What is Caputo Flour?

The Best Italian Flour For Authentic Italian Recipes

One of the keys in creating delicious, authentic Italian dishes is utilizing the best ingredients available. Whether you are creating your own dough for pasta, pizza crusts, bread or cakes, any chef knows that the quality of the final product begins with the type of flour used.

While you certainly can choose to use any old kind of flour to create these dishes, you may find that the results are less than ideal. Let’s face it, no one wants a pizza dough that isn’t airy and chewy, just like no one wants bread or cake that is overly heavy in texture.

The simply truth is that quality, authentic ingredients produce quality, authentic dishes. If you want to create a dish that is truly spectacular in taste and texture, you want to consider adding Caputo flour to your pantry. In fact, many people say that once they use this flour to create doughs, they never even consider using anything else. It’s that good!                     

Where Does Caputo Flour Come From?

Caputo 00 flour comes from Naples, Italy, where Carmine Caputo founded a mill and factory back in the year 1924. When he died, his son Antico Molino Caputo purchased the mill, and since that day, over three generations have been working hard to supply this delicious product.

Made from the highest quality winter wheat which is ground into a fine powder, there is simply no substitute to this name brand. In fact, it is not only used all over Naples, particularly in pizzerias, many authentic Italian chefs in the United States insist on utilizing Caputo flour as the golden standard.

 Why Use Caputo Flour?

 Caputo flour has many advantages over its counterparts. Not only does its finely ground texture produce a mouthful that is incredibly soft and chewy, the flour itself produces a dough that is virtually effortless to work with.

In fact, doughs made with Caputo flour require virtually no kneading, which saves you time and effort without compromising taste or texture. 

What Are the Different Kinds of Caputo Flour?

There are two main kinds of Caputo 00 flour. These are divided into red and blue.

Blue Caputo 00 flour has a protein/gluten content of 12.5%, and it contains a blend of wheat that is best suited to creating pizza dough.

Red Caputo 00 flour, also known as Rinforzato, has the same protein/gluten content of 12.5%, however, its wheat blends are a little heartier, making it better suited to creating breads and pastas.

However Caputo also offers high quality gluten free flour for those with gut issues.

What is Semolina Flour

Semolina flour is ideal for creating fresh bread and pasta, as it has a precise grain size for consistency as well as increased elasticity. While it is also made from grain, as is Caputo flour, Semolina flour has much larger particles than the finely ground Caputo flour.

This means that it produces pizza, pasta and bread that is slightly chewier and denser in flavor. Many chefs prefer to combine these two flours to access a light, airy texture that contains a chewy, hearty bite.

Of course, this is not a hard and fast rule. You should feel free to experiment with both kinds of flours to see which ones work best for your own personal taste.