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jennah01 badge: Community Member

Sourdough Pizza Crust Texture Help Needed

I have been making sourdough pizza crust (no additional leavening) for a while now but the crust is coming out a bit too cracker-ish for my taste (or like those thin Italian breadsticks). I'd prefer a more chewy thin crust with big bubbles in the edge. Just thought I'd post and see if anyone has suggestions (I've checked the forum and recipes but haven't seen anything specifically related to the texture of the finished crust).

I'm actually wondering if I'm not giving it enough rise time. I usually make the dough and let it rise only a couple hours at most before hand tossing/stretching, topping and baking. The recipe I use is 1.5 cups starter (100% hydration), 1.5 cups bread flour, 1 Tbs olive oil, 1 tsp salt, adding a little water if necessary to make a smooth yet somewhat firm dough. I bake on a pizza stone in a 500 degree oven.

Thanks for any insight!

Tags: crust, pizza, sourdough

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placebo
  • Reply by placebo on February 10, 2012 at 5:38 pm
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Does it rise much in those few hours? Sourdough can take a while to get going, so I could see ending up with what seems like unleavened bread if you don't give it enough time to ferment. You could try adding a little commercial yeast to shorten the time needed for the dough to rise.

drfugawe
  • Reply by drfugawe on February 18, 2012 at 11:51 am
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Hey Jenn,
I'd try a couple of things, based on what you've told us - I'd eliminate the oil in your dough, since that will give you a 'cracker' texture (add the oil later on your finished dough as you prep the pizza), and I'd give the dough a full overnight (or more)in the fridge for a good fermentation and to get the dough nice and light - although I don't know how much water you're using, I'd use as much as I could so the dough texture could develop a nice open character - pizza dough, unlike many bread doughs, allows a higher hydration since you don't have to worry about it 'spreading out' as it rises.

Good luck with your efforts.

GinaG
  • Reply by GinaG on February 18, 2012 at 2:52 pm
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I agree with all that's been said, emphasizing on hydration.

Typical American-style pizza has a hydration level at 60 percent which equates to 6 oz of water per 10 oz. of flour. You will get next to no bubbles, certainly not an open crumb if using "just enough" water to form a dough. You will need more water.

So how much more water should you use? Well, in Italy, their hydration level is 70 percent up to and beyond 100 percent in some cases, so it's hard to fail, but that much hydration can be unwieldy to work with if you don't have experience working with slack dough. I can offer some help there.

In the case of a wet dough, you'd eliminate the traditional kneading method altogether. Do you have a standing mixer?

If you do, I can guide you through upping your hydration and managing a blob of wet dough to get that pizza you're after.

Just pop back in and say the word!

GinaG.