Just finished Ken Forkish’s Elements of Pizza. Excellent book. All of his recipes are based on 00 Caputo pizzeria flour.(12.5% protein) I don’t have a source for that particular flour save for repacks from Amazon which I prefer not to do since there were many complaints of being shorted on the weight.
I am interested in naples style to try first. After an internet search I’m debating whether to use King Arthur All purpose (11.7%) or the slightly higher protein King Arthur Bread flour. Neither are 00, but the protein levels appear close.
Any suggestions or other substitutes much appreciated.
If you go to the Amazon link he gives for 00 flour, you will see a photo of the bag, but the price is for 10 bags. If you search "00 flour" on Amazon, you will see that you can buy 1 bag although it's a bit pricey. You might just buy 1 bag and see if you like it.
However, Kenji is talking about making a Neapolitan pie which is traditionally baked at a very high temp, so I don't know if it's necessary to have the 00 flour for baking at lower temps.
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I have had good success with Bread Flour and substituting about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of Semolina Flour for a better chew on the crust. I have also used 00 and AP flour together. I can post the recipe if you want it.
Sorry to be a spoiler, but none of Forkish's recipes are based on 00 flour. He uses US grown and milled Shepard's Grain flour--10.5% to 11.5% protein. See page 63 of his book "Elements of Pizza".
Same page, "While testing the recipes for this book, I alternated between Shepard’s Grain and Caputo flours, and each worked well" I tried to find SG also and could not find it for sale anywhere outside of the Pacific Northwest.
No apology necessary. I read it the same way as you first time thru the chapter. That is why I first started looking for Shepard’s Grain and then realized it wasn’t available to many of us.
I cook them on my komodo at about 650-700 degrees. Also, I found its best to let sit out for five hours or immediately refrigerate for at least 24 hours. I’ve let it go for three days. Lastly, if you use a stand mixer just keep it on medium with the same times.
Thanks, Donw, for your understanding. It's kinda funny how the memory works as I remember when I first realized that Forkish did not use 00. From that point on I went with the idea of just using KA (usually the BF) and now my memory says Forkish recommended against 00. Reading through his recipes today (and I have used several of them more than once in the past months), I see he often specifies 00 as preferable. LOL
Anyway, I have been quite happy with KA flour, though I did use 00 a few times early on (plus baking at 800-900°F a few times in a BGE) and, to my evidently pedestrian palate, I really can't see a significant difference in flour choice or baking temp. Just be sure to adjust hydration level if you vary baking temp.
I think Forkish's book is great and I am now quite content to cook my pies at 550°F with KA BF.
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If you are not cooking at extremely high heat, like those found in a wood oven, your really don't need 00. I have a roccbox and can get temps that high, but haven't really found a big improvement cooking at those temps and using 00. I use bread flour and temps closer to 600 yo 700. Pizzas are done in around 90 seconds. I use kenji's ny style recipe aged at least 3 days in fridge and everybody raves over the pizza crust.
I also have used this recipe several times with good success. It's probably one of my favorites--it freezes well too. Sometimes I substitute about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of Semolina Flour for the BF for a little more "chew" in the crust. Just another idea as I stated above.
Sorry to be a spoiler, but none of Forkish's recipes are based on 00 flour. He uses US grown and milled Shepard's Grain flour--10.5% to 11.5% protein. See page 63 of his book "Elements of Pizza".
Epicurious did a test of flours and their favorite was Arrowhead Mills Organic Unbleached AP Flour. I haven't found it locally yet, but I have a new bag of KA AP flour, so it will be a while before I give it a try. Please note that they were not baking pizza, but it might be worth a try at any rate.
For my first pizzas cooked in my Uuni 3 I used KA AP flour. It did seem to burn pretty easy compared to my next pizza cook using some Caputo 00 flour I ordered thru Amazon. For me using the 00 flour did seem a little easier to work with in a very hot oven.
As someone who was born in Naples, and has a family member that is practically a famous pizza chef in NYC (he's from Naples also) you would hope that I had the answer for you. But I don't. I use regular flour as that my mother used. It tastes great, but not at all authentic.
Thank you all for the advice and recipes. Plan now is to get all the family together with all the grandchildren, for a weekend of pizza making and tasting. Going to try different flours, mixtures, etc... and hopefully come up with a family favorite.
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