Need Help With Brown Rice Flour

[SabrinaLuvsGluten]

Hi! I went out today and bought a small bag of brown rice flour. I have no idea what to do with it. I have to avoid alot of the other flours because of another allergy I have, so is there ANYTHING I can do with the brown rice flour by itself? Can I make a crust with it? Can I sub it for all purpose flour? I need some help and ideas. Thanks!

Sabrina

[gf4life]

Brown rice flour can be used to "dust" your fish or chicken before frying, but if you plan on baking with it, then it would be best if you mixed in some other things. Can you have tapioca starch, corn starch, potato starch? Any of those mixed in with make it more like an all-purpose flour. Also because there is no gluten to act as a binding agent, you would need to add in either xanthan gum (my preference!) or guar gum to most baking recipes.

God bless,

Mariann

[tarnalberry]

You may be able to make tortillas out of it, though the texture may be more like a corn tortilla than a flour tortilla.

[SabrinaLuvsGluten]

I can live with that! I like tortillas..I was actually making them just about everynight with my whole wheat flour and all purpose flour. I just mixed them with some salt and water and cooked it in a pan. So you think I could mix the brown rice flour with rice and salt and do the same thing. Oh, and could I use it as a thickener, like to thicken soups or anything?

Sabrina

[SabrinaLuvsGluten]

Oh, and one more question too, can I make a pie crust with it? You know, just the old fashioned simple recipe of flour, salt, and ice water? I really cant use any starches because of sulfites, and I cant do the potato flour or anything because potatoes are high in sulfur and they cause me to react...the xanthan gum I think is a corn issue (which is sulfited during the milling process,) and the guar gum, I dont THINK should be a problem, even though its a legume, which are high in sulfur. BUT right now I am trying to add things in slowly, so I wouldnt want to add guar gum right now neccessarily. I DID find a recipe by arrowhead mills for cookies that just calls for brown rice flour, an egg (which I would omit), ground nuts, and honey. It sounds yummy to me since I Havent had anything even close to a cookie for a while now. I just have to see if I can handle organic honey..I tried organic maple syrup and EVERY time I get a whopping headache. Probably allergic to that too! Thanks for any help!

Sabrina

[cdford]

You might try mixing in a little white rice flour or sweet rice flour just for texture since they do not tend to be quite as gritty. If you are used to the stronger flavor of whole wheat (we were since we milled our own), you will not be overwhelmed by the brown rice. Baking will be a problem without the other starches to mix in with it. Can you use the bean flours for texture? Some of them are good, though a little bold in flavor. I prefer using the brown rice and adding just a little bean for texture. If you do not have a problem with tapioca, that is a good one to include with your rice.

[gf4life]

Sabrina,

The tapioca starch I get just lists tapioca and water on the label. My cornstarch just lists corn starch. Are there hidden sulfites in food? Is it something that naturally occurs in the food, or how they process it? I looked up sulfite sensitivity/allergy and the list of food to avoid is insane. Do you also have other food sensitivities/allergies in addition to sulfites? Even a lot of fruits and veggies are on that list because of how they are grown. Do you have to get organically grown fruits and veggies? I'm sorry to be asking so many questions. It must be a very difficult thing to deal with and I am trying to understand more about it, so we can help.

Maybe if you made us a list of foods you CAN eat, then we can give you a few more ideas.

God bless,

Mariann

[SabrinaLuvsGluten]

Hi..yes I have been buying organic EVERYTHING, just to be on the safe side..even then, as you said, I cant get certain fruits and veggies because they are high in natural sulfur. Grapes are actually sprayed with sulfites, because of the wine process. As far as the tapioca and corn starch..when corn is milled, it is sulfited..and so all processed corn is out for me. I havent tried fresh organic corn, even though Im assuming that it would be okay since its organic and Im not allergic to corn in itself, Im just too chicken to try it right now since my reactions are so bad. As far as the tapioca, I was told that they bleach it using sulfites. This is probably something I need to investigate further. I am just going nuts though..my husband made some choc chip cookies yesterday that I had in the freezer, and I was miserable not being able to eat one!!! I have always been a big sweets person, and I havent had anything even CLOSE to a cookie in forever. I dont know a whole lot about xanthan gum except for that it is a corn issue..so I dont know if that would be a sulfite issue or not. Hmm..and the guar gum, I think would be OK for me..I know its a legume, which is high in natural sulfur, but its not like you use alot in a recipe so it should be fine. What about gluten free cakes that have very little flour, or muffins. Like say applecakes, carrot cakes, things like that? Anyone have any good recipes. I could experiment with what I CAN have, and even if it didnt turn out perfect, and was edible, Id be happy! I am going to try honey as a sweetener since all the other ones have caused me to react in one way or another. Oh, and by the way, since being gluten free I am feeling SO MUCH better already! No more diarrhea, no more not being able to finish a sentence because Im so foggy headed and lose my train of though,.but I am still having abdominal pain here and there, which I think is a separate thing related to my gallbladder surgery back in Sept. I have had problems ever since then with abdominal pain on the right side and in the middle..down and around my belly button too is very tender. Gotta run..baby is crying!

Sabrina