Defrosting pizza dough correctly? Last time I made pizza dough I was a bit...generous with the ingredients - not a problem, I thought, as I'd read before somewhere that pizza dough is nicely freezable. So, I broke the dough in half, sealed up one piece and placed it in the freezer - this was done immediately after kneading, with no time given for rising.

Now I've got a frozen lump of pizza dough in the freezer, and I'm not sure how I defrost it so it also then rises correctly and cooks well.

If I just leave it out uncovered it will presumably rise inconsistently because the middle will take much longer to defrost?  

So should I leave it in the fridge first?
Or, is it better left somewhere warm through the entire defrost to help fire up the yeast?

Or have I "done it wrong" and may as well dump this particular piece?
Since my pizza dough recipe makes three 12" pies and I usually make two at a time, I regularly freeze extras just as you did.

To thaw, I have used both the countertop and refrigerator method.  Thawing on the countertop produced the best results.  The dough rolled as usual and the crust (a thin one) was crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside after baking.