Which flour for which oven
Flour that suits a wood-fired oven can let you down in a home oven, and vice versa. How flour, hydration and oven heat fit together so the base gets colour.
Quick answer: A wood-fired oven bakes in 60–90 seconds at 450–485 °C (840–905 °F); a home oven takes 5–12 minutes at 250–300 °C (480–570 °F). Flour that is perfect for one can behave badly in the other – the longer the bake, the stronger and more drying-resistant the flour you need.
The wood-fired oven’s short, intense bake
At 60–90 seconds the dough never has time to dry out, whatever the hydration. Here you can use AVPN’s classic W 250–320 flour even at relatively high hydration, because the short spell in extreme heat never gives the water a chance to evaporate completely.
The home oven’s long, gentler bake
At 5–12 minutes in a much cooler oven, a high hydration (65 %+) has time to dry the dough out before it has taken on colour – the result is a tough, cardboard-like base. The fix is either to lower the hydration slightly (see dough for 250 °C) or to use a flour with a higher W value that holds its structure longer through the extended bake.
A practical rule
Wood-fired or gas oven above 400 °C (750 °F): follow the recipe as written in Neapolitan pizza dough. Home oven or Ooni below 350 °C (660 °F): adjust according to the home-oven dough guide and lean towards a stronger flour – see the W value for what ”stronger” means.
Read more about the oven types in Ovens.
