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- Verified Buyer
There are several reviews here about weevils and taped flour bags. I did receive a taped flour bag, and when I opened the box I found two weevils running around the outside of the packaging. I was very worried, but I went through the entire bag with a 2 cup measure. At first I slowly sifted the flour into 1 gallon freezer bags, but after two gallons I found no bugs and I stopped sifting it and just scooped it. Still I saw no bugs during the transfer of all 25kgs. I did put all the bags into a deep freeze just in case. But the flour seems good to me. I think if you buy the 25kg pack, you should be prepared to do this.Also about the expiration date, which I saw a few posts on. Keep in mind this is the European format of date notation -- day/month/year. It was june 5th '21 when I received this, but the date on the package is 03/11/2021. That means novemeber of this year. The flour is well within it's freshness date.I will not comment on the flavor or texture of the flour. I've used the red bag in the past and it's been great. I'm sure the blue bag is even better.I understand that a few bugs could be on the outside of a bag of flour shipped overseas. I found none inside. No stars taken off for that. I took a star off because I am not thrilled with the tape, and I feel like it is probably provided to the reseller at a reduced cost and it should be indicated in the description of the item here on amazon. Sorry if that sounds unreasonable.We eat pizza maybe once a week. Between the four of us, we make 5 pizzas for the Ooni 3 we have (uses about 500g per week). That being said, we'll probably be making pizzas from this dough for the next year (if it lasts). We had been using AP flour for our pizzas, but it just wasn't getting us the consistency that we needed. The dough would tear quite often while stretching it out. We kept hearing about Tipo 00 flour (this brand specifically), and how it stretches better, and has better performance in high heat wood-fired ovens. They weren't wrong. The pizzas from this dough were fantastic. And I had significantly less tearing while stretching the dough this time, as well.Where this product loses a star is the value and freshness. Because there was no other flour available at the time of ordering, I had to go with what was available. I'd never bought in bulk before, so didn't know what I should be expecting in terms of price. Wound up paying significantly more than it usually is (about $50 more for the bag than its normal price). Also, the bag arrived ripped, so I'm a little concerned about what that means for freshness and whether we'll have a bug problem in the future. I've boxed up all of it in airtight containers; unfortunately I don't have a deep freezer, so can't stick it in one for 48 hours. Bummer.We'll see.This is my 5th (55lb) bag of Antimo Caputo PIzzeria flour. I weigh all of the ingredients, except the yeast:1kg flour575g water (Perfect for previous bags, too much for this bag)27g salt1 level teaspoon of dry yeast.This would produce a nice strong dough that had to be worked at room temp. Preferably on day 2 or 3.Using the same recipe with this last bag, its very wet and can only be worked when cold. This obviously gives slightly different results when using cold/cool dough on a ~800F stone, as opposed to warm/room temp dough. Once it warms up to room temp, its too soft to move to a peel. Ive had to reduce the water from 575g to 525g. Currently testing 525 to see if it produces the same results as the last 4 bags at 575.I also noticed the label changed. Different mill perhaps?It used to say "Napoli" Now it says "Caputo"Edit:525g of water is working perfectly for this batch. The next day, at room temp, its very strong and easily keeps its shape when transferring a loaded (255g, 30cm) pizza to the peel. I can also keep it on the peel for a few mins if need be. 525g of water per 1kg of flour is the same in this batch as 575g of water per 1kg of flour in previous batches.Excellent for neopolitan style pizza and calzones. 55 lb definitely more economical than 11 lb bag. Fresh at delivery.If your buying this 00 Flour you probably already know or have read how wonderful it works for brick oven pizzas. I bought my flour from Taylor's Market and it arrived quick and was packed very very well. My only complaint is that I received the 55lbs of flour on June 06, 2013 and the flour is marked with an expiration date of August 27, 2013. It is going to be challenging to use all the flour before it expires... or even soon there after. If you buy for commercial use, it probably does not matter. I will say that even though the flour was on the older side of life it smelled very fresh and had no weevils so it was definitely stored well before I got it. I put the flour into gallon freezer bags and threw them in my chest freezer so I think there is a good chance the flour will stay fresh till it's gone. For now, the flour is making some great Pizza's!There are several merchants here on amazon that sell this big bag of flour for about the same price so I would call their stores directly (look them up on google) and ask them what the expiration date is on their current stock and buy from the one that has the freshest batch. For some reason most of them sell the flour cheaper though Amazon than direct so keep that in mind.
