Hi there,
I have read alot about high gluten flour when making pizza, the general consensus is that it really doesn't make that much of a difference. I thought that I would experiment a little bit & draw my on conclusions. That being said I tried to devise a formula for increasing the gluten/protein level in my flour from 12.5% to 14%.
I live in Toronto, Ontario Canada & use a western hard wheat white unbleached flour with a protein/gluten content of about 12.5% that I purchase from a local mill that services the bakery industry. A friend of mine owns an artisan bread company & swears by it so I thought that I would give it a shot for pizza.
I also purchased a high gluten flour with a content of about 80%.
Now, as we all know too much gluten can be toxic so I want to ensure the proper amount is being added.
I spoke to a food chemist at the mill & she gave me this really complicated formula. She also mentioned that a real simple formula is 1-1.5 tbs of high gluten flour (80%) for 3 cups of flour. I prefer to us a measurement in weight as oppose to volume.
She was speaking quite fast & had a heavy accent so this is what I pieced together on her formula.
Based on 100 gms:
.14 (end result; % of gluten to be achieved, 14%) * 100 grams=.125 (% of gluten in flour 12.5%) + .80x (the gluten content of high gluten flour 80%)
Does this make sense?
I wasn't sure if the above formula was correct so I made up my own formula & came up with the following;
100 grams of flour = 12.5 grams of gluten
100 grams of high gluten flour = 80 grams of gluten
Therefore by replacing 2 grams of regular flour with high gluten flour, the following end result will be achieved:
12.5 - .25 (.125*2) + 1.6 (.8*2)=13.85 or 13.85%
The only problem is that I don't know how accurate my digital scale is when dealing with such a low value as 2 oz's. Maybe time for a new scale. Anyone have any recommendations on a highly accurate scale?
