Never Forget This Vital Step Before Freezing Pizza Dough

Along with the important tips you should follow to make the best homemade pizza, like choosing the right flour and stretching your dough accordingly, there may come a time when you unexpectedly need to pre-freeze pizza dough for a later date. Fortunately, whether you're looking to bake a pizza on the fly or you simply want a reliable way to batch-freeze extra portions — as long as you adhere to one crucial step, the process of freezing pizza dough is super simple.

Sure enough, you can safely freeze a few additional balls of dough as long as you cover it with a light coating of cooking oil before freezing. Oil not only adds moisture which prevents your dough from drying out, but also safeguards your dough against freezer burn. Believe it or not, cooking oil acts as a barrier against a freezer's frigid temps since it can effectively mitigate the formation of ice crystals on the exterior of your dough. The process couldn't be easier, especially if you use an oil spray.

To test this technique yourself, first allow your pizza dough to fully rise at room temperature. Once you punch down the dough and divide it into multiple portions, spray each ball in cooking oil or apply oil using a silicone pastry brush. Then from here, all you need to do is wrap each oiled dough ball in a tight layer of plastic wrap. Keep in mind, though, that when it comes to freezing and thawing this versatile food, there are a few additional factors to consider.

The biggest obstacle in properly freezing pizza dough is coming face to face with freezer burn. Nonetheless, next to covering your pizza dough in cooking oil, the smartest storage fix to save your food from freezer burn is using airtight containers to minimize moisture loss. That said, when your balls of dough are fully frozen, add additional protection. Along with an initial layer of plastic wrap, place your wrapped balls of dough in glass containers with airtight lids or in freezer-safe plastic bags. If using bags, make sure to remove any additional air before sealing.

When stored properly, frozen pizza dough can be used for up to three months. However, make sure to allot yourself extra time when it comes to thawing. For the best results, place bagged, frozen dough in your refrigerator the night before you plan on making pizza. You can also speed up this process the day of by soaking a bag of frozen dough in a bowl of cold water or by (sparingly) using the defrost feature on your microwave.

Once thawed, always bring your dough to room temperature before using. As a matter of fact, for the best pizza crust, don't skip this step. Pizza dough is much easier to shape and stretch at room temperature than straight from the cold stores of your fridge or freezer.