Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Food/recipes

For related content, visit our food content hub.

Pizza dough in advance?

16 replies

Celi69 · 02/10/2009 13:50

Hello I am new to the net...
On Sunday I am celebrating my son's B-day.
I want to make little pizzas preparing the thought myself (and hopefully the b-day boy!)but I am not sure how can I do this in advance. Do I have to pre-cook them? Do I make a big dough and put it in the fridge until the last moment?
Yes I knkow... very last moment... (blush)

OP posts:
theyoungvisiter · 02/10/2009 13:53

you could make the dough the night before and leave to rise in the fridge overnight, but you can also make now and freeze the dough. It won't rise as much, but providing you are making thin-based Italian-style pizzas it doesn't much affect the finished product.

If you are making deep-pan style pizzas then I think your only option would be to make the whoel thing in advance (toppings and all) and cook, and then reheat on the day.

lucykate · 02/10/2009 13:53

i keep mine in the fridge until i need to use it, don't pre-cook them but do prod with a fork all over before putting the topping on to avoid sogginess.

mackerel · 02/10/2009 13:54

just about to make my dough for tonight. i roll it out and put it on the baking trays and put in fridge, ready to decorate later. It's fine. Have also rolled out and put in freezer before. as long as it is roll out to required shape seems fine.

theyoungvisiter · 02/10/2009 13:55

of course if you are making thin-based ones then you could prepare and cook the whole things in advance too.

theyoungvisiter · 02/10/2009 13:57

Am curious about the pricking, lucykate. Doesn't the topping leak through?

I use a pizza stone and never prick, and never had any sogginess

lucykate · 02/10/2009 14:07

nah, they are only tiny holes, and most don't go all the way through. it helps stop air bubbles appearing in the dough as it cooks too.

mankymummymoo · 02/10/2009 14:09

Does anyone have a recipe for those lovely authentic soft thin pizza bases please?

theyoungvisiter · 02/10/2009 14:10

Ahh... interesting. I make my bases really thin and quite stretched, I don't think I could prick them without tearing a hole.

And using a pizza stone means you don't tend to have much time anyway.

theyoungvisiter · 02/10/2009 14:20

I make mine using the bread attachment on my kitchenaid and my recipe is as follows:

12oz very strong white bread flour
1/2 sachet instant dried yeast
1/2 tsp salt (or less)
1 tsp sugar
1 tblsp olive oil
about 1/2 pint warm water.

Mix flour, salt and yeast in a bowl.

Put warm water into a jug (should feel hot but comfortable to your hand). Add sugar.

Slowly add the water to the flour until you get a nice kneadable consistency (do it slowly because it's easy to add too much, however if it does come out too sloppy suddenly then you can put in some extra flour to recover it)

Knead for as long as you can bear (I use my dough hook ).

Cover with a damp tea-towel and put aside in a warm place until approx doubled in size. Alternatively cover with cling film and put in fridge overnight.

Divide into 3 or 4 and roll out very thin. Should make 3 or 4 x 10-12inch pizzas.

I use plain flour for rolling out, because it wipes off the surface more easily (strong flour will clog your sponge) and I dust the finished base with fine ground cornmeal which gives it that slightly gritty semolina texture you get in pizza restaurants.

Top (sparingly) with tomato and cheese, then bake for 10-15 mins in an oven pre-heated to maximum temperature for at least half an hour. A pizza stone helps to get a really crisp base but you can just use a thin metal tin.

theyoungvisiter · 02/10/2009 14:28

sorry, that in reply to mankymummy's post about a recipe for soft thin "authentic" bases.

They are never quite the same as in a proper pizzeria because you simply can't get a domestic oven hot enough, but they are a reasonable approximation.

I just noticed I missed out saying what you do with the oil - it goes into the dough. Doesn't really matter if you miss it out but it helps make the dough a little bit "shorter" and crisper when cooked.

lucykate · 02/10/2009 14:29

an intrigued by pizza stone (off to google), kind of blows my knackered, old pizza tray out the water!

i do mine in the breadmaker.

1 cup water, 3 cups strong bread flour, 1tblsp oil, 1tsp sugar, 1/2tsp salt, 1tsp dried yeast (fast acting).

bung it all in, and 1.5hrs later it's done.

theyoungvisiter · 02/10/2009 14:35

they are great! I was given one as a present and was a bit but now love it so much that I bought a second one, so I can have one heating while the first pizza cooks.

You do need to preheat them very well (at LEAST half an hour), but they cook the pizza super fast - you can see the dough start to steam and bubble up as soon as you put it on.

Another good thing is, no washing up. They don't need it - you just chip off any lumps and stick them in the oven for a few minutes for the rest to char off.

mankymummymoo · 02/10/2009 15:33

thanks, will try it at the weekend - can't wait. am also off to search for a pizza stone !

Celi69 · 02/10/2009 21:29

THANK YOU, TAHNK YOU!! You have all being SO kind!
I thought i was going to receive a mail if someone responded.... when no mail arrived(snif!) i decided to check and VOILA! lots of fantastic answers.
I will make them the night before and put them in the fridge.
Thank you again!!

OP posts:
lucykate · 04/10/2009 12:06

it's sunday!!, hope it goes well

SkaterGrrrrl · 04/10/2009 16:14

We are having home made pizza tonight... hmmm. DH makes the dough in our breadmaker.

Last night we bought a pizza pan at Homebase that has holes in it like this, presumably to make the base crisper? Our pizza bases have been a bit soggy in the past.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread