My Sourdough Pizza Dough recipe

[vtn98]

Hello all,
I'm new to the forum though I've been on here for a while reading and trying to learn.  I like to cook pizza at home using a pizza stone and think I get some pretty good results.  Working on consistency now, but open to any suggestions on how to improve as well.  I figured I'd post my dough recipe to have you all take a hack and provide your analysis.  Don't hold back!  Let me know what you think.

Ingredients:
600g Bread Flour (usually King Arthur's but I've also use Gold Medal all purpose with good results)
325g Water
100g Sourdough Sponge (50g fed sourdough starter, 25g AP flour, 25g water mixed and rested at least 6 hours)
13g salt
1 TBsp Italian seasoning
2 Tsp garlic powder
2 TBsp olive oil

Process:
1. Mix sponge, flour and water until combined and let sit/autolyze at least 30 minutes
2. Add salt, seasonings, and olive oil and stretch and fold a few times then rest 50 minutes.
3. Repeat strectch and fold 3 more times with 50 minutes between.
4. Divide into individual portions.  With this batch, I usually get 4 portions which will give me about a 12 inch pizza.
5.  Place balled portions into oiled tupperwares and refrigerate about 20 hours.
6.  Remove from refrigerator about 2 hours before cooking.
7.  Stretch and top with your favorite ingredients.
8.  Cook in 550F oven on a fully heated pizza stone in the middle rack for about 8-9 minutes. 
9.  Remove and rest on cooling rack about 3 minutes then cut and enjoy.

I use an Easy peel to transfer from my countertop to the pizza stone and then I have a regular wooden peel to pull it out of the oven.

Usually results in a thin, crispy, yet chewy crust that holds a good amount of toppings without getting soggy, and a light airy edge. 

I started off on yeast doughs, but have been using sourdough as my leavener for the past few years as I've gotten my bread making down.  Still learning about the baker's percentages and all that, but I do use a kitchen scale except for the oil and seasonings.  Here are some pics of my pizzas so you get an idea what they look like when finished. 

[weemis]

It's worth taking that step to bakers percentages. you can make 1 pizza or 348 and it's the same numbers. Lets just start now.

Bakers percentages are all a ratio based on the flour being 100%. If you are doing 600g, then that is 100%. To find each percentage, just divide the number of grams by 600.
 
So for water, you'd do 325/600=54.17% and so on with your measurements, which brings you to:

Flour    100%
Water   54%
Starter  17%
Salt      2%

(all rounded to whole numbers) If you get the weight of the other ingredients, you'll be able to scale it all up or down as needed.

It sounds like you're doing an awful lot of stretching and folding, but I'm speaking from a much higher hydration experience, so I could be speaking from ignorance on that specific hydration. Personally, I'd cut back to 2 stretch & fold sessions. The 20 hrs in the fridge should do the rest. Also, it appears that you're lacking color on your crust. This could be corrected by adding a little sugar to the mix. I don't know starters, so maybe someone else will chime in with some better advice on that subject.

my 2 cents.

[Bill/SFNM]

I use an Easy peel to transfer from my countertop to the pizza stone

What is an Easy peel?

[TXCraig1]

I do just about everything differently from the way you are doing it. I'm not saying what you are doing is wrong - just different. I will share that I have not had good results cold fermenting sourdough. ~60F is the lowest I would reccomend.

You read exactly how I do things here: http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,20479.msg202069.html#msg202069

I'm happy to answer any specific questions you might have about the way I do things.

Craig

[Jet_deck]

Usually results in a thin, crispy, yet chewy crust that holds a good amount of toppings without getting soggy, and a light airy edge. 

Are those french fries on the pizzas?

[dellavecchia]

Thanks for posting your workflow. It is very much in the tradition of bread making, with a cold retard. I like that you hand develop the dough. And your resulting pizzas look very good. Keep up the good work.

[vtn98]

What is an Easy peel?

Meant to say Super Peel.  You can do a Google search and check it out.  I like mine a lot.

It sounds like you're doing an awful lot of stretching and folding, but I'm speaking from a much higher hydration experience, so I could be speaking from ignorance on that specific hydration. Personally, I'd cut back to 2 stretch & fold sessions. The 20 hrs in the fridge should do the rest. Also, it appears that you're lacking color on your crust. This could be corrected by adding a little sugar to the mix. I don't know starters, so maybe someone else will chime in with some better advice on that subject.

my 2 cents.

Weemis,
I only stretch and fold twice each time.  Just want to ensure even distribution.    As for the color, I could probably get more by putting it under the broiler for a couple of minutes, but it is definitely not lacking flavor!  I don't want to add sugar just to get color.  The bottom gets a nice brown spotting.

I do just about everything differently from the way you are doing it. I'm not saying what you are doing is wrong - just different. I will share that I have not had good results cold fermenting sourdough. ~60F is the lowest I would reccomend.

You read exactly how I do things here: http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,20479.msg202069.html#msg202069

I'm happy to answer any specific questions you might have about the way I do things.

Craig

Craig,
Cold doesn't affect mine too much at all.  When I first switched to sourdough, I would add a little ADY to give it a boost, but my starter is now about a year old and going strong.  It blows up my dough even in the fridge. I'll check out your method to see what I can do to make mine better.

Are those french fries on the pizzas?

   No fries. Those are pineapple chunks!  The pizza toppings are:
1. pepperoni, pineapple, Italian Sausage, black olives, mozzarella
2. pepperoni, pineapple, Italian Sausage, kalamata olives, caramelized red onions, red bell pepper, mozzarella/gorgonzola blend
3. sauteed spinach, kalamata olives, caramelized red onions, red bell pepper, tomatoes, fresh basil (no cheese for my vegan wife)

Thanks for posting your workflow. It is very much in the tradition of bread making, with a cold retard. I like that you hand develop the dough. And your resulting pizzas look very good. Keep up the good work.

Thanks!  I developed my pizza dough from my sour dough bread recipe.  Pretty much the same technique and my sourdough bread is pretty tasty with good tang.  I usually make 2 batons and 1 sandwich loaf each week.  See my bread pic below!

Also forgot to mention my starter is 100% hydration if that helps at all.