One of the questions we get asked most often is surprisingly simple:
"What do I do with my pizza when it arrives?"
Fair question. Nobody wants to spend good money on great pizza only to discover they've accidentally missed the window for eating it.
So here's the quick version.
Storage Instructions at a Glance
Pre-baked Pizza Bases
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Keep at room temperature for up to 3 days
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Or freeze for up to 3 months
Doughballs
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Freeze for up to 3 months
Topped Pizzas
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Keep in the fridge for up to 2 days
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Best frozen on arrival and stored for up to 3 months
Ok, so that's the important bit covered.
If you're interested in the why behind those instructions, read on.
Why We Recommend Freezing
People are often surprised when we suggest freezing pizzas as soon as they arrive.
Surely fresh is always best?
Not necessarily.
Freezing is a bit like pressing pause. It locks everything in exactly as it is when the pizza leaves us. The dough, the toppings, the flavour, all waiting patiently for pizza night.
The fridge, on the other hand, doesn't stop things changing. It just slows them down.
That's why topped pizzas can happily sit in the fridge for a couple of days, but for anything longer, the freezer is your friend.
What About The Doughballs?
Sourdough dough is a living thing. Not in a science-fiction way, thankfully, but there is a lot going on inside it.
Even after we've made it, fermented it and packed it, the dough still wants to keep developing.
Freezing effectively puts that process on hold. When you're ready to use it, you simply defrost and bring it back to room temperature before stretching and baking.
Think of it as giving your future self a head start on making excellent pizza.
Why Can The Pizza Bases Stay At Room Temperature?
Our prebaked sourdough bases have already had their first bake, which changes things quite a bit.
Because much of the moisture has been baked out, they're stable enough to be kept at room temperature for a few days without any issue.
That's handy if you're planning a pizza night later in the week and don't fancy sacrificing precious freezer space.
If plans change, though, pop them in the freezer. They'll happily wait there for up to three months.
Does Freezing Affect Quality?
This is where freezer food gets a bit of an unfair reputation.
Most disappointing freezer meals aren't disappointing because they were frozen. They're disappointing because they weren't particularly good to begin with.
A well-made sourdough pizza freezes remarkably well. The structure of the dough, the flavour developed during fermentation and the quality ingredients all hold up brilliantly when stored properly.
Which is fortunate, because most of us don't organise our lives around the exact moment a pizza arrives.
A Final Tip
If you're freezing topped pizzas, do it as soon as possible after delivery.
The sooner they're frozen, the closer they'll be to the condition they left our kitchen in.
Future-you will be grateful when a Tuesday evening suddenly improves with very little effort.
And let's be honest, that's one of the great joys of having pizza in the freezer.
