Sourdough Discard Pizza Dough
Transform sourdough discard into a delicious, yeast-free, soft, and chewy pizza crust. Perfect for a homemade Italian feast.
Servings: 10 slices
Calories: 330kcal
Equipment
- bench cutter
- pizza stone or cast iron skillet (optional)
Ingredients
- 1 cup sourdough starter (250 grams) discard or fed 12-24 hours prior *see notes below
- 6 cups all purpose flour (750 grams)
- ¼ cup olive oil (50 grams)
- 1½ tablespoon fine salt (30 grams)
- 1 ½ cups warm filtered water (350 grams) 95º to 100ºF or baby bottle warm
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar (10 grams)
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a large mixing bowl. Combine well, using a heavy duty spoon or dough whisk. The dough should look rough and shaggy, and feel soft and sticky. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured countertop. Knead the dough for about 3 minutes, until smooth and tacky (but not sticky).
- Return the dough to the bowl, cover with a damp towel (or plastic wrap if you live in a dry area) and and let rise at room temperature or a warm area 4-12 hours (see chart in notes) to ferment.
- When the dough has doubled in size, punch it down in the bowl and flip it over. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap again and refrigerate. About 1 hour before you want to bake your pizzas, remove the dough from the fridge.
To Shape the Sourdough Pizza Crust
- Lightly flour your work surface. Using a bench scraper or sharp knife, cut the chilled dough into 2 equal pieces for large pizzas, or 4-6 pieces for individual pizzas. Let dough rest at room temperature for one hour. Meanwhile, prepare your pizza toppings and preheat your oven to 450ºF. See notes below about using pizza stones or cast iron skillets for baking.
- Shape your pizza crusts by hand, flattening the dough with your palm, then pressing with your fingers to stretch it out, leaving a 1" thick border at the edge. For individual sourdough crusts shape to 10-12 inches in diameter and large to 14 inches in diameter; Add sauce and your favorite toppings. Bake individual sourdough pizzas for 12-15 minutes, and large for 15-20 minutes.
Video
Notes
FOR GRAMS MEASUREMENTS click on the METRIC tab above ingredients.
This recipe uses a discard or unfed sourdough starter, which means one that was fed 12-24 hours before starting the recipe. Our recipe does not use a starter that's at its peak when mixing the dough. A 100% hydration sourdough starter works best for this recipe.
I recommend using a clear glass mixing bowl for fermentation (rising). This allows you to see the activity on the dough's top and bottom. Often, the bottom of the dough will show a lot of activity, reassuring you that it's properly fermented.
Bulk Fermentation Rising guidelines:
Rising times will vary according to your room temperature and humidity:
- 80ºF about 4-5 hours
- 75ºF about 6-7 hours
- 70ºF about 8-9 hours
- For temperatures under 70ºF it can take up to 12 hours or more
- Place the bowl in the oven with the door closed and light on to create a slightly warmer climate without actually turning the oven on.
- Use a heated mat (like those used for germinating seeds) for rising.
- Use the "proof" setting of your oven (I set mine to 85ºF) and set a timer. This will speed up the rising process, so check it at 4 and 6 hours.
- If there is a sunny room in the house that stays warm, keep the dough covered in that area.
- To prevent food poisoning from undercooked foods, be sure to pre-cook any meat toppings before adding them to your pie. We use our microwave.
- Baking on a pizza stone or cast iron griddle promotes a better rise and crispier sourdough pizza crust.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 330kcal | Carbohydrates: 59g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Sodium: 1050mg | Potassium: 75mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Calcium: 12mg | Iron: 3mg
