Hello Everybody!
Recently I found some new flour to test - "00" type wheat flour with 14.5% protein content.
To my surprise, my usual dough made with this dough is not that stretchy as I was expecting to be. On top of that, that flour does not take as much moisture as it should due to its protein% (the higher that %, the more water one can add and still get manageable dough).
I'm wondering is that's because the type of protein needed for pizza - stretches a lot, but not elastic (once it is stretched, it won't come back). Even if my hypothesis is correct, what does the type of gluten have to do with the ability of flour to retain moisture without become a porridge like consistency.
Thank you
Does the package say pizza or pizzeria flour? If not, that's still okay. Not all tipo 00 flour is intended to be pizza flour.
00 is more about the ash percent. there are several other characteristics, such as W and P/L, that determine suitability for pizza.
From what I gather, the higher protein pizza flour is intended for long fermentation. So it may not become extensible until after a long fermentation. That way the dough does not break down while developing flavor.
I've read where some pizzerias will sometimes blend the higher protein flour with AP flour or regular bread flour to get an extensible dough quicker.
To study up on it, you could do research at the Caputo web site: http://www.mulinocaputo.it/en/flour
by reading the product headlines, then clicking on each product to see the W and P/L numbers. Caputo also makes tipo 0, and tipo 1 flour.
I don't totally understand them yet, but here is a web page that explains W, P/L, and what 00 means:
http://www.theartisan.net/Flours_One.htm
Our cousins at www.pizzamaking.com may have insights on it too.
it gets complicated. So, good luck. And have fun!