Wheat flour
Also known as: flour, 00 flour, farina 00
Finely ground common wheat: in Italy it is used for home-made fresh and egg pasta, in Germany for spätzle.
Wheat flour is finely ground common wheat (Triticum aestivum); in Italy it is the flour for fresh and home-made egg pasta, and in Germany for spätzle. It is milled in roller mills: the grain is cleaned and moistened, ground in stages and sifted to separate the bran and germ. The less bran a flour contains, the whiter and finer it is.
In Italy, soft wheat flour types are defined by DPR 187/2001 by ash (mineral) and protein content in dry matter: type 00 has at most 0.55 % ash and at least 9 % protein, type 0 up to 0.65 % and 11 %, type 1 up to 0.80 % and 12 %, type 2 up to 0.95 % and 12 %, and wholemeal (integrale) 1.30–1.70 % ash and 12 % protein. So 00 means the finest, whitest milling, not necessarily a strong flour: dough strength depends on gluten quality, which bakers express as the W index. White all-purpose flour contains about 10 g of protein and 364 kcal per 100 g (USDA FoodData Central).
In pasta, 00 flour is the classic for fresh egg pasta: tagliatelle, pappardelle, lasagne sheets and the dough for tortellini in Egg pasta, Fresh pasta and Filled pasta. Flour and eggs make spätzle, and flour binds potato gnocchi, both in Gnocchi and spätzle. In Italy dry pasta may not be made from soft wheat flour: only durum wheat semolina is allowed.
Beyond pasta, wheat flour goes into bread, pizza, biscuits and cakes, and together with butter and milk it is the base of béchamel sauce for lasagne.
Flour contains gluten, so it is unsuitable for coeliacs; in the EU wheat is emphasised on labels as an allergen. White flour has less fibre than whole wheat flour.
Facts
| Raw material | Common wheat grain (Triticum aestivum) |
|---|---|
| Country | Milled worldwide; Italian types 00, 0, 1, 2 and integrale set by DPR 187/2001 |
| Main use | Fresh and egg pasta, spätzle, gnocchi, bread, pizza, baking, béchamel |
How it connects to Pasta
Wheat flour ← contains ← Fresh pasta → kind of → 🍝 Pasta
Links
- Made from
- 🌾 Common wheat
- Where it is found
- Ravioli, Tortellini, Spätzle, Tagliatelle, Fettuccine, Pappardelle, Lasagne sheets, Schwäbische Maultaschen, Gnocchi, Schwäbische Spätzle
and 285 more
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- Pasta ingredients and composition
Frequently asked questions
What does 00 on a bag of flour mean?
It is an Italian type under DPR 187/2001: the finest, whitest milling, with at most 0.55 % ash and at least 9 % protein in dry matter. It says nothing about gluten strength.
Is it true that 00 flour is always the strongest and best for everything?
No, that is a myth. 00 only describes how fine and white the milling is. Dough strength depends on the amount and quality of gluten (the W index): there are weak and strong 00 flours, and bread is often made with type 0 or 1.
Which flour should I use for home-made pasta?
For egg pasta, 00 flour or a mix with durum wheat semolina, roughly 1 egg per 100 g. For eggless pasta such as orecchiette, durum wheat semolina and water work better.
Comparisons
Recipes
What to read next
- Fettuccine — Long flat pasta ribbons; De Cecco makes them from durum wheat semolina (n° 6) or as egg pasta (n° 103), with cooking times of 11 and 7 minutes.
- Lubella Klasyczny — Lubella's main range of dry pasta made from wheat pasta flour: spaghetti, spirals, penne, bows, shells, cannelloni and lasagne.
- Raviole du Dauphiné — Fresh filled pasta from the Dauphiné with an EU protected geographical indication: tiny squares of thin soft-wheat pasta filled with Comté or Emmental, fromage frais and parsley.
- Giovanni Rana Sfogliavelo Tortelloni Ricotta e Spinaci — Giovanni Rana Sfogliavelo Tortelloni Ricotta e Spinaci: fresh filled egg pasta by Giovanni Rana (Giovanni Rana Sfogliavelo range); filling: ricotta, spinach and grated cheese.
- Pastai — A fresh pasta maker in Lomagna, Lombardy, founded in 1993, with the marks Pastai in Brianza, in Emilia, in Valtellina and in Liguria; it also makes Pizzoccheri della Valtellina IGP.
Similar
🥚 Chicken egg · Potato · Turmeric · Semolina · 🥬 Spinach · 🌾 Durum wheat
Sources
- Decreto del Presidente della Repubblica 9 febbraio 2001, n. 187 (normattiva.it)
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on food information to consumers (EUR-Lex)
- USDA FoodData Central — Wheat flour, white, all-purpose