Bread Machine Pizza Dough Recipe - Mom On Timeout (2024)

FAQs

How long should dough sit out before making pizza? ›

When you're going to use the refrigerated dough, take it out of the fridge at least 1 hour before you're planning to bake pizza, to let it come to room temperature. You can now use it just like any room temperature fermented pizza dough. Take the dough out from the fridge at least 1 hour prior to making the pizza.

Kneading your pizza dough helps build up gluten. If your pizza dough has not been kneaded for long enough, it may not have had the chance to build up a strong gluten network. When mixing your pizza dough, the flour and water create a chemical reaction that results in a build-up of gluten.

Windowpane test. Pull up a piece of dough, stretching it with your two hands and separating them. If you end up with something you can see light through, it's called a windowpane and your dough is kneaded enough. If the dough breaks, it can be kneaded more.

Cold Proof Dough

Cold temperatures won't kill yeast but just slows fermentation, so an airtight container or plastic wrapped dough in the fridge works well. Proofing for 24 hours is a good minimum, but the taste will develop for days to come. Around 2-3 days is the optimum before it starts deteriorating.

Pizza dough that has been left to rise for too long, or has been over-proofed, can potentially collapse. The gluten becomes overly relaxed, and the end product will be gummy or crumbly instead of crisp and fluffy.

If baked too soon or too late, loaves can collapse and have a dense, gummy center. “There are so many factors that affect rise time, so exact time will vary for every baker.

How long does proofing pizza dough take? The minimum amount of required proofing time is 24 hours. A 48-hour proof is a better option, and a 72-hour proof is ideal.

The crust gets its shape as the dough spins in the air while the flour and the air helps to ensure a perfectly non-uniform crust, tender in some spots and crispy in others. The outer crust of a hand tossed pizza will be lighter than those formed by a machine press.

Ideally, this is done the day you are making pizza. Once you ball up your doughs, keep them covered and let them rest for a good 3-4 hours. The gluten needs to relax for you to be able to stretch it out to make pizza.

What does underproofed pizza dough look like? ›

An underproved dough if cooked would lack any airiness in the crust at all as the yeast hasn't had long enough to develop. The dough is quite dense. A well proved dough will have bubbles forming in the dough. This helps to achieve a light crust as the pizza cooks.

If you don't proof the dough then you will get a crust which has very little rise and small air pockets. Some dough are like this though – think of flat bread and other unleavened bread which contains no yeast. The pizza will be quite dense and chewy if you make the crust thick.

If you're using frozen or refrigerated pizza dough, allow it to come to room temperature in a greased mixing bowl. Bringing the dough to room temperature before the shaping process makes it easier to stretch and less likely to tear.

If your pizza dough is quickly snapping back or difficult to stretch, your dough is too tight. Cover your dough with plastic wrap and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. After a bit of rest, the gluten in the dough will relax, making the process of stretching much easier.

Rather than placing the dough in the refrigerator overnight, leave it covered on the counter for 1 to 4 hours until it's ready to bake. Since the dough is proofed at room temperature, I find using the poke test a very effective way to tell when the bread dough is ready for the oven.