How You Can Incorporate Sourdough Discards Into Pizza Dough

When you've spent so much time feeding and tending to a sourdough starter, it can be painful to simply throw it away. Good news; you don't have to! According to Serhan Ayhan, Pizza Consultant to Krave It – home of the Dubai chocolate dessert pizza — you can incorporate sourdough discards into pizza dough, provided you've been tending to it properly.

Amongst chefs, it's no secret that sourdough pizza rules, but the state of your starter can really affect the results. "Sourdough discards can be tricky to work with, especially with pizzas and especially given how mature the discard is," Ayhan says. "If the discard is overly acidic it may lack the leavening power to properly ferment dough and allow for it to rise." A mature starter that hasn't been fed properly has a build-up of lactic acid bacteria, the key element in creating sourdough's tart taste. In overabundance, it sabotages the effectiveness of yeast (the usual leavener for pizza dough) and creates an imbalance of flavors, ruining both the flavor and texture of your pie.

"If using strictly sourdough, I recommend using a starter that has been properly fed regularly and should not exhibit an overly vinegar odor," Ayhan tells us. "If using a discard, try a combination of discard with commercial yeast." That extra boost of yeast provides insurance against pitfalls with rising. Incorporating the starter into your dough is relatively easy, but Ayhan has another unorthodox trick to make the mixture as stable and delicious as possible.

Just because you're incorporating a sourdough discard into your pizza dough doesn't mean you can't add more yeast (or even another starter) to improve its fluffiness and flavor. "Lately, I have been a fan of hybrid leavening for my pizzas that use a poolish starter (made from dry yeast), a little bit of sourdough, and a touch of dry yeast," says Serhan Ayhan. "I've been finding that it hits all of the flavors and textures that I personally look for."

Poolish is one of the essential types of bread starters that, essentially, creates something similar to a sourdough starter. However, it's ready in hours rather than days. It also lacks a lot of that signature sour flavor, so it won't overwhelm the other flavors of your pizza when used in conjunction with a sourdough discard.

To try this approach, pour the flour you're using for the dough into a bowl and create a divot in the middle, making space for the poolish. Add the poolish and mix it into the flour, before adding the sourdough discard and Ayhan's suggested touch of dry yeast. Once you've done this, the rest is simple! Just follow the instructions of how to make pizza dough from scratch, and your sourdough discard and additional yeast should proof it to perfection.