Pizza Flour Baltimore

[ernestrome]

Where can i buy a high gluten flour for making pizza in the Baltimore?

I tried Trinacria but they don't stock it and were not helpful when i asked if they could get some or knew of somewhere to get some.

Ideally I would like to find Caputo Pizza or Chef's Flour, but other high gluten flours might be OK.

Thanks

[JRCann]

I am no expert on this.. this wife is... but we get all of our speciaty flours from Kingarthurflour.com. She makes some awesome pizza dough.. along with other breads.

[Hal Laurent]

I also get specialty flours from kingarthurflour.com. I used to use high-gluten flour from them for pizza, but more recently have been using their Italian 00 style flour instead, and I like it better. My high-gluten stash is now just used for bagels.

[JRCann]

the wife normally uses the Italian 00 for pizza also. She has also used their Artisan "perfect pizza blend" with instant yeast for a quick crust.. no need to rise... and has had very good results. (I assume you know about "Sir Lancelot" hard wheat for bagels.)

[Hal Laurent]

I'd have to check to be sure, but I think the "Sir Lancelot" is the high-gluten flour I was referring to.

[pgreen]

Just to ask a stupid question, how does pizza flour differ from standard bread flour (which I usually use for pizza)?

[JRCann]

MdicGuy is correct it your qustion is far from stupid -- But I am not sure why MDicecreamguy thinks a post about high gluten flours is "ridiculous".

I am sure that most people think flour is just flour.. it's that white stuff in the Pillsbury bag. We all learn things here.. that's why we are here..

Gluten content varies considerably. The Italian 00 flour wheat is a bit harder grain and has more gluten than the usual American wheat in grocery store flour (AP or bread flour). The result is a more supple, elastic dough, ie. stretchable and there is something about the flavor that is special.

The local pizza shop is as much interested in the price and workablity then anything. Since I am not using such large quantities at home and "my customer" has more refined taste expectaions, the small added cost of a European style flour doesn't really matter.

You can make a decent pizza from, Pillsbury AP flour or bread flour, but if you are looking for the kind of crust like you can find in Naples, try an Italian 00 flour. (Did I mention baquettes and Italian bread?) Also use a very high quality olive oil!

Budweizer makes beer with essentially the same ingredients as the best of German Pilzeners, but the resluts are a bit different.

[Jason1]

Right. two things are different (besides flavor). Italian/Pizza flour should be ground a bit finer, and the protein content is usually even higher than bread flour. I think what MDicecreamguy needs to understand is that High Gluten Flour is not the same thing as bread flour found in the grocery store, it's not an alias.

[ernestrome]

MDicecreamguy, i'm so sorry to have wasted your time with my ridiculous question, I'm not sure I will ever be able to forgive myself. I suggest you keep quiet lest people spot your ignorance.

Thanks to the rest for your more intelligent responses!

I found KA Bread flour at safeway which I am using at present. Since I can order Caputo 00 pizza flour, i would get that in preference to Sir lancelot. I will be ordering. Of course adding gluten to normal bread flour is another option, but I think caputo will give better results.

00 piza flour is finer and stronger (ie more protein/gluten) than bread flour.

I'm going to order some caputo from caponefoods.com I think they're cheapest.

[Hal Laurent]

I just recently tried the Caputo flour (one of my neighbors swapped me some for some King Arthur 00-style). The result is different than with the KA 00-style, but I'm not sure which one I like better. I'm currently leaning towards the KA. More tests are required.

[MDicecreamguy]

I think if you talk to your average pizza shop owner.......they will tell you that they use a high gluten flour such as Balancer or All Trumps.. THese are high protein flours made by Pillsbury and General Mills respectively and are used primarily for making bread, bagels, pizza or a similar yeast product. HIGH GLUTEN FLOUR and BREAD FLOUR are interchangable terms.

Didn't mean to offend anyone.....but if you want to pay extra for "pizza flour" thats your problem........

[pigtowner]

I'm not sure about the pizza flour. But I've gotten bags of vital wheat gluten lots of places in Baltimore (shoppers, safeway, whole foods). You can add a little to whatever flour you normally use to get some extra gluten. I've never actually done that for pizza dough though. Is it much better with the extra gluten?