Jim Carson

Here is another variant on my pizzas dough. This one turned out much more pliable, and I got an incredibly thin crust out of it. The only thing missing is the pizza oven that heats up to 1,200°F. The elapsed time is 2-3 days, though the actual intervention required is about 20 minutes.

If anyone is interested in dried sourdough starter, I would be willing to give away/swap if folks send me a plastic bag and a self-addressed, stamped envelope. (I probably can't do anything international since customs agents would likely flip out over a dried, powdery substance. If you're local, you could drop by and I'll give you the wet version ;-) I have two varieties, on mild, one very sour (both from Sourdo International). I've had success with these in pizza dough and pancakes. Contact me at the email below if you're interested since there's some lead time for me to air dry the starter.

Pizza dough ][ adapted from American Pie by Peter Reinhart

1 C sourdough mother starter (see step 1)
2 C whole wheat flour
2 C unbleached white flour
3 teaspoons kosher salt
2 T honey
1/4 C olive oil
1/2 lukewarm skim milk
1/2 lukewarm water

1. The night before, mix 1 heaping tablespoon of sourdough starter, 1 C whole wheat flour, and 3/4 C lukewarm water. Cover, and let sit out overnight at room temperature.
2. In a large bowl, stir in the mother starter, flours, salt, honey, olive oil, milk, and water. Mix with a dough hook on low speed for about 4 minutes, or until a ball forms. If there is still a lot of flour at the bottom, add water a tablespoon at a time (add, stir 1 minute, reevaluate) until it's globbing up. If it's really sticky, try adding a tablespoon of flour and doing the same.
3. Let the dough rest about 20 minutes.
4. Continue mixing another 4-5 minutes.
5. If you're a purist, do the windowpane test: take a small glob of dough off, stretch, tug, flatten, turn, etc. If you can make a piece thin enough to see through, it's developed enough. If not, repeat steps 3 & 4.
6. Lightly coat the bowl and top of dough with oil -- spray Pam works well for this. Cover, and let sit at room temperature for a few hours, until it doubles in size. I kept mine in the shade at 70°F for about 7 hours.
7. Preheat oven to 500°F
8. Divide into the number of pizzas you need. In a circular motion, flatten into a disc shape 1/4' thick. Work around again, stretching the dough the diameter of your pizza pan.
9. Add toppings. Cook until cheese is melted -- time will vary depending on how stacked the pizza is -- plan on 7-12 minutes.
10. Let sit for about five minutes before cutting.

According to most of the things I've read, overkneading dough is hard to do. You're more likely to burn out your mixer, unless you have a KitchenAid.

Reinhard recommends letting it go for 3-4 hours, the dividing the dough into four balls, placing each in an oiled plastic bag, and refrigerating overnight. This helps develop the sourdough flavor, but was impractical for me because my kids wanted to eat now. If you do this, take the dough out of the fridge and let it warm up to room temperature -- about 2 hours -- before you make the pizzas. You can also freeze the dough for up to 3 months.