Considering 00 flour -- right for me?

[Bada Bing]

I've been in Italy and had Naples-style pizza (albeit up north), and I know I love it for the crust and the simple balance of toppings. 

But it will take considerable effort and cost for me to get hold of 00 flour where I live--my best guess is that I will need to drive over an hour to Chicago and back to get some Caputo--and I'm willing to make the effort.  But is there anything like a consensus about whether such flour will perform well in my oven, which only goes to 550 degrees if I'm lucky.  (I use a baking stone, I should add.)

[Jet_deck]

My personal experience is that Caputo does best at 850° and above.  Have you considered building an LBE or MBE?  You could get yourself into to one for a $100 or so.

[Bada Bing]

Actually, I'm not sure what LBE or MBE means.  Is there an acronyms page on this site?

[BrickStoneOven]

Heres a sample link http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,4753.0.html. If you go to the home page and search LBE or MBE you will get a lot of hits.

[Bada Bing]

Very interesting!  I did try an MBE search before asking you, but maybe the search wasn't capturing all the boards.  (I got no result.) 

The fellow in the video said his stone was 664 degrees after 30 minutes.  Still meaningfully below the temp. where the Caputo flour is successful?

[mattharris75]

Here's the 'master thread' for the Little Black Egg (LBE):

http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,4753.0.html

I'm just about to build one myself.

[Bada Bing]

I wonder: what is there to notice about how Caputo 00 flour performs in a regular oven that only goes to 550?  Does it not rise or color correctly?

[Jet_deck]

Correct.  No oven spring and very blonde, anemic looking crust.  See mine here: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/692/pizza2005.jpg/  But they still eat pretty good.

[Bada Bing]

Yeah, I can see what you mean, although only a bit of the crust is visible.  I would have to suppose that adding some oil to the dough, or even a touch of honey or the like, might increase browning, but that's perhaps Neapolitan heresy.  (I'm new to this level of pizza fandom, so I hope you can indulge my ignorance.) 

Has this web community developed any consensus about the optimal flour type and brand and a dough formula for a gas oven with pizza stone, given a preference for Naples style pies? 

[Jet_deck]

I almost forgot, if you are into buying and not building check out the 2Stone.

http://www.2stonepg.com/

[Bada Bing]

Thanks.  I did notice that 2Stone set-up in some other posts here.  I wonder if my 2-burner Weber gas grill has the necessary horsepower? 

I also have a 22" Weber kettle, and maybe it works there, too.  The stories and pictures all seem to be about gas grills.

[Jet_deck]

  I wonder if my 2-burner Weber gas grill has the necessary horsepower? 

I don't know maybe ask Willard at 2stone, he will know.

This is an example of the heat that it takes to bake Caputo into submission: http://imageshack.us/clip/my-videos/812/3f1.mp4/

[JConk007]

Some members have used a brioler method with some success.but you still need a good stone.  After pre heating brick for like 1 hr crank up the broiler to hi and determine which rack hieht will work best suppling hi heat without frying your pie on top. Some practice is required or Hack the oven I am not a uge fan of that method. The outcome yes 
John