Pizza Dough Balls Procedure

Store cases of frozen dough balls in freezer.

• Identify daily consumption.

• The day before needed, stage the dough balls you will use the following day. As a rule of thumb, use a 24, 36 or even better 48 hours slacking / aging window if you can.

• Place frozen dough balls on oiled sheet pans, leaving enough space between dough balls to allow expansion without sticking together in the thawing / proofing process.

• Rub some oil on dough balls and cover sheet pan with plastic wrap.

• Place in refrigerator until ready to use the next day. Always use FIFO (First in First out) to properly rotate your dough balls.

• A few hours before service time, remove the number of sheet pans / dough balls needed for the meal period from refrigerator and allow to proof at room temperature. Depending on the length of meal period and temperature in kitchen, you may want to stagger the number of sheet pans you pull out to prevent over proofing the dough balls.

• Sprinkle semolina, flour, or a combination of both on your work surface, pizza peel, or the bottom platform of the press. Place the dough ball on it, sprinkle more semolina, or flour over the dough ball and machine-press or hand-stretch the dough.

• If using a manual press, press the dough ball into a dough disk a few inches smaller than the final size of the pizza (unless you want to make a flat pizza without border.) Remove dough disk from press and allow dough to rest a few minutes (if possible.)

• If not using a pizza press, flatten the dough balls with the palm of your hand and proceed as above.

• With the tip of your finger, mark a border half inch to one inch wide. Stretch the dough from inside the border, either with the palm of your hand if working on a flat surface or knuckles and fingers if stretching over your hand or by tossing the dough disk in a circular motion.

• Sprinkle more semolina or flour on the pizza peel, place the stretched dough disk on it and add the toppings. If using pizza screens, place dough disk on it and add toppings.

• If using pizza peel, make sure that the pizza moves freely on the pizza peel, then slide pizza in oven and bake, depending on oven style, you may have to rotate the pizza while baking to achieve a uniform coloring. If using pizza screen, place in oven and proceed in the same way.

• To achieve the perfect bake, you need to find the right balance between temperature and time. Too much heat will “sear” your pizza (like a steak on a grill) without allowing proper interior dough development. Not enough heat and baking too long will result in a dry lifeless pizza.

• Practice (and Colors Pizza Dough Balls) makes perfect…