A guide to Canadian flours for pizza

The short answer

For a Neapolitan or a New York pizza, aim for a white flour between 11.5 and 13.5 % protein, finely milled, with an extensible gluten. In Canada, several national-brand all-purpose flours already sit in that window, because they are milled from Western hard red spring wheat, naturally rich. Quebec organic flours are often a little lower in protein, with a more pronounced flavour. Canadian "bread" flour is often too strong for a Neapolitan: it resists stretching and gives a hard rim. The right reflex is not to hunt for THE flour, it is to blend two flours to reach the strength and extensibility of the style you want.

Why the label is not enough

In Canada, the nutrition facts table gives protein per 30 g serving, rounded to the gram. "4 g" therefore covers everything from about 11.7 to 14.9 %; "3 g" covers about 8.4 to 11.6 %. For a baker that is a range, not a measurement. At the time of writing, Five Roses bleached all-purpose flour and Robin Hood bread flour both show 4 g per 30 g, and La Milanaise organic unbleached white all-purpose shows 3 g per 30 g. That tells you which family you are in, not where exactly. The precise figure is on the mill's technical sheet, and it changes from one harvest to the next: ask for it, or measure the flour in use.

Second limit: the amount of protein says nothing about its quality. Two flours at 12.5 % can give very different doughs depending on the ratio of glutenins (tenacity, strength) to gliadins (extensibility). That is what the W (baking strength) and the P/L (tenacity over extensibility) measure on a Chopin alveograph, figures common on Italian mill sheets and rare on Canadian ones. In their absence, Fornello estimates a W from protein and wheat type, and says so plainly: an estimated value is flagged as estimated.

The flour families you find in Quebec

* Ranges deduced from labels (protein rounded to the gram per 30 g) and from use; to be checked on each mill's technical sheet for the lot you buy. Mills publish these sheets on request; some post them online.

Blend two flours rather than hunt for one

Blending is not a fallback: it is what the mills themselves do. A Canadian all-purpose brings strength and tolerance; a 00 or a weaker flour brings fineness and extensibility; a touch of semolina brings crunch and colour. The catch is that a blend's strength is not the average of the strengths, and neither is its extensibility. Fornello combines two flours by computing the blend's effective W, P/L and maturation window, then compares the result with the window of the chosen style.

Below, the calculator is set on a New York. At the intermediate level, pick a flour A and a flour B from the library, then move the proportion dial: the line under the flours shows the blend's W and P/L, and the handling verdict.

Three blends that work in Quebec

• Weeknight New York: 100 % Canadian unbleached all-purpose, 63 % water, 24 hours cold. Simple, reliable, and better than many pizzerias.
• Home-oven Neapolitan: 70 % Canadian all-purpose, 30 % Italian 00, 62 % water, 48 hours. The 00 relaxes the network the Canadian flour holds.
• Golden, crunchy crust: 85 % all-purpose, 15 % fine durum semolina, 65 % water. Perfect for a pan pizza or a Roman.

Buying, storing, testing

Buy small formats and check the date: a flour loses strength over the months, especially if it got warm. Keep it cool, closed, away from odours. And test every new bag with the same recipe: same water, same schedule, same oven. If the dough sticks more or resists more than last time, the flour changed, not you. Fornello's journal exists for exactly this: it keeps the flour, the hydration and the result of every bake, and adjusts your engine's constants to what your bakes demonstrate.