Should you be on the hunt for a pizza base recipe, one of your initial queries may center around the advantages of 00 flour for pizza dough. The quest for an exceptional crust often leads to the assumption that any flour akin to all-purpose might suffice. However, there’s significant depth to explore regarding the constituents and their contribution to pizza aficionados. Let’s delve into the specifics of these ingredients and their benefits to those passionate about pizza.
The main benefit of using wood fired oven baked bread crust for a pizza is that it browns well and tastes great. But when you compare normal flour to this special flour, you get a whole other level of fluffiness and flavor. It also holds its shape very well, as if it was created specifically for pizza. This means you can bake a huge, multi-layer pizza with just a couple of tablespoons of wood fired flour.
However, this is not the only benefit to using this kind of bread flour on a pizza. For one thing, it has a very high gluten content. This means it’s not suitable for those with gluten allergies or who have problems with digestion. However, since it doesn’t have as much gluten as regular flour, it might find its way into a gluten-free diet. It’s not a substitute for gluten free cookies and cakes, but it does make a great option for bread flours for pizza.
Another thing to consider is texture. Why is 00 different than regular flour vs. pizza flour? The texture is quite coarse. It’s almost like coarse sand or charcoal. This makes it a little bit harder to mix into dough. In addition, since it has a coarser texture, it can burn rather easily when heated on a hot skillet.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s look at the benefits of 00 flour for pizza. First, it has a higher protein content than regular pizza flour. Protein helps dough rise and gives it that chewy, crunchy texture we all love. However, higher protein content doesn’t always lead to better tasting pizza.
With regular bread flour, there is an abundance of gluten. This means there are fewer nutrients in the flour. The protein content is largely useless because it cannot provide the vitamins, enzymes and other essential nutrients that we need in our breads. Since we already have enough problems with nutrients in the American diet without introducing more? Adding more gluten to the mix just makes things worse!
It’s true that some pizza chains do use regular bread flours (not necessarily in the toppings you’ll see on the pizza itself), but most of them use “white” or “bleached” flour. These are the same kinds of flours that we use in our own kitchens every day. “White” or bleached flours are cheaper to purchase, and they perform the same functions as regular flour.
In conclusion, the real question should be, why isn’t my favorite pizza chain brand using organic, whole wheat flour? As I alluded to earlier, there are many benefits to using organic, whole wheat products for your baked goods. It leads to better flavor and better nutrition. It is better for your health and better for the environment. If a pizzeria is worried about spending money on “green” products, then they should be worried about giving their customers better food–which includes using ingredients that are good for them!
This brings me to one of the reasons why “white” or bleached bread flour isn’t used more often in pizza: baking with regular flour causes it to develop what is called “bread crust” on the bottom of the pizza crust. This crust is caused by the high gluten content of the product. Many people don’t realize this, but you can tell if a pizza is truly made from real pizza dough by the bottom of the pizza. 99% of pizzerias don’t solve this problem by using “white” bread flour.
Why is 00 flour better for pizza? It’s all about the nutritional value of the product. The ingredients in “regular” flour contain almost all of the vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber that you’ll find in whole grains. It’s also been found that using natural “baker’s yeast” increases the nutrient and vitamin content of any given recipe. Using “real” bread flour allows you to use the entire spectrum of the nut, seed, and grain family with your baked goods.
There are many benefits to using “regular” flour in a pizzeria. But if you’re not using “regular” bread flour, then using “real” pizza flour will give you the ability to add the vast assortment of vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber that these products contain. Also remember that not everyone has a sensitivity to gluten. You should test a small portion of your customers’ pizzas with a small portion of “regular” bread flour to see if you have any major allergic reactions.
