Don't Understand What Flours To Use

[GlutenGalAZ]

I want to try baking and cooking so many things. I have some neat cook books that are wanting to be used

BUT...I just do not understand how to use ALL the different flours to make a flour mix.

I cannot have Tapioca Flour/Starch but it seems to be in everything.

How do you learn how to mix the flours together to make a flour mix?

I got websites from a post I did on here previously about tapioca flour which helped some and I have tried searching the web myself. All I can find are websites that show and talk about the different flours (all the sites seem to say the same thing).

I have found websites that show a lot of flour mixes, but since I am trying to understand the different flours still I can't use these mixing b/c I am trying to figure out what to sub tapioca flour or starch with.

People say trial and error but how do you even know what flours to mix for a trail and error?

There are so many types of flours how do you learn about them, what to use and what to substitute with?????

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated. Right now I am using ready mixes in a box for cookies, breads etc but would love to just look at a recipe and make my own.

Thank you in advance for any information

[sickchick]

I have not mastered baking yet... good luck to you!!!

[Wonka]

I want to try baking and cooking so many things. I have some neat cook books that are wanting to be used

BUT...I just do not understand how to use ALL the different flours to make a flour mix.

Food Science and Flour Mixing: Everything you need to know

1) You want four main types of flour in your mix--

Bodifiers-- Teff, Sorghum, Rice, bean flours, brown rice, quinoa, millet, amaranth, and cornmeal are a few options. These provide bulk and protein as well as the vitamins (if any, teff is a great source of vitamins).

Modifiers-- Tapioca starch, cornstarch, potato starch, arrowroot powder. These provide lightness and smoothness to the mix.

Moisturizers-- potato starch (this is a duel status item and should be counted in the ratio as a modifier, but if you use too much it will over moisturize the mix), potato flour. These counterbalance the drying tendencies of modifiers.

Extenders-- guar gum, xanthan gum, pectin, (to a degree) fruit acids, and, to a degree, flaxseed. These substitute for gluten and add extra body and stretch to the flour mix, as well as extend the shelf life of your baked goods.

A good ratio to make is 2 cup bodifier: 1 cup modifier: 1/4 cup moisturizer: 3 tsp. extender

You can multiply this ratio for any amount. The secret to getting a mix you like is to mix and match within the categories, but keep the ratios the same.

So you might use 1/2 cup brown rice flour and 1 1/2 cups of teff flour, for a 2 c of a bodifier, etc.

You want to buy or make a mix that has at least 4 g protein in it per1 cup. So what you'd do is take the protein content of each ingredient you used, add them all together, and divide by the number of cups you get (usually 4 c to a pound).

Brown rice has more protein than white. Bean flours contain more protein than grain flours. You need this protein content in order for things like pie crust (and bread) to turn out properly (to fail less).

A lot of times a gluten-free recipe will call for gelatin or extra eggs to provide this protein. If you have enough protein in the flour itself, you can avoid adding extra ingredients.

Extenders... use 1/2 the amount of guar gum in the ratio, or you'll get a laxative effect.

Also, understand that you've got to use SOME guar or xanthan gum. Pectin or ground flaxseed alone won't cut it.

It's even more helpful to cook the flaxseed in a bit of water, to make a gel, and add it into the wet ingredients, if you decide to use it.

If you're buying a flour mix you also want to buy one that already has the extenders in it. Otherwise you're paying a huge mark-up for something you can make yourself for next to nothing. It's the xanthan gum and guar gum that's the costly ingredient and secret to great baking.

Your costly ingredients are (in order of cost): xanthan/guar gums; pectin; potato flour, specialty flours (like teff, sorghum, amaranth). If your mix doesn't contain one of these, once again, you're most likely paying a markup for something you could mix in bulk for yourself, quite cheaply.

Also shop around for different brands of flours. Some are grittier than others. Anything too gritty seems to have a cornmeal taste, no matter what you do.

Finally, my advice is to do a cost analysis of your flour mix. I've found that buying a good mix in bulk is usually equivalent to (at LEAST) or even cheaper than mixing it yourself. This is particularly true if you can buy it directly from the manufacturer.

[WW340]

I almost always use a premade general purpose flour mix.

My favorite is Sylvan Border Farms general purpose flour. I substitute it cup for cup in most recipes. There are certain recipes that I might add tapioca to if called for, but most of the time, if a recipe calls for a specific mix of flour, I just use the same amount of total flour called for, but ignore trying to get all the different flours. I have had great success with this.

Sylvan Border farms Contains - Potato Starch, White Rice Flour, Brown Rice Flour*, Amaranth Flour, Quinoa Flour*, White Cornmeal*, Garbanzo Bean Flour*, Soy Flour

Open Original Shared Link

I add xanthan gum if I am making a cake, cookies or bread item. I don't add it for things like breading chicken.

I used to use Beth's. It is not bad, I just prefer the Sylvan

Just find a general purpose flour you like and use that. I tried smaller packages to find the one I like the best, and now I buy it in bulk from amazon.

[GlutenGalAZ]

Thank you everyone for your posts

Wonka -- The information you provided was very helpful. I copied and saved the info and even read it to my husband. I think it will be a nice starting point for trying to mix some flours together.

WW340 -- I haven't heard of Sylvan Border Farms before but I will take a look at the site. I always forget about Amazon for flour (I do get books from them). Thanks for reminding me that you can get other gluten free stuff from them and for the flour website.

Any other pointers keep them coming in

Thanks again

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Roben Ryberg wrote a whole gluten-free cookbook that calls for only cornstarch and potato starch--no other flours or starches. You do need xanthan gum, though It's called, The Gluten-Free Kitchen. The biscuit recipe is amazing, and the breads, while noticeably different from "gluteny" breads, are quite tasty, especially right out of the oven.