High Hydration Pan Pizza
*This is an advanced recipe* This is a high-hydration sourdough pan pizza from Noel Brohner of Slow Rise Pizza, featuring Trailblazer Bread Flour and Organic Whole Grain Expresso Flour paired with Leaven Foods Instant Sourdough, and topped with regenerative, single source Ferndale Farmstead cheese. Leaven Instant Sourdough blends wild yeast and bacteria to deliver true sourdough with the convenience of instant baker’s yeast; just add it to Cairnspring flour, water, and salt. The mild sourness pairs beautifully with the bold, rustic earthiness of the Whole Grain Expresso, and the rich and creamy Ferndale Farmstead cheese for a deeply satisfying bite. *A note from Noel, about the recipe: The hydration is 100%. It is perfectly acceptable to reduce the hydration from 100% to 90%-95% if you are not experienced with high hydration doughs or your mixer is not powerful enough to handle the high amount of water.*
Noel Brohner, Slow Rise Pizza
Prep Time
4-5 Hours
Bake Time
20-25 Minutes
Total Time
24-48 Hours
Yield
2042.25 Grams
Ingredients:
- 50% Trailblazer Bread Flour
- 50% Organic Whole Grain Expresso Bread Flour
- 100% Water
- 2% Salt
- 0.15% Leaven Foods All Purpose Instant Sourdough
- 0.25% Leaven Foods Wild Yeast
Baker's Notes
*This is an advanced recipe. It is perfectly acceptable to reduce the hydration from 100% to 90%-95% if you are not experienced with high hydration doughs or your mixer is not powerful enough to handle the high amount of water.
** We suggest targeting a final dough temperature of 80-85℉ post mix. Most likely this will necessitate an adjustment to the water temperature. We find that 45-50℉ water works well, but it could differ depending on factors such as mixer type, mix duration, ambient temperature, and temperature of other ingredients. If you are a home baker, you will need to use a tabletop mixer like a Kitchen Aid and mix on the highest speed. If you are a professional, you may want to use the double hydration method, withholding 10-15% of the water.
*** We suggest using plastic containers to contain the high hydration dough, brushed with a generous layer of olive oil. Cambro brand rectangular 1/3 pans work well for two 250-gram round dough balls or one 500-gram dough ball. And Cambro brand 2-quart round containers work well for 400-gram dough balls, but any containers you may already own should work.
**** Because of the extreme hydration of this dough, more bake time may be required than more traditionally hydration doughs. 15 minutes on the rack for heavily topped pizzas may not be unreasonable.
***** Many people like to rest the pizza and let it cool completely so the crumb sets and then "finish" the pizza by returning it to the pizza stone to "crisp up" the bottom for 3-5 minutes before slicing and serving but this is not always necessary or desired.
Instructions:
This is an advanced recipe.
- Add water and flour and mix for five minutes on first speed.**
- Add Leaven Foods All Purpose Instant Sourdough and mix for two minutes.
- Add salt and mix for three minutes. If you are mixing on a Kitchen Aid, increase the speed one level each minute until you reach Speed 8 and mix until the dough is fully developed. If you are mixing on a professional mixer, we suggest you use the double hydration method if your mixer struggles with high hydration doughs: mix for 5 minutes on 1st speed withholding 10-15% of the water.
- Add Leaven All Purpose Instant Sourdough and salt and mix for 5 minutes on first speed.
- Switch to second speed and mix until dough is 75-80% developed.
- Add last 10-15% of water. Mix until dough is fully developed.
- Bulk ferment the dough for 3-4 hours with stretch and folds every 60 minutes and then bulk retard at 35-40℉***
- The following day, divide and shape your dough as follows: 250 grams for an 8x10 inch pan, 400 grams for an eight-inch round pan, 500 grams for a 10x14 inch pan.
- Depending on your schedule, you can either proof the dough that day and bake it off after 5-6 hours -OR- return dough balls to the refrigerator to retard for an additional 24 hours. If you go for the extra time in the refrigerator, understand that the dough balls will continue to ferment and the gluten will relax so the dough will need less proof time, probably closer to 2-3 hours.
- When you are ready to bake off your pizza, remove dough balls from their containers by turning them upside down into the well-oiled pans.
- Cover pans and let sit at room temperature for an additional hour or two, gently dimpling the dough and pressing it out from the center toward the outer reaches of the pans.
- Preheat the oven with a pizza stone or steel for 1 hour minimum at 500 degrees.
- Top the pizzas with toppings of your choice. Here are some of the topping combinations I used on my pizzas in order of application:
- Ferndale Farmstead Provolone, Oven Roasted Cauliflower, Kalamata Olives, Cherry Tomatoes, Ferndale Farmstead Mozzarella, Fermented Chile Oil, Ferndale Farmstead Parmesan
- Ferndale Farmstead Smoked Scamorza, Oven Roasted Onions, Castelvetrano Olives, Cherry Tomatoes, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Ferndale Farmstead Parmesan, Maldon Salt
- Ferndale Farmstead Fontina & Fior di Latte Mozzarella, Steamed Asparagus Spears, Cherry Tomatoes, Ferndale Farmstead Parmesan, Maldon Salt
- Ferndale Farmstead Provolone, Steamed Broccolini, Bianco di Napoli Tomato Sauce, Ferndale Farmstead Mozzarella, Fermented Chile Oil, Ferndale Farmstead Parmesan, Maldon Salt
- Bake for 15 minutes directly on the pizza stone or steel.
- Move the pizzas to the oven rack and bake for an additional 10 minutes so that pizzas do not burn on the bottoms and the toppings begin to brown.****
- When done, remove the pizza from the oven. Let cool for 5-10 minutes and then slowly and gently remove the pizza from pans using an offset spatula to first release the edges of the pizza from the pan (if they stick) and preserve the fried cheese "frico" crust. And then carefully remove the entire pizza from the pan by sliding it out of the pan onto a wire rack to cool.*****
Baker's Notes
*This is an advanced recipe. It is perfectly acceptable to reduce the hydration from 100% to 90%-95% if you are not experienced with high hydration doughs or your mixer is not powerful enough to handle the high amount of water.
** We suggest targeting a final dough temperature of 80-85℉ post mix. Most likely this will necessitate an adjustment to the water temperature. We find that 45-50℉ water works well, but it could differ depending on factors such as mixer type, mix duration, ambient temperature, and temperature of other ingredients. If you are a home baker, you will need to use a tabletop mixer like a Kitchen Aid and mix on the highest speed. If you are a professional, you may want to use the double hydration method, withholding 10-15% of the water.
*** We suggest using plastic containers to contain the high hydration dough, brushed with a generous layer of olive oil. Cambro brand rectangular 1/3 pans work well for two 250-gram round dough balls or one 500-gram dough ball. And Cambro brand 2-quart round containers work well for 400-gram dough balls, but any containers you may already own should work.
**** Because of the extreme hydration of this dough, more bake time may be required than more traditionally hydration doughs. 15 minutes on the rack for heavily topped pizzas may not be unreasonable.
***** Many people like to rest the pizza and let it cool completely so the crumb sets and then "finish" the pizza by returning it to the pizza stone to "crisp up" the bottom for 3-5 minutes before slicing and serving but this is not always necessary or desired.