The Best Ways to Store Pizza Dough

Handmade pizza dough adds an authentic touch to pizza.

Homemade pizza is a delicious and easy way to bring a taste of Italy into your kitchen. Pizza dough can either be purchased pre-made and ready to roll, or made by hand using flour, water and yeast. If you find yourself with leftover pizza dough, or are preparing a large amount of dough for future use, you will need to keep it cold in storage in order to preserve it safely and keep the yeast from fermenting. Does this Spark an idea?

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Short Term Storage
- You can keep dough fresh in the coldest part of your refrigerator when storing it for a short period of time, such as a day or less. Place your pizza dough in an airtight plastic bag or wrap it in plastic wrap to preserve freshness. Many times pre-made pizza dough will come in its own plastic bag that can also be used for storage. When using a bag, be sure to squeeze all the excess air out of the bag for a tight seal. You can also spray the inside of a plastic bag with nonstick spray, or brush the dough with oil, in order to keep it from becoming stuck to the plastic.
Long Term Storage
- If you're storing pizza dough to be used at a later date, deeper refrigeration will be needed to keep the yeast in the dough from fermenting and giving your dough a beer-flavored taste. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap or a plastic bag sprayed with nonstick spray, being sure to squeeze any excess air out of the bag to preserve freshness. Dough can be safely kept for up to two months if frozen.
Storing Large Quantities of Dough
- Large quantities of pizza dough can pose a problem when trying to fit it all in a single bag. You can circumvent this problem by making up individual dough balls that are each brushed with oil, then wrapped in plastic wrap or a plastic bag. These balls can be wrapped a second time in parchment paper, so when it comes time to make the pizza, they simply need to be unwrapped and placed on the paper to roll out.
Defrosting
- You will need to factor desfrosting time into your cooking preparation when it comes time to use the pizza dough you've placed in storage. For frozen dough, allow it to defrost in your refrigerator first, then on your kitchen counter to bring it up to room temperature. If your dough has just been refrigerated for a short time, set it on the kitchen counter until it is supple and elastic enough to knead and roll.