tipo 00 substitute

[bchase]

Hello everyone,

new to the form, i did a search for this topic but i couldn't find anything sorry if this has been talked about before.

I live in Nova Scotia, Canada and i cant find Tipo 00 flour anywhere or at least not at a reasonable price, what is the best substitute for this, can you mix All purpose flour with high gluten flour or other substitutes to get a comparable mix that will work the same as Tipo 00?

I looked at purchasing Caputo from this web site but shipping charges were like $348.00 for a 55kg bag.

I need to make a mix that will work the same for the perfect authentic pizza dough.... any help would be greatly appreciated and if this was asked before sorry again...

[fdn1]

Re: tipo 00 substitute

"Italian Flour" from King Arthur flour company is a reasonably priced good substitute that can be ordered on-line in small quantities.

[texassourdough]

Re: tipo 00 substitute

Hi BChase!

There are a number of us on this site who prefer flours other than 00. 00 has interesting texture relative to North American flours but the flavor is IMO pretty average and the resulting pies are not dramatically different from AP. Good, straight AP is good way to start - Gold Medal or KA are both fine. My preferred flour is an organic AP from a regional mill that is more aromatic than larger volume commercial flours I have used. Save your money and start with AP as a substitute for 00 and learn how to work with it and the flavor/texture it gives. (Note: for learning purposes it is IMO better to stick with one flour or at least mostly use one flour as different flours may give radically different results for the same recipe and pollute your learning curve!) Then when you try a different flour or splurge and buy some 00 you will be far more likely to recognize the difference and have an opinon as to what you actually prefer rather than simply accepting other peoples opinions.

The KA Italian flour is interesting. It captures much of the tactile appeal of 00 IMO but I don't find it particularly superior to AP in end result.

Because I am pretty serious bread baker I use lots of different flours and I enjoy working with different flours, including 00, a wide range of KA flours (which is generally my preferred larger/commercial mill), and specialty flours and home milled grains. So it is not that I am against experimenting for that can be good but it is more that I see no reason to spend a bunch of money buying flour when you don't have enough experience to decide whether the cost is worth it or not (TO YOU!) for the end results. And it may well be that you prefer bread flour based Neo-Neopolitan dough over Neopolitan style 00 dough, or some other flour.

Good Luck!
Jay

[bchase]

Re: tipo 00 substitute

thanks for the response guys i'm trying my first batch tonight!