Room-temperature fermentation – same-day dough without skimping on flavour

Quick answer: no fridge space and no patience for 48 hours? A room-temperature dough over 6–8 hours at 21–23 °C works well – but it needs more yeast and gives a simpler flavour than a long cold fermentation, because the enzymes don’t get to work for as long.

How to adjust the yeast

A shorter fermentation at a higher temperature has to be compensated with more yeast, or the dough will never be ready in time. As a rule of thumb, the amount of yeast roughly doubles for every 8–10 °C rise in temperature – but don’t guess: the calculator works it out exactly from time and temperature, using the same model the cold fermentation is based on.

What you lose compared with the fridge

The 48 hours in the fridge don’t just give you practical breathing room – they let enzymes break starch down into sugars that later caramelise in the oven, giving deeper flavour and finer leopard spots. Room-temperature fermentation gives a perfectly decent, digestible dough, but the flavour is plainer and less complex. Think of it as a good weeknight solution, not a shortcut to exactly the same result.

Even less time? Read quick pizza dough for an honest 3-hour version. More on the mechanics of fermentation in the fermentation guide and the yeast guide, and if the dough still ends up slack or won’t rise – see underproofed dough.