New Flour & Biga Starter

[heliman]

I am trying a new "Baker's Flour" today and on opening the bag I was pleasantly surprised to find that that it is a particularly fine mill.

I made a biga starter last night and fermented it in the fridge overnight. I found that biga adds quite a nice taste to the finished product. I am waiting for the 20 mins autolyse right now then will do some serious kneading for around 9 - 10 mins in the TBird.

Will start the fire shortly and intend eating in about 3 hrs time so I will give it 1 hr rest after the knead, then will ball it up and get cooking.

Will report back ofter the "taste test" has been performed.

Rossco

[glen]

Re: New Flour & Biga Starter

Hello Rossco
I made a biga last night too, but baking was washed out today in SE Qld, so the worms are feasting on biga.

What sort of flour have you found? I've been looking about in Brisbane, but not had much luck yet. One of the posh bakeries here sold me a few kilos of Manildra pizza flour, but I haven't used it yet. I think it comes from your side. Do you have any recommendations?

Glen

[heliman]

Re: New Flour & Biga Starter

Hi Glen...

I have been trialling a number of pizza flours recently and all have provided pretty good results. Up until today it was Weston Milling Milano Pizza flour and that was pretty good as an all rounder. Another that I tested for the first time today was Allied Mills - Baker's flour. It is an excellent product and sells for around the same price as the others. The finer mill was particularly impressive and it worked up some good gluten in the heavy duty mixer.

Haven't tried Manildra Pizza flour - I have their high protein product and used it to increase protein levels in other flours. One to avoid though is the Molino Pizuti 00. It's a blue pack and it is designed for pasta as it is quite low in protein. Overall for me the best results have been with Baker's flour - another good one is Defiance Brand (12%) available at Woolies and Coles. It is about double the price of the Allied Baker's flour but convenient if you just want to pop to the local shop for supplies.

The biga approach worked quite well but I think that I will try just a bulk overnight fermentation next time and see how it goes. I have a big bash on the 20th and will be catering for around 15 people so will give it the torture test then.

How did you find Manildra Pizza flour?

[heliman]

Re: New Flour & Biga Starter

Overall the new Allied Mills Baker's flour seems to be an excellent product - certainly of the best I have used to make pizzas. The dough handled well ( I went very high hydration) and it stretched uniformly and there were no thin spots. Produced crisp, springy crusts just the way I like it.

I made 7 pizzas in total (gave one to the neighbour) and used my home made tomato sauce which gave a completely different flavour that what you get with canned tomatoes. It was like eating a freshly picked tomato! I applied the sauce lightly so as to prevent the tomato flavour overpowering the pizza.

I believe that the dough will be good on its own without the need for biga. I will leave that out next time as noted above. I'm keen to hear from others who have also used this flour to get their thoughts on its suitability for pizza making.

[glen]

Re: New Flour & Biga Starter

Rossco,
Cooked all day yesterday - first pizzas - very happy with the Manildra flour. I found a place last week that sells the Allied Mills flour also, so I'll get a bag of that and give it a go.
Glen

[heliman]

Re: New Flour & Biga Starter

Sounds good Glen ...

Grab a bag of Allied Baker's Flour - comes in 12.5kg which is a good size.

Post some pics when you get the chance too!!