How do I defrost the dough?Updated a month ago

Take the dough out of the freezer, ideally the night before you're looking at baking your pizza, and place it in the fridge. The following morning, or once the dough has defrosted but it still chilled, remove it from its bag. Doing this when the dough is still very cold but not frozen will make it very easy to remove from the back without any of the dough sticking to the bag or your fingers.

Once the dough has been removed from the bag, gently shape it back into a ball and place the dough ball in a covered container such as a proofing containter and place it in the fridge to defrost.

When ready to use the dough ball, it may have spread out rather than risen, depending on the container you used to rest the dough. This is normal as the dough has a high hydration content. At this point, avoid the urge to shape the dough back into a ball as this will tighten the dough back up. 

When pressing the dough, only lightly dust the dough to reduce the stickiness. Please do not add excessive flour.

Best Practice Example:

If you plan on cooking on Saturday evening, take the dough out of the freezer on Friday night and place them in the fridge, in their bags, overnight.   Remove them from their bags the following morning and put them in proofing containers. Leave them to rest in a warm place, like the kitchen, so they rest and proof. Ideally, the temperature should be around 18 - 21ºc, which will warm your dough balls up in around 4 - 6 hours. 

Please do not place your dough balls in an airing cupboard or a room that is too warm and humid, as this will make the dough proof too quickly and result in a limp, sticky dough.

Suppose you're pushed for time. Check out our hack on defrosting your pizza dough ball in 45 minutes.