Hi Emelyn! Thanks for sharing your process.

Overall, your method looks good and you can keep most of it as it is. Just a couple of small notes. Sugar isn’t really needed, as long as you’re using a strong flour. You can leave it out, unless you like a sweeter crust, then it’s fine to keep it in. The amount of yeast is also on the high side. If you’re using fresh yeast, about 5to 6 grams is enough. If you’re using instant dry yeast, 2 to 2.5 grams will do. At 26°C, fermentation moves quickly, so using less yeast gives you better control and flavor. Other than that, your steps make sense and should work well. Just watch how the dough behaves and adjust the timing if needed.

Cheers,
Team Städler Made.

Hi Justing,
Good question! @Scottanagel explained it perfectly. The total water in the recipe includes the water you use to activate the yeast. So if you bloom your yeast in part of that water, just subtract it from what you add later.

Cheers,
Team Städler Made.

Thank you so much. Very helpful!!

If the calculator states a total amount of water, then that’s the complete total. If it calls for 500 grams and you use 100 to activate the yeast, then that 100 grams counts towards the total. You would then need to add 400 grams to fulfill the complete total of 500 grams.

Or if the calculator says use 200mls of water total, should I just activate my dry yeast in the total amount of water?

Hi Andy! Thanks for your question. We’re currently reviewing how the sourdough percentage interacts with the calculations. Updates and improvements are on the way. Stay tuned!

Cheers,
Städler Made.

Hi Sam! Yes, you can absolutely use active dry yeast instead of instant dry yeast in a New York-style pizza dough. When substituting IDY with ADY, a good rule is to use 25% more ADY than the amount of IDY you are replacing. Just dissolve the ADY in a small amount of warm water (32-35 degrees Celsius/90-95 degrees Fahrenheit). Give it a few minutes to activate. You’ll know it’s ready when it starts to foam a bit.

Hope that helps!

Cheers,
Städler Made.

Hi Cameron, great question! Yes, you can definitely freeze pizza dough. For best results, let the dough go through part of the fermentation process first. Ideally, give it about 24 hours of cold fermentation in the fridge. After that, let it sit at room temperature for around an hour, then portion it into dough balls. I recommend flattening the balls slightly into puck shapes to remove excess air. This helps prevent ice crystal formation, which can affect the gluten structure and texture when thawed.

Make sure you’re using strong flour (with high protein content), as the long fermentation and freezing process require a robust gluten structure to hold up well.

Quality-wise, the sooner you use the frozen dough, the better. Using it within a week should be fine, and you’ll still get great results. When you’re ready to use it, take the dough out of the freezer and let it thaw slowly in the fridge overnight, then bring it to room temperature for a few hours before stretching.

Hope that helps!

Cheers,
Städler Made.