Sourdough Pizza Dough

Before you start

Sourdough pizza dough uses starter in place of commercial yeast and a long, cold fermentation in the refrigerator. That slow rise does two jobs: it builds complex, slightly tangy flavor, and it lets enzymes break down some starches into sugars that brown into the leopard-spotted blisters on a hot-baked crust. The dough also becomes more extensible, so it stretches thin without snapping back.

This formula is about 68 percent hydration with 2.3 percent salt, which handles easily and works in both a home oven with a steel and a dedicated pizza oven. The timing is flexible: the dough is ready after 24 hours in the refrigerator and keeps improving for up to 72. Bring the balls back to room temperature for 2 to 3 hours before stretching; cold dough tears and bakes up dense.

Ingredients

• 100 g (scant ½ cup) active sourdough starter — 100% hydration, at its peak
• 360 g (1½ cups) water — about 24°C (75°F)
• 550 g (4½ cups) Italian 00 pizza flour or bread flour
• 14 g (2½ tsp) fine salt
• 10 g (2 tsp) extra-virgin olive oil — optional; helps browning in home ovens
• as needed semolina or flour — for the peel

Method

1. Dissolve the starter in 340 g of the water. Add the flour and mix until no dry flour remains. Cover and rest 30 minutes.
2. Sprinkle the salt and the remaining 20 g water over the dough and pinch it in until absorbed. Add the olive oil, if using, and knead in the bowl or on the counter for 5 to 8 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.
3. Cover and bulk ferment at about 24°C (75°F) for 4 to 5 hours, with 2 sets of stretch and folds in the first hour. The dough is ready when it has risen 30 to 50 percent and looks smooth and slightly domed.
4. Divide the dough into 4 pieces of about 258 g. Shape each into a tight ball by folding the edges into the center, flipping it and rolling it on the counter under a cupped hand. Place each in a lightly oiled lidded container.
5. Refrigerate for 24 to 72 hours. The balls will relax and spread slightly, with small bubbles under the surface.
6. Take the balls out 2 to 3 hours before baking and leave them covered at room temperature. For a home oven, put the steel or stone on the top-third rack and heat at the highest setting, usually 260 to 290°C (500 to 550°F), for a full hour.
7. Flour a ball well and press it out from the center with your fingertips, leaving a 2 cm (¾ in) rim untouched. Lift it and stretch it over your knuckles to about 30 cm (12 in). Lay it on a semolina-dusted peel and top lightly.
8. Slide onto the steel and bake 6 to 9 minutes in a home oven, turning once, until the rim is puffed and spotted and the cheese is bubbling; switch to the broiler for the last minute if the top needs color. In a pizza oven at about 430°C (800°F), bake for 60 to 90 seconds, turning often.

Tips for success

• Top lightly. Wet toppings and heavy cheese weigh down a thin crust and leave the center soggy.
• Never use a rolling pin; it presses the gas out of the rim, and the gas is what puffs and blisters in the oven.
• Freeze extra balls after 24 hours of cold fermentation. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then warm at room temperature for 3 hours.

Substitutions

00 pizza flour

Bread flour gives a chewier, slightly crisper crust and browns faster in a home oven. All-purpose flour gives a softer crust; reduce the water by 15 g.

Cold fermentation

For same-day pizza, bulk ferment for 6 to 8 hours at room temperature, ball, and rest 1 hour before stretching. The flavor will be milder and the dough less extensible.

Baking steel

A preheated heavy cast-iron skillet or an upside-down rimmed sheet pan works, with paler bottoms and longer bakes.

Variations

Whole wheat blend

Replace 100 g of the flour with whole wheat flour and add 15 g more water.

Pan pizza

Press a 258 g ball into an oiled 25 cm (10 in) cast-iron skillet, proof 1 hour, top and bake at 260°C (500°F) for 12 to 15 minutes.

Troubleshooting

Dough snaps back when stretched

It is too cold or the gluten has not relaxed. Let the balls sit at room temperature longer, or rest a partly stretched round for 10 minutes and try again.

Dough tears or is sticky and slack

It overfermented, often from a warm bulk or very active starter. Shorten bulk next time and refrigerate sooner; use extra flour when stretching.

Pale, soft crust in a home oven

The steel was not hot enough. Preheat a full hour, bake on the top rack and use the broiler for the final minute.

Storage

Refrigerate dough balls in lidded containers for up to 72 hours from mixing. Freeze balls in individual oiled bags for up to 2 months. Leftover baked pizza with toppings should be refrigerated within 2 hours and eaten within 3 to 4 days.

Safety notes

Do not taste the raw dough; uncooked flour can carry harmful bacteria. Use heavy oven mitts with a steel or pizza oven. Contains wheat.