Simple Sourdough Pizza Crust: A Step-by-Step Guide
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
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. In my experience, the pizzas made from frozen dough do not spring as high upon being baked, but they still taste delicious.
Also, in my experience, the more time dough spends in the freezer, the more air bubbles the dough seems to lose. After 1 week in the freezer, my dough will bake up beautifully. 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 now available for preorder 🍕🍕🍕
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 for pre-order. 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 (see notes in post about thawing).
- 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.
1,110 Comments on “Simple Sourdough Pizza Crust: A Step-by-Step Guide”
Looks delicious. Was wondering if it is suitable to freeze this dough? TIA
Hi Anne, You can freeze it, but sourdough doesn’t freeze as well as yeast-leavened dough in my experience. And it doesn’t freeze well for long periods of time. I have the best luck with a week or two.
This was the best way to use discard ever I did mine at 500 degrees on two pizza stones. ITs very warm out and my dough tripled in no time . Stored individual balls in the fridge and brought to room temp before cooking. Wonderful I also did 1 1/2 of the recipe to use all my discard
Great to hear this, Pat! Thanks so much for sharing. I have yet to use discard here, but I know lots of people have had success doing so. Time for me to try!
This is my go to pizza recipe, I absolutely love it. The dough takes little effort, and gives me maximum taste. Everyone comments on how lovely the pizza tastes and looks. We use a pizza stone to cook the dough, in the oven. It is delicious.
Wonderful to hear all of this, Sarah! Thanks so much for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
I tried the exact recipe and it turned out a bit “sticky”. Any idea why? The dough was a bit wet as well. I didn’t get the smooth texture though I followed exactly the same measurement for all the ingredients. Would like to know where I could be going wrong…. Thank you very much!
Hi! Questions for you: are you using a scale? Where are you located? Humid or dry environment? What type of flour? Was the dough sticky from the start? Or sticky after the bulk fermentation?
I am going to try this recipe for the weekend. I have a question about water adjustment: I would like to substitute about 50grs of flour for whole wheat and I am doing this recipe in Rio de Janeiro, so very humid: how do you you think I could adjust the water to account for those two factors?
I absolutely love your recipes. Thank you so much!!!
Hi Luiza! I would start by holding back 75 grams water. You can always add it back in little by little if the dough looks too stiff once you mix it. JUst reference the video for a visual on how the dough should look after you mix it.
can i use 500g wholemeal flour for thi recipe?
Hi! Yes, you can, but keep in mind the pizza will be very dense … just manage your expectations about the finished product: It will not have those light, pockets of bubbles throughout the dough.
Hi! I am just getting started making this style pizza on my new baking steel. This was my first attempt and it came out pretty great! The crust is delicious, better than the King Arthur sourdough crust recipe I have always used in the past. So, mine was utterly delicious but I did not get the fancy-looking results with the crust charred in spots, nor did my mozzarella melt very much, but remained in chunks. I am curious since most recipes I’ve seen suggest setting the oven to broil and placing the steel just under the broiler. Yours calls for top third of oven, but I didn’t see anything about using the broiler, so I adhered to the recipe exactly, placed my steel in uppermost rack, and did not broil. I’d like to try it again tomorrow night and just wondering if you can explain the benefits to turning the broiler on, and if so, how many minutes into the Baking process would I do that? Thank you!!
Hi Sarah!
Thanks so much for writing. It sounds as though your oven might not be getting as hot as mine. Do you generally feel your oven is accurate? Or does it run cool?
Regardless, I am a firm believer in experimenting with oven rack placement. I find I get the best results in the top third of my oven, but that might not be the case for you. So, play around with different spots. For me, when I use the broiler, I find it chars the dough too much. But I know many people who like the broiler setting. I would just again be careful: play around with using the broiler, and if you get better charring, stick with that.
Warning: If you use the broiler with parchment paper, it may set on fire. You can trim the parchment so that it is covered completely by the round of dough, but if any paper is exposed, it might catch fire.
Absolutely love this recipe. Not hard at all!
Great to hear, Carolyn! Thanks so much for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
When I first started my pandemic sourdough journey I made starter using your instructions and have had wonderful success baking loaves. Now I am branching out to pizza since I recently bought a pizza steel. Your recipe is fantastic and makes such a delicious crust. I leave the dough in the fridge for 3 days and it is nicely sour. Thanks for the recipes!
Wonderful to hear this, Mary! Thanks so much for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
Hello I’m not sure if this is a silly comment but this recipe makes FOUR pizzas? A bit confused I keep rereading recipe and comments! Thank you!
HI! Yes, 4 pizzas. After the bulk fermentation, divide the dough into 4 portions, ball them up; then transfer to the fridge. Use from there as you wish within 3 days or so.
Hi Ali! I have been loving this recipe!
I’ve made it a couple of times, but I have not been able to achieve the airy, bubbly crust you show when baking. I am using a pizza stone, following your instructions to preheat my stone for an hour as hot as my oven will get (550°), not overloading with toppings. Is it reasonable to expect an airy, bubbly crust when using a stone instead of a steel? Anything else I can try to get more rise in my crust?
Absolutely no complaints about the taste or texture of this crust; just jealous of your air bubbles 😍
Additionally, I am planning to give some of this dough to my friend to bake, and she does not have a pizza stone or steel. Would this bake okay on a regular cookie sheet? Any adjustments she should make when baking?
Thank you so much! 😊
I should also mention that I know my starter is strong because it bakes beautiful loaves!
Hi Leanne! Great to hear you are loving the taste and texture.
OK, questions: how many days are you letting the dough hang out in the fridge. And, when you shape the dough into the round, do you see lots of lovely air pockets spread throughout the dough as in this photo?
Also: What type of flour are you using? And how long are you letting the dough rest at room temperature before baking?
You should definitely be able to get good oven spring with a pizza stone. I get good oven spring when I place the dough in my (unpreheated) cast iron skillet or carbon steel pan, which I do not place on a Baking Steel in the oven.
For your friend, a sheet pan or a heavy skillet would work just fine. Be sure to tell your friend to use parchment with the sheet pan or to be sure to butter the pan and use a little olive oil over the butter to ensure it doesn’t stick.
Great tips love it all thanks
This is the best pizza crust, friends and family now ask for it and come over in flocks when they hear we are making it. We typically grill these on our Big Green Egg and the result is so so so so good. Crispy and chewy and all the bubbles!
Oh amazing!! I’m so jealous of your big green egg!! I’ve been eyeing it for years 🙂
Hi
I’m curious as to why we have to portion and shape before cold fermentation? Will it affect the rise/taste if I just chuck it into the fridge after bulk fermentation?
Hi, first of all – great recipe! Second – can it be stored in the fridge for a longer time then 3 days? What will happen on day 4 or 5 in the fridge if not taken on day 3?
Hi! If you leave it longer than 3 days, it might be fine, but the risk is that the dough over-ferments, in which case, it would lose all strength and structure and unfortunately would be unsalvageable. If I were you, I would bake any extra dough rounds for 3 minutes. Let them cool; then transfer to a ziplock bag and freeze. The next time you want pizza, thaw the dough overnight at room temperature. Top it. And bake as directed.
The best sourdough pizza crust I’ve tried so far! I use 50/50 AP/00 flour and 350g of water and it comes out perfectly. If you are using an Ooni or pizza oven parchment paper will burn so instead use a LOT of flour on the pizza paddle. I generally use a mixture of 50/50 whole wheat flour/rice flour and the pizza slides off pretty well. I think the ideal proofing time in the fridge is 2 days. Thanks so much for this recipe!
So great to hear this, Elaine! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes with everyone — so helpful!
This was my first time baking with sourdough and it turned out way better than I expected, and wasn’t hard at all. I used a cast iron pan and it worked perfectly. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Oh, wonderful! I love using my cast iron skillet for pizzas as well. Thanks for writing!
Hi Ali,
I started my sourdough starter during pandemic, and your pizza crust recipe and focaccia recipes are my favorites! Your directions were the easiest I have found, and I can make either from memory at this point. Thanks for making sourdough easy and approachable!
So nice to hear this, Jolene! Thanks so much for taking the time to write 🙂 🙂 🙂
This is my favorite dough! I cook my pizza on the Traeger, it’s out of this world delicious!
Great to hear, Jenny! Thanks so much for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
Can I substitute all purpose flour for Tipo “00” flour? Same ratio. Thanks
Hi Sara! If you use Tipo 00 flour, I would consider cutting back some of the water especially if you live in a humid environment. Hold back 50 grams of water; you can always add some if it back in slowly if the dough is stiff.
The ratio for making this pizza 1:1:1 or 1:3:3 or another ratio ?
Hi! Haven’t tried this yet but I’m wondering what the point of the parchment paper on the peel is? And do you need to flour the parchment paper before putting the dough on? Just wondering, other pizza dough recipes don’t require parchment on top of the peel so I’m curious. Can’t wait to try this!!
Hi Katie! No need to flour the parchment paper. The parchment just makes it easier to launch your pizza onto the Baking Steel… it can be tricky without the parchment because the dough tends to stick to the peel. It also is a little bit less messy. Without parchment, you should use cornmeal or semolina or flour, all of which will burn on the Steel in the oven.
What are grams to cups?
Hi Sonja. Gram measurements will give you a much more accurate result, but here are the cup measurements:
375 g water (1.5 cups)
100 g sourdough starter (about 1/2 cup)
10 g salt (2 teaspoons)
500 g (about 4 cups)
Hey! Absolutely love the pizza this recipe produced, unfortunately I have a lot of trouble trying to cook it. The method I use is frying the pizza in a cast iron skillet, but the dough is far too fragile to be able to transfer to the hot pan without breaking. Do you have any tips?
I have tried forming it first on baking paper and then sliding it onto the pan but this didn’t go as well as hoped!
Hi Mariana! What about letting the dough proof in the oiled skillet? So, after you remove the dough from the fridge, transfer it immediately to an oiled skillet; then let it proof for 45 minutes or so. Stretch, top, and turn on the heat underneath the burner. Finish it in the oven.
Hey, Alex
I made this tonight, and it was absolutely delicious! Crust had the nice air pockets, and I got the nice little charred bits on top. I acquired a 30-year-old starter, and it has changed my bread making world. I used a lodgepole cast iron pizza pan and used parchment paper, but my pizza stuck to the parchment paper. I added flour to the last one but that didn’t help with the sticking. Should I use oil or cooking spray? Just curious if you had any pointers. I also made your charred broccoli salad with the cashew dressing today. Soooo good! Your recipes never disappoint and have given me such confidence in my bread making. Thank you!!
So nice to hear all of this, Raine! Bummer about the parchment paper. I have had sticking issues with parchment paper once over the years, and it all had to do with the brand — I bought a bulk pack on Amazon and it was a bust! I have had no issues with two grocery store brands: If You Care and Reynolds. I would recommend trying either of those or if you want to give yours another try, I think a little olive oil or cooking spray will work.
So glad you liked the charred broccoli salad, too! And thank you for your kind words 🙂 🙂 🙂
I love your recipes! I’ve tried your sourdough sandwich bread and foccacia. I’m also excited to try the pizza crust. I had a question about using unfed starter. I have recently made sourdough bread successfully using a method that uses unfed starter and doubles the amount of salt. If I use unfed starter with your pizza crust recipe, would you recommend doubling the salt or using a smaller amount of starter ( with more rising time) or none of the above? Thank you!
Hi Stacey!
This is so interesting. I am so curious about the doubling of the salt idea. I LOVE salt, but I worry if you double the salt in this recipe, the dough will taste way too salty. My instinct would be to just use the same amount of starter, but increase the length of the bulk fermentation… it will take longer for the dough to rise because the starter won’t be very vibrant at the start.
Hope that helps! And good luck!
I’ve made this recipe a few times – the flavour is lovely! But each time, the dough is so sticky and hard to work with, I can’t get it to the stage where it can be handled like yours in the videos. I’m using standard all purpose flour – environment is not overly humid. Any tips for making it easier to handle?
Hi Emma!
Thanks for writing. A few thoughts: Use bread flour the next time you make a batch. OR reduce the amount of water slightly: try using 50 grams less water.
Are you using wet hands for the stretches and folds?
Hi, great recipe! I was wondering if it is possible to drop the doubling in size and drop the 3-12 house in room temperature? I see «bakingsteel» drops the time in room temperature in their new recipe and leave it in the fridge longer for example (72 hours).
Thank you for such a thorough recipe with the instructions and video! This was also delicious and I can’t wait to make it again!
So great to hear this, Rosa 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks for writing.
I made this pizza dough for the first time and our pizza turned out FABULOUS!! I am excited to make more pizzas with the leftover dough. However, I don’t see the specific directions about freezing the dough and I would like to do that with what I can’t use now. Will you please let me know more specifics about freezing and then thawing to use it in the next 1-2 months? I do see comments saying to use it within 3 months of freezing it, so I will definitely plan on that. Thank you for the great recipe!
Great to hear, Linda! The freezing instructions are in the actual blog post, but I’ve copied and pasted them below. I don’t have great success freezing for much more than a couple of weeks with this dough.
Can You Freeze Sourdough Pizza Dough?
Yes. In my experience, the pizzas made from frozen dough do not spring as high upon being baked, but they still taste delicious.
Also, in my experience, the more time dough spends in the freezer, the more air bubbles the dough seems to lose. After 1 week in the freezer, my dough will bake up beautifully. 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.
Excellent , Thank you very much
Great to hear, Gil!
Hey, Alex
I made the dough and it has been balled up in little containers for 24 hours to make tomorrow. I just looked at them and the bottom part of dough almost looks like a really bubbly starter (does that even make sense?) is this okay? Also, what causes this? I tried to do some research but can’t really seem to find any answers, likely due to not knowing how to ask the right question. I didn’t know if this was a sign of io over proofing but it’s been just at 24 hours. Anyhoo, I’m rambling. Thanks for any info!
Totally normal! All of those bubbles are a sign of good activity. When you remove the balls, you might find the bottom part to be a bit wet, which is fine. Place the balls on a well-floured surface — sometimes I turn them to coat in the flour; then let them rest. I have been covering the balls with a towel because it’s been so dry here that even in just 45 minutes or so, the dough balls are forming a slight crust. Good luck!