Five flours with their protein, their W value, the hydration band they actually work in and the way each one fails. Four working terms — hydration, yolk share, roller notch, nest drying — are defined underneath.
00
Doppio Zero soft wheat (00)
Rolled at the mill to talcum fineness; the default for egg dough.
Protein
9.5%
W value
180
Water
43-53 with yolks, whole egg or vegetable purée
The cards
8
Italian 00 is soft wheat milled so fine that less than 0.5% of the flour stays on a 180-micron sieve. Low protein and low W (about 180) mean the gluten network forms slowly and stays extensible, which is what lets a sheet be rolled to 0.6 mm without tearing or springing back at the cut.
Use it for Silk sheets for tagliatelle, tagliolini, ravioli and anything folded by hand.
Watch out Too fine to carry much bran. Above 45% wholemeal in a 00 base the sheet starts to craze at notch 7.
Twice-milled hard durum; gritty, thirsty, keeps its bite.
Protein
12.8%
W value
260
Water
44-50 with water or whole egg
The cards
5
Semolina rimacinata is durum wheat re-milled to a fine, slightly sandy granulation. Protein is high (12.8%) and the gluten is strong but short, so a semolina sheet resists over-kneading and holds a firm al dente edge even at 2 mm. It drinks far more water than 00 because the particles are irregular and expose more surface.
Use it for Water-and-semolina shapes that must stay chewy: tonnarelli, orecchiette, malloreddus, cavatelli.
Watch out A semolina dough looks crumbly for the first five minutes. Do not add water until you have kneaded through it, or the sheet will be slack.
Mixing 700 g of 00 with 300 g of semolina rimacinata gives an average protein around 10.5% and a W near 205: enough strength to survive a long rest and a wide cut, but still fine enough to read as silk on the tongue. It is the blend used for sheets that are rolled thick and cut wide, where pure 00 would go floppy.
Use it for Pappardelle, garganelli, tortellini and any shape that is rolled, rested and handled twice.
Watch out Keep the ratio by weight, not by volume. A cup of semolina weighs about 15% more than a cup of 00.
Bran and germ left in; nutty, fast to oxidise, needs a rest.
Protein
13.2%
W value
230
Water
48-55, and it needs the full rest
The cards
2
Whole wheat carries the bran and the germ, so it absorbs 6 to 8 points more liquid than 00 and its bran flakes act as tiny knives that slice the gluten as you roll. The germ also carries fat, which turns rancid in about eight weeks at room temperature; buy in small amounts and smell the flour before you use it.
Use it for Rustic wide noodles, hand-ripped noodles and shapes where a nutty, slightly coarse chew is the point.
Watch out Rest the wrapped dough at least 45 minutes. Bran needs time to hydrate or the sheet tears at the widest notch.
No gluten at all; a flavouring flour, capped at 40% of the blend.
Protein
12%
W value
0
Water
50-60, and it keeps drinking
The cards
3
Buckwheat is not a wheat: it is a Polygonaceae seed with no glutenin or gliadin, so it contributes flavour, colour and a sandy shortness but zero elasticity. Above roughly 40% of the total flour weight the sheet will not hold together without a binder such as egg white or a little vital wheat gluten.
Use it for Northern Italian pizzoccheri-style noodles, Japanese-inspired hand-cut noodles and short shapes with a strong sauce.
Watch out Buckwheat dough goes from tacky to dry in seconds. Add water by the teaspoon after the first ten minutes of kneading.
Total liquid weight divided by total flour weight, expressed as a percentage. Whole eggs count at 50 g, yolks at 17 g, and a vegetable purée counts at its full weight because it is mostly water. Drained ricotta and grated cheese are add-ins, not liquid, and are not counted. Every figure on this site is a baker's percentage against the flour, so a 400 g batch at 45% carries 180 g of liquid.
Yolk share
The fraction of the total liquid that is egg yolk rather than white or water. Yolks bring lecithin and fat, which shorten the gluten and give the sheet its colour; a 100% yolk dough is tender and rich but brittle at the widest notch, so it is usually rolled no thinner than 0.9 mm.
Roller notch
The numbered setting on a hand-cranked pasta machine. Reference thicknesses for a 150 mm roller: 1 = 4.8 mm, 3 = 3.4 mm, 5 = 2.0 mm, 7 = 1.2 mm, 9 = 0.6 mm. Sheets move down two notches at a time until the last third of the sequence, then one notch at a time.
Nest drying (nidi)
Coiling a cut ribbon into a loose nest and drying it at room temperature for 12-24 hours. Nests dry unevenly on purpose: the outside case hardens first and protects the inner coils, which is why a nest keeps for three weeks in a paper bag while a straight-hung strand snaps within four days.
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