00 flour at home/Malted barley vs amylase in flour?

[Guy_Shaggy]

Hi there!

I am interested in making various types of pizzas such as New York Style, and romana tonda. I've heard that because 00 flour typically doesn't contain malted barley, that it's not actually best for home oven temperatures because browning won't be as good. It sounds like most American flours have malted barley (aka King Athur bread, and Sir Lancelot) and that this is better for cooking in the home oven. Has this been other people's experience? I've made pizzas with both and have still achieved browning with my steel + the broiler.

Regarding the bread flour and malted barley, I live in Toronto and the two main flours we have in the grocery store are robin hood, and five roses. Neither flour contains malted barley, but both contain amylase which, according to bakerpedia, helps with browning both via Maillard reaction and caramelization.

https://bakerpedia.com/ingredients/amylase/

Would this be considered a viable replacement for the addition of malted barley to flour? Or should I be looking for malted barley flour to add into my mix?

Thanks!

[TXCraig1]

"Malted flour" is a catchall name. If it contains malted barley, amylase, or "enzymes" in the ingredient statement, it's malted flour.

[scott r]

It was at one time, but its not a hard and steadfast rule any more that you need amylase enzymes or malted barley flour to get the additional browning you see in most american flour made by the largest and most popular mills.  Now there are popular flours like caputo nuvola super that dont have those additives, but still brown at the same rate because of their damaged starch levels.  Im sure there are others as well.

Your flour is already a flour that browns nicely thanks to the amylase enzymes that act exactly like added malted barley flour.  I had the chance once to try two flours with the same name made in the same mill, one with amylase and one with malted barley and they both performed identically.

If you want more browning than a typical malted/enzyme enriched flour you can go further with the malted barley flour by adding it in yourself.  In some ovens and for certain styles and proofing times this can really help.  In other situations you might not like it, especially if too much is used.

[Guy_Shaggy]

Now there are popular flours like caputo nuvola super that dont have those additives, but still brown at the same rate because of their damaged starch levels.  Im sure there are others as well.

Your flour is already a flour that browns nicely thanks to the amylase enzymes that act exactly like added malted barley flour.  I had the chance once to try two flours with the same name made in the same mill, one with amylase and one with malted barley and they both performed identically.

If you want more browning than a typical malted/enzyme enriched flour you can go further with the malted barley flour by adding it in yourself.  In some ovens and for certain styles and proofing times this can really help.  In other situations you might not like it, especially if too much is used.

Thanks for the detailed answer. Maybe a stupid question but how would I know if a flour has these damaged starch level to help browning?

[scott r]

Sorry, last night on my initial post I had forgotten that there is more to the Nuvola than just the damaged starch level that helps Nuvola to brown like a malted/enzyme enriched flour. It is this.....

The new flour is called Nuvola (Italian for "cloud"). To harvest it, the combines aren't sent into fields until rainy season, late in the game, so the grains are very mature and rustic, almost aged. Antimo Caputo, the third-generation CEO of the flour producer, likens it to passito, a raisin wine. The chemical effect, he said, is that the grain is higher in fiber, with more bran, minerals, germ, protein and amylase, a sugar enzyme that allows a crème brûlée sense of character, deeply charred but not bitter.

The falling number spec can be an indication of damaged starch levels