Sourdough pizza

[Henry]

After three weeks with my sourdough starter, I've tried bread, pizza, waffles, and more. The bread turned out great, it was flavorful and keeps well. But the pizza? Nah it was disappointing, it had good taste, but low oven spring and dense texture. I've found sourdough breaks down gluten faster than yeast, making overproofing risky. For something we eat fresh, is sourdough really worth it? Maybe a mix with yeast works better. I wonder if anyone getting better pizza results using 100% sourdough? And what are the pros and cons?

 

[ashandcrust484]

You make a good point about sourdough fermenting more quickly and causing the gluten to weaken. When it comes to pizza, a lot of people find that a hybrid dough, which combines a touch of yeast for rising and sourdough for that flavorful kick, yields better results.

 

[lecroj]

I wouldn't use 100% sourdough for pizza. It might be one dimensional (not necessarily bad but I haven't really tried). I do use starter in most of my thin crust doughs, adds to the ferment. I order starter yeast 2x a year from different places on Etsy because after 6mo to a year, I find the starter fades or gets an apple scent. I feed it every few weeks whenever I use it or remember. Half flour, half water and pour off the gray hooch before feeding. For 1 day doughs, I find starter flattens the dough a bit. I mostly cook thin crust, 72 hour doughs unless I'm in a rush and need a quick, one day dough. Here is my latest I use for thin crust. I have a Cuisinart electric oven with a 12x12" baking steel I got cheap off ebay. Also my main oven will proof at 120 degrees.
6/7/25 CT Style (Colony Grill) Thin Crust 72hr Pizzas (makes 4, 11" pizzas, ~50% hydration)
DAY ONE:
1 heaping tsp dry yeast
1tsp sugar
¾ C very warm water
Let sit in mixing bowl until foamy
Add:
2 3/4 C King Arthur White Flour
¾ C Sourdough Starter
1/8 C whole wheat flour
½ T salt
3 T warm butter
Mix in stand mixer 5 min
Move to olive oiled bowl and put in 120 degree oven covered 2 hours
Refrigerate ~72 hours
Cut into 210-220g pieces and put each one in an oiled Tupperware
Put in 120 degree oven for 2+ hours
Grade cheese, ½ whole milk Moz, ½ white sharp cheddar (not lowfat)
Preheat oven to 700
Cook in flat, round 12" oiled pan, push each dough ball out from the middle making a small crust
Dock dough or will bubble in oven
Add sauce ½-¾ C
Add Cheese
Add hot oil (serrano oil with chili flakes, boil 10 serranos 5 min in 1/2 vegetable, 1/2 olive oil)
Add salt
Add toppings
Cook 2.5 min spin 180 then 2.5 min
remove from pan and put back in the oven for 2 min (7 min total cook time)

 

[WoodfiredInPeoria]

I've gone both ways (hybrid and full sourdough) and am still tweaking. I've probably made about 200 individual pizzas of my latest full sourdough iteration (in 4-5 batches/events):
500g High Gluten flour (I get mine at GFS, Crust and Crumb pizza flour)
350g Whole Wheat flour (I use an heirloom/ non-gmo whole wheat for flavor)
100g 50% hydration sourdough starter (equal parts by weight of flour + water)
570g Water
20g Salt

Mix it loose, let it sit 15-20 minutes, then stretch and fold 3-5 times with 1 hour increments until smooth & springy (I usually use a bit of dough in a tube to measure rise until it's 1.5-2x risen). Divide into 150g dough balls and fridge overnight. Pull out 2-3 hours ahead of cooking.

top and bake

I've had 1 batch that I overproved on the first rise and it didn't stretch as well (tended to break) so I pulled back on the rise a bit from 2x to 1.5x. My "HG" flour doesn't have as much protein as my wife's sourdough white bread flour (KA Bread flour) so it doesn't handle quite as much rise, but my pizzas are plenty puffy.