high-gluten flour

[batlou]

I noticed one of the recipe's for pizza dough called for a high-gluten flour.  I have only made dough from packages and this is all new to me.  Is this something that can be bought at a typical grocery store?  I love the crispy dough on a NY Style pizza and I am trying to make this as authentic as possible at home. 

Thanks in advance

[Pete-zza]

batlou,

It is highly unlikely that you will find high-gluten flour at the supermarket level. It is either sold by mail order, as in the case of the King Arthur Sir Lancelot high-gluten flour, or through distributors, foodservice companies and other intermediaries (in 50-lb. bags). Ordering the King Arthur Sir Lancelot flour directly from the King Arthur Bread Flour Company (in Vermont) can be fairly expensive, in good part because of shipping costs. If you can find a local intermediary that carries the Sir Lancelot (or similar high-gluten flour, such as General Mills' All Trumps high-gluten flour) in the big bags, your per/lb. costs will be considerably less.

It is possible to combine bread flour with a bakery ingredient known as vital wheat gluten, but the final blend won't be identical to high-gluten flour as mentioned above. The main reason for using the vital wheat gluten is to increase the amount of protein in the bread flour to approximate the protein level of high-gluten flour. I have done this sort of thing many times when I didn't have a source of high-gluten flour and got good results. However, not everyone is a fan of doing this. But both bread flour and vital wheat gluten are sold at the supermarket retail level. If you choose to go this route I would highly recommend the King Arthur brand of bread flour. It is one of the best bread flours out there. There are several brands of vital wheat gluten (Arrowhead Mills, Bob's Red Mill, Hodgston Mill, etc.) at the retail level, at places like Whole Foods and many supermarkets.

Peter

[batlou]

I bought King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour.  I did not see anything that said "High-Gluten" on the package.  I will check tomorrow and see if I can find a retailer that sells high-gluten.  Thanks for you help. 
Another question, how long will the dough keep after I make it?  I know i have to let it rest/rise or whatever for 24 to 48 hours but then how long will it keep in the fridge?  Can I freeze it?

[Pete-zza]

batlou,

The King Arthur bread flour is a step below the King Arthur Sir Lancelot (KASL) high-gluten flour in terms of protein and gluten content. It is not the same thing as the Sir Lancelot. I will be shocked if you come back and tell us that you found a high-gluten flour at the retail level. It would have to have around 14% protein to qualify as a high-gluten flour. The KA bread flour is at 12.7%. King Arthur does not itself sell small bags (3-pound bags) of the KASL at the retail level, only by mail order and using Amazon.com and possibly a few others.

How long a dough will last is a function of a lot of things, including the recipe you are using, the amount of yeast, the amount of water, the finished dough temperature, and several other factors. However, under the best of circumstances, about the best you are likely to achieve is around three days, and that is under refrigeration. Occasionally some of our members have been able to get four or five days but that is not the typical case.

Dough can be frozen. There are preferred ways of doing this, but it certainly can be done and you should be able to get fairly decent performance out of it once it has thawed (and it is not too old). Given a choice, however, I will always choose making and using a fresh dough over frozen dough. Yet, frozen dough does have its place. It can be made to acccommodate time and scheduling considerations and also if there is leftover dough that might otherwise be thrown away. 

Peter