Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Types Of Flour?

thehauffamily

Recommended Posts

thehauffamily Newbie
thehauffamily
Posted

I'm sure it's been asked but I can't find it when I searched.  I'm trying to buy a good flour for my daughter (our whole family).  Every flour I've tried is gritty or dense when I bake.  Is there something I'm doing wrong?

We've tried making our own blend, we've tried all the bob mills brands, we've tried King Arthur All purpose.

Am I baking wrong or is there a better flour I have yet to find? Or is this just an acquired taste we are going to have to get use to?

 

Thank you!
 

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


cyclinglady Grand Master
cyclinglady
Posted

I use Pamela's AP blend. I hear K A. Is good, but Bobs is beanie. How long have you been gluten-free? It helps to avoid baked goods for a while to forget what wheat-based products taste like. However, my gluten eating family can not taste the difference when I bake apple spice or chocolate mayonnaise cupcakes with homemade frosting. My old toll house chocolate chip cookies are good too. gluten-free goods do not have a long shelf life, so bake, frost and freeze. Defrost on the counter.

Adalaide Mentor
Adalaide
Posted

I use Premium Gold AP flour. My gluten eating husband enjoys all of my baked goods. There are gluten-free recipes on their site that I use, and I use it as a replacement for regular flour in my favorite recipes straight from my old cookbooks. There are also many recipes I have from online and other sources that have specific flours listed, and I continue to use what is listed in the recipe rather than switching to an AP because I am happy with how those turn out as is.

LauraTX Rising Star
LauraTX
Posted

I use King Arthur Flour all purpose and baking mix.  There are two things you may want to take into account when testing gluten-free flour blends.  1 is the relative weight of the flour blend to the flour in the recipe you are using it in.  King arthur flour blend weighs more than bobs red mill blend, etc. so the cup amount is not going to be the same.  Go by weight if you can.  Usually I sub in KAF baking mix for self rising flour in regular recipes, but I go by weight, not cups.  (I want to say a cup of all purpose wheat flour is a cup minus a tablespoon of KAF flour blend) If you are doing a recipe with a couple cups of flour, that extra weight really adds up and sucks up all the liquid making it dense and gritty.

 

Also, for a lot of recipes if they turn out gritty, letting the batter sit for about 15 minutes before baking (don't go past 30 minutes if they use chemical leaveners) will help the starches fully develop and evenly distribute the moisture.  This is especially true for the more delicate things.  Also, for delicate things like muffins, you need to go against conventional wisdom and mix the crap out of it.  The mix just until blended and walk away thing is for gluten containing flours so the gluten doesn't overdevelop and make things tough, therefore it doesn't generally apply to gluten-free baking.

 

If these tips don't work, I got the America's Test Kitchen gluten-free cookbook recently and they have a flour blend recipe in there that they test a lot and claim to work in most things, and they have notations on all their recipes for the bobs and KAF blends.  With their flour blend recipe they have a ton of notations on the different brands of rice flours and how well they each worked, etc.  They also go through the science behind stuff a little bit, so it definitely aided my understanding of gluten-free baking.  I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to get a little better at the gluten-free baking thing, because you really do have to kind of re-teach yourself.

mamaw Community Regular
mamaw
Posted

better gluten-free  flour  blends:   others  posted  are  also  on the  better  list!

 

Better Batter ( great  recipes  on that  site)

 

Jules

 

Meister

 

Cup for Cup

thehauffamily Newbie
thehauffamily
Posted
  • Author

Thank you! My daughter is 14 months and we have been gluten free (or trying with lots of tears) since about 7-8 months.

She didnt get a birthday cake (still brings tears to my eyes) and I just havent figured out what to fix her!

I honestly have no idea what to do with this child. I dont understand why she is having all these reactions. Ok im totally off topic here.

I will try a few of these flours (ive already spent hundreds failing at what we've tried so far) so a few more wont hurt to try if we find the right blend!

Please keep the suggestions coming. We will find out "officially" today or tomorrow what her blood tests say.

She wants what her siblings eat and we thats just not possible.

1desperateladysaved Proficient
1desperateladysaved
Posted

. The blood test may false negative if the child isn't eating gluten.  She may be getting enough by accident to have tripped the tests   You won't be certain if she has celiac even if the test is negative.  As you continue the gluten free diet, it is a good thing to attempt for the whole family to follow the diet.  Maybe you will discover other children or parents that also have gluten issues.

 

I am following a grain free diet that works well for my healing.  I use nuts (which I grind into meal) and then mix my baked goods in a food processor.  The varieties of nuts I have used includes almond, pecans, walnuts, and hazlenuts.  I printed these in order of how well the family here likes them.  I have also used Macademia nuts, but they are very expensive.  Some other nuts may also work for you and your family.  There are many grain free diet recipes on the internet.

 

Dee

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


mamaw Community Regular
mamaw
Posted

Dee  is correct.. If  she  was not eating  enough  gluten  her  test  will not  be  accurate.....

We  have  put two  kids  through school being  gluten-free.. The youngest  was  dx'd  at  age 2 1/2   & the other  was  7-8 yrs  old.....We  matched  every  party   at  school ie:  birthdays  where  parents  brought in the  treat  or  Halloween party & so on.... Most  times  the  kids  wanted to try  the gluten-free  so  I just   made  whole  batches to  share  with  whoever  wanted to try....

There  is no reason  why  your  daughter  couldn't  of had  a birthday cake....Betty Crocker  is  an  easy find  in almost all stores ....It isn't the  best  one  out  there  but  it is  good....

Kids  are  picky so  try  foods  that  are  kid  friendly....turn them  into  animals  or  funny faces ( there  are sites  to  help  you make  real  food  kid  friendly....ie:  make  a face  with  an apple, banana  cut open  add  a  nut butter   raisins(organic)  called  ants on a log...Penquins  out of  olives  & so on.....

there  are  micro  mac & cheese  cups, chef  Boyardee  has  a  micro  chicken rice  & veggies that is gluten-free...our kids  loved it  in younger  years.... gluten-free pizza,  go picnic  meals, cold  gluten-free  Marconi    with  other  veggie pieces  cut  up (finger food), cut  cheese into  flower  shapes, add  deli  slices ... Cookie  cutters  work  great  for  crafting  unique  things from  food....yogurt  , cottage  cheese...gluten-free pretzels  dipped  in nut  butter  or  nutella... grilled  cheese  on gluten-free  bread... Progresso  has  many gluten-free  soups.... gluten free  café  has  all gluten-free  soups...

If  you have a trader  joe's they  have  ramen  noodle  bowls  that  are gluten-free  for  a buck....

Quackers  is  a  gluten-free  cheese  cracker... made  for kids....

I  don't know  if  you know  about  CC  but  if  she is to be  totally gluten-free    be  sure  to  get a  new  toaster  just  for gluten-free  or  else  they make  toasta  bags    from the  big A  online  store  .. That  way you could  use  just one toaster... Plus  any  utensils  that  are  scratched   or  porous  would need  to be  changed  & used just for gluten-free.....

All meats,  beef, chicken fish  fruits & veggies  are naturally gluten-free  .. Just   buy  them  "naked" without  any  marinades,  coatings,  rubs, or breaded..

It is  very important  to make  her  feel  like  every other  child  so  she  doesn't  become  or  feel food  deprived  ,  jealous  or  sad...

 

Hidden  gluten in malt  products, soy sauce  .....

 

We usually tell  people  to eat  very clean  & healthy when  starting out  to avoid  dining out  so the body has a chance to heal....but  little kids  needs  to have treats... chick f-la , Wendy's ,  dairy queen are  special  places,, chuckie  cheese  has  a gluten-free  pizza, just to name  a couple.....

gluten free  on  a  shoestring  has  several  cookbooks, a  blog,  she  has  several  kids of her  own.... better batter  the  same...

Shari Sanderson has  a cookbook  "cooking  with KIds"  plus  many more....

Lots  of  gluten-free  children's  books that she  made  love  to  have read to her. This also helps  her to understand.......

 

hth

 

.

cyclinglady Grand Master
cyclinglady
Posted

I read your previous posting. If your daughter has been gluten free for seven months or so, then her celiac blood panel is going to be negative. And if she took an allergy test (scratch), then you already know her responses to wheat, egg or milk based on her skin reaction in the doctor's office yesterday. Other blood tests for allergies are not very accurate or highly endorsed by most medical doctors. I tested negative to wheat (skin test) but I have celiac disease.

Your daughter needs a celiac blood test. Print off the testing requirements from the University of Chicago's celiac website (seriously one of the leading researchers of celiac disease) and take it into your medical doctor. Rule out celiac disease which is an autoimmune disorder that is caused by ingesting wheat. It is NOT an allergy and it can cause over 300 /symptoms throughout the body.

Back to the flour question. You will never get results from baking working with gluten free flours that are comparable to gluten-containing flours. You can come close, but it will never be the same ( though it comes pretty close with practice depending on how good a baker you were to begin with.)

You stated that your daughter has egg allergies and that is even harder to bake using egg replacer, but it is possible. Your daughter will not notice the difference but you will. I would suggest you bake her special desserts and, if you decide to go gluten-free for the entire family because your daughter has a legit gluten issue, bake gluten-free using real eggs for the rest of the gang. Get a baking savvy friend to help. Laura's suggestions were great. I wish had proved those tips, but I am one of those that throws things in by feel......

I wish you well. My heart goes to you. We all know here that getting a diagnosis is hard.

BridgetteIMcleod Newbie
BridgetteIMcleod
Posted

If you have a Trader Joe's close, they carry a gluten free all purpose flour that is good and cheap (3.99 for one pound). 

also pick up America's Test Kitchen "The How it can be Gluten Free Cookbook" Open Original Shared Link.

There is good information on The science of baking and what works best , because they have tested every possible way.

I bought my copy at Costco, I have been Gluten Free for 16 years, It is a challenge, but you will get used to it. My husband does not even notice the difference any more.

LauraTX Rising Star
LauraTX
Posted

I happened to see this article today on gluten-free baking mistakes, made me think of this discussion.  It discusses the weight thing.   Open Original Shared Link

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):



    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):



  • Recent Activity

    1. knitty kitty
      - knitty kitty replied to lizzie42's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      6

      Son's legs shaking

      Blood tests for thiamine are unreliable. The nutrients from your food get absorbed into the bloodstream and travel around the body. So, a steak dinner can falsely raise thiamine blood levels in the following days. Besides, thiamine is utilized inside cells where stores of thiamine are impossible to measure. A better test to ask for is the Erythrocyte...
    2. lizzie42
      - lizzie42 replied to lizzie42's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      6

      Son's legs shaking

      Neither of them were anemic 6 months after the Celiac diagnosis. His other vitamin levels (d, B12) were never low. My daughters levels were normal after the first 6 months. Is the thiamine test just called thiamine?
    3. knitty kitty
      - knitty kitty replied to lizzie42's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      6

      Son's legs shaking

      Yes, I do think they need a Thiamine supplement at least. Especially since they eat red meat only occasionally. Most fruits and vegetables are not good sources of Thiamine. Legumes (beans) do contain thiamine. Fruits and veggies do have some of the other B vitamins, but thiamine B 1 and Cobalamine B12 are mostly found in meats. Meat, especially organ...
    4. lizzie42
      - lizzie42 replied to lizzie42's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      6

      Son's legs shaking

      Thank you! That's helpful. My kids eat very little processed food. Tons of fruit, vegetables, cheese, eggs and occasional red meat. We do a lot of rice and bean bowls, stir fry, etc. Do you think with all the fruits and vegetables they need a vitamin supplement? I feel like their diet is pretty healthy and balanced with very limited processed food....
    5. Scott Adams
      - Scott Adams replied to Russ H's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      1

      Anti-endomysial Antibody (EMA) Testing

      That is interesting, and it's the first time I heard about the umbilical cord beings used for that test. Thanks for sharing!
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):

  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      132,870
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    KABoston
    Newest Member
    KABoston
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):

  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • knitty kitty
      Son's legs shaking

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Blood tests for thiamine are unreliable.  The nutrients from your food get absorbed into the bloodstream and travel around the body.  So, a steak dinner can falsely raise thiamine blood levels in the following days.  Besides, thiamine is utilized inside cells where stores of thiamine are impossible to measure. A better test to ask for is the Erythrocyte Transketolace Activity test.  But even that test has been questioned as to accuracy.  It is expensive and takes time to do.   Because of the discrepancies with thiamine tests and urgency with correcting thiamine deficiency, the World Health Organization recommends giving thiamine for several weeks and looking for health improvement.  Thiamine is water soluble, safe and nontoxic even in high doses.   Many doctors are not given sufficient education in nutrition and deficiency symptoms, and may not be familiar with how often they occur in Celiac disease.  B12 and Vitamin D can be stored for as long as a year in the liver, so not having deficiencies in these two vitamins is not a good indicator of the status of the other seven water soluble B vitamins.  It is possible to have deficiency symptoms BEFORE there's changes in the blood levels.   Ask your doctor about Benfotiamine, a form of thiamine that is better absorbed than Thiamine Mononitrate.  Thiamine Mononitrate is used in many vitamins because it is shelf-stable, a form of thiamine that won't break down sitting around on a store shelf.  This form is difficult for the body to turn into a usable form.  Only thirty percent is absorbed in the intestine, and less is actually used.   Thiamine interacts with all of the other B vitamins, so they should all be supplemented together.  Magnesium is needed to make life sustaining enzymes with thiamine, so a magnesium supplement should be added if magnesium levels are low.   Thiamine is water soluble, safe and nontoxic even in high doses.  There's no harm in trying.
    • lizzie42
      Son's legs shaking

      By lizzie42 · Posted

      Neither of them were anemic 6 months after the Celiac diagnosis. His other vitamin levels (d, B12) were never low. My daughters levels were normal after the first 6 months. Is the thiamine test just called thiamine? 
    • knitty kitty
      Son's legs shaking

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Yes, I do think they need a Thiamine supplement at least. Especially since they eat red meat only occasionally. Most fruits and vegetables are not good sources of Thiamine.  Legumes (beans) do contain thiamine.  Fruits and veggies do have some of the other B vitamins, but thiamine B 1 and  Cobalamine B12 are mostly found in meats.  Meat, especially organ meats like liver, are the best sources of Thiamine, B12, and the six other B vitamins and important minerals like iron.   Thiamine has antibacterial and antiviral properties.  Thiamine is important to our immune systems.  We need more thiamine when we're physically ill or injured, when we're under stress emotionally, and when we exercise, especially outside in hot weather.  We need thiamine and other B vitamins like Niacin B 3 to keep our gastrointestinal tract healthy.  We can't store thiamine for very long.  We can get low in thiamine within three days.  Symptoms can appear suddenly when a high carbohydrate diet is consumed.  (Rice and beans are high in carbohydrates.)  A twenty percent increase in dietary thiamine causes an eighty percent increase in brain function, so symptoms can wax and wane depending on what one eats.  The earliest symptoms like fatigue and anxiety are easily contributed to other things or life events and dismissed.   Correcting nutritional deficiencies needs to be done quickly, especially in children, so their growth isn't stunted.  Nutritional deficiencies can affect intelligence.  Vitamin D deficiency can cause short stature and poor bone formation.   Is your son taking anything for the anemia?  Is the anemia caused by B12 or iron deficiency?  
    • lizzie42
      Son's legs shaking

      By lizzie42 · Posted

      Thank you! That's helpful. My kids eat very little processed food. Tons of fruit, vegetables, cheese, eggs and occasional red meat. We do a lot of rice and bean bowls, stir fry, etc.  Do you think with all the fruits and vegetables they need a vitamin supplement? I feel like their diet is pretty healthy and balanced with very limited processed food. The only processed food they eat regularly is a bowl of Cheerios here and there.  Could shaking legs be a symptom of just a one-time gluten exposure? I guess there's no way to know for sure if they're getting absolutely zero exposure because they do go to school a couple times a week. We do homeschool but my son does a shared school 2x a week and my daughter does a morning Pre-K 3 x a week.  At home our entire house is strictly gluten free and it is extremely rare for us to eat out. If we eat at someone else's house I usually just bring their food. When we have play dates we bring all the snacks, etc. I try to be really careful since they're still growing. They also, of course, catch kids viruses all the time so I  want to make sure I know whether they're just sick or they've had gluten. It can be pretty confusing when they're pretty young to even be explaining their symptoms! 
    • Scott Adams
      Anti-endomysial Antibody (EMA) Testing

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      That is interesting, and it's the first time I heard about the umbilical cord beings used for that test. Thanks for sharing!
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.