I appreciate the comment on when to rise the dough for freezing. that is don't rise it before freezing it said. Does the same apply to refrigerated dough? Should you rise and then put in the fridge or just put in fridge after you pull it out (understand that you need to bring it to room temperature again even if you already rose it. We are only 2 in our household, so I am wondering if we can make on pizza and then store the other in the fridge to make the next day or two. To do so, when do we rise the bread? thanks

In the text recipe (see step 1), the instructions are given for letting dough ferment/rise overnight in the refrigerator. The slow rise helps to develop more flavor in the dough. It is best to make the dough one day, refrigerate it overnight and then use it the next day. If you leave the dough for too long in the refrigerator, the yeast can lose its power. You might also find it helpful to review the lesson on the Stages of Bread Making in the Cooking School. Here we cover fermenting/rising steps. Cheers!

I have read that the active dry yeast requires a double rise, and the instant does not. The basic dough recipe uses instant dough and I would prefer to use active, but wonder whether a second rise is needed. Also, do you have any comments on what the double rise refers to? I seem to recall "punching down the dough" in previous times. Thanks for any insight here.

The primary difference between instant yeast and active dry is that they need to be handled differently when combining the ingredients (instant does not need to be dissolved - see topic on Yeast in the lesson on the Basics of Bread Making). You can definitely substitute active dry yeast for instant in any formula.

Some yeast breads - whether they are made with instant or active dry yeast - can go through a double rise. The extended fermenting process will help to develop more flavor. Punching the dough down again before the shaping stage will also help redistribute the yeast once again, build flavor and help to produce a finer texture/crumb in the finished product.

Most yeast doughs go through similar stages though: fermenting - punching down/portioning/pre-shaping/shaping/proofing and finally baking. It all depends on the product and how much time the you have. Again, make sure to check out all of the lessons in the Bread section. Cheers!

I have had great success with this recipe, So I had frozen some of the dough, When I went to use it, I must of done something wrong when I thawed it and it stuck to my pizza peel...... So I folded it over and called it a Stromboli instead,
It was fantastic!

Hello,
How long is too long in the refrigerator ? Can I keep it there for 3 or 4 days ? & Can I bake just the dough for later use?

I am trying to figure out how to make a lot of pizzas in a short amount of time(feeding a large crowd).

Thanks for the help!

3 to 4 days is too long. The yeast will run out of food and die and you won't get a good rise (if any) when you go to bake. My preference is to make the dough the day before as shown in the video, but if you have to, you can make the dough ahead of time and freeze it (also shown). If you freeze the pizza dough, just let it thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Whether you freeze the dough or just refrigerate it, let it come to room temperature before you try to shape it. The results are good...but not as good when it is made fresh. Mise en place is key. Have everything grated, sliced, prepped and making the dough the day before will be easy. Cheers!

I was wondering; after the dough rises overnight and is divided into smaller portions, how long does it have to rest before using?

Thanks

As per Step 1 of the recipe "Remove the dough from the refrigerator about 2 hours prior to making pizza so the dough can come to room temperature." Hope this helps. Cheers!

I am a pizza pro now.. thanks to this recipe... :)

I made the pizza dough yesterday and planned on using all of it. A few hours later I decided to use the rest of it the next day (today) so I put it in the fridge. I took it out today and its flat and doesn't smell pleasant. Kind of bitter too and sour. Is it still okay to use today?

I'm assuming after you made the dough yesterday that you formed it into rounds and let it rise on the counter. If you transferred it directly to the refrigerator, ideally, it should have been punched down again, placed into a bowl and covered with plastic wrap to rest over night. It may be flat because it was not punched down or shaped into a round; also, the yeast could be a bit less powerful now. There shouldn't be anything wrong (spoiled) with the dough, providing you didn't leave it out for hours and hours before transferring it to the refrigerator. You can test it by baking off a small piece. If it doesn't rise at all or if you don't like the flavor, you'll know not to proceed any further and cover the dough with a bunch of expensive ingredients. As yeast dough ages, it develops a yeasty smell, which also means more flavor.

If you haven't already done so, please check out the lessons in the Bread section of the Cooking School on How to Make Bread Basics and The Stages of Bread Making. This will help to give you a clearer picture on the stages that yeast dough goes through. Cheers!

Hi, I haven't tried this yet but am going to tomorrow, I think. As soon as I buy the pizza stone!

So...my question is: can I just use the two types of flours (well, cornmeal isn't really flour, I guess) I have in my cupboard already? I have cornmeal and regular AP flour. Can I substitute the amounts given in the recipe directly? Instead of the semolina flour and bread flour?

I plan to do it "properly" in a few weeks for a crowd but I just want to do a test run or two with what I already have at home. Would this work?

Also, I may have missed this somewhere but if you don't have a peel, you slide the pizza on parchment paper from the back of the baking tray you assemble it on, on to the pre-heated stone keeping the parchment underneath?

Sorry, I should try first, then ask but I just wanted to pre-ask first!:) I want to avoid all disasters if possible!

No, do not substitute cornmeal for the semolina. Just use all all-purpose flour and use the cornmeal to sprinkle onto the peel. In the notes section of this recipe, there is a link to Pizza 4 Ways, which shows you how to assemble and bake a variety of pizzas. Usually stones come with a peel. If you don't buy one, it is probably better to sprinkle the back of a baking sheet with the cornmeal and assemble the pizza on that so you can slide it onto the stone. Parchment will be too flexible and it's likely that your pizza won't wind up on the stone and that would be a sad disaster :-( Cheers!

Hi, I just wanted to check back in and say thanks for the quick response.

I bought a smaller round stone from Old Stone Oven today (13in diameter), and used it with a quarter of the recipe of the dough with a rising time of 5 hours at room temp. (other parts of dough in refrigerator rising more for tomorrow). I made the proscuitto and fontina pizza with the second type of sauce. It was good but not fantastic. Probably for 3 reasons: 1. The shortened rising time. 2. Using all AP flour 3. Maybe not pre-heating oven enough? (I did 30 min from cold, not sure if supposed to wait 30 min AFTER oven reaches 450) and also possibly 4. under-seasoning sauce and the smaller diameter meaning too much crust vs filling flavors. Oh and 5) I didn't buy a peel, slid it off wooden cutting board and had a bit of error on the first try. Much more corn meal seemed to solve that problem but still 'shifted' toppings due to first error. Anyway, since I have so much dough left will try again tomorrow with 24hr risen section and compare results. Also found this today which I thought was cool:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/19/dining/19pizza.html

Confirming that letting dough rise for a day is the way the pros do it! Thanks again. Practice makes perfect, right?:)

Good for you for making notes and understanding where you might have gone wrong. This is how we all improve our cooking. I am sure that the next attempt will be much better. Keep up the good work Gail. Cheers!

Sorry for excessive posting but finished now. Practice makes pretty much perfect and the moral of the story is...if Rouxbe says use bread flour and semolina flour- USE THEM. I made an almost perfect (still need to invest in peel) margarita pizza and am very happy with the result. Thank you again.

Yeah, so happy to hear...keep practicing and you will be a pizza pro in no time :-) Cheers!

When I read the question from the lady who makes her own mozzarella she asked could she use the Whey left instead of plain water. In your response to her question you indicated she could use the whey or milk instead of the plain water. So my question would be could I use whole milk not reduced fat instead of the water listed in the recipe? I can't wait to try this recipe and hopefully can brag about how great my totally homemade pizza was. Thanks for all your time and help with guiding all of us along on our journey to being better cooks.

I have not tried it personnaly but I am sure it works to some degree. Again it may brown faster or too fast...definitely worth trying it. Let us know if you notice a difference.

Thanks Christophe for your answer. I went ahead and made my first bread per video instrudtions yesterday and was very pleased with my first try. I didn't use the milk as I didn't have the answer yet but will give it a go next time and will let you know. Also does the person who was describing how to make the starter for sour dough have the amount of water to flour ratio for each batch as in the first batch then the next days batch after throwing away half of the mixture. I wasn't quite sure how much of each water and flour for the first mixture and so on. I would love to give it a go. Thanks again for the info about milk.

Just wanted to say WOW. For the first time making a dough and following instructions to a T---Everyone that has had a slice of my pizza with this dough all said how much they really enjoyed it. Thank you and look forward to next lesson

Is it true you shouldnt let dough rise in a plastic container? does it affect the rising of the dough? i made this recipe and it tasted delicious but my dough didnt double in size during resting time......here in italy we let dough rise in a warm place under the duvet lol(thats what my nonna used to do)
i had never heard about letting it rise in the fridge,i will try that next time :-)

obviously in a bowl not on the sheets :-D

Plastic bowls are something we generally avoid. First, because we do not like the feel of them. And secondly, because they scratch and are often not as clean as they should be. Having said that, I asked around and nobody seems to think that they would have a negative effect on dough making or process.

In regards to prooffing in the fridge, what it does is, it slows down the proofing process and allows the bread to develops a bit more tanginess/flavor. Cheers!