No, semolina is a wheat flour. Cornmeal is, well, corn flour. I mostly see semolina called for in pasta or pizza dough.

Is this what you have? it's typically used for making pasta.

Bob's Red Mill Semolina

Semolina refers to the part of the grain--the endosperm, the starchy part of the seed. Semolina flour, which in common use refers to wheat flour and most usually durum, comes in many degrees of fineness. 00 is the most fine, and is from the Italian scale, which goes through 0, 1 and 2. It all depends on what you're using it for. When you're reading articles and recipes, unfortunately, there's no "in general". 00 semolina flour is actually easier to find in grocery stores than you think, though maybe not at heavy discounters. It's currently very popular in pasta and pizza dough, the food writers having "discovered" it about ten years ago. It's not likely to be what was meant in a decades old North American recipe.

Mary, I realize that, was referring to the texture.

PM, yes, that's the one I have.

Plllog, harder around here I guess, even though I looked all over a while back and we tend to have most popular ingredients. I ended up ordering Caputo's on Amazon after reading lots of inconclusive discussion re if there's a difference between the 00 that comes in a red bag vs blue. I ordered far more than I needed in order to keep the price reasonable, and it showed up with an expiration date just a couple months out. I was not pleased. Pound foolish

I ended up using Bob's today as it was just for dusting the board and have no doubt it'll be fine. Was more a general question. The one time I used Bob's for pasta I found the finished product a bit gritty, that's why I asked. HNY by the way!

Thanks all!

As plllog pointed out, there are many degrees of fineness to the grind, but semolina is generally a medium to coarse grind (think of the round gritty stuff on the bottoms of English Muffins - that is often semolina flour) milled from durum wheat, with the bran and germ removed leaving the starchy endosperm to be milled. I've milled my own wholegrain version of it using whole durum grain so I could control the size of the grind I needed for 100%wholegrain pasta and noodles.

I also like to use semolina when a recipe suggests using cornmeal on the bottom of English Muffins or breads. Semolina doesn't burn as easily in a hot oven as corn meal.

Durum wheat is an extra hard, high-protein variety of wheat, but it has milling characteristics best used for pasta and noodles due to the higher amount of the protein gliadin, than glutenins (which are the two types of protein that make up the "gluten group"). Gliadin contributes to the viscosity and extensibility of the durum wheat flour - which is great for the strength needed for making pasta. High-protein hard white and hard red wheat varieties contain more glutenins of the gluten group - which are best for making yeast bread. All-purpose flour is a mixture of hard and soft wheat.

You use a medium to coarse grind of durum wheat for making pasta, and a fine flour grind of durum for making noodles. Although that's left mainly to commercial products these days, and those of us who do home-milling and want to use the "correct" type of flour for pasta/noodles. Durum wheat flour, unless it's hard amber durum, doesn't make good yeast breads. Durum wheat actually has 3 subclasses that reflect the percentage of hardness of the kernels and the presence of amber color, as well as the amount of gliadin and glutenins (needed for making yeast breads).

-Grainlady

I also use semolina in place of cornmeal on the bottom of breads, as I do not want the flavor of cornmeal in them, and I find that it slides very nicely.

When I use semolina in pasta, I use one part semolina to two or three parts of regular flour, and I generally allow the dough to rest in the fridge for an hour so that the semolina has time to absorb the moisture. The pasta made this way is not gritty. I also use Bob's Red Mill semolina, as it is easy to find, but I have also bought semolina at Middle Eastern markets, and it is much cheaper there. I store it in the freezer. I have not seen the 00 semolina, however.

I have used Bob's semolina flour ( yes...sort of like cornmeal) as half the flour in a basic 4 ingredient French bread....It's great....makes a lovely loaf....and I'll bet you could use more than half in a dough that had a long ferment.
Go for it!!

Well, I had exactly the same question as FOAS so the question was clear to me; but the answer not quite so much. I also got some Bobs Red Mill. That was the only thing available around here. I was hoping to use it for pizza after reading lars' posts; and also for pasta. And it does seem awfully gritty. Does it really smooth out in use? I have used it once for both, and I am not clear that it is the right thing. I generally rely on grainlady's posts for things like this, but I quote: 'You use a medium to coarse grind of durum wheat for making pasta, and a fine flour grind of durum for making noodles': Say what?? And I see that lars is using one third semolina in the pizza. I was under the impression that some internet sites suggest all semolina. Again, is it because Bob's is too course?

Coarse flour will soak up liquid and become more like softer flour. Try it....what have you to lose but a little flour? Use it in a dough that spends at least 24 hours in the refrigerator on hold.

Thanks, FOAS! Shana Tova!

Yes, what Linda said. Coarse flour will turn into normal dough after it soaks up the liquid. The reason for using 00 for pasta is that it incorporates so fast, allowing you to knead minimally. You get a silkiness. I'd assume the same for pizza, probably for one of those very very wet doughs that are so popular. My pizza is 100% whole wheat and has a good knead.

The main difference between noodles and pasta is that the former comes from a German root and the latter from a Latin root. It's not actually a formal distinction, but when used as contrasting words, noodle refers to rolled and cut, whereas pasta refers to extruded, or refers to all types. Since I grew up hearing macaroni, wagon wheels, "curlicues" and shells called "noodles" everywhere, as was spaghetti, which are extruded, though long and skinny in the most common noodle way, and no one ever saying "pasta", I really think this is a false distinction in general, and would be more easily understood if the definitions of the distinctions were used.

Noodles are pasta, but pasta isn't necessarily noodles.

chas045-

"I generally rely on grainlady's posts for things like this, but I quote: 'You use a medium to coarse grind of durum wheat for making pasta, and a fine flour grind of durum for making noodles': Say what??"

-Noodles - as in egg noodles. Use a fine flour to make noodles, whether it's all-purpose flour or milled from durum wheat.

-Pasta (cut or extruded shapes - spaghetti, vermicelli, macaroni, lasagna, etc.) use a coarser grind of semolina.

Semolina is also used in couscous.

General FYI: Other grains can be milled to the size of "semolina", but the term has become associated with durum wheat.

I must be getting primed to teach yet another class on grains, flours, and milling. ;-)

-Grainlady

Thanks for all the follow up discussion, esp Grainlady!

Semolina makes wonderfully chewy bread - agreeing on the coarseness of the flour being nothing to worry about. It also makes a yummy hot cereal a.k.a. 'cream of wheat'