I need some help on my dough to figure out what I'm doing wrong? I've been following a sourdough pizza dough recipe. This one... https://goodthingsbaking.com/sourdough-pizza-crust/#tasty-recipes-3671-jump-target

However, the dough is very hard to work with. It's very "wet" and not a lot of strength to it. I'll dust it like crazy on top and bottom but by the time I roll it out it's stuck to the floured surface! Then I try to scrape it off and either end up tearing it or pushing it back together to the point I have to start all over. I'm thinking maybe I'm over-proofing it?! I've been letting it cold ferment in the fridge for several days before using it. The only way I can get it to work for pizza is par baking it first before putting toppings on it. Is it the over-proofing or do I just need to back off on the moisture content???

SpiderDude said:

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I need some help on my dough to figure out what I'm doing wrong? I've been following a sourdough pizza dough recipe. This one... https://goodthingsbaking.com/sourdough-pizza-crust/#tasty-recipes-3671-jump-target

However, the dough is very hard to work with. It's very "wet" and not a lot of strength to it. I'll dust it like crazy on top and bottom but by the time I roll it out it's stuck to the floured surface! Then I try to scrape it off and either end up tearing it or pushing it back together to the point I have to start all over. I'm thinking maybe I'm over-proofing it?! I've been letting it cold ferment in the fridge for several days before using it. The only way I can get it to work for pizza is par baking it first before putting toppings on it. Is it the over-proofing or do I just need to back off on the moisture content???

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After looking at that recipe, .5 cup of sourdough starter is 113 grams, 1.5 cups of flour is 187 grams, .5 cup of water is roughly 120 grams. Since sourdough starter contains water, you're basically over 100% hydration, so yeah, your dough is going to be too wet.

I don't agree with all of this video (his final product looks terrible because he burns tf out of the basil), but this video has some solid principles on making sourdough pizza.



He's obviously using a lot more flour and water than you because he's making dough for four pizzas instead of one. I don't like her directions in that recipe because what she's recommending is closer to a recipe for using instant yeast instead of sourdough. They're different, and you need to treat them different. You want the starter to be broken down in the water, almost more of a liquid you're adding to the flour rather than a solid.

If you're going to only use 1.5 cups of flour, I'd mix in the starter, and slowly introduce water, a literal tablespoon at a time, to the mixture while kneading it. You need to get it to a certain level of hydration, but adding half a cup of water is too much, imo.

I don't think you're overproofing it by leaving it in the fridge for several days, but I also don't see the point of a multi-day ferment. This is sourdough, it just needs to do its bulk rise and you're ready to go. You do a multi-day cold ferment for yeast dough so it develops taste and texture. After the bulk ferment, sourdough has its taste and texture.

Thank you!!!

SpiderDude said:

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I need some help on my dough to figure out what I'm doing wrong? I've been following a sourdough pizza dough recipe. This one... https://goodthingsbaking.com/sourdough-pizza-crust/#tasty-recipes-3671-jump-target

However, the dough is very hard to work with. It's very "wet" and not a lot of strength to it. I'll dust it like crazy on top and bottom but by the time I roll it out it's stuck to the floured surface! Then I try to scrape it off and either end up tearing it or pushing it back together to the point I have to start all over. I'm thinking maybe I'm over-proofing it?! I've been letting it cold ferment in the fridge for several days before using it. The only way I can get it to work for pizza is par baking it first before putting toppings on it. Is it the over-proofing or do I just need to back off on the moisture content???

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Assuming your sourdough starter is at a 50/50 water to flour ratio, the hydration level for that recipe comes in at about 83%, I believe. That is a pretty high hydration dough, especially if you aren't used to working with it. Most doughs seem to be in the 70-75% range for hydration. If you want to make a sourdough crust, you may want to try this recipe https://amybakesbread.com/sourdough-pizza-oven-pizza/#recipe. I haven't made this one exactly, but I have made many items off this website with great success. I have not been disappointed with any of her recipes, so I feel confident it is a good one. If you try it out, let us know how it goes. I may give it a whirl later this week as well.

Good luck!

Any recs for store bought pizza dough? Just recently got an Ooni 12" and not quite ready to start trying to make my own dough yet. I'd like a few test runs with store bought ingredients before I try my hand at my own dough and sauce.

Trader Joe's