Italians say: “Take good flour, mozzarella and tomato pulp, and then you won’t be able to spoil the pizza!”
When you look at the ease and grace with which Italians cook pizza, it seems that there is no simpler dish! However, to get real Italian pizza, you need to know a lot of secrets. The main secret is choosing the right flour for pizza. You can make the best sauce, find the best mozzarella, but you'll ruin everything if you don't make the dough right!
Despite the minimum cost of flour - the main ingredient of pizza, it is its quality that determines the taste and appearance of the finished dish.
The term “professional pizza flour” is increasingly heard in the circle of pizzaiolo: everyone who makes pizza every day knows how much trouble the wrong flour can cause: swelling on the surface of the crust, dark spots on the light pizza, raw, undercooked crumb, lack of crunch in the side , rapid loss of freshness, absorption of moisture from the filling ...
The use of a special pizza flour will ensure that the product comes out of the oven with the same quality – always.
To understand how the flour will behave during the preparation of the dough, how much water it will absorb during kneading, how the dough piece will stretch, whether it will shrink after stretching, whether the crunch of the side will remain after baking - rheological indicators are responsible for all these qualities of pizza, which cannot be determined without special laboratory equipment. Unfortunately, none of them is regulated by Russian GOST. The amount of gluten, IDK, whiteness - the main GOST characteristics are absolutely not informative and useless when choosing flour for pizza.
Often, when it comes to pizza flour, we hear that it should be "tipo 00". The Italian standard designates the marking "00" - as an indicator of ash content - 0.55%. It is worth noting that absolutely any flour of the highest grade GOST meets this condition. But why, then, is the Italian flour "tipo 00" almost always suitable for pizza, but the usual flour VS GOST is not?
The Italians are lucky: a warm climate, special soils, and minimal rainfall make it possible to obtain grain with special enzymes, properties that give the flour good extensibility and elasticity, and the finished pizza - an amazing taste and aroma!
The quality of pizza flour is determined by many characteristics, and only special laboratory control will ensure its stability.
In our laboratory, we tested grain from almost all grain-producing regions of our country and selected special varieties that are similar in their characteristics to Italian ones. And during the production of professional pizza flour, we control more than 16 parameters responsible for the rheology of the dough: protein content, the ratio of proteins responsible for elasticity and elasticity, the presence and activity of enzymes in flour, their effect on starch and proteins, resulting in taste and pizza flavor.
There are many pizza recipes, each of which involves a certain cooking technology. For example, classic Italian pizza requires a long cold proofing, at least 24 hours. Italians have long noticed that if pizza dough is allowed to rest at a low temperature for a long time, it acquires a special taste and aroma. The reason is that when the temperature drops, the activity of the yeast decreases, but the enzymes at this time retain their activity and as a result a special aroma, the taste of pizza appears. The longer the fermentation process, the richer the taste and aroma properties of the dough.
Each establishment has individual characteristics and it is not always possible for pizzerias to make technology with the longest cold proofing: based on this, we have developed a whole line of professional pizza flour - medium, standart, premium. Now each pizzaiolo will be able to choose flour according to his own needs, recipe, ideas and technical capabilities, while obtaining a stable and high-quality result:
Flour with a short fermentation period "Medium"
Protein content 12% (min)
Flour strength (W) 200-240
Designed for pizzerias that prepare dough with a short maturation period (dough of one day). Ideal for making classic Italian, Roman (on a shovel) and Neapolitan pizzas
Flour with an average fermentation period "Standart"
Protein content 13% (min)
Flour strength (W) 260-300
Ash content 0.55 (corresponds to Tipo 00)
Designed for pizzerias using dough with a medium and long fermentation period (more than 48 hours). Suitable for classic Italian pizza, American, Chicago and Sicilian (pan) pizza.
Flour with a long fermentation period "Premium"
Protein content 14.5% (min)
Flour strength (W) 350-380
Ash content 0.55 (corresponds to Tipo 00)
Designed for pizzerias using dough with a long fermentation period. It is recommended to work with the dough for at least 72 hours of proofing. This flour can be used as an "improver" to "weak flour".
If you are faced with the question of choosing high-quality flour for pizza, and you have any questions, or you need help to deal with a recipe or technology that is new to you, please contact the specialists of the SuperFlour project, for this you just need to call the number 8 800 234 76 46 or send an email
Good pizza starts with the right flour!
Adults and children rarely refuse home baking. Therefore, their hostesses often delight them with pies, cookies, cakes and other culinary creations. All these dishes require good flour. To create dough for buns, pasta requires a premium product. It is characterized by a perfectly white color, a minimum size of grains (no more than 0.2 mm). Flour for pasta and other products is practically free of gluten and vitamin B.
To create a lean dough, you need a first-class product. It is suitable for baking pies, kulebyak. Products are lush, do not get stale for a long time. The second grade is ideal for making chebureks, pancakes. It contains a huge amount of vitamins, useful minerals. The dough from this product is not lush, it does not rise well. We have affordable prices, a wide range of quality products.
Pizza flour: a culinary masterpiece at home
Many people believe that the same type of flour can be used to make a variety of pastries and crispy pizzas. Actually it is not. Different products differ significantly in characteristics. For pizza, Italian flour is a good option. It consists of:
- Gluten. Allows to receive elastic, elastic dough. Its amount in the product is 11.9%.
- Minerals. There are very few of them, only 0.55%. Therefore, the flour is of high quality, allows you to cook pastries with a thin fragrant crust.
Many cooks prefer to use for pizza. It has an ideal set of properties for creating a traditional Italian dish.
Which is better: corn flour or wheat flour?
Both products are widely used in cooking. The first is used as the main component for the preparation of cereals, hominy, banush, ugali, various flat cakes. It is poorly loosened, so it is not suitable for baking pies and buns. The composition includes a huge amount of useful substances, starch. The product is characterized by coarse grinding, yellowish tint.
Wheat is used to prepare various types of bread, buns, dumplings, pancakes, pasta. It has a white hue. You can buy wheat flour in almost every store, but corn flour is produced in limited quantities.
. We can buy oils
“Flour is the basis of your business, without it there would be no end product. And yet, when something goes wrong with your pizza, this is the last point that they pay attention to, says Tom Lehmann, director of the Bakery Institute in Manhattan, Kansas. "Many pizza managers check the baking time and temperature first, but it doesn't occur to them that they're just using the wrong type of flour."
Do you know why you use this particular flour? Have you tested flours with different protein content before settling on the current one, or are you just following the beaten path? Flavor, fluffiness, airiness, rim height, crunch, crumble - all of these pizza parameters can be improved if you replace the flour.
“Good pizza starts with good flour,” says Roberto Caporussio, owner of Kesté Pizza & Vino in New York and Don Antonio by Starita in New York and Atlanta. “Ignore the cost of a bag of flour, but calculate how much each ball of dough costs you.”
“The type of flour does not directly affect the taste of the pizza, but it can prevent the crust from achieving the quality characteristics needed to fully represent your brand. For example, New York-style pizzas require protein-rich flour to rise high on the edges, notes Tom Lehmann. “Neapolitan-style pizzas, on the other hand, need a “weaker” flour: a high gluten content will stop the dough from rising in a high-temperature oven.”
Fermentation time can also greatly affect the taste of the finished product. “Typically, the taste of pizza depends more on the type of yeast and fermentation cycle than on the flour,” says Jeff Varasano, owner of the pizzeria Varasanos in Atlanta. “Regular white flour doesn’t have a strong taste, but if it is fermented for several days, the yeast releases different types of acids and complex organics, which create a strong taste.”
Has your dough ever burned for no apparent reason? Some types of flour contain sugar which can burn in high temperature ovens. According to Roberto Caporussio, the sugar content is one of the reasons why he exclusively uses Italian 00 flour. “I can't use American flour because it has a very high sugar content, and when the temperature in the oven exceeds 315°C, like in our pizzeria, the pizza immediately burns,” he says. "There should be a lot of sugar in Sicilian and New York style pizza dough."
Important numbers
The protein content matters a lot, especially if you're working with high temperature ovens or making pizza with a thick crust. “About 30% of newcomers to the pizza business ask their supplier to bring them “pizza flour,” as they would ask for “cake flour” when making pies, or “bread flour” if they were baking bread,” says Tom Lehmann. ‒ The problem is that a typical “pizza flour” has a protein content of 13.5%, and this flour is only good for New York style pizza. Using this flour to make thick-crust pizza will result in a large crust that will take a long time to chew, like chewing gum. In most pizzerias, a good bread flour with a protein content of 11.5-12.75% will work just fine.”
Most importantly, you don’t have to rush back and forth between flour brands to get the best price. In addition to material benefits, you will also receive different protein content, which can have a negative impact on your final product - pizza. “It is very important to always be sure that you use flour with the same protein content, because it affects everything else,” says Roberto Caporuscio.
Another important point is the water content: you need to know the percentage of moisture in the flour you are using. “Despite the feeling that flour is a dry product, its moisture content is about 15%, while it can fluctuate by two to three percent,” comments Jeff Varasano. ‒ Therefore, if your recipe calls for 62% moisture content in the dough, and the flour for this batch has only 13% water content, and not the normal 15%, you must take into account this missing 2% when adding water. You need to be flexible and use your experience to evaluate the structure of the test. Flour is a natural ingredient that can change just like any of your products.”
Although certain types of flour are better suited to certain types of pizza, the result still depends on many factors - oven temperature, baking time, dough fermentation time.
Some Neapolitan-style pizzerias are true to Italian 5 Stagioni flour, while others work with American bread flour. “For Neapolitan pizza, using 00 flour is the only right choice, but it’s not the best flour for all types of pizza,” says Jeff Varasano. ‒ Many people write to me that they are trying to make Neapolitan pizza with “00” flour, but the temperature in the oven only rises to 287 °C. It doesn't work at all. This type of flour is only great for baking pizza for 90 seconds or less at 426°C and above. At a lower temperature, "00" flour will not give a good brown cake color and adequate crumb structure. I usually bake my pizza for about 2 minutes 45 seconds at a temperature of 382 ° C, and knead the dough with bread flour with a protein content of 12-12.5%.”
According to Tom Lehmann, the flour is gluten/gluten free; proteins are in the flour at rest. Gluten is formed when water is added to flour. “When the protein content of flour increases, the gluten content also increases,” says the expert. ‒ However, it happens that the quality parameters of flour protein may not coincide with flour gluten. And since gluten content depends on protein breakdown, there is more potential for flavor development when the protein breaks down during baking.”
“Most people know that the higher the gluten content in the grain, the denser the dough you get, since gluten is a binder,” adds Jeff Varasano. - The structure of products made from wheat is diverse - there are both soft (patties, pastries, cakes) and hard, with a crust, products (bagels, bread, pizza). Typically, for soft products, flour with a low gluten content (7–9%) is used, while for hard types of baking, the gluten content should be higher (14–14.5%). Pizza is usually made from grain with a gluten content of 12-14.5%, and sometimes even 10-11%.
Perfect Interest
So what should be the protein content of your pizza flour? Here are some key metrics:
Neapolitan-style pizza: 9.5-11%
Thick Crust (Chicago Style): 11-12.5%
New York style pizza: 13.5% and up
Regular bread flour: 11.5 - 12.75%
Anyone who loves homemade bread and homemade pasta will agree with me that the most important thing is the right choice of flour. In order to choose the right flour for the best result, or, more importantly, to mix different types of flour together correctly, you need to know their basic characteristics.
First of all, you need to consider what grain the flour is made from.
I only write about what I have tried myself, so I will mention here the types and varieties of flour that I have tried and are familiar with.
First of all, this
farina di grano tenere (triticum aestivum) - soft wheat flour,
farina di grano duro (triticum turgidum durum) - durum wheat flour,
farina di segale (secale cereale) - rye flour
farina di farro (triticum turgidum dicoccum) - spelled flour
Soft wheat flour
In Italy, soft wheat flour differs in terms of ash content. The ash content of flour is the amount of minerals contained in it. The higher the ash content in the flour, that is, the more mineral salts it contains, the lower its quality.
According to this indicator, the following types of flour exist in Italy:
| Italian flour type | Ash content | Exit |
| flour type 00 | 0,55% | 50% |
| type 0 flour | 0,65% | 72% |
| type 1 flour | 0,80% | 80% |
| type 2 flour | 0,95% | 85% |
| wholemeal flour (integral) |
1,70% | 100% |
In the table I give the ash content and the so-called "yield". The output in flour milling is the amount of flour obtained by grinding 100 parts by weight of grain. Wholemeal flour, as you can see, has a 100% yield, because. for its manufacture, the whole grain is used, all its components: the inner part of the grain (endosperm), and the shells, and the germ. For the manufacture of type 00 flour, only the inner part of the grain (endosperm) is used.
The table does not show some subtypes of Italian flour, because, for example, for homemade pasta, I personally chose flour of type 00 with the nomination calibrata, which means - calibrated, i.e. large, special grinding. This flour has a yellowish tint, feels like sand to the touch. It makes an excellent sfolya (layer of rolled out dough), it rolls well, does not tear, dries quickly, it is easy to manipulate, and the finished product seems to be rough to the touch, what is called pasta ruvida, i.e. pasta ruvida. rough paste. Sauce sticks better to such a pasta, it does not roll off it. In the region of Emilia-Romagna, this dough is especially appreciated, from which tagliatelle and lasagna are made here.
If we compare Italian and Russian flour, we get the following picture:
| Type of Russian flour | Ash content | Exit |
| Premium flour | 0,55% | 30% |
| Flour of the first grade | 0,75% | 72% |
| Flour of the second grade | 1,25% | 85% |
| Whole flour | 0,07-2,0% | 96% |
But it is not enough to know only the ash content and the yield of flour in order to understand how flour will behave in the process of kneading and baking bread. For this, there are various parameters among which the most important is the strength of flour, which is denoted by the letter W. To measure this parameter, a tool called Chopin's alveorgaf is used. Flour with a high W value absorbs more water and is more suitable for long proofing. The strength of the flour affects the volume of baking and the porosity of the crumb - the higher the W value, the more porous, dense and elastic the finished product is.
This strength parameter is not indicated on packages of flour for home use, however, there is a table that will help you understand the strength of flour, based on the amount of proteins in it, which can be read on a pack of flour.
Russian flour of the highest grade has a weak strength and a low percentage of proteins - 10.3. Therefore, for example, pizza from it turns out to be lush, high, finely porous, such indicators are not typical for Italian pizza. But there is still a replacement for such flour - flour with a high protein content. Different manufacturers in Russia designate such flour in different ways - special, reinforced, extra. Most importantly, when buying, make sure that the protein content in the flour is appropriate.
In Italy you can find a very strong type of flour. This is Manitoba flour. It allows you to produce long proofing dough, up to 15 hours. Manitoba is the name of an Indian tribe and one of the Canadian regions where this special type of grain is grown, which is high in gluten. Today, other types of flour with W>350 are called Manitoba, regardless of the origin of the grain.
In Italy, you can find Manitoba flour with a protein content of 21.53%. This is a rather expensive flour and is suitable for baking panettone and other pastries that require particularly long proofing.
Many recipes advise mixing Manitoba with other types of flour.
Here's how, for example, in these my recipes that I attached to the post:
Maritozzi buns
Italian Easter braid
sandwich croissants
Recently, I especially fell in love with wholemeal flour (integrale). Wholemeal flour in Russia includes wholemeal flour (96% flour yield from raw materials) and whole grain flour (100% flour yield). Of course, someone will say that you can’t bake sweet muffins from such flour. He will be right if he says that such flour rises poorly, often falls off, and the finished product has an unsightly appearance and gray color. But on the other hand, having eaten such bread, a person is saturated faster. This flour is rich in fiber, which is so necessary for us, because it cleanses the body of toxins and feeds the microflora of our intestines, on the state of which immunity and health depend. In a word, long live bran!
Durum wheat flour
I love using durum wheat flour. In durum wheat flour, starch grains are smaller and harder, its consistency is fine-grained, and there is relatively much gluten. Such flour is strong, absorbs more water and is used for baking bread and, of course, for making pasta - pasta.
Semola is obtained by grinding durum wheat. It is yellowish in color and does not look like powder, but like fine sand. In the south of Italy, the secondary grinding of durum wheat (semola rimacinata) is practiced. Bread baked from durum wheat has a special crumb texture, a yellowish color associated with a high content of carotenoids. This bread keeps well. The most famous semola bread is bread di Altamura. In comparison with common wheat, semolina is distinguished by a high content of proteins (14-15%), dietary fiber (9-19%) and mineral salts (potassium, iron, phosphorus) and vitamins of groups E, B1, B3.
I will add that in Russia this is second-class flour, also called "durum". This is the flour, on the packaging of which is GOST 16439-70. It is under this GOST that the Russian industry produces flour from durum wheat.
Rye flour
It must be said that rye flour is little used in Italy. Much less than we would like. However, almost all Italians who have ever tasted my black bread were delighted with it. Recently in Italy they began to produce a ready-made mix for baking black bread. Its composition is as follows:
89.3% is flour from the following cereals and grains -
soft wheat flour type 00
Rye flour
sesame seeds
barley flour
corn flour
oatmeal flour
rice flour.
Then added cane sugar, sea salt, dextrose, malt flour.
It turns out unusually fragrant, very dark bread, which remains soft for several days.
Rye flour is also included in the finished composition called "7 cereals" along with soft and durum wheat, spelled, oats, corn and barley. This flour looks like whole wheat flour.
spelled flour
"I will serve you well,
Diligently and very well
In a year for three clicks on your forehead,
Give me some boiled spelt."
Yes, yes, it was this spelled that Balda asked the priest. Spelled (in Italian farro, in German dinkel) is the oldest cereal, wheat, containing the largest amount of proteins - from 27% to 37%. Gluten proteins, which this cereal is so rich in, contain 18 essential amino acids for the body, which cannot be obtained from animal food. The ancient Romans and Egyptians regularly ate it. She is mentioned in the poems of Homer, in the writings of Herodotus, Theophrastus, Columella. Spelled was sown on a vast territory from Ethiopia and South Arabia to Transcaucasia. Spelled was distributed almost throughout Europe. For some reason that I don't understand, over time it was almost completely abandoned, but in the last 20 years, interest in spelled has returned with renewed vigor. I even found such interesting information that in Wales, for example, a bakery was opened where you can buy the most expensive bread in the country - “Bread of Heaven”. It costs 2 pounds sterling, which is four times more expensive than ordinary bread, and, according to the producers, is made from real spelled wheat, which was present at the table of Christ and the apostles during their last meal.
They also write that studies conducted in the United States have proven that spelt gluten does not cause allergies in half of the cases in people who are sensitive to this element in wheat grain. Some scientists even claim that it, on the contrary, helps fight celiac disease.
The spelled grain is protected by tight-fitting scales, which protects it from adverse environmental influences, so spelled can grow in almost all climatic zones. Spelled is unpretentious.
In Italy, there are many recipes with this wonderful cereal, which in some sources is referred to as “black caviar of cereals”.
Spelled flour is universal. It comes in whole grain and white.
Spelled flour can be successfully replaced with soft wheat flour. The dish will only benefit from this in terms of taste and, of course, usefulness.
The characteristics of gluten make spelled flour an excellent product for baking healthy bread. Products made from this flour are distinguished by a crispy crust, a dense crumb and an indescribable aroma and taste.
Any pasta with or without filling is made from this flour, it is also suitable for sweet pastries, cakes, cookies, not forgetting pancakes and tortillas. It makes excellent strudel dough and phyllo dough. Spelled flour thickens sauces. It is great for bechamel, sweet creams and puddings. Spelled flour and the cereal itself add a delicate nutty flavor to the dish and many people use it for this reason alone. You just need to remember two important things: spelled flour requires more water during kneading and the dough rises more slowly than soft wheat flour. But when it comes to benefits and health, you can wait a bit, right?
And today I found in my kitchen
flour for frying
flour for piadina
flour for sweet baking with baking powder
rice flour
corn flour
almond flour.
But more about that some other time.
To choose flour for pizza, first of all, you need to understand what kind of pizza we will cook. Because in the modern world there are dozens of different versions of pizza.
There is the famous Neopolitan pizza, which is served on a very very thin dough. The main role in this pizza is played by sauce, cheese and toppings. That is, the test is almost inaudible. The dough is rolled out into a parchment-transparent flap, on which all the ingredients are laid out.
There is a direct opposite of this type of pizza - Chicago pizza. Chicago pizza differs from all others in that it is very thick. This is all done on a fluffy yeast cake, on which the ingredients are laid out.
And no matter how many ingredients we put in, the dough will still be felt - incredibly tasty, sweet and crunchy. Chicago pizza was invented in the middle of the last century in the USA, so it is the youngest and most creative in terms of production.
HOW TO CHOOSE FLOUR
First of all, it is worth evaluating the flour for taste and color.
High-quality flour should be slightly sweet, without foreign impurities and odors. The biggest problem with this product is that it dries out during storage and may even get a little moldy. The flour should not have any off-flavours and should taste slightly sweetish.
And, of course, the quality of flour determines its friability. That is, the flour should in no case fall into lumps, it should be homogeneous and crumble easily.
WHAT FLOUR TO USE
Flour for making bread or pizza is calibrated in different categories: 2, 1, 0 and 00. Each of these categories differs primarily in the grinding and quality of the flour itself.
The coarsest, hardest flour is 2, and the most airy, light as snow is 00. If we choose a dish that is more fluffy, that is, Chicago pizza, fluffy bread or biscuit, then we need to choose flour 00. It is the most fluffy, it is easily infused, and the dish prepared from it turns out to be as airy as possible.
Many chefs and pizzaiolos mix different types of flour in order to get the best possible result. The fact is that even large grinds have their own peculiarity: they are more flavorful and contain more gluten, which gives the dough and the dish a more elastic character. With such flour, pizza will not be crispy, but softer and more viscous.
For my restaurants, I use Molino Grassi flour - this is the famous pizzeria flour. I also add some Semola Di Grano flour to my pizza. It gives the dish a brighter taste, it has a coarse grinding - this is flour made from durum wheat. It gives the dish a light "crunch" and at the same time makes the dish brighter in taste.
Flour grinding and dough quality are two directly proportional parameters.
The smaller the grinding of flour, the more crumbly, airy and soft the dough will be. If we use coarse grinds (such as 2 or 1), it is better to use them in a certain proportion with 00 or 0 flour. Because otherwise the dough will turn out slightly dark and will have a huge amount of gluten, which can spoil the taste of our dish.
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