Simple Sourdough Pizza Crust: A Step-by-Step Guide
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Here is my guide for making sourdough pizza crust at home. As far as sourdough pizza recipes are concerned, this one is as simple as it gets — it’s made with all-purpose flour and there is no autolyse or preferment. Everything gets mixed together at once and you are on your way! Ready? Wake up your starter! Let’s do this 🍕🍕🍕
One of the most frequently asked questions I’ve received these past few weeks is: “Have you ever replaced the yeast in “X” bread recipe with sourdough starter?”
And specifically: “Could I use sourdough starter in your pizza dough recipe?”
Yes! And today, I’m going to show you how. The process is very similar to how I make yeast-leavened pizza, and the resulting pies are similar: ballooned and blistered edges with crisp but pliable crusts. In the recipe below, there are instructions for making three favorite pizzas 🍕🍕🍕:
- Classic Margherita
- Kale and Crème Fraîche
- Naked Pizza with Spicy Scallion (or Ramp!) Oil … made this on Instagram over the weekend
Simple Sourdough Pizza Crust: The details
This sourdough pizza crust is …
- Basic! Given supply constraints, I didn’t get creative with the flour mix here. This dough is made with 100% all-purpose flour. You absolutely can use bread flour or tipo 00 flour (read more about tipo 00 flour here) if you can get your hands on either. If you have been having a hard time finding flour, Baker’s Authority is a great option — great prices, too, even with shipping tacked on.
- 75% hydration. This is a classic sourdough formula: 375 g water, 500 g flour. (Note: This calculation is not quite accurate, because I am not including the weight of the water and flour of the sourdough starter in the calculation.)
- Simple! As with all of the sourdough recipes on this site, there is no autolyse or preferment or levain. I do call for some stretches and folds, which build strength in the dough. I like to do 4 stretch and folds, but even if you can only perform one stretch and fold, your dough will benefit.
Can you Freeze Sourdough Pizza Dough?
Yes. But, in my experience, the pizzas made from frozen dough do not spring as high upon being baked, but they still taste delicious as long as the time spent in the freezer is relatively short: the more time sourdough spends in the freezer, the more air bubbles it loses. After 1 week in the freezer, my dough will bake up fairly well. After 3 weeks in the freezer, my dough will be less bubbly and will bake into a thinner and crisper crust.
To freeze sourdough pizza dough: make it through step 4 in the recipe below or until after you transfer the portioned rounds to quart containers. At this point, transfer the quart containers to the freezer. To thaw, remove a container (or more) and let thaw in the refrigerator for 1 day or thaw at room temperature for 8 hours. Then, proceed with the recipe.
5 Keys to Excellent Pizza Every Time
Regardless if you are using yeast or sourdough, these (for me) are the keys to making excellent pizza at home every time.
- High-hydration Dough: When handled properly, doughs with a high proportion of water relative to the flour bake into beautiful, ballooned-pocketed crusts.
- Refrigerator time: After the first rise, time (at least 6 hours, but up to 3 days) in the fridge further develops flavor and improves the texture of the pizza dough.
- 1 hour at room temperature: If time permits, letting the dough come to room temperature an hour before baking, allows for easier shaping — room temperature dough will more easily stretch into a round than cold dough.
- Minimal handling of dough: Using a delicate hand to shape the dough, preserves the air pockets created during the fermentation process. I learned this from Jim Lahey:
“As soon as I began really paying attention to how I shaped my pizza rounds by taking care to use a gentle hand, I noticed a difference in the finished product. The air pockets pervading the unbaked round really affect the texture of the baked pizza.”
- Baking Steel: As you might know, I am a huge fan of the Baking Steel. In sum: steel is a better conductor of heat than stone — i.e. it transfers heat to the dough faster — which promotes great oven spring which translates to glorious bubbles throughout the dough. (Read more about the Baking Steel here.)
To be clear, I do not think you need to use a sourdough starter to make excellent pizza at home. A high hydration dough + leavening of choice + proper handling will give you excellent pizza every time, including that baked in a skillet: How to Make Excellent Skillet Pizza.
Here’s my guide to making yeast-leavened pizza dough at home: How to Make Pizza
Pizza Night
My cookbook, Pizza Night, which includes 52 pizza and 52 salad recipes, one pair for every week of the year, as well as five simple desserts is here 🍕🍕🍕
It’s organized seasonally and includes recipes for the home oven, outdoor oven, the grill, Sicilian-style, Detroit-style, grandma-style, skillet pizzas, gluten-free, and more. There are both yeast and sourdough recipes for every style of pizza in the book.
Get your copy here: Pizza Night.
New to Sourdough?
If you are intimidated by sourdough bread baking, I have a free email course that covers the basics: Sourdough: Demystified.
And if you are looking for other easy sourdough bread recipes, this simple sourdough focaccia recipe, as well as this simple sourdough bread recipe, are the recipes I suggest attempting first, both for their simplicity and flavor. Another great beginner’s bread recipe to try is this overnight, refrigerator focaccia, which requires minimal effort but yields spectacular results.
PS: Easy, Homemade Pita Bread Recipe
PPS: My Mother’s Peasant Bread: The Best Easiest Bread You Will Every Make
Here’s the simple sourdough pizza crust play-by-play: As always, a scale is essential for best results. You need water, flour, salt, and a sourdough starter. I am a proponent of buying a starter (see recipe box for sources), but if you are up for it, you can build a starter from scratch in just about 1 week.
Combine 375 g water, 100 g sourdough starter, and 10 g salt in a bowl. (See notes in recipe box about using less water if you live in a humid environment.)
Stir to combine; then add …
… 500 g all-purpose flour.
Stir until you have a sticky dough ball.
Transfer to a straight-sided vessel (if possible) and let rest for 30 minutes. Then, “stretch and fold” the dough (see video for guidance) 4 times at 30 minute intervals. Cover the vessel. Let it rest for 6 to 12 hours (see recipe notes for timing) or until the dough…
… has about doubled in volume. (Note: This is a little bit more than double. Ideally you don’t want your dough to rise much beyond double. More recently, in fact, I stop the bulk fermentation when the dough has increased in volume by 50%.)
Turn dough out onto a work surface. Use flour here as needed.
Portion into 4 equal pieces, again using flour as needed.
Ball up and transfer to quart (or other similar-sized) containers (I love these deli quart containers). Transfer to the fridge, ideally for at least 6 hours and up to 3 days.
An hour prior to baking, remove a round (or more) of pizza dough, and place it on a floured work surface. If you have a Baking Steel, place it in the upper third of your oven, and heat the oven to 550ºF. (See recipe for other options.)
Delicately stretch the dough into a round, trying as best you can to preserve those air pockets.
Top as you wish. This one is spread with tomato sauce and topped with fresh mozzarella, parmesan, olive oil, and sea salt.
Transfer pizza, parchment paper and all to a preheated Baking Steel or stone in a 550ºF oven. Bake 5 to 6 minutes or until cooked to your liking.
Slice and serve.
A little fresh basil is always nice.
This is the beauty of the Baking Steel: oven spring!
Another favorite: kale + crème fraîche:
Another favorite: “naked” + spicy scallion (or ramp) oil:
Simple Sourdough Pizza Crust
- Total Time: 1 day + 1 hour
- Yield: 4 pizzas
Description
**Attention Pizza Fans**: My pizza cookbook, Pizza Night, is now available everywhere books are sold. Get your copy here: Pizza Night
What you need to make this recipe…:
- …a sourdough starter. Ideally, you want to use your starter 4 to 6 hours after you feed it, when it has doubled in volume and is very bubbly and active. You can build a starter from scratch in just about 1 week. Or you can buy one. Here are three sources:
- …time. Once your starter is ready to go, this recipe requires an initial 6 – 18 hour rise, followed by at least 6 hours in the fridge or up to 3 days.
Timing/Schedule:
The more I make sourdough, the more I realize that the timing of each bake depends so much on the time of year and the temperature of my kitchen. In the summer, because it is warm and humid, the first rise (bulk fermentation) of all my sourdoughs takes between 6 – 8 hours; in the winter it will take longer, 10 to 12 hours.
It is best to rely on visual cues. For the bulk fermentation, you want the dough to double or less than double: I now end my bulk fermentation when the dough has risen by 50% to 75% in volume. This is why I cannot recommend using a straight-sided vessel (as opposed to a bowl) enough. It makes gauging the first rise easier.
If at any point you are worried the dough will over-ferment — say, for example, the bulk fermentation is nearly complete but you are tired and want to go to bed — stick the vessel in the fridge and pick up the process in the morning. (Note: If your dough rises above double, don’t despair … my dough has tripled in volume during an overnight rise, and the resulting dough still had plenty of strength and spring.)
Schedule: I like mixing this dough in the evening, performing 4 stretch and folds before I go to bed (if time permits), then letting the dough complete its bulk fermentation at room temperature (68ºF) overnight or in the refrigerator (especially in the summer, when my kitchen is much warmer). In the morning, it’s typically ready to be portioned (if it rose at room temperature), transferred to quart containers, and stashed in the fridge. If I had let my dough spend time in the fridge for the bulk fermentation, I remove it in the morning, and let it complete its bulk fermentation at room temperature. Once complete, I portion the dough and stash it in the fridge. Sometimes I’ll use the dough that same evening; sometimes I’ll use it the following day or the next. I encourage using the dough within 3 days.
In short: If you want pizza for the weekend, mix your dough on either Wednesday or Thursday.
Troubleshooting: If you have issues with your dough being too sticky, please read this post: Why is my sourdough so sticky? The 4 common mistakes.
Water: If you live in a humid environment or if you are making this on a particularly humid day, consider starting with less water, such as 335 grams of water, which will bring the hydration down to 70%. This amount of water will still produce a light airy crust but the dough will be more manageable.
Flour choice:
- Due to supply issues, I’ve been making this recipe with all-purpose flour, and it works beautifully. You absolutely can use bread flour or tipo 00 flour if you can get your hands on either. If you can’t, know that all-purpose (unbleached) flour works great here. If you use 00 flour, you’ll likely need to reduce the amount of water. I would start with 350 g, and adjust moving forward based on your results.
Favorite Pizza-Making Tools:
- Baking Steel
- Pizza Peel
- Parchment Paper: I bake my pizzas on parchment paper on my Baking Steel. Parchment allows for easy transfer from peel to steel.
- Cast Iron Skillet: If you do not have a Steel or stone, you can use a cast iron skillet. Rub a half teaspoon of oil over its surface, transfer a stretched dough round to the skillet. Top as desired. Bake at 450ºF for about 15 minutes.
- Quart Containers for storing dough
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 375 g water (or less, see notes above)
- 100 g sourdough starter, active and bubbly, see notes above
- 10 g salt
- 500 g all-purpose or bread flour
For each Margherita pizza:
- 2 tablespoons tomato sauce
- 1 to 2 oz mozzarella
- handful of grated Parmigiano Reggiano (less than an ounce)
- drizzle olive oil
- pinch sea salt
For each kale and crème fraiche pizza:
- extra-virgin olive oil
- a couple handfuls of baby or Tuscan kale
- 1 to 2 cloves garlic
- Sea salt, such as Maldon
- 2 tablespoons crème fraîche
- grated Parmigiano Reggiano, about 1/4 to 1/3 cup
For each naked pizza with ramp or scallion oil:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup minced scallions or ramps
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 to 2 tablespoons crème fraîche
- handful grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- sea salt
Instructions
- Mix the dough. Place the starter, salt, and water in a large bowl. Stir with a spatula to combine — it doesn’t have to be uniformly mixed. Add the flour. Mix again until the flour is completely incorporated. Transfer to a straight-sided vessel (if you have one.) Cover vessel with tea towel or cloth bowl cover and let stand 30 minutes.
- Stretch and fold: after 30 minutes have passed, reach into the vessel and pull the dough up and into the center. Turn the vessel quarter turns and continue this pulling 8 to 10 times. See video for guidance. Let the dough rest for another 30 minutes; then repeat the stretching and folding. If possible, repeat this cycle twice more for a total of 4 stretch and folds. By the 4th cycle, you will notice a huge difference in the texture of the dough: it will be smoother, stronger, and more elastic.
- Bulk fermentation: Cover vessel with a tea towel or bowl cover and set aside to rise at room temperature (70ºF/21ºC) for 4 to 18 hours (the time will vary depending on the time of year, the strength of your starter, and the temperature of your kitchen; see notes above) or until the dough has roughly doubled in volume. (UPDATE: In the past I have recommended letting the dough rise until it doubles in volume. If you’ve had success with this, continue to let the dough double. Recently, I have been stopping the bulk fermentation when the dough increases by 50% in volume, and I feel my dough is even stronger in the end.) Note: Do not use your oven with the light on for the bulk fermentation — it is too warm for the dough. When determining when the bulk fermentation is done, it is best to rely on visual cues (doubling in volume) as opposed to time. A straight-sided vessel makes monitoring the bulk fermentation especially easy because it allows you to see when your dough has truly doubled.
- Portion and shape: Turn the dough out onto a work surface and shape into a rough ball, using as much flour as needed — the dough will be sticky. Using a bench scraper, divide the dough into 4 equal portions. Sprinkle portions with flour. With floured hands, roll each portion into a ball, using the pinkie-edges of your hands to pinch the dough underneath each ball. Transfer each round of dough to a plastic quart container, cover, and store in fridge for at least 6 hours or up to 3 days or transfer to the freezer for up to 1 week. (To thaw, remove a container (or more) and let thaw in the refrigerator for 1 day or thaw at room temperature for 8 hours. Then, proceed with the recipe.)
- Make the pizzas: Pull out a round (or more) of dough from the fridge one hour before you plan on baking. Dust dough with flour and place on a floured work surface. Let sit untouched for about an hour (a little longer or shorter is fine). Place a Baking Steel or pizza stone in the top third of your oven. Set oven to 550ºF. Heat oven for at least 45 minutes but ideally 1 hour prior to baking.
- Shape the dough: Gently shape dough into a 10-inch (roughly) round handling it as minimally as possible. (See video for guidance.) Lay a sheet of parchment paper on top of a pizza peel. Transfer the dough round to the parchment-lined peel.
Top and Bake
- To make a classic Margherita-style pizza: Spread 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce over the surface of the dough. Top with mozzarella to taste. Sprinkle with parmesan to taste. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt. Shimmy the pizza, parchment paper and all into the oven. Bake pizza until top is blistered, about 5-6 minutes. Transfer to cutting board. Sprinkle with basil, if you have it. Cut and serve. Discard parchment paper.
- To make a kale and crème fraîche pizza: Place the kale in a small bowl, drizzle with olive oil, season with sea salt, and toss. Spoon crème fraîche over the dough leaving a 1/2-inch border or so—I use about a tablespoon per pizza. Sprinkle with minced garlic and a handful of grated Parmigiano Reggiano. Top with the kale. Shimmy the pizza, parchment paper and all into the oven. Bake pizza until top is blistered, about 5 – 6 minutes. Transfer to cutting board. Cut and serve. Discard parchment paper.
- To make a naked pizza with scallion oil: Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a skillet with 1/4 cup of minced scallions (or ramps!) and 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes. Keep it over low heat while you make the pizza. Spoon crème fraîche over the dough leaving a 1/2-inch border or so—I use about a tablespoon per pizza. Sprinkle with a handful of grated parmesan. Shimmy the pizza, parchment paper and all into the oven. Bake pizza until top is blistered, about 5 – 6 minutes. Transfer to cutting board. At this point, the scallions should be starting to “frizzle”. If they aren’t, crank up the heat until the oil is sizzling. Spoon a few tablespoons of the hot oil over the pizza (you’ll have extra oil). Sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt. Cut and serve.
- Prep Time: 24 hours
- Cook Time: 5 to 6 minutes
- Category: Pizza
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American, Italian
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
1,237 Comments on “Simple Sourdough Pizza Crust: A Step-by-Step Guide”
Hi, I’m wondering if you could help me troubleshoot! The crust is absolutely delicious, but I can’t seem to get it cooked right… I am following the directions exactly, with the exception that I can only get my oven up to about 515 degrees F. If I bake the pizza for 5-6 minutes, the crust is delicious and fluffy, but the rest of the pizza dough is gummy and undercooked. If I leave it in for longer, the cheese and toppings start to burn and the crust gets like crispy not in a good way… (dried out maybe?) Should I adjust anything given my lower temp (515 deg)? I am using a pizza stone in the upper third of my oven, and I preheated for a full hour. I also let my dough sit out for a full hour and handled it very minimally!
As I’ve gone trough years of pizza R&D i can tell you the problem is most likely your pizza stone, and less likely your oven. Years back I bought a wrong labeled pizzastone on eBay. I had the same problems as you.
Pizza perfect on the upper side, and basically raw under.
The best thing you can do if you bake regularly is to get a pizza steel. As it really heats up and bakes the underside. Since I have one i prefer my kitchen oven over my fire one.
If you want to sort it out without investing, i would start with lowering the stone in your oven.
I hadn’t even thought of that, thank you!! That is going on my list of things I want to invest in next!
Hi Ana! It sounds as though you are doing everything right: long preheat with a stone in the upper third; sufficiently proofing your dough, etc.
One thought you might try: parbaking. Keep your oven at its hottest setting — 515ºF is fine. Stretch your dough out into a 12-inch round; bake it on the stone for 60-90 seconds. It will still be very pale with maybe the faintest light brown spots. Remove it, top it, then return it to the oven. This will promote a crisper bottom while ensuring the toppings (like the cheese) don’t over bake.
When you are ready to invest in a Baking Steel, that will be the next step 🙂
Thank you!! I will try that next! 🙂
Delicious! So easy to make, and it came out so tasty! I make 1-2 sourdough loaves a week, and it’s wonderful that this follows a similar schedule, while allowing me to bake the pizzas later in the week.
Great to hear, Jen! Thanks so much for writing 🙂
I made this pizza dough today and it turned out amazing! I fed my starter in the morning and made the dough around 1pm followed by the strech and folds x 4. Since I wanted to make it for dinner I didn’t have any time to refrigerate it so I decided to skip that step. I was worried it would affect the outcome but it turned out so airy and yummy. My husband even said it was restaurant level quality. I was using King Arthur bread flour and baked it on a pizza stone in the oven. I didn’t have cornmeal so I used rice flour instead to launch it, which worked well. I also put some olive oil on the crust and it made it brown beautifully.
Thank you for a great recipe, this is my new go to now!
Great to hear, Alma! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes 🙂 🙂 🙂
Hi Alma, I also would like to make the pizza tonight so if I follow your process do I leave it out on the counter the whole time or refrigerate for at least the time once it rises 50-75%? Or did you leave it out the whole time then just shape the pizza and baked it? Thank you
Hey Lydia! I ended up just leaving it out until I made the pizza and it worked out great. (I made the dough around 1pm). I hope you get the same results!
Awesome, I’ll try the same. Thank you for responding so quickly. I appreciate it. Have a blessed day. 🙂
My favorite dough!
Great to hear, Lindsey!
I want to make more like 6-8 pizzas for a party. Can I double this recipe? Or should I make the individual recipe twice? Thanks!
Double it!
Can I use pizza flour instead of ap or bread flour?
When you say pizza flour are you referring to 00 flour? And are you making this in your home oven?
In short: yes, but you may want to hold back some of the water because 00 flour will make for a much wetter dough. 00 flour also doesn’t brown as well as something like KAF bread flour, which includes some malt, which will yield better browning in a home oven.
Thank you for the quick response. Yes the 00 flour, and yes to baking in my home.
Love love love this pizza dough! So simple and quick to make. The store-bought dough balls I used to use weigh 16oz, and this recipe makes 2 dough balls that weight. So I divide the dough into 2 rather than 4, which makes for a nice thick crust. It bakes up beautifully in a preheated cast-iron skillet. This has become a regular addition to our dinners and is a huge upgrade over store-bought dough – thank you Ali!
Great to hear, Alina! Thanks so much for writing and sharing this 🙂
Hi! This is the first time I’m using this recipe and I can’t wait to see (and taste!) the final product but I wanted to check – after the double in size rise and place in the refrigerator part – tomorrow, how long do I let the dough sit out from the fridge before using? Thank you!
It really depends on the time of year, but this time of year (if it’s warm where you are), 1 to 1.5 hours should be fine. I like to proof my dough balls in a lidded DoughMate container to protect them from drying out.
Super excited to try this recipe!
I want to make this in advance for a potluck, should I make the whole pizza, refrigerate, then warm it back up the next day or par bake it put the topping on and then finish it the next day?
I definitely think pizza is best served freshly baked, so I would go for your par baking option: you can bake the rounds for 60-90 seconds without any toppings. They should be pale with the faintest amount of brown spots when you remove them from the oven.
What level of the oven do you put your rack on? I apologize if it is somewhere on this page. I’ve searched and I watched the video but I cannot see the answer.
Thank you
I keep my Baking Steel on the top rack of the oven, and I set my oven to 550ºF convection roast — I find I get the best browning up top in my oven, but every oven is different, so I do encourage people to play around. Some people also find the top rack tricky, and if you find it tricky, the second to highest rack is also a good option.
Is it ok to cut the recipe in half to make two pizzas?
Yes!
The dough turned out great! It sounds like a long project but in warm climate, it’s feasible in 24-28 hours with fridge proof. The pizzas came out slightly lopsided due to poor shaping technique, but who cares if they taste great. We divided the dough for 6 small pizzas and made 4, it was more than enough for 2 people. And we made our own tomato sauce because why not.
Great to hear, Irina! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes 🙂 🙂 🙂
Hi! I absolutely love your SD pizza dough and have made it successfully many times, your tip about the baking steel has elevated my home pizza to near restaurant level I feel, and love it! I’ve made many of your recipes and appreciate the way you explain things and have videos to show how your recipes should look etc. Thank you!
In the last year or so I’ve learned that I have trouble digesting the saccharides that are in flour, and SD is a help as in the SD fermentation process some of the saccharides are consumed but it’s not perfect. I’ve also learned that SD spelt flour dough might be even better for me and am wondering can I do an even conversion of bread flour to spelt flour in this SD pizza recipe, following the same process? Breads, pizza and pastas are my 1st love but they don’t love me and am trying to figure a way to be able to eat your SD pizza once in a while (which I do anyway sometimes :)) with less troubles. Any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!
Hi Julie! It’s so nice to read all of this. Honestly, I think spelt flour used in place of the bread flour will work really well. Spelt flour is known for its extensible gluten structure, which I think will work really well with pizza. The only way to know, however, is to try 🙂 I say go big: use 100% spelt flour without any changes and see how it works. Depending on the result, you may need to use more or less water next time around… just take notes. It’s possible, too, if you find the pizza to be too heavy that you may want to use something like 75% spelt flour, 25% bread flour. Good luck! Keep me posted 🙂
Thanks so much for getting back to me Ali! Will do! I’ll go big & lyk how it goes. Appreciate your encouragement. 🍕
How would you adjust for an outdoor oven? Cook at 600 – 700 deg F? or, use less water?
Yes: I like a 70% hydration dough for my outdoor oven, so here that 335 grams of water. And I like the 650-750ºF range and I cook the pizzas for 2.5 – 3 minutes total. Good luck!
Hi Ali! I was wondering if or for how long this dough would keep in the fridge/freezer??
Hi Hannah! I don’t love freezing this dough — I find after a week it doesn’t perform as well. In the fridge, it really all depends on your starter and how long the dough fermented during the bulk fermentation, but ideally, you’d want to use this dough within a week if it’s kept in the fridge. I find 2-3 days to the ideal time to use it
I am making this dough today and have a question. Can I add olive oil because I’ usually do to my non sourdough pizzas?
Thank you and hope to hear
If you want! I think the crust will be lighter and airier without the oil, however.
Thank you. Had made the dough before your answer came in and added olive oil so I’ll let you know how it goes when i make pizzas on Tuesday And I’ll Give it a rating also 😊😊
Sounds good! Good luck 🙂
Well I did make pizzas on Tuesday as I said. 3 different doughs. Yours, my own and gluten-free which I’ve made. Before. They were all good but my oven runs slow and only goes up to 250c (at least in theory) so your pizza was not quite firm enough on the bottom. I only have pizza stones but my house is in the middle of renovations with the kitchen due to start at the end of this month and when that happens I’ll have a new kitchen complete with butler’s pantry, appliance bench and.2 new Smeg ovens (one steam injected) so I’ll buy steel baking plates then. I did have a wood fired pizza oven but it was a little small so I gave it away to my friends boys but I am going to get a larger one (probably next year). Sorry I’m rambling so, bottom line, I definitely think the lack of heat and pizza stones versus steel was the problem. I did heat the oven and stones for over an hour but I make sourdough bread of all kinds and it always come out great but definitely helped by the fact that my useless oven is at least steam injected, so I’ll try it again after the renovations and write another review.. I’ve rated it 5 because I’m sure it would have been given the right conditions. Once again, thank you
Got it, well thanks for writing and sharing these notes. One thing that might help your crust until you have new ovens and a Steel is parbaking: parbake your crusts without any toppings on for 60-90 seconds; then remove, top and finish baking.
Is sourdough pizza chewy
Hi! I am making these pizzas tonight but I do not have a baking steel. Should I bake the dough before the toppings are added to ensure it cooks through? All I have are baking sheets. How long would you recommend baking them for? Sorry if I missed this in your article, I tried looking for it!
Hi! So sorry for the delay here. What did you end up doing? I do think parbaking the pizzas without any toppings would help with your crust since you do not have a baking steel. You could also try preheating your baking sheet.
Hi! I am making these pizzas tonight but I do not have a baking steel. Should I bake the dough before the toppings are added to ensure it cooks through? All I have are baking sheets. How long would you recommend baking them for? Sorry if I missed this in your article, I tried looking for it!
Hi, quick question, after the fermentation process, do I have to refrigerate the dough for 1-3 days or can I eat it right away? Do I need to refrigerate it at all? What does the refrigeration process do?
You don’t have to! The fridge time will give you better coloration in the crust and a little airier overall dough, but it’s not critical for the success of the recipe.
Thank you so much! I’ve also noticed some recipes call for a coat of egg brushed on before baking. Any thoughts on that?
I think the egg wash is to help with a crisper crust. I haven’t tried, so I can’t comment on its effectiveness, but my feeling is that with a sufficiently preheated Baking Steel in a very hot oven along with a properly proofed dough, you should be able to get the crisp texture you’re looking for without it. Hope that helps!
Bit disappointed in the result, actually. After sitting in the fridge for two days after shaping, it was way too wet. Couldn’t be shaped into a base at all. I accounted for a humid environment and used less water, to no avail. Oh well.
Can you skip yhe fridge and just leave on counter for 5 hours then use?
This recipe seems identical to basic sourdough loaf. Is there something in the process that makes it different? I have tried several other pizza crust recipes and I just can’t seem to get the airy crust. I am going to try your recipe for Detroit style this week. Just waiting on Lloyd pan to be delivered and browsing your recipes.
Yes, the process is slightly different after the bulk fermentation. My tips for light and airy dough include:
high hydration dough (which this is)
1-2 day cold ferment
proper room temperature proofing upon removing the rounds from the fridge (in a lidded container such as a Doughmate for at least an hour)
Baking in a properly preheated oven on a preheated Baking Steel.
Do you have a Baking Steel?
Hi Alexandra! I’ve made both your basic pizza and boule doughs and would like to add that I think doing the 8-10 pulls in the pizza stretch and fold stages versus the 4 for loaf also makes a difference in outcome. (However I’m still a beginner, just guessing!)
OK, great to hear! Will try. Thanks for sharing 🙂 🙂 🙂
I love this recipe and have used it several times. It comes out great every time! I was just gifted a wood fired pizza oven (Ooni). Do you know if I can use this recipe for a wood fired oven?
Yes, but you’ll need to lower the hydration. I like a 68-70% hydration dough when I’m using my outdoor oven and I cook it at 650-750F for 2.5-3 minutes.
For this recipe try 325-335 grams water.