If you follow the proper process to store pizza dough in the fridge, it will last for several days. Even in some cases, you can store them for a few months as well. But, maintaining the criteria of the dough’s ingredients, yeast, and temperature is essential to fridge the dough properly.
Moreover, the pizza uses eggs in the dough, which will not last long if you mix eggs before keeping them in the fridge. But, keeping the dough in the fridge without mixing the eggs will last a long time.
How Long Will The Pizza Dough Last?
Remember that if you keep it outside with yeast, the dough will not last long, so you must store it if you do not use it.
- A live pizza dough stays in the freezer for 120 to 180days.
- Par-baked pizza stays in the freezer for 180 to 365 days.
- Pizza dough balls remain in the fridge for 2 to 4 days and 90 to 180 days in the freezer.
- Homemade pizza dough lasts 4 to 24 hours on the countertop, 2 to 4 days in the fridge, and 2 to 3 months in the freezer.
We know that homemade pizza dough could stay fresh for longer. On the other hand, the live dough can last up to four months maximum. Again, there is also per- baked dough that will remain fresh for up to six months from the date of production, and you can store the dough balls in the freezer for up to three months.
Also, You can use them for another 3 months without fear.
Pizza Dough Ingredients
For keeping the dough for a long time, it is necessary to take care of the ingredients before freezing. We know there is a secret recipe for every dish, but the essential ingredients of this pizza dough are yeast, flour, salt, and water.
You can use all these ingredients to keep the dough long, but it should be refrigerated or used once after the yeast is active.
You may be afraid that if you keep the mixed yeast dough in the fridge, it may be active so that the dough may be spoiled but not precisely like that. If the yeast is kept in the fridge, it goes into hibernation, stopping working. When it is taken out of the fridge, it becomes active when kept at room temperature.
How To Make Pizza Dough For Storing Long?
If you know the ingredients for pizza dough, you have gone through the first step of making dough. In the dough, you add 1- tablespoon of white sugar with 1- tablespoon of yeast. Sugar activates yeast, add 1 cup of hot water, and wait 10 minutes for the mixture to foam.
Then add flour and salt and mix all together to make pizza dough. Before you start kneading with your hands, you must grease your hands so that the flour does not stick to you.
Store the Pizza Dough In The Fridge
You can keep the pizza dough stored in the fridge and use it at any time if you want. Maybe you are afraid of spoiling the yeast, but keeping it in the fridge does not spoil the yeast. If you take it out of the fridge, you can use it again. If you wish, you can take the dough out of the fridge and reactivate the yeast.
Arrange the dough in the fridge, but it doesn’t take up much space. It is best to cover the dough with plastic to block air from entering. You can keep the dough in the fridge for a maximum of 12 weeks. If you don’t want to make a pizza, refrigerating the dough is excellent to store it.
When Do You Store Pizza Dough?
Once your pizza dough is mixed, let it rise once and save using the method of your choice. Divide your dough and if you don’t want to use it in 1 week, put it in a plastic bag or wrap it in the fridge. Before making the pizza, you should heat the dough to rise again and activate the yeast.
How To Store Pizza Dough In The Freezer
Storing pizza dough in the freezer is similar to keeping it in the fridge. You need to wrap an airtight container or wrap it tightly to prevent the dough from drying out. Then refrigerate the shared dough until you are using it.
In this process, you can store the dough for about 3-months. If you want to reuse your frozen dough, take it out of the freezer and put it in the fridge.
The cause for doing this is that it can melt quickly, and this is a good approach. Then gently remove the cover from the fridge and wait a while for it to come to room temperature. Then you bake and make the pizza so you can complete the storage process in the freezer and enjoy it.
Can Pizza Dough Rot?
Pizza dough doesn’t last long. In the end, it won’t be nice, and it’s not unusual. There are no visible signs of spoilage, especially if stored in the fridge. Many may have tried making pizza dough with 1-week-old flour as the yeast drains its resources over time, so spoilage is a risk after the flour does not rise during baking.
Suppose you leave the pizza dough in the fridge for 5days or more. In that case, it is likely to spoil, and this is because if you keep it in the fridge, the bacteria will overgrow, and if you mix dairy or eggs in the flour, it can be spoiled, also if you leave the dough at room temperature for a few hours then it will complete this spoiling process.
Some Ways To Keep The Dough In The Fridge
Depending on the condition of the dough and the temperature of the water used to make it, you can keep it in the fridge for 3-5 days. If you use hot water and leave it in the kitchen, it will last up to 3 days, and if you put the pizza dough directly in the fridge, it will last at least 4 to 5 days. If you bought commercial pizza dough, it should be stored in the refrigerator in a flour box.
The alternative is to keep it in an airtight container which is essential to allow air to enter the packaging so that the dough does not dry out and stays fresh. Another alternative to making and storing pizza dough at home is dividing it into small 200 to 250-gram balls to store many in the fridge simultaneously.
In addition to the fridge, we need to know how to take other approaches, so let’s understand how to store it in the kitchen before putting it in the fridge.
You may want to store your pizza dough for maybe 2 to 3 days or a few hours. If you feel the hassle of keeping it in the fridge for some time, you should check the amount of yeast in the dough recipe. For example, if you take 1 KG of flour to prepare the dough, add 10 grams of yeast to it, and add 1% yeast to your recipe.
Remember that the more yeast you add, the more negative the pizza dough will be, so it’s best to use less yeast. Then the dough will stay good for some time at the kitchen’s temperature and will create a general aroma.
6- Symptoms Of Spoiled Pizza Dough:
It’s essential to check if the pizza dough is spoiled after keeping it in the fridge, so let’s know the 6- symptoms.
- Observe if there is any odor coming from the pizza dough.
- Check whether the color of the pizza dough has changed or not.
- Understand whether the texture of the pizza dough has dried out or there is a problem with the ball making.
- It is terrible to see if there is any change in the test, then discard it.
- After keeping it in the freezer for a long time, it should be discarded if you see ice crystals or stains on the pizza dough.
You can watch this video to know more about how to fridge pizza dough. Video credit: Vito Iacopelli.
Final Word
In short, to store pizza dough for a long, it is necessary to take specific measures before putting it into the fridge. Also, there are some precautions regarding temperature and yeast to take for freezing pizza dough properly.
We hope all the information we have shared in this article will help you keep the dough in the fridge for a long time and turn them into a pizza whenever you want.