Sourdough Guide · Intermediate

Sourdough Pizza: Detroit-Style & Einkorn

How to make sourdough pizza — same-day vs cold-fermented dough, hydration by style, a Detroit-style pan method, einkorn notes, and using discard.

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Detroit-style sourdough pan pizza with caramelized cheese edges

Updated Oct 2026 · 10 min read

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Sourdough pizza takes everything good about sourdough — the flavour, the chew, the easy digestibility — and puts it under cheese. It’s also forgiving: a pizza crust doesn’t need the perfect rise a boule does, so it’s a great way to use an active starter or a jar of discard. This guide covers both a high-hydration Detroit-style pan pizza and a gentler einkorn version.

Two ways to ferment the dough

The single biggest flavour decision is how long you ferment. Both approaches work — pick by how much time you have.

Cold ferment (best flavour) Mix with an active starter, bulk briefly, then refrigerate 24–72 hours. The slow, cold rise builds deep, complex flavour and makes the dough easier to stretch.
Same-day (fastest) Mix with a peaked starter in the morning, bulk at room temperature, and bake that evening. Good flavour, less depth than a long retard.
Discard + a little yeast For pizza tonight, use unfed discard for flavour plus a pinch of commercial yeast for reliable lift.

Hydration by style

Match the water to the crust you want. The pan supports wet dough, so pan styles go higher; a thin round crust stays lower to crisp up.

60–65% thin / round crust
70–75% Detroit & pan styles
24–72h cold ferment for flavour

Detroit-style, step by step

Detroit-style is the ideal sourdough pizza for home ovens: high hydration, baked in a steel pan, with those addictive caramelised cheese edges.

  1. 1
    Mix a wet dough Mix a 70–75% hydration dough with active starter. Give it a few folds, then bulk briefly and cold-retard 24–72 hours for flavour.
  2. 2
    Pan and rest Oil a steel Detroit pan generously, press the dough toward the edges, and let it relax and puff in the pan until light and bubbly. Re-stretch to the corners as it relaxes.
  3. 3
    Cheese to the edges Cover the dough right to the walls of the pan with brick cheese (or a low-moisture mozzarella blend). The cheese against the hot steel becomes the crispy frico crust.
  4. 4
    Sauce on top Ladle sauce in stripes over the cheese — the Detroit "racing stripes" — rather than under it.
  5. 5
    Bake hot Bake at 245–260°C (475–500°F) until the interior is set and the cheese edges are deep, crisp, and caramelised. Release with an offset spatula while hot.
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Making it with einkorn

Einkorn makes a tender, nutty, golden crust — but its weak gluten needs a gentler plan than modern wheat.

Go pan-style Einkorn can't take the stretch of a thin round crust. Detroit or Sicilian pan styles let the pan carry the slack dough.
Keep hydration lower Drop the water compared with a modern-wheat pan dough — einkorn holds far less. Mix minimally to protect the fragile gluten.
Don't over-proof Einkorn has little proofing tolerance. Let it puff gently in the pan, then bake before it collapses.

Baking hot

Heat is everything. For thin round pizza, preheat a baking steel or stone at the oven’s maximum for 45–60 minutes and bake fast — a few minutes — so the base crisps before the toppings overcook. For Detroit and pan styles, the pizza bakes longer in its pan at a slightly lower temperature so the thick interior sets fully and the cheese edges caramelise. Whatever the style, a fully preheated surface or pan is what gives a crisp, non-soggy bottom.

Troubleshooting

Watch for

  • Dense, tough crust → under-fermented dough, or over-worked; ferment longer and handle less
  • Dough won't stretch / snaps back → not relaxed enough; rest it longer at room temperature
  • Soggy bottom → surface or pan not hot enough, or too much sauce
  • No caramelised Detroit edge → not enough cheese to the walls, or pan not oiled/hot enough
  • Gummy einkorn crust → hydration too high or over-proofed; go drier and bake fully

Size your dough before adapting the pizza style

Use the pizza dough calculator to size a batch by balls and weight, or apply a 10–16-inch round-pizza preset. It counts starter flour and water in the total hydration, so you do not accidentally make a larger or wetter batch by adding the starter on top.

Round size presets use an explicit dough loading. A Detroit-style pan pizza has a different area, thickness and pan-oil workflow; do not assume that the thin round preset is its formula. For a party, set an appetite assumption and round up the number of balls, then decide how many can proof and bake comfortably with your equipment.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Is sourdough good for pizza?
Yes — it's excellent. Sourdough fermentation gives pizza dough a deeper, tangier flavour, a lighter and more digestible crust, and a great chew. A long, cold ferment develops complex flavour that fast commercial-yeast dough can't match. You can use either an active starter or leftover discard depending on how much time you have.
What hydration should sourdough pizza dough be?
It depends on the style. Thin, round, Neapolitan-style crusts run around 60–65% hydration for a crisp base. Thick pan styles like Detroit and Sicilian run higher, around 70–75%, for an open, airy interior with a crisp bottom. Higher hydration suits pan pizza because the pan supports the wetter dough.
How long should I cold ferment sourdough pizza dough?
24–72 hours in the fridge is the sweet spot. A cold ferment slows the yeast so flavour develops without over-proofing, and it makes the dough easier to stretch. Many pizzaioli consider 48–72 hours ideal. You can bake same-day with an active starter, but the flavour won't be as developed.
What makes Detroit-style pizza different?
Detroit-style is a thick, rectangular pan pizza baked in a steel pan. Its signatures are cheese pushed all the way to the edges — traditionally brick cheese — which caramelises against the hot pan into a crispy 'frico' crust, and sauce ladled on top of the cheese in stripes. The crust is airy inside and crisp-fried on the bottom and edges.
Can I make sourdough pizza with einkorn flour?
Yes, and it makes a wonderfully tender, nutty crust — but treat einkorn gently. Its weak gluten can't handle high hydration or a stretchy thin crust, so keep hydration lower and go pan-style (Detroit or Sicilian), where the pan supports the dough. Mix minimally and don't over-proof.
Can I use sourdough discard for pizza?
Absolutely — pizza is one of the best uses for discard. Because a pizza crust doesn't need a huge rise, unfed discard adds flavour while a pinch of commercial yeast or a long rest provides the lift. Discard pizza is a fast, same-day option when you don't have an active, peaked starter ready.
What temperature do you bake sourdough pizza at?
As hot as your oven goes. For thin round pizza, preheat a baking steel or stone at maximum (usually 250–290°C / 480–550°F) for a fast, crisp bake. Detroit-style bakes in its steel pan at around 245–260°C (475–500°F) for longer, so the interior sets and the cheese edges caramelise.
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