Sourdough Pizza Crust

Steps

1. 1Mix: Mix starter, water, salt, and diastatic malt in a medium-size bowl. Add flour and stir until a shaggy dough forms. Knead in the bowl with your hand for a couple of minutes until the dough just begins to smooth out. Cover and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
2. 2Bulk ferment (75-80°F): Perform three sets of stretch-and-folds on the dough at 30-minute intervals, covering dough after folding. (Stretch twice around the bowl for the first set, and once around for the additional sets.) Allow dough to rest for an additional hour and a half (covered), or until dough has increased by about 1/3 its volume (about 2.5 hours total time for bulk fermentation).
3. 3Form into rounds and proof: Remove dough from bowl and divide in half (do not degas). Gently form each portion into a tight ball and coat in olive oil. (If baking another day, place oiled dough balls in an airtight food storage container and refrigerate. Pull out and proceed to next step about 3 hours before you intend to bake the pizzas.) Place each ball smooth side up in the center of a sheet of parchment paper and cover loosely with a sheet of plastic wrap. Allow to proof in a warm place (75-80°F) for 3 hours, or until dough balls look puffy and have relaxed outwards. Dough should not feel "tight" if you press it with a finger. The indent from your finger should bounce back slowly. (If dough balls will finish proofing too early for mealtime, chill them until you're ready.)When proofing is almost finished, place a baking stone or steel on a rack set in the top third of the oven. Then preheat oven to 525°F (or up to 550°F if your oven will allow).
4. 4Shape: Dampen or lightly flour your fingertips and begin to press out the first ball of dough on the parchment paper. Gently work from the center outward to extend the bottom crust with your fingers into a circular shape without deflating the outer crust or completely degassing the bottom crust. There is no need to lift the dough from the parchment paper. Continue until pizza is about 12 inches in diameter.
5. 5Top: Top with sauce and toppings, but avoid over-topping. Slide the first pizza (still on its parchment paper) onto a pizza peel (a large wooden cutting board or inverted half sheet pan will work). Use the peel to transfer the pizza into the preheated oven on top of the stone or steel.
6. 6Bake: Bake for 10-12 minutes (6 minutes at 550°F), or until the crust has browned to your liking. Transfer pizza to a wire rack and allow to cool for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.
7. 7Reset oven temperature and allow oven come back up to temperature before baking the second pizza.