Should I reshape refrigerated pizza dough into ball again when taking it out of the fridge?
I made a pizza dough and put it in the fridge until tomorrow. 100% wheat flour, 68% water, 3% salt, 0.3% yeast.
I don't remember where I got the recipe, I kind of obsessed with pizza last year and tried many recipes and this one gives the best crust and flavor for me. But I don't remember how to handle the dough after the cold fermentation in the fridge.
What I do is, mix the ingredients, knead just a little until it's not so sticky. After some rest I fold the dough and give it another rest, I repeat this a few times until the dough is smooth. The last time I divide and form the individual balls, put them in separated closed containers and put it in the fridge until the next day (usually 18-24 hours).
I take it out of the fridge about 8 hours before cooking them, but I don't remember if I should reshape the balls to strengthen the gluten (and then let them rest) before stretching and cooking them. Or should I just take it out of the fridge and not touch it until ready to stretch and cook?
Best Answer
You don't need to take them out 8 hours before cooking, that's too long. 1-2 hours is long enough as it gives your dough time to come back up to temperature before baking and get active again. If your gluten is well developed before you put it in the fridge you don't need to work it further, a bit won't hurt anything but won't help either, and too much could make your dough tough. If anything you want it to relax a bit as it will make it easier to shape into a base.
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Quick Answer about "Should I reshape refrigerated pizza dough into ball again when taking it out of the fridge?"
Wrestling the dough out can cause it to get mangle necessitating a refold or reball and ruining the airy nature of the dough. Generally speaking you do not want to reshape a dough after it's been in the fridge. Cold fermentation really aids in gluten developement and the acids formed strengthen the dough tremendously.What do you do when you take pizza dough out of the refrigerator?
What's the solution? Once you bring the dough out of the cooler, keep it covered to prevent drying and let it temper at room temperature for upwards of 2\xbd hours or until the dough ball temperature reaches 50\xb0F.Can you use pizza dough straight from the fridge?
Once wrapped, the dough can go right into the fridge. Pizza dough will keep for about 2 weeks in the fridge. When you are ready to use the dough, remove it from the fridge, unwrap the dough and place it on your counter or in a lightly floured bowl.How long should pizza dough sit out after being refrigerated?
Take it out of the fridge 20-30 minutes before you intend on using it to let it come to room temperature. This way, you can make your pizza dough the day before.Can you ball cold dough?
You don't want to ball cold dough because the coldness will make the gluten tight and more easily torn. The long cool down, the long warm up, the (generally) overnight cold ferment, the post balling minimum 6 hour room temp ferment to allow the dough to relax- it all adds up.How To Store Pizza Dough In The Fridge Overnight (To Avoid Dry Dough) | Cold Proof Pizza Dough
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Answer 2
Your recipe is very close to the one I use regularly. But I´m doing the cold fermentation as bulk proof. Then do the dough-balling ~5h (for 1d dough) to ~4h (for 2d dough) before baking and let them sit at room temperature. This works very well for me, but there are lots of variations possible in this process, so it´s recommendable to do some experimentation to figure out the process that works best with your ingredients and in your setting.
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