is it possible I got a bad batch of Caputo flour

[ethermal]

So I have been using Caputo 00 pizzeria blue bag flour on and off for the last 20+ years.  The reason for on and off is that it is extremely hard to get in Canada.  It is way easier these days because Amazon carries it but still pretty rare thing.  I was in my local Italian grocery shop, asked them if they carried it and they ordered in for me one of the 50lb bags, I paid <$100 for the bag.  I had some of the 5lb bag left that I got from Amazon.  So I was doing two batches one from the old bag, one from the new bag.  The one from the new bag felt cakey, and didn't form into a nice smooth dough and it would rip very easily.  So stretching it out into the final pizza was extremely hard.  The one made from my original bag stretched exactly as you would expect and both batches were made the same way, same hydration, same rest time same, mixer, same salt, etc.  So I assumed I did something wrong so I tried another batch same results.  Then tried numerous batches where I adjusted all manner of factors, rest time, mix time, add oil, don't add oil, hand mix instead of using mixer, etc some things made it a little better but never "good" I'm curious if I got a bad batch of the flour?  Anybody else ever get some flour that simply doesn't work right?

[Pizza_Not_War]

Possibly bad, check lot number and date with importer to make sure it's not fake or previously noted to have issues. Cakey sounds like too much moisture in the flour? You could spread some out on a pan and let it dry out perhaps.

[nanometric]

The one from the new bag felt cakey...

I'm not familiar with the meaning of "cakey" as applied to raw dough - would you elaborate?

Cakey sounds like too much moisture in the flour?

IME flour from a recently-opened 50# bag tends to be moister than flour from a smaller bag. The main consequence of this I've noted is that I need to decrease water in the dough formula for awhile until the flour drys out.

[ethermal]

I went from 65% hydration down to 58% with little to no difference in the outcome.   

[ethermal]

Possibly bad, check lot number and date with importer to make sure it's not fake or previously noted to have issues. Cakey sounds like too much moisture in the flour? You could spread some out on a pan and let it dry out perhaps.

"Cakey" is just my way of describing the texture of the flour in raw form. It kind of reminds me powdered milk.

[ethermal]

Possibly bad, check lot number and date with importer to make sure it's not fake or previously noted to have issues. Cakey sounds like too much moisture in the flour? You could spread some out on a pan and let it dry out perhaps.

how or where would I check this?

[TXCraig1]

It's definitely possible. While I haven't had the weak dough issue you described, I've defiantly had more than one sack of Caputo flour that was excessively moist to the point where I had to adjust hydration down a few points. The flour had a lumpy/cakey feel.

[Pizza_Not_War]

how or where would I check this?

If it's original package it should have the numbers printed on it. I don't know who imports flour in Canada.

[nanometric]

"Cakey" is just my way of describing the texture of the flour in raw form. It kind of reminds me powdered milk.

Gotcha. I've used "clumpy" to express the same flour state. Sounds like pretty wet flour, but that doesn't explain the dough-tearing issue. Unless perhaps it wasn't mixed / hydrated well so the clumpiness contributed to weak spots in the dough? Maybe try sifting the flour before next use and drop the hydration a couple points.