Thanks! I haven't made a good enough sourdough pizza crust, but, your post is definitely inspiring! So far, the best yeasted pizza base I've made followed Heston Blumenthal's recipe in his In Search of Perfection book.
I know Heston B, of course, and you have to respect him! I don't know his pizza crust recipe, though. If it's sourdough-based, no doubt it's fantastic. If it isn't, DO give sourdough a go for your next pizzas. As is evident, I'm a convert, and don't see a way back to the dry yeast side!
OTOH, each to their own. Some will prefer the texture of the dry yeast versions. The flavour's another matter!
Pizza started this crazy thing about bread I'm having for more than 1 year now.
A wet sourdough works amazing with pizza, especially if it's retarted at least one night. If the dough is too wet I sometimes just press it with oiled hands in a non stick paper, but that's when I'm a bit bored and want to finish.
The main problem is the baking of pizza doughs, I want to try the thing were you put a baking stone close to the top to get much more heat, but I can't find a baking stone so I'll try a roasting tray...
When making the dough I find it easier to work if I add the extra water(75->80+%) afterwards like a double hydration and not adding flour afterwards. I'm kneading by hand though. I don't use that much salt(3+%) as the link above but I'll try that too.
I don't use as much salt as Jeff Varasano recommends either, dukegus - that's the only part of his recommended dough mix I modded (and only because my partner has a medical condition that demands that we keep sodium intake down). I'm sure the salt content is not crucial.
Like you, I got into sourdough bread baking via pizzas. Maybe it's a common path?
Anyway, do try JV's dough mix and methods. He really knows his stuff IMO - the results I got from applying his directions confirmed that for me.
And I'll bet you're glad you did, eh Johnny? I sure am. Really needed a full-blown addiction! There must be some sort of club in this...The Pizza Path Less Travelled? Beyond the Yellow Cheese Road? Better stop before I lose whatever cred I have left...
Ha ha.. yes so true you start down this path and suddenly you realise you wake up one day planning your next experiment in bread making and you have given your starter a pet name and..and... YOUR A BREAD NERD!!!!.. still it's lots of fun this addiction eh? :)
Yeah and it's not a real addiction, you just love doing it. I could stop it right now if I wanted. Really I could!! Ofcourse my starter is fed so I have to make todays bread but tomorrow I could! If I wanted to! :D :D
We need a bread nerd logo. What about a statue of liberty with a loaf of bread for a head, holding up a bread peel instead of a torch?
Suuuuure you can stop dukegus. Cheez! Remember who you're talking to. Hmm, speaking of feeding starters...gotta rush...they're sitting in the corner, waiting for their maaan...
Just wanted to say thanks for this post, I'm a semi-serious home pizza maker myself and now that I have a sourdough culture going, I'm really looking forward to making sourdough pizza. I hadn't seen Varasano's recipe before -- I've mostly just used my dad's tried and true recipe that I've tweaked over time. As good as my pizza is I can definitely say it falls into Varasano's "run screaming" category... :)
But I was browsing on your blog and noticed a more recent post with your version of how you make Varasano's recipe, here: Sourdough Pizzas – As Good As Home Oven Pizzas Get! You should edit the above article to include that link, or even submit as a proper Recipe on sourdough.com -- it's good stuff.
It looks great, glad to see someone used normal home oven temps and got good results. Even more important, glad to see Varasano's behemoth recipe/advice distilled down to something manageable!
My oven (electric convection) goes to 500F = 260C. I was also thinking I could try the convection(fan-assist) which may act like a somewhat hotter temp, though maybe that would affect the toppings more than the crust. I do know my convection is supposed to be 'true convection', i.e. it has an actual element built into the fan, although that may be more for manufacturer marketing than real benefit.
But I don't think I will be cutting my self-clean safety latch off anytime soon -- though I do wish I could override the oven to go higher than 500F!
Thanks again Mike
P.S. looks like this article also attracted the attention of a spammer... ?
Appreciate your comments, Mike. And yes, I have been meaning to update this post since I refined my recipe and method, as per my write-up on my privately-hosted blog. Thanks for the poke! Will update the above and provide a link to my blog post right now!
Replies
Thanks! I haven't made a good enough sourdough pizza crust, but, your post is definitely inspiring! So far, the best yeasted pizza base I've made followed Heston Blumenthal's recipe in his In Search of Perfection book.
I know Heston B, of course, and you have to respect him! I don't know his pizza crust recipe, though. If it's sourdough-based, no doubt it's fantastic. If it isn't, DO give sourdough a go for your next pizzas. As is evident, I'm a convert, and don't see a way back to the dry yeast side!
OTOH, each to their own. Some will prefer the texture of the dry yeast versions. The flavour's another matter!
Cheers
R
A wet sourdough works amazing with pizza, especially if it's retarted at least one night.
If the dough is too wet I sometimes just press it with oiled hands in a non stick paper, but that's when I'm a bit bored and want to finish.
The main problem is the baking of pizza doughs, I want to try the thing were you put a baking stone close to the top to get much more heat, but I can't find a baking stone so I'll try a roasting tray...
When making the dough I find it easier to work if I add the extra water(75->80+%) afterwards like a double hydration and not adding flour afterwards. I'm kneading by hand though. I don't use that much salt(3+%) as the link above but I'll try that too.
Like you, I got into sourdough bread baking via pizzas. Maybe it's a common path?
Anyway, do try JV's dough mix and methods. He really knows his stuff IMO - the results I got from applying his directions confirmed that for me.
still it's lots of fun this addiction eh? :)
we could all get together for a real sourdough indulgence. :) You guys are too funny!!
Suuuuure you can stop dukegus. Cheez! Remember who you're talking to. Hmm, speaking of feeding starters...gotta rush...they're sitting in the corner, waiting for their maaan...
Hey Ross
Just wanted to say thanks for this post, I'm a semi-serious home pizza maker myself and now that I have a sourdough culture going, I'm really looking forward to making sourdough pizza. I hadn't seen Varasano's recipe before -- I've mostly just used my dad's tried and true recipe that I've tweaked over time. As good as my pizza is I can definitely say it falls into Varasano's "run screaming" category... :)
But I was browsing on your blog and noticed a more recent post with your version of how you make Varasano's recipe, here: Sourdough Pizzas – As Good As Home Oven Pizzas Get! You should edit the above article to include that link, or even submit as a proper Recipe on sourdough.com -- it's good stuff.
It looks great, glad to see someone used normal home oven temps and got good results. Even more important, glad to see Varasano's behemoth recipe/advice distilled down to something manageable!
My oven (electric convection) goes to 500F = 260C. I was also thinking I could try the convection(fan-assist) which may act like a somewhat hotter temp, though maybe that would affect the toppings more than the crust. I do know my convection is supposed to be 'true convection', i.e. it has an actual element built into the fan, although that may be more for manufacturer marketing than real benefit.
But I don't think I will be cutting my self-clean safety latch off anytime soon -- though I do wish I could override the oven to go higher than 500F!
Thanks again
Mike
P.S. looks like this article also attracted the attention of a spammer... ?
Appreciate your comments, Mike. And yes, I have been meaning to update this post since I refined my recipe and method, as per my write-up on my privately-hosted blog. Thanks for the poke! Will update the above and provide a link to my blog post right now!
Cheers
Ross
Deleted, thanks for the heads up.
Starting to understand a bit more now... Thanks for keeping it simple!