Whole Wheat or Maida mixed?

[Ganesh Kumar]

Hi,
 I tried making a simple cheese pizza with pure maida. The taste was not bad, but three things were missing.1) the base was soggy (I could not even lift the 11 inch uncooked base). 2) the crust didn't turn brown. 3)and it was not crispy.

I mixed pure wheat(the one we use it for rotis. similar to Pillsbury chakki fresh atta) and it turned ok. But the taste and smell were not like the previous one.

Can somebody tell me whats the right flour to be used. I've read so many recipes and they all mention the word "flour". But what flour it is? Can we try adding a pinch of breadcrumbs or cornflour to pure maida and make it crispy?

regards
GK

[Pete-zza]

GB,

From what I have been able to learn, the type of flour that is closest to the maida flour is pastry flour. Pastry flour does not make a particularly good pizza dough because it is a soft flour with low protein and low gluten forming qualities. A crust (base) made with such a flour will lack color and be soft and not chewy. The types of flours that are most commonly used in the U.S. to make pizza dough are all-purpose flour, bread flour, high-gluten flour, and whole wheat flour. These are all "wheat flours" as are generally described at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flour. Examples of some of these flours can be seen at http://www.bettycrocker.com/products/gold-medal-flour/gold-medal-products.htm (the first four flours, not the self-rising or Wondra).

Peter

[Ganesh Kumar]

Thanks Peter. But actually in India, some people call Maida as all purpose flour.
(since hyperlinks are not allowed for me, pls search "what is all purpose flour" in Yahoo! answers)

Thats where I got confused.

regards
GK

[Pete-zza]

GK,

The idea of using pastry flour in lieu of maida came from a search I did at wikipedia, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maida_flour. However, after I posted, I expanded my search on maida and saw several references to all-purpose flour being similar. There are many variations around the world for what is called "all-purpose" flour (or "baker's flour" in some countries), so what is more important than the name is what the specifications are, especially the protein content. When I did a search this morning to see if I could find some specifications for the maida flour, the best I could find was at http://www.ambujaglobal.com/wheat_flour.php. As you will see from that document, the protein content given in the specifications chart is 8.5-10%. That value is about the same as our pastry flour in the U.S., as you will see if you read the definition for pastry flour in the forum's Pizza Glossary at http://www.pizzamaking.com/pizza_glossary.html#P. By contrast, in the U.S., all-purpose flour has a protein content range of about 10-12%, as you will see from the definition of all-purpose flour in the Pizza Glossary at http://www.pizzamaking.com/pizza_glossary.html#A.

I also noticed from the Maida flour specifications mentioned above that the minimum water absorption for the maida flour is 55%. That is a value that is comparable to the absorption value of pastry flour. In the U.S., a typical absorption value for all-purpose flour is around 60%. For other specifications for U.S. all-purpose flour, see the column Sir Galahad at http://www.kingarthurflour.com/professional/Nutritional-Analysis.pdf.

In your case, what you might want to try to improve your use of maida flour to make pizza dough is to combine the maida flour with a stronger flour, such as whole wheat flour if it is available to you, or add some vital wheat gluten (VWG) to the maida flour. For a definition of VWG, see the definition given in the Pizza Glossary at http://www.pizzamaking.com/pizza_glossary.html#V. From what I understand from http://www.alibaba.com/countrysearch/IN-suppliers/Vital_Wheat_Gluten.html, VWG is available in India. If you are able to locate some, and can ascertain its protein content (in the U.S., VWG has a typical protein content of 65-75%), you can use the Mixed Mass Percentage Calculator at http://tools.foodsim.com/ to determine how much VWG to add to your maida flour to achieve a blend with a protein content similar to all-purpose flour. However, even if you add VWG to your maida flour, the finished crust will still have a light color and it will still be on the soft side but most likely a bit chewier than using maida flour only. I come to this conclusion based on personal experience, having supplemented cake flour, which is even lower in protein content than pastry flour, with VWG, as I noted at Reply 2 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,2874.msg24679/topicseen.html#msg24679.

Good luck. I hope you will let us know what results you get if you decide to try supplementing your maida flour with VWG. I personally would like to know just in case the question comes up again.

Peter