Have To Buy Special Cornstarch?

[katiekay]

I love alot of the cornstarch recipes in my cookbook. The only specially marked gluten-free cornstarch is a tiny box at a specialty store... and have I mentioned EXPENSIVE. Does this one have high possibility of cross contamination?

[jerseyangel]

I love alot of the cornstarch recipes in my cookbook. The only specially marked gluten-free cornstarch is a tiny box at a specialty store... and have I mentioned EXPENSIVE. Does this one have high possibility of cross contamination?

Both Clabber Girl and Argo are gluten-free and marked as such on the packaging. I've used both over the years with no problem at all.

[katiekay]

Argo... I've heard of that brand. Hopefully they are cheap. I will look for both today at store. THANKS!!

[jerseyangel]

Argo... I've heard of that brand. Hopefully they are cheap. I will look for both today at store. THANKS!!

It's very reasonable--and easy to find in regular grocery stores

[katiekay]

hi! I bought the Argo at my local store. AWESOME!!

You may want to recheck Clabbergirl... when I looked at it in the store on the label it said processed on equipment which also processes wheat and some other stuff. Maybe this is a new change.

[jerseyangel]

hi! I bought the Argo at my local store. AWESOME!!

You may want to recheck Clabbergirl... when I looked at it in the store on the label it said processed on equipment which also processes wheat and some other stuff. Maybe this is a new change.

Yes, it must be a new thing with the Clabbergirl. I haven't bought it in a long time since my grocery store has Argo. When last I read the Clabbergirl label, it just said "gluten-free".

Thanks for calling that to our attention--and a good example of why we need to read labels everytime because ingredients and manufacturing practices can change

[RiceGuy]

Some other starches and flours can often be used in place of corn starch, such as sweet white rice flour, arrowroot starch, potato starch, tapioca starch/flour, and even some flours which don't have such a high percentage of starch, depending on the application. For instance, buckwheat flour works well for meat gravies, since those typically aren't negatively effected by the flour's color. I usually use sweet potato flour in place of cornstarch when it is important not to negatively effect the color of the food.

Sometimes, even guar gum or xanthan gum can be used, though the consistency is different with those.

Hodgson Mill corn starch claims to be gluten-free, so that may be another brand to compare.

One thing which concerns me about cornstarch, is that most of the corn in the US is now GMO. Heightened allergic reactions have been observed with GMO corn, but of course the FDA allows it anyway.