Re: Flour prices are killing us, what about non high gluten?
The thing to keep in mind about flour is that there is no standard of identity with exception to the type of flour such as whole wheat, rye, buck wheat, semollina, triticale, corn, etc.
When you’re dealing with things such as high gluten, bread, pastry, cookie, etc. there is no defined standard. What this means is that one man’s high gluten might be the same as another man’s bread flour (from analysis, I know this to be a fact). So, what does this mean to you? You’ve got to buy a bag and try it to see if it will work for you with your dough formula, using your dough management procedure. If it works for you, you save some money, if it doesn’t, try another flour, keep repeating until you find something that works and saves you some money in the process, if you don’t find anything, well…at least you know the answer to your question.
For many of you readers making a more traditional, not a sourdough, pizza, I can attest to the fact that, in most cases, you can safely get away using something other than a “high gluten” flour. Bread type flours will make a surprisingly good pizza if you can live with only two days of dough storage time in the cooler, or if you take the time to make sure your dough management procedures are good, and your dough temperatures are controlled, you will be subjecting the dough to less porential abuse, allowing you to potentially use a lower protein content flour, which can save you a few dollars.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor