Bobs Red Mill gluten-free All Purpose Flour - Any Good ?

[Bansaw]

I am thinking of buying it from Amazon*.

Its quite a reasonable price, $13 for 88 oz.

But is it any good? I am planning to make Banana bread, Pie crusts, dumplings and maybe some bread.

I assume I would also need Xanthan gum to bind it etc.

Any comments?

* Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour, 22-Ounce Packages (Pack of 4)

[Bubba's Mom]

I am thinking of buying it from Amazon*.

Its quite a reasonable price, $13 for 88 oz.

But is it any good? I am planning to make Banana bread, Pie crusts, dumplings and maybe some bread.

I assume I would also need Xanthan gum to bind it etc.

Any comments?

* Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour, 22-Ounce Packages (Pack of 4)

I can't tolerate anything from Bob's Red Mill. I get a gluten-like reaction.

King Arthur's gluten-free flour didn't bother me. I can get that at the grocery store in the regular flour aisle.

[bartfull]

I don't care for BRM all-purpose. It didn't make me sick but it tastes really "bean-y".

[pricklypear1971]

Don't buy ANY gluten-free flour in bulk til you test it for taste and reaction first!!!

Buy a small bag first, try it out.

[Adalaide]

There are a handful of things from Bob's that I love. Recently I finally picked up my first package of all purpose flour. I used it to make a pie crust and to be honest it didn't work nearly as well as it has in the past when I've simply used rice flour. It also tasted like crap. I wouldn't feed it to a dog. I'm not sure if it's something I could use to thicken stews with or something like that, just using it up a little at a time. For now though it's put away and I'll probably debate what to do with it until the apocalypse.

I agree, try little packages first to see how you like it. You may love the stuff and think it's the best bargain in the world, and that's great. But I would never recommend buying anything other than the smallest available package of flour to try before going all in on that much.

[Kelleybean]

I am thinking of buying it from Amazon*.

Its quite a reasonable price, $13 for 88 oz.

But is it any good? I am planning to make Banana bread, Pie crusts, dumplings and maybe some bread.

I assume I would also need Xanthan gum to bind it etc.

Any comments?

* Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour, 22-Ounce Packages (Pack of 4)

I agree with the others - I'm not a fan. I do buy my Honeyville almond flour in bulk from Amazon though - so much cheaper than the small bags.

[SensitiveMe]

I would not buy 4 bags of it. A considerable amount of people including myself do not like the taste of chickpea or garbanzo bean flour.

I have a bag of this I am trying to use up instead of just tossing out. I did make an acceptable and good tasting banana bread (I used the recipe on their website) with it but still I noticed an unpleasant aftertaste in my mouth from it. And once I used it in making chocolate cupcakes which were so awful tasting to me that I ended up throwing them out. It makes me wonder that the trick of using it is to cover up the awful taste of it. Sorry, but I am not a fan of this product and think it best you try a bag of it first before you might buy any quantity of it.

[Takala]

The taste of properly stored and fresh garbanzo bean flour doesn't bother me because of how I season it, (vinegar or lemon or lime, and a pinch of cumin and cinnamon mostly takes care of that) but the Bob's Red Mill stuff is way too cross contaminated with oats for me to use anymore, and this is a serious bummer for me, because this is the brand the local grocery caries the most of in gluten free flours.

I would not purchase any gluten-free flour in bulk, unless I had tested out a smaller package first, both for taste and reactions. And then, sometimes the specific mix just doesn't work as well with certain recipes.

[JNBunnie1]

The Bob's All-Purpose tastes foul to me. The bean flour they use is stone-ground, which means it gets heated up in the milling process, which is why it goes rancid and tastes nasty. At least, that's how it was explained to me. I would imagine a blade-milled bean flour would be much more palatable.

I recommend against it. If you're looking for an all-purpose mix, I'd try a small bag of Pamela's or King Arthur (I haven't tried either) to see if you like them, as they are the most popular here on the board.

[GottaSki]

Just had to add a positive review in here. I don't currently eat it because I am grain free, but my family some gluten-free, some not - all use it regularly.

When first gluten free I was buying many various flours for a variety of gluten-free recipes. Eventually we reverted back to all our gluten filled recipes by replacing traditional flour with BRM AP - we use it for gravy - no complaints from gluten-free or gluten eaters. We use it for thickening sauces and baking. We do use rice flour for pie crusts and coating on fried chicken. The only difference we found was some cookies were a bit flatter with the substitution. I buy it from Amazon 4 at a time or at from Costco when they carry the 5lb bag.

The suggestion to pick up a small bag first is a good one - I ended up with a cupboard full of flours I only used once - took me a while to learn the sample it first method

[SensitiveMe]

I use the King Arthur glutenfree multipurpose flour with good results. But it has become too expensive. The site wants 7.95 for a 24 oz. box plus you have to pay shipping. I have found it sometimes here at my ShopRite grocery store for 6.99 a box.

Since it is a mixture of rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch and brown rice flour I am going to try to make my own blend to save money. According to a glutenfree baking book I have it says a basic blend which substitutes for an all purpose flour is 2 and 3/4 cup rice flour, 1 and 1/4 cup potato starch, 1/3 cup tapioca starch/flour.

[Mizzo]

Firstly:

I agree with all buy a small bag first and try it. We have all wasted money trying different things till we found something we liked.

Secondly:

My family is completely happy with King Arthur flour blend. If you live in North East The Demoulas/Market Basket stores sell the 24oz box for $4.99. If you write to King Arthur asking for coupons you will get a $1 off towards a purchase.

My local health food store does allow selective bulk purchases upon request as something to look into after you have tried different blends.

BTW I found rice flour to work best as thickener in saucesand to dust baking pans with, and it's cheaper than anything else.

[Simona19]

I think that I'm the only one here who likes to bake with Bobs Red Mill flours. Check my recipes:

http://www.celiac.co...__1#entry734848

http://www.celiac.co...__1#entry718692

http://www.celiac.co...__1#entry695015

http://www.celiac.co...__1#entry725111

As you can see, I have been using Bob's bread mix, but in the last recipe you can use the all purpose flour. Ones I had a big bag of Bob's all purpose flour and I didn't know what to do with it, so I used it for pork chop (flour, egg, bread crumbs), I made egg noodle for a vegetable soup, or I made fried chicken in a "pancake" dough made from it.

I mixed 3 eggs, salt, 1 cup rice milk, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda and all purpose flour- 3/4-1 cup. I made the dough similar to a "pancake" dough. I couted chicken in the same flour, dipped in the mixture and fried in oil on lower medium heat. It was a hit.

I would like to offer one more tip: If you work with the beans flour, you must cook it, or bake it very good. If your cake is under baked, you will taste the beans, but if is done the right way, nobody knows the different between the real thing. I have been baking from it all kind of pastries. I gave them to the gluten eating people, and nobody noticed any difference.

They loved them.

One more thing: If somebody have problems with legumes, you will react to beans flours the same way, or similar as to gluten. Only think what you can do, is to avoid it. How you will know? You must try it. As other sad, buy just one bag somewhere in a grocery store, bake something with it and you will see, if you will like it. I do.

[Yoshi]

I guess I'm also in the minority, here. I love Bob's Red Mill gluten free flours and baking mixes. I've tried other brands, but always come back to Bob's. I like the taste and the price.

[tctwhite]

Im not sure how much they sell it for on amazon but check out iherb.com. I placed a huge baking order and they have a ton of gluten-free stuff. And their shipping is 6.00 no matter how heavy your order is. Also if you spend 20, u get free shipping. If you spend 40, u get free 3 day shipping. I just placed another order on Wednesday and it will be here today. They are an awesome company. I actually had an AP flour that had been damaged (imagine a flour explosion ALL over everything) and they had me a new bag in 2 days.

[peachpower]

I am thinking of buying it from Amazon*.

Its quite a reasonable price, $13 for 88 oz.

But is it any good? I am planning to make Banana bread, Pie crusts, dumplings and maybe some bread.

I assume I would also need Xanthan gum to bind it etc.

Any comments?

* Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour, 22-Ounce Packages (Pack of 4)

I have been baking a lot of gluten/grain free desserts lately- I do not have a food allergy, but I am trying to broaden my repertoire and help some people out in the process.

I made a cake with Bob's Red Mill AP flour 2 days ago and had to toss the whole thing. My daughter said it tasted like 'plant'. Honestly, it did. I have had wonderful success with mixing and matching other BRM products, but I doubt I'll be using that particular one again.

Good luck!!

[kittty]

I have to add another positive review for this flour. I love it!

The cheapest way to buy it in bulk (if you do decide you like it) is to get the 25lb bag straight from the BRM website.

[shadowicewolf]

I'm in the vote of it doesn't like me group. Anything bean related makes me bloat something fierce.

[notme]

not a fan = don't like the bean-y taste. i would rather mix my own according to what i am making. but in the 'beginning' it was easy to find and i wasn't as picky lolz i just wanted something to eat!!