The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

00 Flour - where and what type?

dgaddis's picture
dgaddis

00 Flour - where and what type?

I want to try some 00 flour for pizza dough.  No one locally carries it.  So what type do yall recommend?  Amazon has a variety of different types - what's the difference between '00 Chef's flour' and '00 pizza flour'?.  King Arthur has some as well.  

Whatcha recommend?

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

Where do you live?

dgaddis's picture
dgaddis

Macon, GA.  We've got a Kroger, Publix, Wallyworld, and a Fresh Market.  No 00 flour in sight.  Actually, I haven't checked wallyworld, but I try and avoid that place as much as possible.

HansB's picture
HansB

Caputo Pizzaria is what you want. The flour does not contain malt so you'll also need an oven that gets to around 850F for Neapolitan pizza. More info here: https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?board=26.0

jimbtv's picture
jimbtv

Here in the US we do not grade our flours using the European standard. We grade our flour mostly by protein content and how much of the bran is present in the flour. To me it is like asking where you can purchase metric flour in a country that doesn't use the metric system.

My guess is that you will not find 00-graded flour in your local stores. If you truly want a flour that is marketed by that  specific grading system you will have to purchase it from a specialty store, or from a common EU supplier.

HansB's picture
HansB

Here in Southeast Michigan 00 four is easy to find in most decent grocery stores. There are also many online sources like Amazon that cary it.

dgaddis's picture
dgaddis

I can get 00 flour online, that's not the problem.  I'm just curious which brands and any specific type people recommend.  For example, what's the difference between these, both from Antimo Caputo:

Chef's flour : https://www.amazon.com/Antimo-Caputo-Chefs-Flour-Pound/dp/B00BR0K62E/ref=sr_1_6_s_it?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1513279597&sr=1-6&keywords=00+flour

Pizzaria : https://www.amazon.com/Antimo-Caputo-Pizzeria-Flour-Repack/dp/B006XL9W7W/ref=sr_1_2_s_it?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1513279597&sr=1-2&keywords=00%2Bflour&th=1

I don't have an oven that'll go to 850F.  I can do 550F in the oven, and 700ish on my grill.  But I've heard/read of plenty of people using 00 flour in a home oven at 500ish degrees.  It's not 'true' Neapolitan, but you can still make some good pies.

albacore's picture
albacore

In the UK, lots of pizza chefs go with Caputo Blue pizza 00 flour. I'm sure that there are plenty of other brands just as good, but it's kind of tried and tested.

You are lucky in the States being able to buy it repacked; in the UK you have to buy a 25kg bag, which is a lot of flour for a home pizza maker!

Having said that, if you are without a WFO, you may get almost as good results at lower cost with bread flour. Before I built a WFO I used to use one of the Pete Reinhart Neo-Neopolitan recipes with good results, eg This One

 

Lance

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

But here in London I can also go into a local Italian cafe/bakery and ask them for flour. You can always ask bakeries for flour or sourdough starter. The worst they can say is they can't sell/give you any. 

dgaddis's picture
dgaddis

Three votes for Caputo Pizzaria - sold!  Will be here Tues, we'll have some pies on Weds!

dgaddis's picture
dgaddis

Mixed up some dough last night.  Tonight, we have pizza!!

urzulei's picture
urzulei

You can buy the caputo flour here: http://www.vorrei.co.uk/Pantry-Ingredients/