Tipo 00 Flour
I've been on a quest to find Tipo 00 flour and I finally "scored" some on the very day that a post appeared about "what's the big deal about Tipo 00 flour?" and most people said it was a waste. I've always had great timing!
Anyway, I really wanted to try it because I'm not happy with my pizza dough. I find it a bit too elastic, and wanted increased extensibility for shaping and texture. But, armed with the comments on the post referenced above (which I now cannot find!), I decided to go "halfsies" and replace only half the flour in Peter Reinhart's Neo Neopolitan dough with the Tipo 00--the rest was unbleached AP flour.
I've been finding the Neo Neopolitan dough very sticky to handle--that would be OK with a boule but not so easy with pizza. And the dough has been too thin, it's torn too easily and been very difficult to shape.
I was very pleased with the addition of the Tipo 00 flour. I found the dough less sticky and easier to handle. Despite the lower protein content, the gluten seemed to form right away and work nicely. I got my best windowpane EVER. It was really telling that I got beautifully round pizzas (instead of amoebas) without tearing, and the crust had just the right thickness I've been seeking (not too thin, not too thick). It had a lovely flavor!
I parbake my pizza crusts so they don't get too soggy (I like to really load on the vegies), and without docking they puffed up like pitas. I'm going to try this flour for pita next, because I'm very unsatisfied with my pita efforts--they are always very heavy and tough. I think the Tipo 00 will help those too.
It's pricey--I payed $3.29 for a 2.2 lb bag. But, it's fun to work with and I was happy with the results.
I use 00 flour for fresh pasta. 100 g flour to 1 large egg. Perfect, silky fresh pasta. Try it and you'll never use AP flour for pasta again!
I'll have to try that!
I've been wanting to find a good semolina for pasta.
The only semolina flour I've been able to find is very coarse ground (Bob's Red Mill) but this Italian market where I found the Tipo OO had several different bags of semolina flour too.
Semolina is supposed to be the best for pasta but the Bob's Red Mill stuff is simply too coarse. Does anyone know what I should be looking for among the bags at that market?
me too! Food processor makes it even easier.
I haven't tried my Tipo 00 on regular pasta yet, but I made potato gnocchi this weekend substituting 50% of the flour with Tipo 00 and the results were very good. The gnocchi had a nice texture and a pasta "tooth"--a vast improvement over the frozen or refrigerated ones you can buy in the market.
I used to make gnocchi all the time but haven't in many years. I don't know why not, it's not that hard and they are much tastier than commercial ones.
Janknitz, here's where I buy durum patent flour, Sperry brand, which I've used with great success for the so-called "semolina" breads (Italian style breads). http://www.nybakers.com/wholewheat.html They also have the semolina flour, but you get that at the local market.
And here's there tipo 00 flour. http://www.nybakers.com/euro.html
I also have used their All-Trumps high-gluten flour for bagels: http://www.nybakers.com/wheat.html along with the dry barley malt they sell.
Sometimes they have a special on shipping, so it's worth keeping in touch with them.
Joyful
I finally tried the Tipo 00 in Pita breads, about a 50/50 mix of AP and the 00 flour. I used a KA recipe. The dough was very easy to roll out nice and thin, and they all ballooned up perfectly--not a dud in the batch, not even the one I wadded up and rolled a second time because I made it too thin the first time.
But, the walls of the pitas were very thin, and I over-baked the first few (pita crackers, anyone?). I think I will try it again with a smaller ratio of the 00 flour.
My pitas went great with homemade beet hummus using leftover beets. Yummy!
Thanks, Joyful, I am trying not to mail order flour if I can avoid it--seems like too much of a carbon footprint to ship small amounts of flour to an individual when most things are available locally. Traversos had some bags of semolina, but I'm not sure of the grind.
This may be a duplicate, as my first try didn't seem to "save." I agree with you about buying locally. At least San Diego isn't China.
Anyhow, I'd love to know where you find Tipo 00 in the North Bay. Do they have "strong flour" (for bagels) and dry barley malt? I buy barley malt syrup at Community Market or (I think) Whole Foods, but the dry malt is easier to use and stays fresh longer.
Thanks, Joyful