Passionate About Pizza Blog » Passionate About Pizza: Making Great Homemade Pizza Cookbook

Questions about Sourdough

PizzaMan383 — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:56:36 +0000

Bill Morris asked a couple of questions:

I am making the sour dough starter sponge. After leaving it out for a couple of days, can I put in a closed jar in the refrigerator. (Well it expand and break the glass?)

Also, on page 140ish, Calif sour dough pizza and the next style, do not state how much sour dough starter to use in the recipe. Can you please clarify.

P.S.: I bought 3 books and everyone loves them.

PizzaMan replies:

The wild yeast in the sourdough starter will slow down when you refrigerate the starter but it will NOT stop entirely. If you place it in a closed jar it may very well explode. Virtually everyone recommends that you use a loose-fitting cover for any sourdough starter.

The California-style Sourdough recipe was written to use the entire quantity of the Sourdough Starter Sponge recipe on the prior page; in other words, a cup of water, a cup of flour, and 1/2 teaspoon yeast. That works out to be something like 1 1/4 cup of sourdough starter if you already have one made. Depending on the consistency of your sourdough starter you might need to adjust the amount of flour you use when making dough to reach the consistency you prefer.

Mixing Dough

pizzaman383 — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:56:29 +0000

The goal is to mix the right amount of the proper ingredients together to create uniform dough. Good dough has all the ingredients evenly distributed throughout the dough. There are two basic methods – the dry mix and wet mix methods. Both work well, so use the method that suits your fancy. I generally use the wet mix method because it gives me a chance to see that the yeast is active.

Dough Thickness Not Right? Adjust it to your taste!

PizzaMan383 — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:56:21 +0000

Here is another consultation between PizzaMan and a friend:

From: ADAM
Date: Sat, 2 May 2009
To: PizzaMan

Hey a quick question on my "P.A.P.B."….My biggest problem is being consistent about my dough. It’s a little tough on the bottom. Not as soft as I like. Maybe too tough on the bottom. Did I knead it too long? Not let it rest enough? Too much flour? Stone too low/high in the oven?

Hope all’s well.

Adam

From: PizzaMan
To: ADAM
Date: Saturday, May 2, 2009

Do you mean too crunchy? Too thick? Too dense?

PizzaMan

From: ADAM
Date: Sat, 2 May 2009
To: PizzaMan

Nobdy else seemed to notice, but almost too stiff. Nice crunch though. I always prefer a limp NY style, but mine are definitely more hearty. Even thought my dough is your NY style, I seem to add enough flour along the way….Now I need a metal scraper to get the sticiy dough off the maple chop block!

Adam

From: PizzaMan
Date: Sun, 3 May 2009
To: Adam

To make limp, thin crust you need to stretch it thinner. Try adding 1/4 cup (or even up to 1/2 cup) more flour. This will make the dough less sticky and more elastic. Then cut the dough into two pieces after rising to make two dough balls. Stretch each ball to 12-14 inches and the crust will be thinner. The pros stretch the dough to 4-6 inches bigger than the size it will end up. As they drape the dough on the peel it springs back and is a little rippled. This should give you thinner, floppier crust.

There is more information in Passionate About Pizza.

PizzaMan

Preparing Your Oven

pizzaman383 — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:57:01 +0000

Pizza Pans

Pizza Screens

Baking Stone

Your home oven is all you need to make great pizza. Using pizza pans, pizza screens, or a baking stone will turn your oven into a fine pizza-baking machine!