Our Dough, Barbaro Sourdough Recipe

Barbaro

Every Barbaro pizza begins with sourdough. Time shapes the flavor, structure, and character of our crust. We use Leaven Instant Sourdough, a balanced culture of wild yeast and bacteria that develops deep, layered flavor with the consistency our process requires. Slow fermentation does the heavy lifting, building depth and making the dough easier to digest. That foundation carries every Barbaro pizza.

Dough
See our gluten-free recipe
Warm Ferment
Biga
Mix
+20%
Ball
+20%
Cold Ferment
Proof
Build
Bake
12h 72°F
1h
~2.5h 72°F
30m
~1h 72°F
3–6d 39°F
1–3h 60°F
15m
525°F+
4–7 Days
Biga
Stiff pre-ferment builds flavor overnight
12 hours72°F
Mix
Staged mixing with rests
1 hour
+20% Rise
Preshape at the mark
~2.5 hours72°F
Ball
Pre-round, rest, final tight round
30 min
+20% Rise
Confirms readiness for cold
~1 hour72°F
Cold Ferment
Deep flavor and microblisters over days
3–6 days39°F
Warm Proof
Final rise before baking
1–3 hours60°F
Build
Stretch, shape, oil, top
15 min
Bake
Fire finishes the work
525°F+
Formula
Batch and ingredients
8
400g
14–15″
3,398g
198g
Ingredient Baker's % Grams
Flour 100 % 2,000
Water65.0%1,300
Salt2.5%50
Olive Oil2.0%40
Adjustments
Sugar0.0%0
Honey0.0%0
Diastatic Malt Powder0.0%0
Non-diastatic Malt Powder0.0%0
Preferment
Biga
25%
50%
12h
72°F
Ingredient Biga % Grams
Water 50 % 250
Instant Sourdough (ISD)ISD 1.60 % 8.0
Instant Dry Yeast (IDY)IDY 0.00 % 0
Flour 25 % 500
Leavening
How ISD and IDY split between the preferment and final mix
Type Preferment
% of biga flour		 Final mix
% of total flour		 Total
% of total flour
Instant Sourdough (ISD)ISD 1.6%
8 g
 0.00%
0 g
 0.40%
8 g
Instant Dry Yeast (IDY)IDY 0.00%
0 g
 0.00%
0 g
 0.00%
0 g
Final
Mixed with chilled biga
Ingredient Grams
The Process
Biga
Builds flavor and structure overnight
  • Mix biga ingredients into a clumpy mixture with no dry flour.
  • Cover and ferment for 12 hours at 72°F.
Mix
Building structure in stages
  • Refrigerate biga for 40 min.
  • Desired Dough Temperature (DDT) is 72°F with 15°F friction factor.
    Water temp = (DDT × 4) − Room − Flour − Biga − Friction Factor, or 273 − Room − Flour − Biga.
  • Add Water 1 and flour. Mix on low speed for 1–2 min until a thick, shaggy mass with no dry flour or loose water.
  • Rest ~15 min while cutting biga into very small pieces (~½″).
  • Mix 1.5 min on low speed: half biga, 30 sec, second half biga, 1 min (stop and scrape in between).
  • Rest 10 min, covered.
  • Mix 1 min on low speed until biga is mostly incorporated and dough is mostly uniform.
  • Rest 20 min, covered.
  • Mix 2 min on low speed while adding salt/Water 2 mixture and oil until it begins to smooth.
Dough should be cohesive, elastic, medium-strong, slightly tacky, not completely smooth or satiny. Gives a partial windowpane. Fermentation will finish gluten development.
Warm Ferment
Aliquot-guided rise, ball, and second rise
  • Take an aliquot sample and rest 30 minutes at 72°F.
  • Preshape, then wait for +20% rise on the aliquot.
  • Ball in two steps: pre-round, rest 10–15 min, then final tight round.
  • Wait for another +20% rise on the aliquot, then move to cold ferment.
Cold Ferment
Slow fermentation develops deep flavor
  • 3–6 days in the refrigerator at 39°F.
  • Uncovered for first 15 minutes, then cover.
  • Wipe condensation off lid after 30 minutes.
Warm Proof
Final rise before baking
  • 1–3 hours at 60°F before shaping and baking.
  • Uncovered for 30–60 min (in or out of fridge).
Build
Shaping and topping before the oven
  • After stretching to 12–13″, brush flour off the rim with a pastry brush.
  • Brush rim with avocado or sunflower oil using a pastry brush.
  • Lift onto peel and build quickly.
Bake
Fire finishes the work
  • Wood-fired oven at 650°F, or baking steel in home oven at max temperature.