313: Sourdough Pizza Crust (King Arthur Flour)

I decided that I wanted to try sourdough pizza again. I’ve had trouble finding a pizza crust that I like – one that can stand up to the can of pizza sauce and the amount of cheese and topping I put on it. I had hopes that the Sourdough Pizza Crust recipe from King Arthur Flour would be up to the task.

I mixed together the ingredients in the stand mixer. As soon as the dough came together I saw that it wasn’t as wet as the one on the King Arthur Flour website. The website will give you ingredients by volume or by weight, but volume is the default. I was okay with measuring out a cup of starter and 2.5 cups of flour, but I think that my scoops of flour were a little more dense than they had anticipated. I used a ½ cup scoop to measure it instead of the ¼ cup scoop I normally use, so the flour may not have been as sifted as it normally is. I kneaded the dough together gently by hand and then let it knead in the stand mixer. Even after 7 minutes (the recipe’s recommended kneading time), the dough wasn’t elastic at all. After I handled it a little more with my hands, I could windowpane it the tiniest bit. I decided that it would be okay not kneading it more because (I thought) letting it rise would allow the gluten to develop more and even things out.

I let it rise for about 2.5 or 3 hours over the oven (which was running), and spread it out in the pan in 2 stages. I flattened out the dough and stretched it to the sides, then covered it and let it rest for 15 minutes. After it rested, I patted out the dough all the way to the sides of the 14-inch pizza pan and made an edge with it. I covered it and put it in a warm oven to proof a little more, for about another hour.

I prebaked the crust for 8 minutes at 450F, then added the toppings and baked another 12 minutes, until I liked the way the toppings looked.

This was really good. The crust was thick and chewy. I was able to pick it up, which I can’t do with a homemade pizza. It had a sourdough flavor, but it went really well with the tomato sauce, mozzerella, and bacon. I wouldn’t want to make this crust to make a white pizza or something more lightly flavored. It was pretty good reheated as leftovers the next day, too. I was pretty satisfied with this pizza, and I’d make this again if I need something to make with my sourdough.