While most types of flour like all-purpose flour can work for most recipes, there are special types of flour that are renowned for what they can offer, and one example of well-loved flour is Caputo flour.
If you have never tried Caputo flour before, you may be curious about what Caputo flour is and what the hype is all about. I did some digging, and here is what I learned!
What Is Caputo Flour?
Caputo flour is a type of flour made from Italian-milled wheat flour that is very soft and fine, and Caputo flour is often regarded as the perfect flour to create pizza crust thanks to Caputo flour’s perfect gluten content. However, Caputo flour can be used to make other recipes, such as focaccia bread.
Do you want to learn what Caputo flour tastes like, what is special about Caputo flour, and what you can substitute for Caputo flour? Keep reading!
What Is Caputo Flour Made Of?
Caputo flour is created with Italian-milled wheat flour specifically winter wheat.
What Does Caputo Flour Taste Like?
Generally, Caputo flour has a fairly neutral flavor, but Caputo flour is best known for its texture, which is fine and soft that Caputo flour is similar to baby powder.
What Is Caputo Flour Used For?
Typically, Caputo flour can be used for any recipe that calls for flour, especially recipes that require white hard wheat flour.
However, Caputo flour is usually used for pizza crust and many baked goods because Caputo flour offers a pleasant chew and excellent mouthfeel.
Many traditionalists opt to use Caputo flour whenever possible to create Italian pizza. Caputo flour is also used in other Italian recipes, such as focaccia bread.
Another reason why Caputo flour is excellent for traditional pizza recipes is that Caputo flour can handle high temperatures, which allows your pizza crust to get a nice crust without getting tough.
Moreover, Caputo flour can work well for recipes for bread, cakes, cupcakes, and more since Caputo flour has a soft texture.
What Is Special About Caputo Flour?
Firstly, Caputo flour is special because Caputo flour is regarded as the best flour for pizza since Caputo flour has the perfect chew and mouthfeel for pizza crust.
Next, Caputo flour can handle high temperatures better than most types of flour, allowing pizza crust to get a nice char that Italian pizza usually has.
Additionally, Caputo flour has high strength and gluten content since Caputo flour has a strength of W300-320 and 11-12% gluten.
Since Caputo flour is high in gluten and strength, you can ferment your pizza dough for 24-48 hours or longer, which creates better textures and flavors in your pizza crust.
Despite being high in gluten, Caputo flour is not too high in gluten compared to other types of flour like bread flour because too much gluten can make your pizza crust tough and chewy.
Is Caputo Flour 00?
Caputo flour is 00, especially since the packaging for Caputo flour usually says “00 flour.”
Is Caputo Flour Non-GMO?
Caputo flour being non-GMO will depend on what brand of Caputo flour you get since each brand will source their ingredients for Caputo flour from different places.
Is Caputo Flour The Same As Bread Flour?
Technically, Caputo flour is not the same as bread flour because Caputo flour is made from Italian-milled winter wheat while bread flour is made from hard spring wheat from anywhere in the world.
Moreover, Caputo flour and bread flour do not have the same gluten content since Caputo flour has 11-12% gluten whereas bread flour has 13-14% gluten.
While the difference in gluten levels may not seem like much, it makes a huge difference in the result of your dishes.
For instance, bread flour has a higher gluten content because bread flour creates more structured baked recipes with a denser chew.
On the other hand, Caputo flour has just enough gluten to provide a bit of chew without being dense, which is why Caputo flour is often used to make pizza crust.
If Caputo flour contained more gluten, it would lead to a rubbery and heavy pizza crust, which most people do not want.
Can I Use Caputo Flour To Make Bread?
Generally, you can use Caputo flour to create bread recipes, but you may have a crisper crust in your bread with a softer interior, which may not be a bad thing for certain recipes.
Caputo flour is an excellent flour to make specific bread recipes, such as focaccia bread.
However, Caputo flour may not be ideal to make dense bread recipes with a softer crust.
What Can I Substitute For Caputo Flour?
If you are not fussed about a difference in texture, substituting all-purpose flour for Caputo flour will be fine for most recipes.
However, do not expect all-purpose flour to rise as well as Caputo flour since all-purpose flour has around 8-11% gluten whereas Caputo flour has 11-12% gluten.
Additionally, pastry flour used for pastries and bread can make a decent substitute for Caputo flour.
Pastry flour is very fine flour, which allows pastry flour to create fine crusts with tender interiors.
However, pastry flour will not perfectly mimic Caputo flour because pastry flour has 9-10% gluten, which is lower than Caputo flour.
Moreover, cake flour can be a decent alternative to Caputo flour since cake flour is milled finely like Caputo flour.
Although it is important to remember that cake flour tends to produce much softer and somewhat crumblier results compared to Caputo flour.
Using cake flour instead of Caputo flour can work for recipes like focaccia bread, but cake flour would not be ideal for pizza crust.
Take a look at our other articles to discover what cream flour is, what crispy flour is, and what cricket flour is.
Conclusion
Caputo flour is a popular type of finely milled wheat flour and Caputo flour is known for being the best flour to make pizza crust.
Caputo flour contains the right texture, gluten content, and more to create an ideal and traditional Italian pizza crust, but Caputo flour may be used for other recipes like cakes, focaccia bread, etc.