Roux

[MyMississippi]

Does plain rice flour work well as a roux --- browns nicely, and adds thickness, and doesn't taste yukky??

[MaryJones2]

It works but it certainly doesn't taste anything like traditional roux. I really haven't found any flour that tastes similar to wheat but chickpea and sorghum do a good job. They don't seem to get as gummy as some of the other flours.

[pricklypear1971]

I read sweet brown rice flour makes an excellent roux - also read that gluten-free flour mixes work great, too.

I've tried King Arthur flour mix and it was ok - I noticed a slight difference in flavor but was heard to tell since etoufee is a "whatever I've got" meal for me. I did notice when I made steak and gravy (round steak dipped in seasoned flour, browned, holy trinity added with bay and water) it was thinner - flavor was sweeter, too. Cornstarch would have thickened it up (or cooking it longer).

Haven't made gumbo yet, but it's coming.

[MyMississippi]

I read sweet brown rice flour makes an excellent roux - also read that gluten-free flour mixes work great, too.

I've tried King Arthur flour mix and it was ok - I noticed a slight difference in flavor but was heard to tell since etoufee is a "whatever I've got" meal for me. I did notice when I made steak and gravy (round steak dipped in seasoned flour, browned, holy trinity added with bay and water) it was thinner - flavor was sweeter, too. Cornstarch would have thickened it up (or cooking it longer).

Haven't made gumbo yet, but it's coming.

Good luck--- post your gumbo recipe if it turns out well

[lizard00]

I made gumbo a couple of weeks ago. I used sorghum for the roux. Turned out awesome!

[pricklypear1971]

Makes sense it would. I made a loaf of bread that had sorghum in the mix and it reminded me more of "wheat" flavor....although the loaf was like "whole wheat".

My freezer is sooo full right now. Can't imagine cramming another bag of flour in there!

[Wenmin]

I use 1 part sweet rice flour, 1 part oil and 1/2- 1/4 part corn starch to make a roux. I used the microwave to brown the sweet rice flour and oil, then when to right color, add corn starch as thickener. I used this to make stews and gumbos. It is the best I had since going gluten free.

[love2travel]

After trying about 12 kinds of starches my favourite is sorghum as its properties more closely resemble wheat flour properties than most others.

[pricklypear1971]

I made a roux with sweet rice flour and the taste was very good, much better than using KAF mix. It takes a long time (longer than wheat flour, so in roux terms, that's a while) and the color wasn't as dark but the taste was dark. So be careful, you may burn it if you try to make a "dark" roux. Mine was medium in color but tasted dark.

[Jenny (AZ via TX)]

What brand of sorghum flour are y'all using. I haven't made a gumbo since last year and it took me 3 tries to get the roux to be halfway decent. I've never used sorghum unless it's already part of a flour mix of some kind. Can I buy it at Wholefoods or Sprouts?

Thanks so much.

[pricklypear1971]

What brand of sorghum flour are y'all using. I haven't made a gumbo since last year and it took me 3 tries to get the roux to be halfway decent. I've never used sorghum unless it's already part of a flour mix of some kind. Can I buy it at Wholefoods or Sprouts?

Thanks so much.J

I just bought some Authentic Foods superfine white sorghum at New Life in Tucson. I haven't seen it anywhere else, except online. BRM makes one but it isn't as fine of a grind, which can make a difference when baking.

I bought the sweet rice flour at a Korean Market.

[Jenny (AZ via TX)]

Thanks PricklyPear. I don't care for BRM products except for a hot cereal which is kind of like grits for me (it's brown rice). Anyway, I went on the Authentic Foods site and the store locator listed 2 locations in the Phoenix area. I'll give them a call and see if they come in smaller packages than 3# bags on the site.

[pricklypear1971]

Thanks PricklyPear. I don't care for BRM products except for a hot cereal which is kind of like grits for me (it's brown rice). Anyway, I went on the Authentic Foods site and the store locator listed 2 locations in the Phoenix area. I'll give them a call and see if they come in smaller packages than 3# bags on the site.

That's the size I found at New Life. It's really not that big when you start using it...