Different types of pizzas use different types of flour. Here we will discuss everything you need to know about Caputo 00 flour.
Bread flour and all-purpose flour are both great choices when making pizza dough. When it comes to making pizza, the most important ingredient is flour.
However, it depends on the style and structure you want in the dough you make. 00 Flour is seen as one of the best flours to use for making the best pizza bases and crust.
What Is 00 Flour?
00 Flours are milled and graded to indicate the coarseness or fineness of the flour. It is all about the texture, which will also affect the texture of your dough.
This type of flour is typically milled in Italy, and depending on the fineness of the flour depends on how many zeros the flour will receive.
A flour can get up to three zeros, producing extremely finely milled flour. 00 Flour is in the middle, it is still quite coarse, but it isn’t powdery.
Just because this flour is ground finer doesn’t mean the protein of the flour changes. The protein content of 00 Flour is similar to all-purpose flour. 00 Flour is quite common.
Many people believe that the zero’s in 00 flour refer to the protein or gluten content of the flour, which is false. The zeroes refer to the grade to which the wheat is milled.
Different types of 00 flour because some flour is targeted at particular uses. You can find 00 pasta flour and 00 pizza flour.
You must use the right flour for whatever purpose you have in mind, whether that is pizza, bread, or pasta making.
00 Flour is more targeted at and used for pizza and pasta making due to the flour being a finer consistency than bread and all-purpose flour.
Who Are Caputo?
If you want to create authentic pizza, Caputo is the company that will be recommended to you every time.
Caputo has been around since 1924, and the company has been passed down the generations.
Italy is known for its cuisine, and when people think of traditional pizza, they think of Italy. To create the best pizza, you will need to use the best flour possible.
Caputo is seen as the highest quality to use. Around 80% of pizzerias in Naples use Caputo flour, so you know that this is tried and well-loved flour.
Caputo is famous for its high-quality pizza flour. They use locally produced wheat and make a range of different types of flours, but are most well known for their 00 pizza flours.
There are three popular types of Caputo 00 Flour which include: Caputo Classica, Caputo Pizzeria, and Caputo Chef’s Flour.
All these flours have a high protein content of about 12%, which is important for the dough. The protein helps make the dough stretchy and elastic.
This is achieved by kneading your dough. Once you start kneading your dough, you encourage the dough’s gluten to form.
The more kneading you do, the more the gluten stretches and grows stronger. This makes your dough more elastic and helps it rise better when you are proving it.
The more gluten you have encouraged to emerge and develop through kneading also helps make the pizza crust crispy when cooking.
Caputo Classica 00 Flour
The Caputo Classica 00 Flour is ideal for making a soft dough that keeps its lightness and flavor after cooking. The Classica flour creates light and fluffy dough, which is very easy to work with.
Caputo Chef’s 00 Flour
The Caputo Chef’s 00 Flour is ideal for a dough that needs a long fermentation. This flour has 13% gluten content and is a 100% wheat flour product.
This dough will keep its shape during fermentation for 24 to 48 hours or more. This flour is best when you are looking for long and slow proof.
It is ideal for baking pizzas in your home oven at high degrees of 500 to 600°F. This flour creates a soft yet tasty crust for your authentic Neapolitan pizza.
Caputo Pizzeria 00 Flour
This is one of Antimo Caputo’s professional pizza flours that are meant to be baked in wood-fired ovens. The Caputo Pizzeria is one of the world’s most popular pizza flours.
This flour is made from a special blend of soft white wheat. Antimo Caputo’s professional pizza flours have been blended with Farina Manitoba flour, which helps give your dough more strength.
This flour is aimed more at professional bakers and chefs, but you can use it at home. It has been made to withstand high temperatures.
Compared to the Caputo Classica, the Caputo Pizzeria is perfect for an 8 to 24 hours proof.
This flour can be used in a home oven, but it is recommended in a wood-fired pizza with a high temperature of 700°F.
Why is 00 Flour the best for Pizza?
00 Flour has a higher protein content, making your dough stretchier. Caputo 00 Flour has been made using high-quality wheat, so using this flour gives your dough a better flavor.
The Caputo 00 as mentioned above, is finely milled so it is easy to use when kneading and molding into shape after proving.
This flour is super-soft and creates the ideal pizza crust, which is soft yet with a bit of a bite. This is the perfect flour to use when you want to make a thin-crust pizza.
What Is The Difference Between All Purpose Flour And Caputo 00 Flour?
Both flours achieve similar results when making pizza dough. The main difference between these flours is that the Caputo 00 Flour has been milled much finer than All Purpose Flour.
Also, the protein is different between these flours. The 00 Flour has a higher protein content than the all-purpose flour, so the 00 flour dough will be easier to use and stretchier.
However, the all-purpose flour dough will still be easy to use, but it may take more kneading to become as elastic and stretchy as the other flour.
Caputo 00 Flour allows you to roll your dough much thinner than all-purpose flour and bread flour dough.
That doesn’t mean you can’t roll those doughs thin, but with Caputo 00 Flour, you can roll it even thinner. This dough won’t tear; instead, it stretches to the size and shape you want.
If you substitute all-purpose flour for 00 flour, you will notice that your pizza has a different texture. 00 flour dough takes longer to rise and prove.
This is because with this flour, you want to let the dough rise slowly over a long period.
The Best Way To Use Caputo 00 Flour
When using 00 Flour, you need to be even more careful with how much water you use to bind the flour, salt, and yeast together.
If you are substituting bread flour for 00 flour, then you need to add the water slowly, and you may find much less water is needed than your recipe says.
This is because this flour has a lower absorption rate than stronger bread flour. Thus you might find that you need around 5% less water when using your 00 flour.
To get the best results, it has been advised that an extremely hot oven is used when cooking your dough.
It should be cooked at 800°. Ideally, in a pizza oven, if you have one, to achieve the right coloring and texture.
Other Uses
It has been advised not to use 00 Flour for anything other than making pizzas or pasta. The grind of this flour is so fine that it doesn’t work for making a loaf of bread.
This flour is perfect for pizza bases and pasta but nothing else. For pasta, 00 Flour can help you achieve a smooth texture and a softer bite; however, it may not hold onto the pasta sauce very well.
Final Thoughts
Caputo 00 Flour is seen as the best standard of flour to use when making pizza dough. This pizza flour has a higher protein content than bread and all-purpose flour.
The higher the protein, the easier it is to create and develop gluten. This flour results in a crispy pizza crust.
This type of flour is recommended to create traditional pizza dough, which is believed to make a better-tasting pizza.
However, this flour isn’t just full of positives. You can’t just substitute it when a recipe calls for bread or all-purpose flour. The flour-to-water ratio isn’t the same.
Also, to create the best results, a high cooking temperature is needed, which most ovens can’t get to unless you put your oven on as high as it can go, and your pizza will just take a little longer to cook.
Normally, these pizzas only take minutes to cook due to being so thin. The flour is ideal for a thinner base pizza.
The Caputo 00 Flour is perfect for pizza dough, especially the Caputo Pizzeria 00 Flour. This is a high-quality flour made from high-quality wheat flour.
This flour is a little more expensive than other flour but it will provide you with a better quality dough and pizza.
This flour is made by an Italian company that is well-known for creating the best quality products to achieve that authentic Italian pizza taste in your own home.
