What Is Xanthan Gum?

[Canadian Karen]

I noticed in some of the recipes posted call for xanthan gum.... I have never hear of it. What is it and where can it get it from?

Thanks!

Karen

[lovegrov]

Xanthan gum helps hold your baking efforts together. I find at my local health foods store. You can also order it online at one of the gluten-free places.

richard

[catfish]

This is weird stuff, though- if you spill it on the floor be sure to clean it well, because if it gets wet it turns into the most amazingly slippery stuff you've ever seen. A tiny bit of xanthan powder can make a huge amount of slimy, slippery mess in water.

Also when baking with it sometimes it clumps up and forms hard, gummy nuggets in the end product unless it is very well mixed.

[flagbabyds]

we get ours from Ener-g and we sift all the dry ingredients together so the xantham gum is well mixed throughout everything

[dkmb]

We buy the xanthan gum at Whole Foods. It is kind of pricey, but I keep it frozen until ready to use.

DK

[Terri-Anne]

Hi Karen,

I am Canadian too! I live in Ontario. Xantham gum is a powder that you add to your baked goods that makes up for the "lost" stickiness of the "missing" gluten, in the gluten-free flour mixtures. It is quite expensive, I believe $15 for 250grams. It is available at my local "Bulk Barn" store, which I know is a chain through Ontario. You might check a Bulk Barn near you.

I personally use Guar Gum, instead of the Xantham gum, which I also get at the bulk barn. It does the same thing except it costs about $4 for 250 grams.

I add one teaspoon of guar gum per cup of flour mix used in any baking recipe. So 2 cups of flour requires 2 tsp of guar gum, 5 cups flour would require 5 tsp guar, etc..

You could bake without either xantham or guar gum, and you product will taste exactly the same as it should, HOWEVER, it will be completely crumbly. It will not stick together whatsoever.

I've read that guar gum can be slightly laxative for some people, however nobody in my family who eats the gluten-free baking, (and they all get into it, ) has ever had any problems, loose stools, bloating, gas or anything from the guar. Apparently the Xantham gum does not have this effect.

I use the rice flour, tapioca flour, potato starch flour mixture, with added guar gum, as a direct substitute in REGULAR non-gluten-free recipes. I use my regular recipe with this substitution for brownies and banana muffins, that my entire family loves!

[Canadian Karen]

Thanks Terri-Anne! I have a "Bulk Barn" close to me that I can go to. I looked in my health food store but didn't see it.

The hardest thing for me is finding the time for the baking - when I get home from work, with four kids, there is basically no "spare time" until they go to bed and then I just flop from exhaustion. You know though, I notice you also have four kids!!! My husband is off during the summer though (he is a teacher), so he has been taking the lion's share of the work off me during these summer months - I think I will actually attempt to bake something that isn't a total "flop" this weekend!!!! Wish me luck!

Karen

[AmyandSabastian]

Terri Anne

I use the rice flour, tapioca flour, potato starch flour mixture, with added guar gum, as a direct substitute in REGULAR non-gluten-free recipes. I use my regular recipe with this substitution for brownies and banana muffins, that my entire family loves!

What is the ratio of your mixture? Do you use it in just baking or as an all purpose flour. I would like something I could use for baking as well as for sauces.