What Flour is Best for Pizza Dough?
Bringing out the best pizza does not only require special skill. You need to use the best flour for pizza in order to bring out a high-quality dough. In most cases, strong white flour is the most preferable option when it comes to creating the best dough, the selection of brand and type of flour you use plays the most significant role.
This fact comes by because flour is the main ingredient when it comes to making pizza. For that reason, it has got to be the best.
Our Top Pick for Pizza Flour
These days, there are a lot of pizza flours in the market. For that reason, what is the best flour to use for pizza dough at home? When it comes to that question, you should be aware that brand matters a lot.
The best choice would definitely have to be the King Arthur Flour Organic Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, Non-GMO Project Verified, 100% American Grown Wheat, 3 pounds (1.3 kilograms).
The flour is excellent for making any kind of pizza since it brings out any kind of texture. This type of pizza flour is unbleached. For that reason, this flour creates a natural dough with great texture.
With no extra chemicals in this best flour for pizza dough, you will definitely get amazing results that translate into the best meal. Read our article and find out Does Pizza Dough Have Eggs?
The Best Flour for Pizza at a Glance
Brand | Best For | Rating out of 5 |
King Arthur Flour 100% Organic Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, Non-GMO Verified | Making all kinds of pizza with crispy crust | 5 |
King Arthur 00 Pizza Flour Non-GMO Project Verified | Chewy and crispy crust | 5 |
Cento Anna Napoletana Tipo 00 Extra Fine Flour, | Thinner and crispy pizza crusts | 5 |
Simple Mills Almond Flour, Cauliflower Pizza Dough Mix, Gluten-Free | Gluten-free crispy, crusty pizza | 4.5 |
Antimo Caputo Pizzeria Flour for Authentic Pizza Dough | Chewy pizza crust | 4.5 |
Premium Gold Baking & Pizza Flour, 5 Pound | Whole grain pizza crust | 4.5 |
King Arthur Flour Perfect Pizza Flour Blend | Crispy pizza crust | 4.5 |
Antico Molino Napoli Antimo Caputo Pizza Flour, Gluten Free | Gluten-free pizza crust | 5 |
Molino Grassi White Package With Green | Chewy pizza crusts | 4.5 |
Antimo Caputo Chef’s Flour | Chewy pizza crust | 5 |
What to Look for in Pizza Flour
Before selecting the best flour for pizza, you need to consider several factors. The specific type of pizza that you will make will determine the type of flour for usage. There are four main things to look for when selecting a pizza flour. The things are:
- Type of flour
- Capabilities
- Gluten content
- Desired crust type
The Type of Flour
At this point, you already have the idea that when it comes to making pizza, the kind of flour you use plays quite a big role. The type of flour you use determines the nature of the pizza you get in the end. Below are the top four types of pizza flour to look out for:
- Wholemeal flour
- 00 flour
- Strong white flour
- Plain flour
Wholemeal Flour
With the high fiber content, wholemeal flour proves to make very healthy pizza dough. This type of flour has a high protein content that reaches up to 12%. Because of that reason, if you choose the wholemeal as the best flour for pizza dough, make sure you allow a proving time of 24 hours or more.
When making pizza using wholemeal flour, it is best to add some other types of flour. Using 100% wholemeal flour for pizza is not that good. The result of using 100% wholemeal flour is that your pizza crust will become much more dense than normal. This scenario happens because wholemeal flour is usually a lot heavier and denGluten-Freely.
To get the best flour for pizza crust when using a whole meal, remove 25% of the wholemeal flour and add in not less than 40% of another type of flour. This move will bring you a natural blend ready to make perfect pizza dough.
00 Flour
This type of flour goes through a special process during manufacturing. This special process aids a lot in bringing out the best flour to use for pizza dough in terms of texture. This kind of flour also brings out pizza with additional puffy crusts.
The protein content in the 00 flour varies. In most cases, the protein level ranges from around 12.5% to 14%. Because of this protein level, if you choose to use this flour, you need to allow a proving time of not more than four days.
The 00 flour is very special. If you select the best 00 flour for pizza, you need to avoid using the oven. 00 flour performs well on an open fire rather than in an oven.
To buy this flour, you need to prepare yourself with enough cash. Such a fact comes by because 00 flour is not like any other type of flour. It has several special features that make it hard to find on the market.
The flour is only available in special Italian shops dealing with food in most cases. Most supermarket shelves do not have 00 flour. To find this flour easily, you may check online stores.
Plain Flour
Despite this flour primarily being good for baking cakes, it also brings amazing pizza. One factor that favors plain flour is the low protein content. Plain flour brings out the best gluten-free flour for pizza dough. The total capacity of protein in plain flour is only 9.5%. Low gluten content in plain flour allows you to get a less chewy and crispy pizza.
On the other hand, the low gluten level in this flour allows for only a few hours of proving. This factor makes it the best flour for thin crust pizza. The short proving period prevents the dough from going through flavor complexity. Plain flour is good for those who do not want many details in their pizza.
Strong White Flour
This type of flour is mostly the best consideration for baking bread. The flour undergoes not less than 24 hours to prove. That duration is due to the presence of 12% protein.
The strong white flour is also good for making homemade pizza. When using this flour, you may go for the much stronger white flour, with a protein content of around 14%. If you select this choice as your best flour for pizza, allow a proving period of around two days.
A slow fermentation period inside a refrigerator will allow the dough to develop more flavors naturally. The total fermentation time should not exceed three days. This kind of flour has a high gluten content. The results even get better after the fermentation process. The high gluten level may make it difficult to handle the dough.
To have an easy time with a dough coming from fermentation, allow it to stay at room temperature for some time before you start to mold.
Capabilities
When it comes to selecting the best flour to use for pizza dough, you should know that different types of flour have different capabilities. You can know about the nature of your final pizza if you look at other products that the flour is capable of making. Below are more types of flour together with the products they mostly make:
- All-purpose flour: Capable of making chewy cookies, fluky pie crusts, and fluffy pancakes.
- Cake flour: Good for making muffins and other types of moist cakes.
- Pastry Flour: Best for cookies, pie crusts, tarts, breadsticks, muffins, pancakes, and biscuits.
- Bread flour: This flour is perfect for pizza dough, artisan bread, bagels, yeast bread, and pretzels.
- Self-raising flour: Pancakes, scones, and biscuits work well with this type of flour.
- Whole wheat flour: Bread, pancakes, pizza dough, cookies, and pasta.
- White whole wheat flour: Pizza dough, bread, muffins, and cookies are good with this flour.
- Almond flour: Best for bread, cookies, pancakes, muffin, and biscuits.
- Gluten-free flour: Good for cookies, cakes, bread, pancakes, and muffins.
- 00 flour: Best for thin crust pizza dough, pasta, couscous, crackers, and flatbread.
Gluten Content
When it comes to making dough with the best flour for pizza, the level of gluten matters a lot. Different types of flour have different levels of gluten in them. You may easily spot the level of gluten physically in different types of flour. By touching and testing a flour’s natural texture, you may achieve that result.
Gluten is responsible for bringing out the pizza texture. This component is also responsible for bringing out the stretching nature of pizza dough.
Because of the above reasons, you can see that gluten plays a vital role in determining the nature of the final pizza that you will achieve. Being a wheat protein, gluten may not be very beneficial to humans.
In most cases, several people experience side effects when they consume foods with gluten. This result may come in either immediately or after a long time. These kinds of people are gluten intolerant.
For that reason, you may want to use flour with a low gluten level to avoid any negative results if you are gluten intolerant. It is even better if you use the best gluten free flour for pizza dough in such a case.
Symptoms of Gluten Intolerance
If you are unsure about your level of gluten intolerance, below are the main symptoms to look out for:
- Fatigue: Tiredness is a normal occurrence for most people with Celiac disease, which is also known as gluten intolerance. Chronic pain, psychological conditions, and lack of enough sleep also contribute to fatigue for people with gluten intolerance.
Fatigue for people with gluten intolerance will also come in due to anemia and iron deficiency.
- Constipation: After consuming pizza or any other meal with some level of gluten content, an individual may acquire inflammations in the small intestines. This condition can lead to digestive discomfort due to poor nutrient absorption.
The constipation issue may lead to other problems like diarrhea, dehydration, and fatigue to some extent.
- Depression and Anxiety: With depression affecting more than 6% of people every year, individuals with digestive problems seem to take the lead. This fact explains that people with gluten intolerance are definitely on the front line regarding the risk of acquiring depression.
Several theories explain how gluten may affect the nervous system, leading to anxiety or depression. The main theory is the gluten exorphins theory. The theory explains that gluten exorphins come during the digestion of gluten proteins.
In most cases, the exorphins get to reach the central nervous system, and as a result, it triggers depression. Best gluten free flour for pizza dough may work to prevent such a disorder.
- Skin reactions: The most physical symptom of gluten intolerance happens on the skin. In most cases, people with this disorder may acquire a skin problem called dermatitis herpetiformis. Most people who get this symptom from consuming gluten usually never experience any other gluten intolerance symptom.
Other skin conditions that may come by as a result of consuming gluten include chronic urticaria (a recurring and itchy red or pink lesions on the skin), Psoriasis (reddening and swelling of the skin), Alopecia areata (a non-scarring loss of hair on the skin).
- Anemia/Iron deficiency: Another common symptom found in people with glucose intolerance is Anemia. Frequent headaches, shortness of breath, dizziness, and pale skin are the primary characteristics when it comes to iron deficiency.
If a person has gluten intolerance disorder, the nutrient absorption rate in the small intestines will be lower than normal. Because of that case, less iron will get into the blood from food consumption. This symptom is clear in adults and children with gluten intolerance.
- Weight loss: Several health conditions usually result in an unexplained loss of weight. When it comes to gluten intolerance disorder, this symptom is among the top. Several studies show that many individuals with gluten intolerance lost their weight about seven months before the diagnosis.
The loss of weight comes to the individuals due to poor absorption of nutrients into the body.
- Numbness of the legs and arms: You may also notice that a person has gluten intolerance from the numbness of their limbs. The general medical term for this symptom is neuropathy.
Other conditions like vitamin B12 deficiency and diabetes may also bring about the symptom. However, Gluten intolerance is the main condition that leads to this symptom.
- Autoimmune disorders: Once you consume gluten, you may acquire autoimmune disorders that lead to other conditions such as thyroid disease. An example of the autoimmune disease that brings other immune disorders from consuming gluten is celiac disease.
Autoimmune thyroid problems result in depression and other emotional problems as well. People with other illnesses such as liver diseases are more prone to suffer from autoimmune disorders from gluten consumption.
- Pain in the muscles and joints: A high level of gluten in the best flour for pizza lead to negative effects in the body of a gluten-intolerant person, especially on the muscles and joints.
- Stomach pain: This is the most common symptom of gluten intolerance. More than 83% of people with gluten intolerance will experience discomfort in the stomach immediately after they consume gluten.
- Frequent headaches: Many gluten-intolerant people experience migraines on and off on several occasions. In other situations, migraines attack some individuals suffering from other conditions. That statement is a fact. But according to research, gluten is still the leading cause of this disorder.
- Brain fog: Quite many people with gluten intolerance more often suffer from brain fog. In this case, these individuals usually lack the natural capability of thinking clearly. Being forgetful, having mental fatigue, difficulty in thinking, and feeling cloudy are some of the main experiences of people who have gone through brain fog.
The reaction of some antibodies found in gluten is responsible for bringing this effect. More than 40% of people with gluten intolerance usually experience this symptom.
- Bloating: Bloating is the swelling feeling of the belly after eating, and it is quite uncomfortable. Consumption of gluten may make this situation even worse. The extent of this effect may arise, mostly in those with a higher sensitivity to gluten intolerance.
Diagnosing Gluten Intolerance
Diagnosing gluten intolerance in a person is easy. There is a simple procedure to follow to achieve the results. However, a professional healthcare provider should carefully review the medical history and the symptoms.
In case the medical practitioner discovers that you have gluten intolerance, they will do the following:
- Step 1: Advice you to consume a diet that contains gluten. You will take that diet for not less than six weeks. The medical practitioner will then perform tests on your skin and blood for six weeks. This procedure is somehow long since there is no specific test for diagnosing this condition.
- Step 2: In case you do not have celiac disease or wheat allergy, the medic will direct you to start using the best gluten free flour for pizza dough for not less than six weeks. During this time, you will personally have to keep records of the symptoms that you are getting. Note any changes or improvements in each symptom.
- Step 3: You should now introduce gluten back into your diet in case you notice that the symptoms are improving. When bringing back the gluten, introduce it in small amounts. Carefully note the difference after this procedure. If the symptoms of gluten intolerance come back, there will be a higher chance that you have gluten intolerance.
Benefits of a Gluten-Free Flour
There are several advantages of using the best gluten-free flour for pizza dough. Below are some of the main advantages:
- Keeps out allergies: Many people experience allergic reactions to this form of protein. It is usually difficult for people to know if they are safe from this protein in most cases. To be completely safe, it is best to avoid using flour that contains gluten.
- Protects against celiac disease: Avoiding flour with gluten prevents you from acquiring this autoimmune disorder. Celiac disease prevents proper digestion leading to further digestive system problems.
- Promotes good digestive health: best gluten free flour for pizza dough is also quite light, making it easy to digest. This feature works so well in enhancing good health for your alimentary canal. Flour with no gluten also means that there is no fermentation. With zero fermentation, cramping, diarrhea, or bloating can never occur.
When still looking at digestive health, the best flour for pizza dough that is gluten-free aids a lot in controlling gastrointestinal disorders. The flour will help reduce the occurrence of IBS, even though it would not completely cure the disease.
Most types of flour with high gluten content have gone through too much processing. The addition of artificial additives and other bleaching components brings a lot of unhealthy results, especially to people with underlying conditions. Organic whole wheat flour plays an important role in replacing the flour with high gluten.
How to Make Gluten-Free Flour
You may easily make the best gluten free flour for pizza dough at home by following a simple procedure. Before going ahead with the main process, you need to have the following ingredients:
- 4 ½ cups 22 ounces (623.7 grams) of white rice flour
- 4 ½ cups 22 ounces (623.7 grams) brown rice flour
- 4 ½ cups 22 ounces (623.7 grams) of sweet rice flour
- 2 ½ tablespoon xanthan gum (optional)
- 4 ½ cups 19.9 ounces(565 grams) tapioca flour or starch
Below are the steps to follow after gathering all the above ingredients:
- Mix all the flour in one bowl: Tapioca starch is a good alternative if you do not have tapioca flour. The alternative selection will work just fine. When making a smaller quantity, you may use equal small amounts of each flour in the ingredients. You will need to add ¼ cup of tapioca starch or flour in such a case.
In some scenarios, different people usually have allergic reactions to tapioca. If that is the case with you, you may opt to use potato starch. An important fact to note is that you should never replace tapioca starch or flour with potato flour. That fact comes by because potato starch and potato flour are very different.
- Add in some xanthan gum: The addition of xanthan gum enhances the stretching capability of the flour. This fact explains that xanthan gum takes place and capabilities of gluten. The gum will also help bind all the ingredients together during the cooking process, making it the best flour for pizza.
- Whisk all the ingredients together: Your flour should blend correctly at the end. To achieve that result, whisk the flour together for at least 3 to 5 minutes. If you take less than 3 minutes to whisk, your final goods will not turn out well.
- Keep the flour in a completely airtight container: After completing all the other steps, you should store the flour in an airtight container. You may select the size of the container according to the size of flour that you need.
Desired Crust Type
When it comes to pizza, the crust speaks a lot. While there are many ways of coming up with the perfect crust, the best flour for pizza crust that you choose matters a lot. For example, an all-purpose flour produces a crust that supports a lot of toppings due to its study nature.
On the other hand, bread flour brings in a more chewy crust. If you are looking for something in between, consider selecting a flour with some grainy texture. The grainy feel will bring you a crunchy feel to the final pizza.
Our Pizza Flour Reviews
King Arthur, 100% Organic All-Purpose Flour Unbleached, Non-GMO Project Verified, No Preservatives, 5 Pounds (Pack of 6)
- Best for Crispy Crust Pizza
About
This King Arthur Flour is fully organic, proving to be the best flour for pizza and thus friendly to everyone, including people with special health concerns. The flour has a special capability of delivering a consistent result every moment it gets in use.
King Arthur All-Purpose Organic works in making a wide range of products. Some of these products are muffins, yeast bread, brownies, and cookies.
The flour acquires its natural straight from 100% hard red winter and spring wheat. The flour brings out the best-crumbed cakes and lofty biscuits with this factor.
The flour has not gone through artificial bleaching as well. For this reason, the health benefits inside remain intact with no side effects like allergies. The USDA also approves King Arthur All-Purpose flour as 100% non-genetically modified.
Brand: King Arthur
Item Form: Organic raw
Weight: 30 Pounds (13.5 kilograms)
Allergen Information: Non-GMO
Diet type: Kosher
Key features: The flour contains 100% organic malted barley flour and 100% organic wheat flour.
King Arthur 00 Pizza Flour, Non-GMO Project verified, 100% American Grown Wheat.
- Best for chewy and crispy crust
- Amazon’s choice award for wheat flour and meals by King Arthur
About
This brand falls under the best 00 flour for pizza. This 00 pizza flour has gone through a good milling process, enabling it to bring out a perfect Neapolitan pizza with the famous leopard spots. The 00 standard comes by due to blending soft and hard wheat.
This special form of wheat blending allows you to come up with the best Neapolitan pizza right at your home’s oven and with a lot of ease. The King Arthur 00 flour is also verified to be non-genetically modified. For that reason, you can be sure that your health is in a safe spot when consuming pizza from this flour.
Brand: King Arthur
Item form: Raw
Weight: 3 pounds (1.36 Kilograms)
Allergen information: Wheat
Diet type: Kosher
Key features: 100% American wheat.
Cento Anna Napoletana Tipo 00 Extra Fine Flour
- This flour is best for a thinner and crispy pizza crust.
- Amazon’s choice award for wheat flour and meals by Cento
About
Cento Anna Napoletana 00 Flour contains a smooth, natural feel with fewer impurities. These two factors make the flour authentic and very easy to use. These reasons make this flour the best flour for Napoletana pizza. This flour can withstand high temperatures making it a good option when working with your oven.
Brand: Cento
Item form: Raw
Weight: 11 pounds (4.98 Kilograms)
Allergen information: Wheat
Key features: Natural wheat
Simple Mills Almond Flour, Cauliflower Pizza Dough Mix, Gluten-Free, Made with whole foods
- Best for gluten-free crispy, crusty pizza.
About
Simple Mills Almond Flour, Cauliflower Pizza brand brings out that real taste of a crispy, crusty pizza. With zero gluten content, get ready for a healthy meal. The presence of several additions to the flour also assures you of a nutritious pizza. Some additions to the flour are Organic Oregano, Flax meal, and arrowroots.
Brand: Simple Mills
Item form: Raw
Weight: 9.8 ounces (277.8 Grams)
Allergen information: Abalone free
Diet type: Vegan
Key features: Almond flour, Flax Meal, Baking Soda, Cauliflower, Arrowroots, Organic Oregano, Organic Garlic, and Cream of Tartar.
Antimo Caputo Pizzeria Flour for authentic pizza dough
- Best for chewy pizza crust
- Amazon’s choice award for wheat flours and meals by Antimio Caputo,
About
A combination of soft white wheat is the main ingredient that brings out this flour. This special flour combination brings you a dough that works well in firewood ovens and modern electric ovens.
Those reasons make up the best Caputo flour for pizza. This flour does not contain any additives making it very natural and healthy. The smooth nature of the flour makes it bring out a chewy, smooth pizza crust.
Brand: Antimo Caputo
Item form: Raw
Weight: 5 Pounds (2.26 Kilograms)
Allergen information: Gluten
Key feature: Natural wheat
Premium Gold Baking & Pizza Flour
- Best for whole-grain pizza crust
About
The premium Gold Baking & Pizza Flour is fully organic, bringing a natural feel to every product it makes, including pizza. Being all-purpose, the flour can make different kinds of pizza. Despite this flour being a jack of all trades, it has one main specialty. The uniqueness is that the flour brings out delicious, whole-grain pizza crusts.
Brand: Premium Gold
Item form: Raw
Weight: 5 Pounds (2.26 Kilograms)
Allergen information: Gluten-free
Diet type: USDA organic
Key features: Tapioca starch, sorghum flour, ground flaxseed, rice flour, amaranth flour, quinoa flour, buckwheat, teff flour, millet flour, arrowroot starch, xanthan gum, baking powder, sea salt, sugar, citric acid, baking soda, and monocalcium phosphate.
King Arthur Flour Perfect Pizza Flour Blend
- Best for crispy pizza crust
About
Intending to bring out the perfect pizza, King Arthur Perfect Pizza Flour Blend contains baking powder together with Durum flour that is responsible for bringing in some color. A dough conditioner is also in the flour’s ingredients.
The conditioner aids a lot during the process of shaping. In other words, the conditioner makes shaping easier. The crispness of the crust comes due to the baking powder. These factors make it the best flour for thin crust pizza.
Brand: King Arthur Flour
Item form: Raw
Weight: 3 pounds (1.36 Kilograms)
Allergen information: Wheat
Diet type: Kosher
Key features: The flour contains malted barley flour, wheat flour, baking powder, and inactive yeast.
Antico Molino Napoli Antimo caputo pizza flour, gluten free
- Best for gluten-free pizza crust
- Amazon choice award for best in wheat flours and meals by Antico Molino Napoli
About
Antimo Napoli pizza flour contains a crafted blend of different kinds of gluten-free flour together with starches of high quality. The masters of Naples craft these ingredients with utmost perfection to bring the best flour to use for pizza dough. Being gluten-free, this flour assures its consumers of a perfectly healthy meal.
The inclusion of other ingredients like potato, soy, and rice aid in bringing more flavors to the final pizza. Its thickeners and dietary fiber also come in to enhance digestion. When looking for a flour that is capable of creating a pizza with a perfect crust with a tender bottom together with bubbles, this brand is the best.
Brand: Antico Molino Napoli
Item form: Raw
Weight: 4.4 pounds (1.99 Kilograms)
Allergen information: Gluten-free
Diet type: Kosher
Key features: The flour contains potato starch, rice, wheat flour, sugar, thickeners, soy, and dietary fiber.
Molino Grassi White Package with Green
- Best for chewy pizza crusts
About
A single natural blend of 00 soft wheat flour creates the Molino Grassi White with Green flour. Being organic in nature, the flour can make pizza or other meals that are quite friendly to the health of many consumers. This flour is GMO-free as well. The availability of many health benefits makes the flour rank among the best 00 flour for pizza.
Brand: Molino Grassi
Item form: Raw
Weight: 2.2 Pounds (0.99 Kilograms)
Allergen information: Soy and wheat
Diet type: Kosher, vegan
Key features: Natural 00 wheat flour
Antimo Caputo Chef’s Flour – Italian Double Zero 00 – Soft Wheat for Pizza Dough
- Best for chewy pizza crust
About
Originating from Italy, this brand type falls under the best Caputo flour for pizza. The Antimo Caputo Chef’s Flour is the best choice for fermentation baking. A selection of the finest grains brings you a fine, strong dough. The toughness of the dough comes as a result of elastic gluten. The gluten elasticity is also responsible for bringing a chewy crust to your pizza.
The flour is capable of withstanding all kinds of temperatures. This factor makes it ideal for using either a traditional oven or an electric oven at home.
Brand: Antimo Caputo
Item form: Raw
Weight: 4.4 Pounds (1.99 Kilograms)
Allergen information: Gluten
Diet type: Kosher
Key features: soft wheat Tipo 00 flour, gluten.
Conclusion
Different brands of pizza flour usually have different capabilities. For that reason, before selecting the best flour for pizza, you should be aware of the final type of pizza that you wish to achieve. In most cases, you should consider the type of crust that you desire.
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