Grinding Your Own

[purple]

  RiceGuy said:

Hmmm...Well, what I did initially when I began gluten-free baking, was to make small amounts of different flour blends, to test baking performance. I usually would make only one change in the recipe at a time, so I'd know what each ingredient did for the results. However, what we really want to know here is if the flour is noticeably more gritty. So, if it were me, I think I'd make something soft, so that the texture of the flour will show through more prominently. Things like biscuits, dumplings, pancakes, or muffins would probably be good to compare. The most ideal would be something that uses 100% rice flour, so you'd get the full impact of the texture.

I guess I'd use about 6 Tbsp of flour, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp xanthan, and a pinch of salt. Add enough water to get a dough of good consistency - one that can hold its shape on a flat surface. Then use the same amount of water for the second one, so that the only difference is the flour. Place them side by side on a baking sheet, and bake, yielding two biscuits. Just make sure you know which is which!

Judging by your comment about pancakes, I'm guessing they're usually high in calories the way you've normally eaten them. But I wouldn't suggest a whole batch anyway. I'm thinking one or two of each. After all, if they don't turn out right, it's that much less you'll have to suffer through, or sadly toss. My few attempts at pancakes suggests little or no binders. I say that because for me they always turned out gooey inside, no matter how long I cooked them. I haven't gotten around to trying it again though.

On the other hand, if you're planning a stew anyway, you could use the same basic recipe as I described for the biscuits, and drop them into the stew, for dumplings. However, the problem there is that unless the shape of each is unique, you may not be able to tell them apart.

You could put something green in/on them.

[quietmorning01]

  purple said:

You could put something green in/on them.

**chuckles** My husband would enjoy that. . .lol

[quietmorning01]

  RiceGuy said:

Thanks quietmorning01! If the rice flour gets ground well enough, then I'm sure other grains will be even better, since it seems the only flour prone to graininess that I'm aware of is rice flour. And I think you're right - the second pass through will likely improve it too.

*Baking Experiment*

I finally did that experiment I was hoping to do!

I used an old family recipe for biscuits - switched out the wheat flour with rice flour and added guar gum.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2 cups Rice flour

1 tsp Guar Gum

1 tbl Baking Powder

1 tsp Salt

1/3 cup Oil (I used Safflower Oil)

2/3 cup Milk

Mix together with a fork. These are drop biscuits, and should be able to be dropped from the bowl onto the pan using a fork - but not with these babies. They had to be molded somewhat.

Mold, place onto ungreased cookie sheet about an inch and a half apart.

Bake for 12 minutes.

The difference wasn't much. They both had that 'rice' flavor I so didn't expect! **getting over the wheat. . .getting over the wheat. . .** but they both had a 'finished' texture on the inside, no goo found at all. The home ground was a tiny bit grainer to chew than the store bought - but not by much. They both made a pretty decent biscuit! **proud of self**( - first glutten free baking recipe!)

Husband tried them both, his observation was that "they both taste the same, their not bad!" and "the one made of the home ground was less crumbly than the other."

So there you have it folks!

I did place the home ground back through the Burr grinder - it DID make it finer! Comparable to the store bought!

I'm excited.

**grins**

[RiceGuy]

Fantastic!!

Thank you so much for everything! Perhaps now I can finally have a decent buckwheat flour, without the CC!

Congrats on your successful baking adventure too!

[quietmorning01]

  RiceGuy said:

Fantastic!!

Thank you so much for everything! Perhaps now I can finally have a decent buckwheat flour, without the CC!

Congrats on your successful baking adventure too!

Good luck on your buckwheat adventure! I was hoping to buy a bag of it this morning and try it out, but the grainery thaty produced it also produces wheat flour. . .so, I passed. I'm going to buy some from the links posted on this line of posts - I can't wait to try it!

**takes deep bow**

I may get the hang of this stuff, yet!

[dilettantesteph]

In the book Gluten-Free 101 by Carol Fenster she talks about not using more than a third of any one gluten free flour. Someone in my local support group also said that is important to cut down on the graininess. I go nuts and use a combination of all I have. Maybe you guys would have better success with using a mixture of more different kinds of grain. Buckwheat also seems good to smooth things out. Sorghum tastes the closest to wheat according to Carol Fenster, and I thought so too. I was glad to get it and add it to my baking.

[quietmorning01]

  dilettantesteph said:

In the book Gluten-Free 101 by Carol Fenster she talks about not using more than a third of any one gluten free flour. Someone in my local support group also said that is important to cut down on the graininess. I go nuts and use a combination of all I have. Maybe you guys would have better success with using a mixture of more different kinds of grain. Buckwheat also seems good to smooth things out. Sorghum tastes the closest to wheat according to Carol Fenster, and I thought so too. I was glad to get it and add it to my baking.

Hi, Dilettantesteph!

This 'experiment' was only to compare the baking texture of (specifically) white home ground rice flour from a particular coffee grinder and store bought white rice flour. I wanted a very clean recipe that would show the rice flours without conflict with another grain. That way I could get a good comparison of how each flour did.

I was very pleased with the info gained, not at all pleased with the biscuits! I didn't expect to be, I wasn't baking for flavor. . . heh, or really for edibility, this time.

[dilettantesteph]

  quietmorning01 said:

Hi, Dilettantesteph!

This 'experiment' was only to compare the baking texture of (specifically) white home ground rice flour from a particular coffee grinder and store bought white rice flour. I wanted a very clean recipe that would show the rice flours without conflict with another grain. That way I could get a good comparison of how each flour did.

I was very pleased with the info gained, not at all pleased with the biscuits! I didn't expect to be, I wasn't baking for flavor. . . heh, or really for edibility, this time.

Oh, I am so sorry that it seemed like I was implying otherwise! I am sure that you could teach me all sorts of things about baking!

[GFinDC]

I have an old Hobart grinder. Old and big and heavy too. Once in a while I use it to grind up beans or peas etc. I don't really do baking much myself. I did make some pancakes back when that came out real well, using pea flour. Kind of strange looking to have green pancakes though. One thing I like about the pea flour is I can make pea soup very quickly. It just takes a little hot water, some flavorings and some pea flour, bingo done.

[RiceGuy]

I just checked the manual for the Cuisinart, to see what it says about the size of things it can grind. I was disappointed to see what it says:

  Quote

11. Use this appliance to grind roasted coffee beans only.

Grinding other substances, such as nuts, spices or unroasted

beans, may dull the blade and cause poor grinding or injury.

12. Do not use appliance for other than intended use.

So I wonder if it will work as well after grinding ten or twenty pounds of grain or beans as it does new.

I checked the manual for their Programmable Conical Burr Mill, and it says the same thing.

[quietmorning01]

  RiceGuy said:

I just checked the manual for the Cuisinart, to see what it says about the size of things it can grind. I was disappointed to see what it says:

So I wonder if it will work as well after grinding ten or twenty pounds of grain or beans as it does new.

I checked the manual for their Programmable Conical Burr Mill, and it says the same thing.

ACK!!!

I wonder if the other coffee grinders that everyone uses here says the same thing?

[jerseyangel]

What an interesting thread!

Quietmorning, I think I'm going to try your biscuit recipe, cut with some potato and corn starch. I know you were doing it to check for texture, but since they turned out so well I think I'll run with it!

I have not managed to get a good biscuit yet in 3 and a half years. Hope springs eternal

[RiceGuy]

  jerseyangel said:

I have not managed to get a good biscuit yet in 3 and a half years. Hope springs eternal

I often wonder, what others consider to be a good biscuit. The ones I grew up with, were hard and crispy on the outside, and that's what I've found difficult to duplicate gluten-free. They had real "tooth". These biscuits were often served with stews, soups, etc, and cut open and spread with butter/margarine. Recently, I found I could get closer to it, by baking it in the pyrex bowl I've mentioned elsewhere on the forum, and at a higher temp than I had been doing.

I find it easy to get soft, cake-like textures. This is nice for donuts, but not for the biscuits I'm fond of.

[mushroom]

  RiceGuy said:

I often wonder, what others consider to be a good biscuit. The ones I grew up with, were hard and crispy on the outside, and that's what I've found difficult to duplicate gluten-free. They had real "tooth". These biscuits were often served with stews, soups, etc, and cut open and spread with butter/margarine. Recently, I found I could get closer to it, by baking it in the pyrex bowl I've mentioned elsewhere on the forum, and at a higher temp than I had been doing.

I find it easy to get soft, cake-like textures. This is nice for donuts, but not for the biscuits I'm fond of.

I have not been up to tackling bread-baking until now, but I'm gettin' ready. The primary reason is that I want something with a crrust. I have always been a sourdough french kind of person, something with a crunch that might even crack a molar if you weren't careful. No sliced sandwich bread in a plastic wrap for this gal. So gluten free bread does not suit my needs at all except toasted as a vehicle for jam or the cover around a BLT. I am definitely going to be trying the pyrex, and taking the bread out of the pan and putting it back in a high oven for a crust. Any other crusty tips??

[quietmorning01]

  jerseyangel said:

What an interesting thread!

Quietmorning, I think I'm going to try your biscuit recipe, cut with some potato and corn starch. I know you were doing it to check for texture, but since they turned out so well I think I'll run with it!

I have not managed to get a good biscuit yet in 3 and a half years. Hope springs eternal

Please let me know how they turn out! I love a good biscuit!

[RiceGuy]

  mushroom said:

I have not been up to tackling bread-baking until now, but I'm gettin' ready. The primary reason is that I want something with a crrust. I have always been a sourdough french kind of person, something with a crunch that might even crack a molar if you weren't careful. No sliced sandwich bread in a plastic wrap for this gal. So gluten free bread does not suit my needs at all except toasted as a vehicle for jam or the cover around a BLT. I am definitely going to be trying the pyrex, and taking the bread out of the pan and putting it back in a high oven for a crust. Any other crusty tips??

Yeah, gimme a good crust anytime! I like your idea of baking more without the pan. That may work!

As for other "crusty tips", I think it might be a good idea to put this in its own thread, which I've started here.

[songstressc]

  dilettantesteph said:

With my $15 grinder I can grind flax seed, amaranth, quinoa, sorghum, teff, millet, buckwheat, and rice. I tried popcorn once and fried it. I don't recommend that! I do it partly because whole grains keep better than flours, so I can buy in bulk. Nuts didn't work well. I haven't tried beans.

1. I am wondering when you grind the quinoa do you rinse it first or toast it to get rid of the bitter coating?

[songstressc]

  dilettantesteph said:

With my $15 grinder I can grind flax seed, amaranth, quinoa, sorghum, teff, millet, buckwheat, and rice. I tried popcorn once and fried it. I don't recommend that! I do it partly because whole grains keep better than flours, so I can buy in bulk. Nuts didn't work well. I haven't tried beans.

1. I am wondering when you grind the quinoa do you rinse it first or toast it to get rid of the bitter coating?

[dilettantesteph]

I buy the ancient harvest quinoa which is prerinsed.