How to Choose Flour for Pizza Dough

Ask ten pizzaioli what makes a great base and most will start in the same place: the flour. Everything else — hydration, proving time, how the crust chars — is built on top of it. Here's how to choose well without getting lost in the jargon.

Protein is the number that matters

Flour is graded by its protein content, and protein is what forms gluten — the stretchy network that traps gas and gives you a light, chewy crust with a good rise. For pizza you want a strong flour, around 12–14% protein. Too little and the dough tears and bakes dense; too much and it fights you when you try to stretch it.

What "00" actually means

Italian flour is graded by how finely it's milled — 00 is the finest, then 0, 1 and 2. 00 is not automatically "pizza flour": the grade describes the grind, not the strength. A soft 00 cake flour is useless for pizza. What you want is a 00 flour milled specifically for pizza or bread, with the protein to match. The fine grind gives a silky, extensible dough that stretches thin without ripping — ideal for a Neapolitan-style base.

00 vs strong bread flour

00 pizza flour — silky, extensible, tender-crisp crust. Best for hot, fast bakes (a pizza steel or a real oven).
Strong white bread flour — more readily available, slightly more robust. Excellent for home ovens and longer bakes; gives a chewier, more bread-like crust.

If you can't get 00, a good strong bread flour will make a genuinely excellent pizza. Don't let perfect be the enemy of Friday night.

"W" strength and long proves

You may see a W value on Italian flour bags — it measures how much work the dough can take before it collapses. Higher W (say W300+) means the dough can ferment for a day or two in the fridge and still hold its structure. If you're doing a long cold prove — and you should, it's where the flavour comes from — look for a stronger, higher-W flour.

A note on sourdough

Our own base is sourdough, and a naturally leavened dough asks a little more of your flour. The long fermentation is gentle but relentless, so a stronger flour (or a blend with a little wholemeal for flavour) holds up better and rewards you with a deeper, tangier crust.

Start simple: a strong 00 or bread flour at 12–14% protein, 60–65% hydration, and a slow prove in the fridge. Nail that and you can chase the fancier flours later.