Recently I found a bag of Antimo Caputo tipo “00” flour,” and decided to test it alongside with my recent purchase of Anson Mills  “Pizza Maker’s Flour – “00” farina.” Doppio “00” (Double  Zero) is generally misunderstood as a softer flour due to
its milling.  A finely milled flour, it has the feel of a starch or
talcum powder. In truth, it does not lack gluten, hence it’s elasticity and pizza
making qualities.

Well, I tried several tests including a short ferment with yeast as well as a sourdough with long bulk proof. For some reason my doughs were degrading, especially with sourdough and retarding. So I asked other bakers for suggestions. I got endless answers; PH balance, retarding, method changes, starter, yeast, and more. I ran out of Anson Mills. Left with just the Caputo to test, I tried  a formula from an Italian baker/blogger named Marco Cenci.

Initially, scheduling at work got in the way. But then I fermented the dough cold, and once removed from the fridge, balled my dough into 200-240 gram pizza balls, then fermented them between 2-4 hours. Voila, I got some real pizza coming out, including the signature oven-spring cornicione or edge. The last bit of dough was left an extra day in the fridge, so it was literally a 60 hours bulk. In the end, the dough was both softer and sweeter.

Anson Mills with a one day ferment with sourdough, eight hours total. Results: Crisp light, but not a large Cornicione or border, taste delicious golden wheat, sweet.

Caputo flour, 48 hour bulk ferment, balled to 200-240 gram, final proof between 2-3 hours, shaped and baked, (notice the cracks, I’d left out the pizza uncovered for a bit,a no, no!) Still decent pizza nonetheless.

Same dough, (Caputo “00”), perfect crust, crunchy, light, sweet wheat taste, no sour taste from fermenting more then 48 hours.

I had a small ball of dough left, so I took off five grams to build my next pizza and used this small ball, less then one hundred grams to adapt a pizza known as “Mastunicola”, from famed Pizzaiola Franco Pepe, which is a pizza with pre-tomato origins. Usually with lardo, sheeps cheese, oregano and basil, my adaption I used my local butchers smoked and boiled bacon, which was soft like lardo and delicious, some Cacio cheese from Rome, and basil…just wonderful, as though dough is now over 60 hours bulk ferment, and airy, light and crisp..