Defrosting pizza dough correctly?

Question

Last time I made pizza dough I was a bit...generous with the ingredients - not a problem, I thought, as I'd read before somewhere that pizza dough is nicely freezable. So, I broke the dough in half, sealed up one piece and placed it in the freezer - this was done immediately after kneading, with no time given for rising.

Now I've got a frozen lump of pizza dough in the freezer, and I'm not sure how I defrost it so it also then rises correctly and cooks well.

If I just leave it out uncovered it will presumably rise inconsistently because the middle will take much longer to defrost?

So should I leave it in the fridge first?
Or, is it better left somewhere warm through the entire defrost to help fire up the yeast?

Or have I "done it wrong" and may as well dump this particular piece?

Answer 1

Since my pizza dough recipe makes three 12" pies and I usually make two at a time, I regularly freeze extras just as you did.

To thaw, I have used both the countertop and refrigerator method. Thawing on the countertop produced the best results. The dough rolled as usual and the crust (a thin one) was crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside after baking.

Answer 2

This is three years too late but since your dough was not cold fermented before freezing, I would suggest thawing/cold fermenting the dough in the refrigerator for 24-48 hours. This will allow the yeast to consume more of the fermentable sugars and develop more complex flavors in your dough. Yeast doughs are the easiest to freeze by coating them lightly with olive oil, then bagging them without air and freezing them.

Source: Dedicated Chef at Stanley's Farmhouse Pizza