caputo flour report

[RTflorida]

Re: caputo flour report

Count me in, guess that makes 5.
I'm in the same boat as Christo. Very good crust, but a little different each time. Just not getting the hydration spot on every time.

[christo]

Re: caputo flour report

What model of Escali Scale might you carry? I think it would be an excellente addition to the FB store.

You could put me on the list for one but based on my good but inconsistent dough results, I think I'll be going out this weekend to buy a scale!!!

As for me, my 63 Triumph remains my preferred daily driver! I thought nothing modern could come close to replacing it until I a friend gave me the oppurtunity to drive his Honda S2000 like I stole it. Can't stop progress.

Christo

[DrakeRemoray]

Re: caputo flour report

I use this scale http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/detail.jsp?id=4337
It goes up to 6 lbs/3000g and measures in 1g or .1oz increments.

I think I should have bought the cheaper one
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/...jsp?id=4319RED beacuase it goes to 11 lbs. I sometimes max out the 6lb when making big batches of bread.

The one I own has a special feature that lets you convert/measure cups or tsps. You type in the number of what you are measuring based on a chart and it converts for you...I really never use that feature...

Drake

[james]

Re: caputo flour report

I have my share of Ludite moments, but I think pizza and bread dough are one of the areas where you need to stay modern. My Escali scale is perfect and it isn't expensive.

Maybe we should add the Escali to the FB Store. If Mike, Mark and David each buy one, that's three already. :-) What do you think.

On a somewhat related topic, I used to like older cars, and even drove an MGB (the one with chrome bumbers). It was great. But with all the technology advances around clean burning engines and better MPG, sometimes newer is better.
James

[El Puaco]

Re: caputo flour report

I have the same problem with the 5g increments as Maver. I just dribble the salt and yeast into the container until it just barely holds at 10g. I've made some pretty nice dough that way but also wish I could be more accurate. I have one of those triple beam scales that I use in my winemaking but never remember to get it out. I forget how much technology I have, ready to mobilize for better pizza making projects.

[dmun]

Re: caputo flour report

You're really going to need a refrigerated counter space for your dough right next to the oven, large bull nosed granite slab countertop just like the pazzo pizzaiolo.

Here's the ticket:



Think it'd work outdoors?

[jwnorris]

Re: caputo flour report

<snip> This is the scale that I'm using at the moment. <snip>

Definitely the 'old school' look.

J W

[maver]

Re: caputo flour report

Aww, takes me right back to chemlab. I really should have a better scale. Ours is digital but only measures in 5g increments. Fine for flour and water (I place the entire mixing bowl on the scale and zero it, then add flour until my 500 or 1000g target, then 650 or 325g of water), but useless for salt and yeast. I really ought to go back to a volume measurement for salt because of the lack of precision when measuring 10g at a time. I drizzle the salt on until it just tilts over to 10g and assume that's pretty close (but if I go over I have no idea how far over I am). A nice balance like Dave's would be perfect.

Dave, You're really going to need a refrigerated counter space for your dough right next to the oven, large bull nosed granite slab countertop just like the pazzo pizzaiolo.

[dmun]

Re: Caputo flour weight?

I'm confused by these numbers. Your scale cannot be off by that factor.

I read this three times before I understood it. My bad. The EMPTY bag weighs 8.2 grams, I should have said.

[dmun]

Re: caputo flour report

This turned out to be a false alarm. The dough was plenty wet after it's 20 minute rest period, I just was not used to handling that much dough at once.



This is the scale that I'm using at the moment. The center scale is in ounces from 1 to 16. The front and rear scales are in fractional and digital divisions of one ounce. In it's bloom of youth (like mine, long gone) it no doubt had auxiliary weights to weigh more than a pound. I use it for small measurements in the workshop. Note that it's set to my 7.3 inch dough ball weight target. The front scale is set to the 3/16 ounce weight of the takeout container lid I was using as a container. By the way, my dough balls all ended up within the travel of the end scale, so I know that the flour bag was accurate within a gram or two.

After my first batch blew up like a balloon I cut way down on yeast. Here's the formula I'm using at the moment, from the dough calculator at PizzaMaking.com - Pizza Making, Pizza Recipes, and More!

Flour (100%): 1000.98 g | 35.31 oz | 2.21 lbs
Water (63%): 630.62 g | 22.24 oz | 1.39 lbs
IDY (.5%): 5 g | 0.18 oz | 0.01 lbs | 1.66 tsp | 0.55 tbsp
Salt (2%): 20.02 g | 0.71 oz | 0.04 lbs | 4.17 tsp | 1.39 tbsp
Total (165.5%): 1656.62 g | 58.43 oz | 3.65 lbs | TF = 0.06
Single Ball: 207.08 g | 7.3 oz | 0.46 lbs

My scale may be awkward for measuring flour and water, but it's brilliant for portioning yeast and salt to decimal ounces.

So now my eight dough balls are in the fridge in their individual rubbermaid containers with a hole poked in the top, in a three day cold retardation for Sunday. Sombody asked what's next. Maybe a walk-in box?

[james]

Re: caputo flour report

I am really enjoying my Escali scale. We even thinking of selling it on the FB Store. It's fast, which is very helpful when you bake a lot at smaller weights, as I do.

Anyway, I just plopped a 1kg bag on my scale, in the paper -- and my scale reads 1009g. Not bad.

I am into a rhythm of baking 500gr batches 4-5 times a week. That gives the family fresh bread for dinner, bruschetta and toast. I've been doing more baguettes than boules, using my 15"x20" stone.

James

[Les]

Re: Caputo flour weight?

Could you weigh a 1000 gram bag of Caputo and tell me how much it weighs? The bag weighs 8.2 grams.
Thanks for your help.

I'm confused by these numbers. Your scale cannot be off by that factor. I haven't got close to the flour part of this endeavor, so I cannot help you as well. David, what are you doing with a scale that only goes to 18 oz.?

Les...

[RTflorida]

Re: caputo flour report

Very possible they are. Have not heard of any US name brands doing it in recent yrs, but many manufacturers have in years past to avoid conflicts with weights and measures departments. Modern automation (and calibration) has for the most part eliminated this practice.

I deal with the two major big box home improvement retailers; I know this is an example of a completely different product category, but it shows the problems that can be created by a nut who is given a bit of authority - shortly after I started (about 10 yrs ago), an overzealous county weights and measures inspector actually made the 2 HD stores in the county pull all of the bulk (we call hand drive) screws and nails as well as the products of 2 of my competitors in the pneumatic fasteners.....simply because the boxes read "contains approximately 1000, or 2500 (whatever the quantity was dependeing on the fastener). Keep in mind, the bulk (hand drive) fasteners are actually sold by weight (1 lb, 5 lb, etc) and the approximate count was provided as a courtesy, to give the customer an idea of how many equaled 1lb or 5 lb.
That was a tremendous amount of product pulled off the shelves, and took about a week for the stores to get it worked out with the county and the manufacturers. A lot of lost sales.

I'm sure there are still manufacturers who practice the old way (throwing in an exra scoop or handful) to be on the safe side.....Caputo may be one of them.
Great flour, don't you think? I doubt I will ever use anything else, sorry I can't help with the scale. Maybe my next gadget purchase.

RT

[dmun]

Caputo flour weight?

Could someone with a digital scale do an experiment for me? My accurate scale only goes up to 18 oz. Could you weigh a 1000 gram bag of Caputo and tell me how much it weighs? The bag weighs 8.2 grams. I did a weight based recipe and it's way dryer than I think it should be. It's occured to me after the fact that caputo may be upping the weight to be on the safe side.

Thanks for your help.

[noosab]

Re: caputo flour report

Hi all,
Just a quick report to say we had the opportunity to drop by at Forno Bravo on Monday. There we met Peter who gave us the royal tour and listened to my prattle. While we were there we purchased some Caputo flour and a copper brush. I am happy to report that the brush works at least 5 times better than the two row one I have been using and that the crust of the pizza we made with the Caputo flour was wonderful. The dough was more flavorful, easier to work, and crispier than any we have made from various mixtures of semolina (we prefer this to corn meal as a "lubricant" under the pizza), bread flour, and pastry flour.
Thanks Forno Braco!
Earl