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good thread. Be great to get more aussies contributing to this as to what they use.
I asked something about this not long back on my thread i think and there seemed to be a consensus that most used .................hmmm will need go and check.
Gudday Faith
Weather you making "Vera Pizza Napolitano" "Chicago style" New York style or good old Aussie "how many toppings can I get on one pizza base" the dough has some common characteristics.
A high gluten of course to hold those bubbles in.
The dough should stretch without tearing and when stretch should not stretch back.
A long fermentation period either in the fridge or at room temp to enable the flavour to develop and give you a relaxed dough.
I really don't think you can find the perfect dough from the perfect imported flour or magic additive. Rather a bit of work on the dough will pay you back with good results.
Ill admit I'm lazy and rush things especially if its just family and I just use the old breadmaker to make the dough whilst I play with the fire. But pulling even a good dough ball from the freezer to add to it brings you down to earth.
But when you get down to it regardless of the flour or recipe the ovens very forgiving and will always produce winners for you
Flour from my point of view is not so confusing. What get's confusing is there is no industry standard for any flour. The milling process is the primary factor that affects flour (besides wheat type).
The best way I can describe this is if you took an apple and put it in your blender and I took an apple an put it in my food processor and told to make apple sauce. We would have a similar product but not the same.
This is why the protein is measured in ranges. You also have ash content and moisture content of the four that will affect it's performance.
Here in the states 9% flour is considered a pastry flour and below that 7-8% would be cake flour.
I do find it interesting that some people go out of their way to get foreign flours. Perhaps there is a flavor difference but I don't know if I could detect that with sauce and cheese slathered on top. Texture and workability is all in the milling process.
I just use bread flour myself. Although I just got a bag of W/W pastry flour might be interesting for a pizza.
Interesting post Dave, thanks. But hang on to your boot straps...you will find some diehard "00" fans out there. :-)
Gudday
Confused about flour. I was at the start till I found out a few differences in flours discussed on the forum with what's available here
Tippo OO flour . The Italians have a system of grading their flour by how finely it is ground not by it protein content, the gluten content. Most of the Tippo OO flours you will find in Aust are in fact most suitable for pasta making and has a protein count of 9 to 9.5 not the 11.5 to 12 per cent that is best for pizza. Sure there out there but you have to hunt them down.
American general purpose flour or GP flour has a gluten content of 12 per cent and is suitable for making pizza. Goggle it and most advice you find is that plain flour is the English and Australian equivalent. Not completely true however. For general home cooking recipes yes plain flour will work for GP flour, but for pizza no. Plain flour has a lower gluten content of about 10 per cent which is not enough for pizza really .
So in the end your best using a bread flour and there cheap and available. If you do try to use plain flour or a Tippo OO pasta flour you can add a bread improver but its an extra so I'd would just use bread flour.
Hope this helps the confusion about flour
Regards davei
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