kneading, and while it still kind of worked, the pizza tasted way too dense. Kneading is what is going to make the crust light and airy. Don't be afraid to add additional flour if it's extra sticky.
Using this method, the pizza dough will stretch naturally, making for a more even crust that's less likely to tear. 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.
If your gluten hasn't developed enough, it will remain too tight and your dough will want to spring back into its original shape.
Cold water maintains the gluten content in flour, which traps the gasses produced by yeast or other leavening agents and lets the dough rise; however, breads made with low-gluten flour like rye or buckwheat work better with hot water.
Under-proofed pizza dough is hard to stretch and dense. An over-proofed dough will stretch too thin and won't spring up when you put it in the oven. Warm-up your dough: Cold dough is hard to stretch and more prone to tearing. Let your dough warm up to at least room temperature before stretching for best results.
Typically, pizza dough is degassed twice because the recipe often calls for you to degas the dough after each rise. The second time occurs after the second rise, and this time it's crucial because the gluten has had time to develop again.
When a pizza dough sits out for too long, it becomes over-proofed. Over-proofing is caused when the yeast has no more “food” to eat. Once the yeast stops working, the pizza dough's bubbles pop, thus affecting all aspects of the dough, including its taste, smell, and structure. Woops.
The second rise allows the yeast to produce carbon dioxide gas, which helps to leaven the dough and gives it a light, airy texture. However, some recipes only call for a single rise. This can be achieved by using a higher amount of yeast or by letting the dough rise for a longer period of time.