This is the comment thread for the Breadtopia blog post originally published here:
Is the bread flour a must? - I’ve tried 100% durum for pizza - with success. What are the pros and cons of durum flour for bread?
Aditya,
My personal experience is that the more durum I use the flatter the bread. Tasty no doubt, but a tighter crumb. Handling is different too – softer and spreads rather than holds shape. Did you have that experience with your pizza dough? Maybe the spread was to your advantage.
What I’ve read is that durum has a lot of gluten, almost as much as hard spring or winter wheat (wikipedia) but the endosperm is hard to break and the gluten isn’t made available during breadmaking, so the dough isn’t elastic.
I think you could make this recipe with only durum flour. Perhaps proof in parchment paper and then transfer, as is being discussed in the proofing wet dough thread. Or simply be okay with a floppy transfer and a flatter loaf.
Here are some pics of past breads with durum flour. The whole loaf pic has approx 60% durum flour. The slice picture is this breadtopia Sicilian Bread Recipe that I love. It has almost a 3:1 ratio of durum to bread flour. Sorry it shows less of the slice than the Za’atar – a Middle Eastern spice mix that seems to go great with a flour used in flatbreads in that region.
I’d love to hear about your recipe for durum flour pizza dough.
If I try this recipe, I’d probably substitution whole grain Kamut for the Durum. But, then, I am partial to Kamut and have a good source for it.
MTJohn,
I’ve been curious about trying kamut. Your comment inspired me to read about it. Now I really want to try it. 
What an interesting history! And it sounds delicious, bread made from it doesn’t stale fast and it has lots of nutrients.
I don’t maintain a sourdough starter. I’m thinking I could substitute 50/50 flour/water mix, plus yeast for the starter. How much yeast should I add? I can do a long/cool rise to develop more flavor. Thoughts?
Judy,
You could substitute 1/4 teaspoon of yeast instead of the starter, and that should sustain a long cool rise.
Additional flour and water to make up for the volume of the starter isn’t necessary, but wouldn’t be a problem either (40 g each, flour and water).
If you wanted, you could also make a poolish. 8-12 hr preferment with a pinch of yeast and a small portion of your flour and water. You add more fresh yeast when you’re adding the poolish into the rest of the ingredients to mix up the dough. (Sorry if you know all this and I’m stating the obvious )
I’m curious to hear how it goes, especially in terms of timing.
Eric has Kamut in his store. But, my source is Montana Flour & Grains. http://www.montanaflour.com/
I guess that makes sense because I live in Montana and sometimes I can avoid shipping by imposing on friends who happen to be passing through Ft. Benton. My usual purchase is 25 lbs of whole and 10 lbs of white. Note that the white is more like a high extraction flour than a bread flour. They don’t bolt it but the process they use for milling it removes some of the bran. They also sell berries and a variety of other organic berries and flours. Except for spelt, I have not tried any of the others.
The article I read talked about Kamut grains being sent by a U.S. airman from Egypt to his family in Montana in 1949, and then “in 1977, Mack and Bob Quinn, two farmers from Montana, decided to cultivate this ancient grain.”
When you said you had a good local source for Kamut, I thought, hey, maybe from the Quinns. A little more research and now I see the company you buy your Kamut from IS Bob Quinn’s.
There’s a video interview of Quinn on the breadtopia store page for Kamut. His distinction between well-nourished vs. well-fed is what I try to emphasize in my cooking and to my kids, and to anyone who will listen lol.
I’ll get some kamut soon - I need to clear space in my basement fridge/freezer. My husband and I compete for storage real estate, between his vacuum sealed hops and my whole grain flours…
Here is a little more incentive - my latest investment in keeping my stater happy.
In addition to the flavor and nutritional value of Kamut, I appreciate the conservation ethic that is implicit in the sustainable agriculture concept. Thinking long term, we are doing ourselves and our children a favor by keeping family farms in the family and by supporting them in employing agricultural practices that maintain fertile soils.
Thanks so much, Melissa…all information is welcome! I’ll start with the poolish. I like a long, slow rise for the depth it adds to the flavor. When I make pizza dough, I use 65% hydration, a small amount of yeast and I keep it in the frig for 3 days before I use it. I used to use sourdough starter, but now I’m only baking for one so it seems like too much to maintain a starter.
MTJohn,
Nice inspirational pic.
I agree about sustainable agriculture. Have you read the book The End of Plenty by Joel Bourne? If so, what did you think about it? I learned so much about agriculture, worldwide, and aquaculture too.
Judy, You’re welcome! I bet your pizza dough is great.
Thanks for the book recommendation. The ebook is available from my local library and I just put it on my Kindle.
I’m not sure what to say about my pizza dough. I’m still tweaking the dough. Regardless, we pile so much stuff on our pizzas, it is difficult to taste the dough underneath.
I hope you enjoy the book. Sorry for the confusion - pizza comment was directed at Judy.
I’m reading the book. I can’t say that I am enjoying the book. It is adding dimensions to problems of which I was already aware. But, I don’t think it would be appropriate to turn Eric’s forum into a conversation about the politics of bread. 
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Hi, Melissa,
My Durum Pizza dough is based on Eric’s pizza dough recipes, so I will be brief. Here’s my dinner for two:
230gms Durum, 150 g water, 4 TSP Olive Oil, 3 g Yeast, 10 g salt. Knead lightly with 10 minute rests, 3 times. Let rise for 2-3 hours.
Split into 3 balls and roll. I use my finger tips, plus stretching, rather than a rolling pin … feels more authentic 
Saute onions (julienned) with red peppers in olive oil. Add ground beef and lamb mix, Italian spices and red pepper flakes. Spread cooked meat over one of the flat breads.
Bake the flat bread with meat ~5 minutes. Bake the plain flat bread ~2 minutes.
Serve the flat bread with meat (this is a Lahmachun in Turkey) with Argula salad, olive oil and lemon. The salad is placed on the flatbread, folded, and eaten with fingers
Serve the plain flatbread with fresh mint, parsley, feta cheese, slices of radish and walnuts. Finger food - make little wraps on the plate. This is Khordan in Iran.
Goes great with beer!
What a great bread looks delicious 
Aditya,
Thank you SO much! The recipes sound and look amazing. What you describe are some of my favorite flavors.
This is reminding me I want to make muhammara. My mom’s best friend when I was little was from Lebanon, and she and my mom exchanged a lot of ideas.
I can tell my kids and husband will also love Lahmachun and Khordan. I’ll post pics when I make it.
Your table looks beautiful.
I made the flatbread. Thanks again Aditya! No meat this time, but soon I hope.
Here is your recipe tripled, and 50:50 durum/bread flour. I let it rise 3 hrs, divided it in 4. Not sure if my flatbreads were bigger than yours or if I should have somehow ended up with more bread? The final picture has only about half the bread on the platter, so it was plenty. I only wonder because you said you divide your dough in 3 and since I tripled your recipe, that would mean dividing what I had in 9. For what dough I had, that would be small pieces…?
350g whole durum flour
350g bread flour
450g water
1/4 cup (46g) olive oil
2.5 tsp (9g) dry yeast
5 tsp (30g) salt
And the pics
Melissa, the instructions mention salt in the saute as well as the dough. How much salt would you recommend for the saute?