Which flour is best for your pizza?

Pizza crust is made from the same basic ingredients as bread: flour, water, salt and yeast. But when it comes to flour, which is best? If you must use all purpose flour? Bread flour? Or what about the one that literally has pizza in its name, '00' pizza flour?

Either of these flours make great pizzas, it just depends on the style you want. Whether you're looking to bake a thick, puffy pan pizza, a crisp and chewy Neapolitan-style pizza, or a classic cheese-filled pie to replace your weekly meal, here are the best flours for any style of pizza.

The easiest pizza you'll ever make it is made with all-purpose flour.

For classic pizza crust: all-purpose flour

Looking to make a basic pizza crust, one with a crispy bottom, a bit of chew and enough strength that the slices don't get mushy under all that sauce and cheese? For a fuss-free crust, you need a working flour, and this is it all purpose flour.

Why All Purpose Flour Works: This everyday flour is designed to succeed in all types of baking, and if you only keep one type of flour in your home, it should be this one. There's enough protein (11.7%) to support a strong gluten network, which translates into a crust with plenty of strength and chew. It's also versatile enough to use in almost all of your other baking—from cakes to cookies—so you only have to worry about keeping a bag of flour in your pantry.

Pizza recipes using all-purpose flour:

Bread flour is the secret to Pick-Your-Tan Pizza .

For thick, chewy pan pizzas: bread flour

Pan pizzas are usually defined by their thick, puffy crusts, with a hearty chew and a crispy finish (achieved by a combination of oil and a hot pan). To get there, you need a flour that has enough strength and can hold a high hydration dough. You need bread flour.

Why does bread flour work: King Arthur bread flour has a higher protein content (12.7%) than all-purpose flour (11.7%). BECAUSE the protein in the flour is what forms the gluten in your dough, higher protein means more gluten. More gluten means firmer, more elastic dough, which is critical for a puffy, airy crust with plenty of chew—exactly what you're looking for in a pan pizza. Flour with a higher protein level is suitable for doughs with higher hydration, which are ideal for pan pizza, giving a pie with an open crumb and high height.

Pizza recipes using bread flour:

Neapolitan style pizza crust made in Italian style '00' pizza flour .

For pizzas with a crispy, bubbly exterior and a puffy, airy interior: '00' pizza flour

Neapolitan-style pizza is known for its puffy outer crust (called cornicione), crispy exterior, and airy, holey interior. The best versions of this classic style of pizza are made with a specific flour designed to mimic the flour used to make pizza in Italy: '00' pizza flour.

Why '00' Pizza Flour Works: Pizza flour '00' is a finely ground flour made from like hard and soft wheat. Durum wheat gives the dough strength, so it can be stretched thin without tearing (and gives the finished pie its distinctive chewiness). Soft wheat provides extra starch, which gives the dough a perfect crisp (but not hard!) crunch and makes it easier to stretch. This flour is also milled to the same standards as Italian pizza flour. Unlike in the United States, the European standard for flours is on a numerical scale, ranging from 2 (coarse, whole grain) to 00 (extra fine, white flour). Neapolitan pizza is made with flour milled to '00' standards, which is exactly how we have prepared our version of this flour.

Pizza recipes using '00' pizza flour: