A flexible sourdough pizza dough at 70% hydration. Makes two 12-inch pizzas. You can bake it same-day (6 hr from mix) or cold-retard the dough balls overnight for deeper flavor — the overnight version is meaningfully better but the same-day still beats delivery.
Ingredients
| Ingredient | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bread flour | 450 g | Or 00 flour if you have it. Either works. |
| Warm water | 300 g | 70% hydration once the starter's water counts. ~85°F. |
| Active starter | 100 g | Fed 8–12 hr earlier, passes float test |
| Fine sea salt | 12 g | |
| Olive oil | 20 g | For oiling the proofing containers |
Because my starter is fed with organic whole wheat flour, roughly 50 g of the total flour in this recipe is whole wheat (about 10% of the total). It’s a subtle background note, not a wheat loaf — but it’s part of the character.
Weights use baker’s percentage — the starter’s flour and water are subtracted from the totals. Use the calculator to scale.
New to sourdough? Learn how to make your own starter.
Method
1Mix the dough (5 min)
In your large bowl, combine 300 g warm water and 100 g active starter. Stir to dissolve. Add 450 g bread flour. Mix until shaggy. No salt yet.
2Autolyse (30 min)
Cover and walk away for 30 minutes. The flour is hydrating. Skipping this means a tougher dough.
3Add the salt (2 min)
Sprinkle 12 g salt over the dough. Wet your hand. Pinch and squeeze through your fingers until the salt disappears and the dough feels smooth.
4First fold (30 sec)
Wet your hand. Four folds — under and over, rotating the bowl a quarter turn each time. Cover.
5Rest (30 min)
Just rest. Set a timer.
6Second fold (30 sec)
Same routine. Wet hand, four folds, cover.
7Rest (30 min)
Timer. Rest.
8Third fold (30 sec)
Wet hand. Four folds. The dough should feel smooth and elastic now.
9Bulk rise (2 hours)
Cover the bowl. Let it rise until it's grown by ~50% and looks puffy with bubbles forming on top. You can also use your oven's proof setting at ~100°F — it'll get there in about 45 minutes. Same target either way.
10Divide and ball (10 min)
Lightly flour your counter. Scrape the dough out and divide into 2 equal pieces (~430 g each). Shape each into a tight ball: cup your hand around the dough and drag it in small circles against the counter until the surface is taut. Place each ball in its own oiled container with a lid (or oiled bowl + plastic wrap).
11Choose your path (1 min)
SAME-DAY: Let the balls proof at room temp for 2 more hours, then stretch and bake.
OVERNIGHT (recommended): Into the fridge for 12–48 hours. The dough deepens in flavor and gets easier to stretch. Pull out 1 hour before baking to come to room temp.
Either path works. Overnight is better.
12Preheat (45 min)
Put a pizza stone or upside-down sheet pan on the top rack. Crank the oven as hot as it goes (500°F minimum). Heat for the full 45 minutes — you need the stone screaming hot.
13Stretch (5 min)
Lightly flour your counter. Use floured hands to gently press one dough ball into a disk, then stretch from the edges, rotating, until it's roughly 30 cm (12") across. Don't use a rolling pin — it kills the crust. If it springs back, let it rest 2 minutes and try again. Transfer to a parchment square.
14Top (2 min)
Sauce thin (a ladle's worth). Cheese evenly. Toppings light — heavy toppings make a soggy pizza. Less is more.
15Bake (8 min)
Slide the parchment + pizza onto the hot stone. Bake 6–10 minutes until the crust is deeply spotted brown and the cheese is bubbly. Watch it. Hot ovens move fast.
16Cool briefly and slice (2 min)
Move to a cutting board. Wait 2 minutes — slicing too hot makes everything slide off. Then slice and serve.
Compared to
The published recipes I learned from and measured mine against. Respect to the bakers who came first.
Forkish builds a separate levain for his pizza dough at 64% hydration with a longer cold retard. Yours uses your existing active starter directly at 70% hydration — slightly wetter, fewer steps, more forgiving for home ovens.
Maurizio uses 70% hydration with bread flour, similar bulk schedule, recommends 48-hour cold proof for peak flavor. Same family of dough.