Gritty Taste Of Gf Flours

[christicrete]

Hi all,

I am new to using gluten-free flours and have been expermenting with mostly rice flour. I have a corn sensitivity too and am having some weird results when I try to bake. I have been using this recipe for flour:

5 C. rice flour

1 c. potato starch

1/2 c. tapioca starch

1 C. Millet flour

2 T . xantham gum

I have made pizza crust and rhubarb bars with this and is good. The problem I am having is when I make something like muffins or cookies with this I have this gritty taste that just ruins it for me. Also muffins and cakes are really crumbly. otherwise I get good results like good color and fluffy muffins. I am new to gluten-free baking (was going without and feeling sorry for myself) and wondering what I can do to improve the texture of baked goods. Seems like if it is crust(not the main flavor of the item) it seems find and I don't notice the gritty. I do purchase the first three ingredients at an Asian market to cut down the costs, (also is there a differance between sweet rice flour and glutenous rice flour, I always stay away from anything that says gluten on it cuz gluten scares me ). I like to add the millet flour to make it heartier and improve the color of the finished product.

I would like to try quinoa flour but am having a hard time finding flour, only whole grain. also, which bean flours are better tasting and what is yam flour good for? I am sorry for so many questions but I am trying to figure all these things out. My family is tired of going without because of me.

Thanks for any help you can give!

Christi

[jenvan]

Are you just using white rice flour for the 5 c of rice flour? I think I would split it up between white, brown and sweet rice flour for sure. Sweet rice flour is the same thing as glutinous rice flour or sweet rice powder. It helps bind your baked goods together. I also like to add almond or nut meal to my baking, it helps with a moist, fluffly texture, and adds a good richness, as well as some nice color. I switched brands of white rice flour recently and found there was a difference in the "fineness" of how they were milled. So you may find a brand you like better than your current one. If you are able to eat dairy, one of my favorite gluten-free baking mixes is Pamela's. You can use it for pancakes, cakes, cookies--it has some buttermilk in it, so it is richer, creamer... It also has the almond meal that I mentioned.

Bob's Red Mill has quinoa flour, I've seen it as Meijer I believe. You could also order it. As for bean flour, I have Bob's Red Mill garfava flour. It use it sparingly in my tortillas, but find it has too strong of a taste for my liking. I like beans, but I don't like my baked goods to taste like them! I don't mind it in some breads. I believe its in Manna from Anna bread.

I haven't tried millet flour yet, but I would try switching that for sweet rice flour or sorghum, and see if you notice a difference there. I find subing applesauce for part of the oil in some recipes, ie. muffins, helps them come out moist.

These links below have more info on gluten-free flours...

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

[lbsteenwyk]

Hi Christi:

I do a lot of baking. I started out using a lot of rice flour and found the same thing, the gritty texture. Now I use Bette Hagman's Four Flour Bean Mix which you can substitute 1:1 for wheat flour in most recipes. Here is the formula:

2 cups Garfava Flour (2/3 part)

1 cup Sorghum Flour (1/3 part)

3 cups Tapioca Flour (1 part)

3 cups Cornstarch (1 part)

I really like this flour combination - it is much lighter than the rice flour mixes, has no gritty texture, and does not have a strong bean flavor. I find that using sorghum flour gives products a more "wheat-like" taste. Other ingredients that can improve texture are xanthan gum, dough enhancer (available from Authentic Foods) and egg replacer (from Ener-G Foods). Sorghum also is a darker flour and helps with the color of baked goods. I also use buckwheat flour for better color and nutrition. I've posted recipes elsewhere in this forum, but feel free to PM me if you need more ideas or advice.

[tarnalberry]

Aside from sweet rice flour as a thickener, I pretty much never use rice flour. Millet, amaranth, quinoa, sorgum, soy, and buckwheat all have a better texture.

[artmeg55]

Betty Hagman's flour works out pretty well for most recipes as a substitute for wheat flour. You can but it from Miss Robens online store.

[cdford]

I cannot handle the stronger flavor of the bean flours, but they add so much to the texture of baked goods that I add a 1/2 cup to my usual mix just for that purpose. It does not overwhelm the flavor but really helps the texture. Some rice flours are milled finer than others. My mill at home does a better job than most I can buy.

[jenvan]

I believe the rice flour I have now is 'Cause Your Special' Microfine White Rice Flour. I definitely notice it is more fine than the other brands I had previously.

[moving on]

I've tried bean flours without the fava bean, which causes me problems, and did not detect the strong taste in my baked foods. There are several bean flours offered but I did have to use mail order. I'm using Carol Fenster's mixture and replacing the corn with bean. There is no rice in the mixture. The texture is more like the original baked goods we are trying to duplicate.