Need To Keep My Rice/potato/xanthan, Etc., In Fridge?

[TrickyMama]

I bought all the various flours to make my own gluten-free flour mix today. I have leftovers of some starches/flours so I bagged each leftover individually and then put them all in a large ziploc. Should I store the bag of leftovers in the fridge? And especially what is he best way to store the xanthan gum? That stuff is like powdered gold at $12 for a tiny bag!!!

[GlutenFreeManna]

I don't know the answer, but I just wanted to say I hope you labeled all those ziplocs. It's hard to tell all those white powders apart once you put them away.

[halfrunner]

I don't store any of my rice flours or my xanthan gum in the fridge. Then again, I go through the flours fairly quickly. I would say it would be a good idea to store any bean flours in the freezer, as I believe that they tend to spoil faster than the others. DH doesn't like the bean flours so I quit using them. We primarily stick to rice flour (white and brown) and buckwheat.

I apply the "bread" rule of thumb to all flours, whether gluteny or not. If they're stored in a cool, dry place they'll be fine. If the temperature and humidity fluctuate a lot, you might consider storing them in the freezer, rather than the fridge. The freezer is much drier, which is better for flours in general.

I store all nuts and nut meals in the freezer at all times, because the oils in the nuts tend to go rancid fairly quickly.

Any potato, corn or tapioca starch should be okay in a cupboard as long as they're in airtight containers.

[sa1937]

  On 8/19/2010 at 11:41 PM, TrickyMama said:

I bought all the various flours to make my own gluten-free flour mix today. I have leftovers of some starches/flours so I bagged each leftover individually and then put them all in a large ziploc. Should I store the bag of leftovers in the fridge? And especially what is he best way to store the xanthan gum? That stuff is like powdered gold at $12 for a tiny bag!!!

I store my xanthan gum in a cabinet by the baking powder and baking soda...no problem thus far and I'm sure I bought it a couple of years ago. Yes, it is expensive and thankfully it lasts quite awhile unless you do a lot of baking.

Certain flours should be refrigerated so they don't become rancid...I'm thinking of bean flours, brown rice flour, sorghum, etc. I don't think white rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch and those types need refrigeration to stay fresh. Someone can jump in and correct me if I'm wrong...I have a whole shelf in the fridge for flours so I'm running out of room!

[jerseyangel]

  On 8/19/2010 at 11:41 PM, TrickyMama said:

I bought all the various flours to make my own gluten-free flour mix today. I have leftovers of some starches/flours so I bagged each leftover individually and then put them all in a large ziploc. Should I store the bag of leftovers in the fridge? And especially what is he best way to store the xanthan gum? That stuff is like powdered gold at $12 for a tiny bag!!!

I keep white rice flour, potato starch, and xanthan gum in my pantry.

[TrickyMama]

Thanks soooooo much, everyone. You know, part of my problem is I don't really think about where these flours originate from. I'm so used to just working with whole wheat and I know how long that can be in the pantry before getting rancid. It makes sense that potato and tapioca would have a long shelf life but maybe not bean flours. And I don't even know what half this stuff is! What the heck is sorghum anyway??? That's rhetorical - I'll figure it out! . And when I said I bagged up each flour, I meant I put them in their original bags into ziploc baggies. Give me a little credit! 

[sa1937]

  On 8/20/2010 at 5:53 AM, TrickyMama said:

Thanks soooooo much, everyone. You know, part of my problem is I don't really think about where these flours originate from. I'm so used to just working with whole wheat and I know how long that can be in the pantry before getting rancid. It makes sense that potato and tapioca would have a long shelf life but maybe not bean flours. And I don't even know what half this stuff is! What the heck is sorghum anyway??? That's rhetorical - I'll figure it out! . And when I said I bagged up each flour, I meant I put them in their original bags into ziploc baggies. Give me a little credit! 

I'm still learning about all these flours, too. I sorta went crazy buying gluten free flours after I was diagnosed. I'm sure I'll eventually settle on a few I really like and cut down the number of flours I have on hand. Sure would like to free up some room in my fridge. For instance, I think I prefer buckwheat flour over sorghum and probably won't replace the sorghum when it's gone.

Just out of curiosity, what kind of a flour blend did you come up with that you mixed up in bulk? Do you have a recipe? I'm still searching and trying new recipes. Gluten free baking is a real challenge.

[Ginsou]

  On 8/19/2010 at 11:41 PM, TrickyMama said:

I bought all the various flours to make my own gluten-free flour mix today. I have leftovers of some starches/flours so I bagged each leftover individually and then put them all in a large ziploc. Should I store the bag of leftovers in the fridge? And especially what is he best way to store the xanthan gum? That stuff is like powdered gold at $12 for a tiny bag!!!

I travel in a motorhome part of the year, and when on the road I store most flours in a 2nd small refrigerator, with the exception of white rice flour and xantham/guar gum. The rice flour and xanthan gum are kept in air tight glass containers under the sink cupboards. They are just fine, and I think some of the gum is about 2 years old.

When we get home this fall, a small chest type freezer is on my wish list for my stuff, that way the refrigerator in the house will have "his" food and "my" food will be kept in a freezer in the garage.

Nuts do get rancid, but I buy them in small amounts in bulk so it doesn't bother me to throw them away. Chocolate chips/baking chocolate also goes rancid. I use the chips anyway and the cookies taste just fine.

[TrickyMama]

sa1937, my flour mix is a recipe out of "Artisinal Gluten Free Cooking" by the Bronskis. I used it to make pancakes today and was shocked at how good they were. I mentioned the book in a different post. They truly did not taste gluten-free. I can't say they actually tasted like wheat, but they were much better than the other expensive prepared bags of premixed flours made for pancakes (the Trader Joe's one is so-so, the Cherrybrook Kitchen one is downright repulsive, IN MY OPINION). Here is the flour mix. When you make it, store it in an airtight container in the fridge. When you measure or scoop from it, it says to stir to aerate it, spoon it into the measuring cup, do not pack, and level off with a straight edge. I think it is darn near perfect!

Artisan Gluten-Free Flour Mix

5 c. brown rice flour

3 c. sorghum flour

2 2/3 c. cornstarch

1 c. potato starch

1/4 c. + 4 t. potato flour

1 T. + 1 t. xanthan gum

They have recipes in the book using this mix for chocolate chip cookies, blondie cookies, imitation graham cracker crumbs, pancakes, biscuits, yellow cake and more. It was my first gluten-free cookbook buy and I don't regret it. I'm kind of particular because I'm a little bit of a health nut and exercise fanatic and I don't want to come home from Zumba and eat junk just cause I can't have wheat. Know what I mean? Best of luck with the recipes!

[sa1937]

  On 8/22/2010 at 2:26 AM, TrickyMama said:

sa1937, my flour mix is a recipe out of "Artisinal Gluten Free Cooking" by the Bronskis. I used it to make pancakes today and was shocked at how good they were. I mentioned the book in a different post. They truly did not taste gluten-free. I can't say they actually tasted like wheat, but they were much better than the other expensive prepared bags of premixed flours made for pancakes (the Trader Joe's one is so-so, the Cherrybrook Kitchen one is downright repulsive, IN MY OPINION). Here is the flour mix. When you make it, store it in an airtight container in the fridge. When you measure or scoop from it, it says to stir to aerate it, spoon it into the measuring cup, do not pack, and level off with a straight edge. I think it is darn near perfect!

Artisan Gluten-Free Flour Mix

5 c. brown rice flour

3 c. sorghum flour

2 2/3 c. cornstarch

1 c. potato starch

1/4 c. + 4 t. potato flour

1 T. + 1 t. xanthan gum

They have recipes in the book using this mix for chocolate chip cookies, blondie cookies, imitation graham cracker crumbs, pancakes, biscuits, yellow cake and more. It was my first gluten-free cookbook buy and I don't regret it. I'm kind of particular because I'm a little bit of a health nut and exercise fanatic and I don't want to come home from Zumba and eat junk just cause I can't have wheat. Know what I mean? Best of luck with the recipes!

Thanks for the flour recipe, Tricky Mama! After you posted the the name of the cookbook, I pulled it up on Amazon and browsed through it. I really don't do that much baking as my kids are grown with families of their own (I live alone so don't have a need to stock up on cookies, etc.)

My greatest quest is to try to find a bread recipe that I can want to make over and over again. I've found a couple recipes I like but have a never-ending search to try new ones. I know this cookbook has a recipe for bread...have you tried it yet? If you do, please post the results.

This week I wowed my 11-year old granddaughter with pancakes made with the new gluten free Bisquick. She loved them and couldn't tell the difference between them and the ones her Mom makes. Yes, it's expensive and I know there's a recipe posted by halfrunner for a homemade Bisquick-type mix that I'd like to try.

[Ginsou]

  On 8/22/2010 at 12:18 PM, sa1937 said:

Thanks for the flour recipe, Tricky Mama! After you posted the the name of the cookbook, I pulled it up on Amazon and browsed through it. I really don't do that much baking as my kids are grown with families of their own (I live alone so don't have a need to stock up on cookies, etc.)

My greatest quest is to try to find a bread recipe that I can want to make over and over again. I've found a couple recipes I like but have a never-ending search to try new ones. I know this cookbook has a recipe for bread...have you tried it yet? If you do, please post the results.

This week I wowed my 11-year old granddaughter with pancakes made with the new gluten free Bisquick. She loved them and couldn't tell the difference between them and the ones her Mom makes. Yes, it's expensive and I know there's a recipe posted by halfrunner for a homemade Bisquick-type mix that I'd like to try.

Ditto. I purchased 3 boxes of the Bisquick mix to tide me over until I can try halfrunner's mix. I made waffles and they were excellent. I froze some and they were excellent 2 days later....soft when thawed out! My husband has been using Krusteaz for his waffles, and he ate some of mine, and now he has decided he wants the wheat free ones from now on! I have noticed that when he eats a hamburg on a wheat roll, he starts coughing and clearing his throat for about 3 hours after.....sounds like he also has food issues.