Pizza dough can be a hassle and a lot of effort for people to make, so many individuals decide the most convenient way to make homemade pizza is to make a batch of dough and freeze it for future use.
However, if you’ve never frozen pizza dough before, you might be wondering: How do you defrost pizza dough?
In this article, I will cover some key information about frozen pizza dough, including the best way to defrost pizza dough and the quickest way to defrost pizza dough.
So, without further ado, let’s get started.
There are a few methods you can try to defrost your pizza dough. That being said, which method that you choose will depend on the amount of time that you have before you need your pizza dough to be ready.
If you have ample time for your pizza dough to defrost, then you have enough time to defrost your pizza dough slowly in the refrigerator.
However, if you’re in a rush, there is another method that you might find more suitable to defrost your pizza dough.
How To Defrost Pizza Dough Using The Best Method
The main thing to remember when you’re defrosting your pizza dough with this method is that planning ahead is key. Before you plan your pizza night, it’s important to bear in mind that this method requires nearly a whole day to defrost your pizza dough.
If you have the time, the best method to defrost your pizza dough from frozen is to remove it from the freezer and allow it to come to temperature in your refrigerator. This method will allow your dough to slowly thaw without changing its texture.
The following day, your pizza should have completely thawed but isn’t quite ready to cook yet. Before you intend to bake your pizza, you will need to remove it from the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature for a minimum of 1 to 2 hours.
During this time, the dough will proof and will become a lot easier to stretch into your desired pizza shape.
The Best Method To Defrost Pizza Dough
Step One – Remove your pizza dough from the freezer and place it in the refrigerator.
Step Two – On the following day, the pizza dough should have completely thawed overnight in the refrigerator, but will still feel cold to the touch.
Step Three – Before you cook the pizza dough, you will need to make sure that you remove it from the refrigerator at least 1 to 2 hours beforehand. This will allow your dough the time to proof, making it much easier when it comes to stretching your pizza dough.
Step Four – Once this time has elapsed, you will need to stretch your pizza dough into your desired shape, add your toppings, and place it in the oven to cook.
How To Defrost Pizza Dough Using The Quick Method
On the occasion that you don’t have an entire day to wait for your pizza dough to defrost, there are a few methods you can try.
These include:
- Water
- Microwave
Using water is a great way of defrosting your pizza dough. That being said, you will need to ensure that your pizza dough is placed in a plastic bag.
If you were to place the pizza dough in water, it would defrost unevenly and you’d end up ruining its hydration level. After all, you don’t want to end up ruining all of your hard work with soggy pizza dough!
Using Cold Water To Defrost Your Pizza Dough
When it comes to defrosting your pizza dough in cold water, you will first need to fill up a large mixing bowl with tap water. Place your dough in a plastic bag and secure it tightly so that no water can get in.
For this method to be successful, you will need to leave the dough in a bowl of cold water for several hours. If you want to speed up the process, it’s important that you keep replacing the water in the bowl.
Over time, the dough will totally thaw. At this point, you will need to remove it from the bowl of cold water and allow it to proof and come to room temperature for a minimum of 1 to 2 hours before you attempt to shape and cook your pizzas.
It might be tempting to poke the dough to see if it’s fully defrosted all the way to the middle. However, you should know that poking your dough can lead to you ruining the gluten structure you previously created when you first kneaded your dough before freezing it.
When using this method, the cold water works to defrost the dough at a lower temperature to prevent your dough from proofing while it is still defrosting or causing an uneven consistency.
While this method of defrosting isn’t as even as allowing your dough to defrost in the refrigerator overnight, it’s both faster and more convenient when you’re pushed for time.
Using Warm Water To Defrost Your Pizza Dough
Using warm water to defrost your pizza dough can speed the defrosting process up. That being said, this comes with an important caveat that you should be aware of before opting for this option.
While warm water will allow your pizza dough to defrost at a quicker rate, it also increases the likelihood of your dough cooking or prematurely fermenting.
It’s important to note that warm water is going to cool more quickly than hot water does, so you will need to regularly to ensure your dough is defrosting evenly. Depending on the temperature of the water, the dough should be defrosted within a few hours.
One of the biggest challenges that you’ll face when placing your pizza dough in warm water is that you run the risk of activating the yeast on the outside of the dough while the yeast in the middle remains frozen and dormant. This can result in a very uneven dough.
Bearing this in mind, you will need to keep a close eye on your pizza dough to ensure that you are able to spot any signs of premature fermentation or cooking before it’s too late.
If you do begin to notice bubbles starting to form on the outside of the dough throughout the process, you should consider transferring it to room-temperature water to slow the process down.
You will also need to make sure that you remove all of the air from your plastic bag to ensure that the heat doesn’t cause you to end up with a balloon!
Using A Microwave To Defrost Your Pizza Dough
You might find that the microwave is the most convenient way to defrost anything else from your freezer, so why would defrosting your pizza dough be any different?
While defrosting your pizza dough in the microwave is a viable option, you will need to proceed with caution. The main issue you could face when defrosting your pizza dough in the microwave is that it increases the risk of you cooking your pizza dough without warning.
To use a microwave to help you defrost your pizza dough, remove the dough from its in and place it on a plate. Before microwaving it, you will also want to cover it with a bowl to protect it from direct exposure to the microwave’s heat.
Following this, you will need to set your microwave to the defrost setting and set it to run on a cycle for around 2 and a half minutes. When you remove the pizza dough from the microwave, it should feel warm and soft on the surface but still slightly hard and frozen in the middle.
Allow your pizza dough to sit covered on the kitchen counter for an additional 30 minutes to fully defrost. This is a much better option than placing it back in the microwave for an additional minute or so.
While it might be tempting to use your microwave again if you’re in a rush, the more time the dough spends in the microwave, the more you run the risk of allowing the dough to cook.
Your pizza dough will only be pliable and easy to stretch in its raw form, and you’d be surprised how quickly dough can cook in a microwave. If you allow your dough to defrost in the microwave for too long, you’ll end up with a bread roll instead of raw pizza dough.
How To Freeze Pizza Dough Properly
The whole point of freezing pizza dough is to save you time in the long run. Bearing this in mind, you will want to make sure that you have taken the appropriate steps before freezing your pizza dough that facilitate an easy baking process.
This means that before your pizza dough goes into the freezer, you should treat freezing as the last step in your pizza dough preparation process.
A Guide On How To Make And Freeze And Defrost Pizza Dough
Making The Pizza Dough
Step One – To begin, combine warm water, yeast, and sugar and allow it to sit until it’s foamy. This will indicate that the yeast is ready for action.
Step Two – Now slowly add bread flour and salt to the yeast mixture a few spoonfuls at a time. Once you’ve incorporated half of the salt and flour, add olive oil and mix it in thoroughly. Following this, you will need to continue mixing the dough until the dry ingredients are well incorporated. Allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes.
Step Three – At this point, you should have a dough that is ready to knead. Knead the pizza dough for around 15 minutes, then cover it up and let it rise for 1-3 hours, or until it’s doubled in size. The time that your pizza dough needs to rise will vary depending on the temperature of your kitchen. For instance, if you have a hotter kitchen, it can take less time.
Freezing The Pizza Dough
Step One – Once the pizza dough has been allowed to rise, you will need to give it another quick knead for around 1 to 2 minutes.
Step Two – When you have kneaded your pizza dough and are satisfied with how it’s looking, it’s time to divide the dough into equal dough balls and shape them. It’s always a good idea to weigh each dough ball to ensure that they are equal.
Step Three – Once you have divided your pizza dough into equal dough balls, you will need to lightly flour a baking tray. Place each dough ball on the lined baking tray and tightly cover it with plastic wrap.
Step Four – Next, you will need to allow the pizza dough to proof at room temperature for around an hour and a half. However, this time can vary depending on the temperature of your kitchen. You will be able to tell when your pizza dough has had enough time proofing, as it will have small bubbles on the surface and will have expanded in size.
Step Five – Place the entire sheet dough balls into the freezer for a few hours, 2 to 3 hours should be sufficient enough to freeze them until they are completely frozen.
Step Six – Once your dough balls are frozen, you can begin removing each ball from the tray. You may need to pry each ball free with the help of a kitchen utensil such as a spatula if they have stuck to the tray, but if they are completely frozen then removing them won’t damage them.
Step Seven – Once you have removed each of the dough balls from the baking tray, you will need to place each of them into their own plastic zip-lock bag. At this point, you will also need to mark them with a permanent marker and write the date that you made them to save you from struggling to remember the exact date.
Following this, you can place the dough balls back in the freezer and store them there until you are ready to use them for one of your future pizza nights.
Step Eight – When it comes to making pizzas with your dough balls, you simply need to remove them from the freezer and their zip-lock bag. Place them in a container and allow the dough to defrost in the refrigerator overnight.
Step Nine – On the following day, your dough should have thawed completely. Before shaping it and stretching out your dough into your pizza shapes, you will need to wait for it to come to room temperature for around 1 to 2 hours.
Step Ten – Once you have given your dough the time to come to room temperature, it’s time to shape your pizzas. Top them with a variety of your favorite toppings and whack them in the oven. Enjoy.
How Do You Cook Pizzas With Defrosted Pizza Dough?
Cooking pizzas with defrosted pizza dough is no different from cooking pizzas with any other kind of pizza dough. While you might not feel confident if this is the first time you’re using frozen pizza dough, you don’t need to overcomplicate things. It’s the same process!
Once you have defrosted your pizza dough, whether that be in the refrigerator or one of the other methods I have discussed above, you will need to allow it to come to room temperature for a minimum of 1 to 2 hours.
This time frame allows the yeast in your pizza dough plenty of time to activate and fill the dough with gas, resulting in a delicious pizza crust that is light and fluffy.
Once the dough has been proofed for this period of time, you can stretch your pizza with any method of your choice. Following this, you can top your pizza with a variety of toppings, cook, and enjoy!
How Long Will It Take For My Pizza Dough To Thaw From Frozen?
The answer to this question largely depends on the method that you choose to defrost your pizza dough. If you choose to defrost your pizza dough in the refrigerator overnight, then it usually takes around 24 hours.
However, if you’re in a rush and opt to defrost your pizza dough in a bowl of warm water, then you can expect it to thaw in as little as 2 hours.
How Can I Get My Pizza Dough To Room Temperature?
To get your refrigerated pizza dough to room temperature, you will need to allow it to rest in a warm room for a minimum of 1 to 2 hours.
To help things along, try placing your pizza dough in a greased bowl, covering it with plastic, and leaving it somewhere warm in the kitchen. If your kitchen isn’t warm enough, you can try placing your pizza dough somewhere warm such as inside an oven that is turned off with the light on.
Will Pizza Dough Rise Even After It Has Been Frozen?
Yes, pizza dough will rise again after being frozen. When you freeze your pizza dough, the yeast is dormant, however, it will reactivate when it reaches a certain temperature again.
Bearing this in mind, once you take the pizza dough out of the freezer it will need to reach room temperature first so that the yeast can reactivate and begin fermenting and producing gas again.
When your dough is rising for the second time, it will need to check the dough regularly, it needs to be baked as soon as it has completed its second rise.
To figure out if you’ve allowed your dough enough time to rise, it should have roughly doubled in size, feel slightly puffy and your finger should leave an indentation if the dough is pressed lightly.
In Summary
So, there you have it. Hopefully, now you have a better idea of the different methods you can use to defrost pizza dough!
Perfecting your pizza dough can take time, but once you have, you can freeze each large batch to save time and enjoy more homemade pizza nights.
Once you find a pizza dough recipe that you like and realize how convenient it is to freeze your pizza dough, you’ll be a pizza pro in no time at all.
