Finding Non-Bitter Quinoa Flour

[T.H.]

We had some good gluten-free quinoa on hand yesterday when we were trying out a recipe, but no quinoa flour. However, I also have a grain grinder that we hadn't used. So, of course, we decided to try to grind our own quinoa flour. It turned out great, our little 'pie dough' cookies we made turned out great (1 cup rice flour, 1/2 cup quinoa flour, 1 stick butter, and a little salt and sugar and 9 Tb water).

But the big surprise was the fact that it completely lacked the bitter after-taste that all our other experiments with quinoa flour have produced. At first I thought maybe it was the variety of quinoa we used vs. the variety used for the flour we usually buy, but today I was talking with a friend in culinary school and she had the answer.

If the quinoa is ground very fine, it is always bitter, she was telling me. Less fine of a grind, less bitterness. It has something to do with too fine a grind breaking the cell walls and this affecting the saponin and how it presents in the flour, or how we can taste it...or something like this. I was all ears when she talked, but by the time we'd said our goodbyes it'd left my head until all I can remember is 'saponin' and 'ground too fine.'

However, we've ground quinoa again now with the same results. It has made SUCH a difference in the taste. My kids voluntarily ate something made from quinoa flour for the first time since we've been gluten free! SO happy we tried this!

[Pac]

  On 11/20/2010 at 5:27 AM, T.H. said:

We had some good gluten-free quinoa on hand yesterday when we were trying out a recipe, but no quinoa flour. However, I also have a grain grinder that we hadn't used. So, of course, we decided to try to grind our own quinoa flour. It turned out great, our little 'pie dough' cookies we made turned out great (1 cup rice flour, 1/2 cup quinoa flour, 1 stick butter, and a little salt and sugar and 9 Tb water).

But the big surprise was the fact that it completely lacked the bitter after-taste that all our other experiments with quinoa flour have produced. At first I thought maybe it was the variety of quinoa we used vs. the variety used for the flour we usually buy, but today I was talking with a friend in culinary school and she had the answer.

If the quinoa is ground very fine, it is always bitter, she was telling me. Less fine of a grind, less bitterness. It has something to do with too fine a grind breaking the cell walls and this affecting the saponin and how it presents in the flour, or how we can taste it...or something like this. I was all ears when she talked, but by the time we'd said our goodbyes it'd left my head until all I can remember is 'saponin' and 'ground too fine.'

However, we've ground quinoa again now with the same results. It has made SUCH a difference in the taste. My kids voluntarily ate something made from quinoa flour for the first time since we've been gluten free! SO happy we tried this!

That's an interesting info. Thanks for posting it. I have a grinder too and never had problems with quinoa tasting bitter, even if it was ground very fine. I rinse the quinoa with boiling water 3-4 times and dry it before making the flour, so maybe that is enough to get rid of the saponin. (I sort, wash and dry all grains/nuts/seed before grinding them to make the flours 100% gluten-free.)

I love experimenting - making my own flours: millet, quinoa, chickpea, mungo bean, yellow pea. I tried to make rice flour too, but got terribly itchy rash and asthma attack - no rice for me now.

[sa1937]

  On 11/20/2010 at 5:27 AM, T.H. said:

We had some good gluten-free quinoa on hand yesterday when we were trying out a recipe, but no quinoa flour. However, I also have a grain grinder that we hadn't used. So, of course, we decided to try to grind our own quinoa flour. It turned out great, our little 'pie dough' cookies we made turned out great (1 cup rice flour, 1/2 cup quinoa flour, 1 stick butter, and a little salt and sugar and 9 Tb water).

But the big surprise was the fact that it completely lacked the bitter after-taste that all our other experiments with quinoa flour have produced. At first I thought maybe it was the variety of quinoa we used vs. the variety used for the flour we usually buy, but today I was talking with a friend in culinary school and she had the answer.

If the quinoa is ground very fine, it is always bitter, she was telling me. Less fine of a grind, less bitterness. It has something to do with too fine a grind breaking the cell walls and this affecting the saponin and how it presents in the flour, or how we can taste it...or something like this. I was all ears when she talked, but by the time we'd said our goodbyes it'd left my head until all I can remember is 'saponin' and 'ground too fine.'

However, we've ground quinoa again now with the same results. It has made SUCH a difference in the taste. My kids voluntarily ate something made from quinoa flour for the first time since we've been gluten free! SO happy we tried this!

Thanks for the recipe...sounds yummy! Just curious as to what brand quinoa you buy. I have Ancient Harvest that is already pre-washed. I just bought another coffee grinder that will be dedicated to using with grains.

[T.H.]

I use Ancient Harvest as well - I buy their bulk quinoa on-line in 25 pound bags. It's hard to find where you can buy the in bulk on the site - they only sell one kind - so here's a link, if you're interested:

Open Original Shared Link

I'm hoping to get a good grain mill, as the one we got turned out to have problems now that we've used it for a little while. :-(

[T.H.]

I don't know if the company I buy from is pre-washed or not, although I know their whole grains are, so I had always assumed it was!

That is very interesting that even fine, yours is not bitter. Makes me wonder if the flour from this company is not as pre-washed as assumed. I have to wash my quinoa as well - seems like a must to make sure they're gluten free, doesn't it? What grinder do you use? How do you like it? The one we have is having issues, but it was a freebie, so I'm not out any money. I'm wondering about finding one that works well with nuts as well as grains, now, though.

Oooh, mungo bean flour...nice idea! Do you parboil your beans before grinding, or keep them completely dry beforehand?