'Strong' Flour???

Longford Lass

Hi guys.
I'm doing an evening cookery course and tomorrow we're making pizza and garlic bread! Yum!
The teacher told us to get 'strong' flour...which 1 would that be please?? Self raising/plain???
Or otherwise??
Cheers...

themadchef

Otherwise

It's the orange Odlums bag (im pretty sure).

Will be on the shelf beside the rest. Most decent sized supermarkets stock it these days. No substitute im afraid. Self raising just wont cut it.

Good luck with the course!

Gordon

Yes! I have just started making bread in my bread maker and am told that this is different to normal flour! It's basically a different product - not "Flour" but "Strong Flour"! I think it's maybe less ground, so not as fine? No idea, but it's written on the packets, plain flour, but it's 'strong'.

daigo75

First of all, you never use self-raising flour to make pizza or bread. Actually, I don't know any recipe where I could use it. This aside, you can get good results with the Odlum Strong Flour (yellow/orange package). To make sure you get the proper one, check the protein content, it should be 11% (i.e. indicated on the package as 11 g over 100 g). You can find it in Tesco.

Note: there are even stronger flours available in Tesco, but I'd still recommend to use the Odlum to start.

Source: I make my own bread, focaccia and a pizza that can compete with any pizzeria's using basic ingredients (and an electric oven) since 2007.

daigo75

Gordon wrote: »

I think it's maybe less ground, so not as fine? No idea, but it's written on the packets, plain flour, but it's 'strong'.

The difference is in the percentage of proteins. The more there are, the stronger and more elastic will be the dough.

hucklebuck

daigo75 wrote: »

Source: I make my own bread, focaccia and a pizza that can compete with any pizzeria's using basic ingredients (and an electric oven) since 2007.

Do your pizzas rise in an electric oven? Mine never seem to, should I be using a pizza stone or something else?

Ta

Longford Lass

Cheers guys!
Went into my local Supervalu this evening but no sign of it? Will have to pop into Tesco tomorrow evening before class.
Thanks again folks!

daigo75

hucklebuck wrote: »

Do your pizzas rise in an electric oven? Mine never seem to, should I be using a pizza stone or something else?

Ta

Yes, they do and they taste amazing (picture attached, sorry for the quality). I don't use a pizza stone, just a circular metal tray with holes to allow air circulation. A pizza stone would give even better results, if used properly (which I can't do as I can't seem to be able to find a pizza paddle).

My father, who always thought it's impossible to cook a proper pizza in the electric oven, actually ate two of them the first time he tried it. This is a guarantee by itself, as he's a very fussy Italian eater (and so am I).

Considering the amount of time I spend cooking and baking, perhaps I should open my own cooking/baking blog!

Mrs Fox

Oh that pizza looks yummmy yum yum!

daigo75

Mrs Fox wrote: »

Oh that pizza looks yummmy yum yum!

It actually was, it didn't last very long!

Thud

daigo75 wrote: »

I can't seem to be able to find a pizza paddle

you can use a baking tray/sheet as your paddle, just find one that has no rim on one (or more) edges like this:
http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.210-4150.aspx

emmet the rover

Search for a peel the fancy name for what you are looking for. Catering supply Shop on pearse st sells them.

Btw strong flour contains more gluten protien to give bread the ability to form a proper dough and allow more effective yeast rising.

They key to good pizza apart from correct floour is allowing sufficnt proving (RISING) Ttime in a cool place rather than fast in a warm place. This allows enzymes insde the dough to do there thing and relese more flavour.

Terry Cotta

Try the Roma 'Tip 00' Flour. You can get it in Tesco. It's a finer flour that's used for Pasta and Pizza dough.

daigo75

Terry Cotta wrote: »

Try the Roma 'Tip 00' Flour. You can get it in Tesco. It's a finer flour that's used for Pasta and Pizza dough.

I don't want to sound too picky, but, actually, the "Tipo 00" flour is not used for pizza or bread (at least, we don't use it in Italy). It can be used for pasta, biscuits or cakes, but it's not strong enough to give structure to the pizza.

When I saw it in Tesco and I read "pizza" on it I laughed!

alfalad

daigo75 wrote: »

I don't want to sound too picky, but, actually, the "Tipo 00" flour is not used for pizza or bread (at least, we don't use it in Italy). It can be used for pasta, biscuits or cakes, but it's not strong enough to give structure to the pizza.

When I saw it in Tesco and I read "pizza" on it I laughed!

Also quite good in pastry I believe!

Thud

daigo75 wrote: »

I don't want to sound too picky, but, actually, the "Tipo 00" flour is not used for pizza or bread (at least, we don't use it in Italy). It can be used for pasta, biscuits or cakes, but it's not strong enough to give structure to the pizza.

When I saw it in Tesco and I read "pizza" on it I laughed!

It is used in Naples, see point 2.1.1 A

http://www.pizzanapoletana.org/images/file/disciplinare%202008%20UK.pdf

daigo75

Thud wrote: »

It is used in Naples, see point 2.1.1 A

http://www.pizzanapoletana.org/images/file/disciplinare%202008%20UK.pdf

Thanks for the link, Thud. I'm from the North of Italy, and the 00 flour is suitable for cookies, cakes, pastries and pasta, but not for pizza. After reading the PDF you linked, I came to the conclusion that they must be using a different "00 flour", which has more proteins. After all, "00" indicates how fine is the flour, and it might well be that there are many types of it.
However, I still don't think a flour can be good for *both* pasta and pizza, as the preparation is very different.

Thud

I think Molino Caputo is the producer of most of the 00 flour used in Naples, they have several different type 00 flours in their range (one specifically for pasta):

http://www.molinocaputo.it/default.html

stevenmu

hucklebuck wrote: »

Do your pizzas rise in an electric oven? Mine never seem to, should I be using a pizza stone or something else?

Ta

Do you leave the dough sit to expand for long enough before rolling it out to pizza shape? I believe it should be at least 2 hours and it should expand to roughly double it's original size.

daigo75

stevenmu wrote: »

Do you leave the dough sit to expand for long enough before rolling it out to pizza shape? I believe it should be at least 2 hours and it should expand to roughly double it's original size.

I let it raise for four to six hours. This allows me to use much less yeast and get rid of the "alcoholic" taste that develops in the early stage. Second step is to flatten the dough, to remove the gases, and split it into the balls that will then become pizzas. I let them raise another hour or two before finally using them.

Note: you can store them overnight in the fridge, but they will still raise, so make sure you put enough cling film around them.