Millet And Sorghum

[Tash-n-tail]

OK so my Dove's Buckwheat is off the list! Alternates? Yeah I can give in and whine or I can do something about it! So, doing something about ... gluten free flour options. I've yet to have the courage to try millet and sorghum flours as alternate options and this is new territory for me.

Is there anything I should know about the cooking idiosyncrasies or working with these flours? Do they have a distinctive flavour and are they as tricky and stiff as rice or soy flours? Does anyone have experience using them?

Right this is a wonderful adventure - a challenge, a marvelous learning curve that will enhance my life no end and make my carb foraging a safer, better experience.

Thanks,

Marcus.

[Jestgar]

I missed it, why can't you eat buckwheat?

As for the other flours, you have to make mixes. Wheat has both starch and protein so mix high starch flours with high protein flours for your cooking.

I make a big semi-random mix of whatever flours I have, making sure to limit the soy and amaranth because I can taste those and don't always want those flavors in whatever I'm making. I always include some brown rice, some teff and some flax meal.

Depending on how dark my mix looks I either add darker flours (like buckwheat) if I want a hardier taste, or lighter flours/starches if I want something lighter (corn, tapioca, glutinous rice flour).

[larry mac]

m,

I've been using sorghum in equal parts with white & brown rice, then maybe some bean or other flours. For starchs it's usually equal parts Tapioka, potato, maybe some corn.

So it might look like this:

2 C sorghum

2 C white

2 C brown

1 C bean and/or misc.

3 C tapioka

3 C potato

1 C corn

Just an example of a half and half flour/starch blend. That's a big batch of 14 cups. Will last a while. Of course you can easily make any size you want.

What I find amusingly puzzling, is most recipes call for either twice the amount of flours to starches, or half as much flours to starches. Rarely equal amounts. Figure that out for me.

BTW, I'm not saying this is so great. But I stocked all these ingredients and so use them. Haven't found anything better really.

best regards & good luck, lm

p.s., my lunch is over, millet will have to wait.

[kolka]

m,

I've been using sorghum in equal parts with white & brown rice, then maybe some bean or other flours. For starchs it's usually equal parts Tapioka, potato, maybe some corn.

So it might look like this:

2 C sorghum

2 C white

2 C brown

1 C bean and/or misc.

3 C tapioka

3 C potato

1 C corn

Just an example of a half and half flour/starch blend. That's a big batch of 14 cups. Will last a while. Of course you can easily make any size you want.

Larry,

So sorghum is what: starch or protein? Just wanna know so that I can mix up my own, too. I get the garbanzo and sorghum at the Indian grocer, but I think I'm gonna use up the garbanzo and use something else. I was there the other day and they had a lentil/pea flour. I was thinking to use that - mix it with something - something like your mix. I just want to know what sorghum contains (i.e. it contains protein, so I must therefor off-set it with some starch . . .) - TIA

What I find amusingly puzzling, is most recipes call for either twice the amount of flours to starches, or half as much flours to starches. Rarely equal amounts. Figure that out for me.

BTW, I'm not saying this is so great. But I stocked all these ingredients and so use them. Haven't found anything better really.

best regards & good luck, lm

p.s., my lunch is over, millet will have to wait.

[kolka]

m,

I've been using sorghum in equal parts with white & brown rice, then maybe some bean or other flours. For starchs it's usually equal parts Tapioka, potato, maybe some corn.

So it might look like this:

2 C sorghum

2 C white

2 C brown

1 C bean and/or misc.

3 C tapioka

3 C potato

1 C corn

Just an example of a half and half flour/starch blend. That's a big batch of 14 cups. Will last a while. Of course you can easily make any size you want.

What I find amusingly puzzling, is most recipes call for either twice the amount of flours to starches, or half as much flours to starches. Rarely equal amounts. Figure that out for me.

BTW, I'm not saying this is so great. But I stocked all these ingredients and so use them. Haven't found anything better really.

best regards & good luck, lm

p.s., my lunch is over, millet will have to wait.

where's my post, lol?!?

[kolka]

Larry,

I don't know what happened to all that I just typed, so I'll have to repeat it: essentially - what is sorghum - protein or starch. I'll need to know to concoct my own mix (example: sorghum protein, therefore I'll have to off-set it with starch).

[Tash-n-tail]

I missed it, why can't you eat buckwheat?

I use Doves here in the UK. It's just been taken off the CUK List due to contamination. I emailed them with a grumpy complaint since I traveled 100 miles into Wales to get 3 kilo's of the stuff ten days ago. Their response was to defend themselves hastily incase I sued for misleading advertising probably by claiming that they source their buckwheat outside of England and have NO control what-so-ever or guarantees over their product!

It's really is contaminated. Since I opened and used the "new" stock of buckwheat I'm going thru' a cycle of swollen ankles, volatile mood swings, constipation, rashes, exhaustion, incredible pain in my joints again and did I mention that I'm evil incarnate? Yeah that too, I make the devil look like Mr.Nice Guy!

Sigh I'm so tired of getting tripped up like this. And I was doing so well too four solid months free.

[Tash-n-tail]

Larry,

I don't know what happened to all that I just typed, so I'll have to repeat it: essentially - what is sorghum - protein or starch. I'll need to know to concoct my own mix (example: sorghum protein, therefore I'll have to off-set it with starch).

Open Original Shared Link

Wiki's take on the sorghum grain. I did find this on the effects of cooking sorghum and it's protein content but not much on it's starch and protein ratios.

Open Original Shared Link

Regards,

Marcus.

[kolka]

International Starch Institute: Sorghum Starch

I found this on the net. How do I bring it here so that you can click on it? Ya know, when it's underlined and you can just click on it. What's the trick?

Sorghum is grown in Africa (16%), Asia (36%), Central- and South America (21%) and USA (20%). Average protein content of Kansas grain sorghum was in 1999 8.6 percent, average starch content 74.5 percent and average oil content 3.4 percent. In other areas more typical values of 12-14 % protein is found. Sorghum is a starch raw material and the starch extraction process resembles that of corn wet milling. Sorghum starch granules are typically 3 - 27 microns with 16 microns in average.

[Tash-n-tail]

International Starch Institute: Sorghum Starch

Brilliant!

[Tash-n-tail]

LM,

Thanks for the break down. I'm only just getting into the flour combo's and since Buckwheat has been the only flour I've used and can depend on not to have an effect on me, so this is going to be an adventure.

Marcus.

[Tash-n-tail]

International Starch Institute: Sorghum Starch

I found this on the net. How do I bring it here so that you can click on it? Ya know, when it's underlined and you can just click on it. What's the trick?

Sorghum is grown in Africa (16%), Asia (36%), Central- and South America (21%) and USA (20%). Average protein content of Kansas grain sorghum was in 1999 8.6 percent, average starch content 74.5 percent and average oil content 3.4 percent. In other areas more typical values of 12-14 % protein is found. Sorghum is a starch raw material and the starch extraction process resembles that of corn wet milling. Sorghum starch granules are typically 3 - 27 microns with 16 microns in average.

Well it didn't let me give links when I tried, so I'm none too sure. Usually you simply highlight the address, copy and paste into your text. If you do that I can copy and paste it into my browser and still get there. Bit klunky but immediate while I sift thru' the how to do files here. But I think it's in the menu across the message window under "Insert special item" and then the select link option. I'll have to play a spell dude!

Marcus.

[larry mac]

Larry,

I don't know what happened to all that I just typed, so I'll have to repeat it: essentially - what is sorghum - protein or starch. I'll need to know to concoct my own mix (example: sorghum protein, therefore I'll have to off-set it with starch).

dear k,

Sorghum is a flour, used interchangably with rice flour. Some gluten-free cookbooks specify it for their recipes. It has good nutritional properties. Some don't like bean flours and I believe this would be a good substitute.

On that note, I can no longer stand idly by and allow others to demean the bean. The poor berated bean. Garbanzo bean flour is good. Garfava bean flour is good. Bean flours are our friends. What did the lowly bean ever do to anyone anyway (besides possibly give them a little gas, it doesn't me, I already have gas!)? I'm putting everyone on notice, demean the bean at your own risk or suffer the consequences.

best regards, lm

[Tash-n-tail]

dear k,

Sorghum is a flour, used interchangably with rice flour. Some gluten-free cookbooks specify it for their recipes. It has good nutritional properties. Some don't like bean flours and I believe this would be a good substitute.

On that note, I can no longer stand idly by and allow others to demean the bean. The poor berated bean. Garbanzo bean flour is good. Garfava bean flour is good. Bean flours are our friends. What did the lowly bean ever do to anyone anyway (besides possibly give them a little gas, it doesn't me, I already have gas!)? I'm putting everyone on notice, demean the bean at your own risk or suffer the consequences.

best regards, lm

Well thats very positive and all to your credit but since chickpeas and lentils et al are off my list as is corn, potato etc etc I'll paddle a bit further OK and hopefully get back into eating them again. LATER. Right now they kill me. I am desperately hoping that I can eat adzuki beans and grind the black eyed peas (beans here in the UK) into a flour as a bean option. Any thoughts on these LM?

Marcus.

[kolka]

Learn More About Web ResultsInternational Starch Institute: Sorghum Starch

Rebecca Reilly's rice, bean, potato starch, tapioca starch is a good bean mix. You smell the bean while you mix the wet ingredients, but you taste no bean whatsoever in the baked product. That's not true for bread, however. Soooo, to get the protein, you could use the Indian pea/lentil flour. I'm gonna try it.

[Tash-n-tail]

Larry,

I don't know what happened to all that I just typed, so I'll have to repeat it: essentially - what is sorghum - protein or starch. I'll need to know to concoct my own mix (example: sorghum protein, therefore I'll have to off-set it with starch).

OK OK so lets test this sucker here folks. Will it or won't it do the amazing show the LINK routine?

Sorghum study in South Africa;digestible sorghum porridge

Thanks,

Marcus.

[Tash-n-tail]

OK OK so lets test this sucker here folks. Will it or won't it do the amazing show the LINK routine?

Sorghum study in South Africa;digestible sorghum porridge

Thanks,

Marcus.

Nope! I'm doing it wrong. Sorry.

[larry mac]

Well thats very positive and all to your credit but since chickpeas and lentils et al are off my list as is corn, potato etc etc I'll paddle a bit further OK and hopefully get back into eating them again. LATER. Right now they kill me. I am desperately hoping that I can eat adzuki beans and grind the black eyed peas (beans here in the UK) into a flour as a bean option. Any thoughts on these LM?

Marcus.

M,

First off, that bean thing was entirely unrelated to your post, an unfortunate little excursion for which I apologize (to you & everyone else).

Back to you, sorry, but I must have missed something somewhere. I'm not up to speed on all of your intolerances. May I suggest you put them in your signature. That way everyone can more accurately respond and give more applicable suggestions. Simply click on your name, click on view member profile, click on my controls, click on edit signature, and add appropriate info. You will see the results & have opportunity to change if needed. I'm sure you've noticed some with multiple intolerances have done the same, albeit occasionally with abreviations that are hard to fathom.

Also, it's common to list your diagnosis "credentials".

best regards, lm

p.s., I'm not familar with adzuki beans and haven't tried blackeyed peas, although I certainly would if neccessary. There have been numerous posts regarding grinding one's own flours recently.

[larry mac]

m,

I quickly found some info on adzuki beans via google. Sounds very promising. We in the south have a long history of eating black eyed peas (especially on new years eve for good luck in the new year). A little distinctive flavor. Can you eat tapioka starch flour?

lm

[Juliet]

On Glutenfreegirl.com, about a month ago (???) she posted a recipe for blueberry muffins that I just adored where she used equal parts rice flour, tapioca starch (or flour - they're the same thing), and sweet sorghum flour - no xanthan or guar gum was used but there was a lot of egg, butter and yogurt. No one can tell the difference between this and regular muffins except they don't make you feel quite so bloated full after eating them. I don't have to worry about gluten (it's my son who does) but I'd rather eat these than regular muffins anyday. So, I plan on trying this equal parts mix with other baked recipes soon that have a lot of protein already in the recipe (i.e. eggs, butter, etc.)

[miles2go]

I know this is primarily a flours thread, but I just recently bought a packet of whole-grain sorghum from Shiloh Farms and made a pilaf following the recipe on the back. It is absolutely delicious. I've used the sorghum flour, too and it acts a lot like cornmeal.

The millet, I don't know. I've tried several recipes for the whole grain and just can't get warmed up to it. Maybe if I find the right one...

I've not tried millet flour. Marcus, are you able to find quinoa products in the UK? That's another grain you might consider. If you get the whole grain, be sure to rinse carefully to remove the saponins that cause a bitter taste. If you can find the flour, you should be good to go.

Margaret