Sourdough Pizza: Starter, Levain & Cold Ferment

Sourdough pizza works with 10 to 25 percent starter on the flour weight, based on a starter at 100 percent hydration. Fermentation takes longer than with yeast, and the dough becomes easier to digest. PizzaPlan calculates both routes: a classic levain build or a stiff madre added straight to the dough.

What sourdough is

Sourdough is a living culture of wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria. Unlike commercial baker’s yeast - a pure culture of a single yeast strain - sourdough is a small ecosystem that you maintain yourself. The wild yeast provides the lift (carbon dioxide, which makes the dough rise), the lactic acid bacteria provide acidity and aroma: lactic acid tastes mild and yoghurt-like, acetic acid sharp and pointed. The balance between the two decides how sour and how complex your pizza tastes in the end.

For pizza, sourdough is not an end in itself. It delivers a flavour that plain yeast cannot reach, and the long fermentation makes the dough more digestible. The price: sourdough needs more time, more attention and an active starter.

Sourdough or yeast for pizza?

	Sourdough	Baker’s yeast (direct dough)
Aroma	Complex, slightly sour, lots of depth	Mild, yeasty, straightforward
Digestibility	Very good - long fermentation breaks down	Good with long ferment, otherwise neutral
Leavening power	Varies with the starter’s activity	Constant and predictable
Dough time	From ~6 h (fast method), ideal 24-48 h	Possible from 4 hours
Predictability	A matter of experience - timing varies	Very reliable
Effort	Maintain a starter, build a levain	Weigh the yeast, done

The decisive difference is predictability. Baker’s yeast always behaves the same. Sourdough behaves the way its starter happens to be performing - a freshly fed, vigorous starter rises noticeably faster than one that sat in the fridge for two weeks. For reliable rise and full aroma, PizzaPlan therefore recommends 12 hours or more. If you pick a shorter ferment time, PizzaPlan automatically switches to a fast sourdough method: a warm bulk ferment at 26-28 °C, ready to bake from about 6 hours, with slightly less acidic depth. If you want a yeasted dough instead, the pizza dough calculator works it out in seconds.

The starter - the living culture

The starter (also called a mother dough) is the permanent culture you keep in the fridge and feed regularly. It is the source every baking day draws from. Once established, a starter can last for years if it is looked after.

Before every baking day the starter must be refreshed: fed with flour and water 8-12 hours in advance and left at room temperature. Only this wakes the culture from its cold sleep in the fridge and brings it up to full strength.

You can tell an active starter by several signs:

The volume has roughly doubled after feeding.
The surface and the inside are riddled with bubbles.
A spoonful floats in a glass of water (the float test).
The smell is pleasantly sour and fruity, not sharp or like acetone.

If the starter smells harshly of nail polish remover or a grey liquid has settled on top, it is underfed - then it needs one or two extra refreshes before it is ready to bake with.

Building a levain

From the refreshed starter you build the levain - the active sourdough made specifically for this one dough. The levain consists of flour, water and a portion of starter, and ripens for 4-6 hours at room temperature. The goal is to add it to the main dough exactly when it is at the peak of its leavening power: well risen, but not yet collapsed.

PizzaPlan calculates the levain amounts separately: how much flour, water and starter go into the levain - and it reduces the remaining amounts in the main dough accordingly, so that total hydration and flour quantity come out exactly right. You never have to work out by hand how much flour is already in the levain.

Building a levain or adding the madre directly

Not everyone keeps their sourdough the same way. Anyone maintaining a stiff lievito madre refreshes it before baking and adds it to the dough unchanged: an extra levain would be a detour. PizzaPlan therefore knows two methods:

Build a levain (default): a preferment is built from the starter before baking. The share is the levain flour relative to the total flour, preset to 20 % and adjustable from 5 to 30 %.
Madre directly: the refreshed madre goes into the dough unchanged. Here the share is the weight of the finished madre, preset to 15 % and adjustable from 5 to 40 %. The levain build drops out along with its hours in the schedule, and instead the app plans the ripening time of the madre: 10 to 14 hours at 20 to 22 °C, 5 to 8 hours from 24 °C.

Outside 10 to 25 % the app points out the unusual share without holding you back. And in both methods PizzaPlan splits the starter into flour and water and counts both towards flour quantity and hydration: what sits in the starter is missing from the main dough later.

Starter profiles: your starter, the way you keep it

A starter profile records what defines your sourdough, and the calculator works with it:

Hydration from 30 to 125 %: a stiff lievito madre sits at 45 to 50 %, a liquid starter at 100 %.
Method: build a levain or madre directly.
Flour, free text, for example rye 1150 or Caputo Nuvola.
Feeding: parts of flour per part of starter. The water part follows from the hydration, 1 part flour at 45 % gives 1:1:0.45.
Rhythm and storage: refresh every so many hours or days, fridge or room temperature, plus the time at room temperature after feeding and the temperature of the ripening phase.
Note for your own observations.

On top of that comes a feeding reminder: one notification for the next date according to your rhythm. Confirm the feeding and the app sets the next one. The reminder is free.

One profile is free. Anyone keeping several starters, stiff and liquid say, or wheat and rye, creates them all with PizzaPlan Pro. Without a profile the app keeps calculating with a liquid starter at 100 % hydration.

Sourdough dough management for pizza

Sourdough dough management runs through several phases. PizzaPlan turns these into a step-by-step plan, depending on your fermentation time, the flour and the hydration:

Autolyse (with wholemeal flour or hydration from 68 %): combine flour and water in advance and let them hydrate for 30-60 minutes. The gluten starts to develop without kneading.
Work in levain and salt: knead the ripe levain and the salt into the dough, 8-10 minutes.
Work in oil: add the oil last - with spelt flour especially carefully and only briefly.
Stretch & fold: stretch and fold every 30 minutes, four times. This builds dough structure without long kneading.
Bulk ferment at room temperature: 2-6 hours, depending on the planned total ferment.
Cold ferment in the fridge: most of the ripening happens here - slow, cool, flavour-building.
Acclimatise: take the dough out of the fridge before baking and let it come up to temperature.

Acidity and aroma need time - the finest results come from 24-48 hours with a long cold-ferment share. For busy baking days the fast method runs the dough warm (26-28 °C) and is ready from about 6 hours, with less pronounced acidity.

With or without a yeast boost

For sourdough, PizzaPlan offers a yeast boost as an option - a tiny amount of baker’s yeast that supplements the wild lift:

Pure sourdough: only the wild culture drives the dough. The full, characteristic aroma - but the timing depends entirely on the day-to-day form of the starter. If it is weak, the dough barely rises.
With a yeast boost (hybrid): a small amount of yeast makes the lift reliable and predictable, while the sourdough aroma is largely retained. Ideal for beginners, for a young starter, or when the schedule has to hold.

PizzaPlan only factors in the yeast boost for dough management over 12 hours. For shorter ferments it is not offered - that would be more of a yeast dough with a sourdough note anyway.

Common sourdough pizza mistakes

Starter not active enough: if you bake with a starter that did not double after feeding, the dough will not rise. Refresh it two or three times first, then bake.
Short and cool: a cool-fermented sourdough under 12 hours lifts too weakly and stays low on aroma. Plan generously - or use the warm fast method for rushed days.
Dough too sour: managed too warm or ripened too long - the acetic acid takes over. Manage it cooler and do not overrun the cold ferment.
Too much starter in the levain: speeds up the lift but quickly brings a sharp acidity. Better little starter and more time.
Salt straight onto the starter: salt inhibits the culture. It only goes into the main dough, never onto the starter or levain.
Cold dough straight into the oven: a dough taken straight from the fridge is hard to stretch and rises worse in the oven. Let it acclimatise first.

PizzaPlan calculates sourdough - for free

Unlike the preferments biga and poolish or Li.Co.Li., which belong to PizzaPlan Pro, the sourdough calculation is free. You choose sourdough as the leavening agent, enter the fermentation time, room and fridge temperature, pick the method and the share and decide whether to use a yeast boost. The app calculates:

the levain amounts: flour, water and starter, listed separately;
the remaining amounts in the main dough, already corrected for what is in the levain;
the amounts for both methods: levain preferment or madre directly, with the share you pick;
the split of your starter into flour and water according to its own hydration, from 30 to 125 %;
optionally the yeast boost for dough management over 12 hours;
a step-by-step plan from refreshing the starter to baking, with timings matched to your room temperature.

All offline, no account, no tracking. Sourdough works with every pizza style in the app - from Neapolitan to sheet-pan pizza - and with every flour type.

How do I refresh my starter before baking?

Feed it with flour and water 8 to 12 hours before baking and leave it at room temperature. It is active once the volume has roughly doubled, the starter is riddled with bubbles, a spoonful floats in a glass of water (the float test) and it smells pleasantly sour and fruity. If it smells harshly of nail polish remover, give it one or two extra refreshes.

How do I build the levain?

Build the levain from the refreshed starter: flour, water and a portion of starter that ripens for 4 to 6 hours at room temperature. Add it to the main dough right at the peak of its leavening power - well risen, but not yet collapsed. PizzaPlan calculates the levain amounts separately and reduces the remaining amounts in the main dough accordingly.

How much sourdough goes into the dough?

You do not have to estimate this yourself: PizzaPlan works out the flour, water and starter for the levain and corrects the remaining amounts in the main dough, so that total hydration and flour quantity come out right. As a rule of thumb, use little starter and more time, since too much starter in the levain quickly brings a sharp acidity.

Sourdough with or without yeast?

Both work. Pure sourdough gives the full, characteristic aroma, but its timing depends entirely on the day-to-day form of the starter. A small yeast boost makes the lift reliable and predictable while largely keeping the aroma - ideal for beginners or a young starter. PizzaPlan only factors in the yeast boost for dough management over 12 hours.

How long does sourdough pizza dough need to ferment?

For reliable rise and full aroma, PizzaPlan recommends 12 hours or more, with the finest results at 24 to 48 hours and a long cold-ferment share. If you are in a hurry, the fast method runs the dough warm at 26 to 28 °C and is ready to bake from about 6 hours, with less acidic depth.

How do I calculate with a stiff lievito madre?

Create a starter profile with your madre’s hydration, 45 % for instance, and pick the method “Madre directly”. The refreshed madre then goes into the dough unchanged, PizzaPlan splits it into flour and water according to its hydration and deducts both from the main dough. You set the share of the total flour anywhere from 5 to 40 %, with 15 % preset.

Can I save several sourdough starters?

Yes. One starter profile is free, several profiles belong to PizzaPlan Pro: handy if you keep a stiff madre and a liquid starter side by side. Every profile remembers hydration, method, flour, feeding ratio and rhythm, and it can remind you of the next feeding.

Who built PizzaPlan?

PizzaPlan comes from Forstinning near Munich, written by Christoph, a home pizza baker with his own wood-fired oven. The sourdough management is the same one he uses for his own baking days - no simplifications, no rough estimates. More about the app and the background on the About page.

Sourdough is free. If you want more: PizzaPlan Pro costs a one-off 2.99 € (no subscription) and includes Biga, Poolish, Li.Co.Li., 220 flour profiles from 72 brands, sweet yeast doughs and all future Pro features. Play Store · App Store.

Sourdough Pizza: Starter, Levain and Dough Management for Flavourful Bases