Sourdough Starter Pizza Dough Recipe – More Momma! (2024)

FAQs

How much sourdough starter to use in pizza dough? ›

The amount of sourdough starter you need to make pizza dough can vary based on the flour used and the fermentation schedule. Typically, I like to have between 10 to 20% sourdough starter in my pizza dough.

Many pizzerias and professional pizza bakers use Tipo 00 for their pizza recipes. As a home baker, I don't think you need to use Tipo 00 to get the best results. You can use your own sourdough starter along with bread flour to make a successful sourdough pizza.

You want your sourdough to be less sour - using more starter decreases fermentation time, making your starter less sour (in general).

Sourdough bakers are always on the lookout for creative ways to put unfed starter to use. In the case of this pizza crust, the open crumb and distinctive hearty taste of sourdough are well suited to bold toppings and well-aged cheeses.

The most common feeding ratio is 1:1:1 (sourdough starter: flour: water). This is also known as a 100% hydration starter. For example, let's say you have 40 g of sourdough starter in a jar. To feed it, you'll add 40 g of flour + 40 g of water.

In a word, yes. You can use over proofed dough and you can still achieve good results with it. However, your pizza won't turn out as good as it could've done if it had been properly proved. Over proofed dough is more difficult to shape, easier to tear, and will usually lead to pizza that is too thick and dense.

Some people prefer sourdough and some prefer regular pizza. The flavour in particular can be quite polarising. For many people, the added acidity (sourness) is the biggest draw of sourdough.

Sourdough is a traditional method of making dough that uses a natural starter, or mother, to ferment any kind of dough, rather than using commercial, ready-made yeast that comes from a packet. It means the dough takes longer to prove and develop, and you get a great depth of flavor in your doughs.

Compared to whole wheat flour, rye flour is said to be the most nutrient- and amylase-dense option for a sourdough starter. Overall, it has a lower gluten protein content than wheat flour, which means it produces slack, sticky, and dense doughs.

If you have too much starter compared to the additional flour and water you're adding, your hungry starter consumes all the nutrients and then it's not as bubbly.

How much sourdough starter to use for one loaf? ›

Room-temperature starter should be fed every 12 hours (twice a day) using the standard maintenance feeding procedure: discard all but 113g, and feed that 113g starter with 113g each water and flour.

Why is my sourdough pizza crust chewy? Using high-protein white flour (13-14% protein) in your sourdough pizza dough can lead to a chewier pizza. If you'd like to reduce the chewiness, try using a lower protein flour for the pizza dough (like all-purpose flour or Type 00 with lower protein).

Incorrect proofing is the most common reason behind inadequate dough rising. This can happen due to the water being too hot or not having enough yeast in the dough. Using expired yeast is another fairly common reason. Insufficient proofing time or low ambient temperature can be the culprit too.

If you are using an active sourdough starter, then no, your sourdough pizza crust does not need yeast. There are many sourdough pizza crust recipes that use yeast to speed up the process and skip the long-fermentation, but my sourdough discard recipe is a true no-yeast sourdough pizza crust.

As a general guideline, a common rule of thumb is to use around 20-30% of the total flour weight in the recipe as the amount of starter. For example, if your recipe calls for 500 grams of flour, you would use 100-150 grams of active starter. How much sour dough starter do you need for one loaf of sour dough bread?

You might see some people use a 1:2:2 or a 1:3:3 or even a 1:4:4 or 1:5:5. Again, these ratios represent the amount of food you give the amount of starter that you keep. I typically use a 1:3:3 ratio meaning that however much starter I keep I feed it 3xs the amount of flour and water.

There is no single best ratio, but I've found a ratio of 1:5:5 fed twice daily at 12-hour intervals to produce a sourdough starter that's strong and healthy. This ratio corresponds to 20% ripe starter carryover, 100% water, and 100% flour (a mix of whole grain rye and white flour) at each feeding.

I keep 1 ounce of starter and feed it with 1 ounce of flour and 1 ounce of water because I rarely need a massive amount of starter on hand, but various other sourdough luminaries advise different amounts. If you don't have a scale, go for 1/4 cup starter to 1/2 cup of flour to 1/4 cup water.