Help With Sauces & Gravies

[waterlily-]

I use cornstarch to thicken my gravy & sauces (for like orange chicken) but when it cools it's a solid lump that won't go back to liquid. Is there some kind of alternative? Or am I doing something wrong? I'd like to have 'normal' gravy again. LOL

Thanks!

[Marilyn R]

I get almond flour on line and LOVE it for gravy and sauces, as well as for the little amount of baking I do. (But it doesn't perform well for pizza crust IMHO.)

The disadvantage is that you have to freeze it, and it's a little lumpy itself (doesn't have all those additives in it.)

The advantages are that it's high protein, low glycemic and low carb. I use nutsonline.com, they're great. There are other sources on line too, but I haven't tried them.

Hope that helps. Even before I developed a corn intolerance, I never cared for the sheen and texture cornstarch added to gravies, sauces and pudding.

Rice flour might work too. I have better results when I mix rice flour with the water or stock ahead of time and let it rest awhile, that seems to reduce the grittiness.

There's arrow root too. It works about the same as corn starch in proportion to corn starch, and is inexpensive at oriental or indian stores, if you have them where you live. If not, I think health food stores carry it.

[Darn210]

I use cornstarch to thicken my gravy & sauces (for like orange chicken) but when it cools it's a solid lump that won't go back to liquid.

I know exactly what you are talking about . . . I call it gravy-jello

I just use my standard gluten-free flour mix that I use in my baking and make gravy like I did before. Turns out fine. I think just about any gluten-free flour would work, you don't have to have a mix of flours since you are just using it for thickening. I use my mix just because that's what I have handy.

[waterlily-]

I'll look into those, thanks!

haha yes, jello gravy is right! XD

[bartfull]

Back in the days when I could eat corn, I always used corn starch instead of flour. It worked great, and no lumps. But I found that you can't MICROWAVE the leftovers. So what I would do is make my gravy or sauce, and pour it over only what I was going to eat at the time. Then I'd store my gravy/sauce in a seperate container. When I wanted to have it again, I would heat it on the stovetop while stirring, and it would come out liquid, just like when I first made it.

[cyberprof]

I think that if you use too much cornstarch it does make the result like jello.

But I use cornstarch (reduced amount) in all my sauces that call for a flour roux. But this is what I do:

The directions for cornstarch say to use half the amount of cornstarch as the recipe indicates for flour.

For example, if a recipe calls for 1/4 cup (which is four tablespoons) of flour, i use two tablespoons of rice flour plus 1 tablespoon of cornstarch. Most "white sauce" recipies (like roux, gravy, cheese sauce etc) say to melt butter or oil, add the flour and then add the broth or milk. I add the cornstarch to the liquid when it's cold in a measuring cup. Then in a separate pot, I melt the butter and add the flour (I use rice or garbanzo but almost any flour would work) and mix. Then when bubbly, I add the liquid/cornstarch mixture and stir until smooth.

I find that this gives the best taste and texture but is still thick like a wheat-flour base would be.

[Juliebove]

Use sweet rice flour, aka glutinous rice flour. If you have an Asian store or a large Asian food section in your store you can get it for less money there. Works like a dream! And reheating is not a problem.

[glutengirl42]

I use cornstarch to thicken my gravy & sauces (for like orange chicken) but when it cools it's a solid lump that won't go back to liquid. Is there some kind of alternative? Or am I doing something wrong? I'd like to have 'normal' gravy again. LOL

Thanks!

Not sure where you live but Whole Foods sells Gluten Free Gravy Mix.