Ugh! What Is This. "after Taste" In Things?

a84c72 · November 22, 2012

So..there are a couple if different places around me that have dedicated kitchens and bake gluten-free (one does dairy and potato-free, as well) items.

Place one had RAVING reviews on pizza (what its known for) so I thought I'd try a loaf of their bread (they have a deli, too) and a sugar cookie.

I haven't gotten into the bread yet, but the cookie, at initial taste was awesome...but then...as I chewed, I had a weird taste in the back if my mouth. The only way to describe it is FREEZER. It tasted like freezer.

So...another location is actually a chef at a pretty pristine country club. After contacting him, he told me he would hook me up with different samples of his things.

These included various dinner roles, buns, tarts, and a vet soft chocolate brownie.

He explained the breads need to be in the microwave for a few seconds first due to the starches, but told me the brownie was fine.

Later, I tried that brownie and although it wasn't bad, I still could taste that "freezer" thing in it. I haven't tried the other things yet, but I'm stumped.

What gives? And are all gluten-free baked things like this? I have yet to find any gluten-free item (other than naturally gluten-free) that I would go back to eating.

The brownie? It wasn't one where I would go back for "Judy one more tiny piece". Not in the slightest.

Glutino cookies: HORRIFIC

So...ok..anyway...what is this freezer taste I'm getting? I can't believe this stuff is old. The country club guy had orders waiting to be picked up!

I feel doomed that I'm going to eat celery for the rest of my life.

Darn210 · November 22, 2012

I find that I don't like the stuff made with bean flours because of the aftertaste. I don't know that I would call it a "freezer" taste though.

frieze · November 22, 2012

look for common ingredients....

cavernio · November 22, 2012

Amaranth and quinoa flour and bean flours (including chickpea) I find have a bitter taste and would only use them sparingly in any sweets.

Any flour can go rancid, even regular wheat flour. I think the higher content of protein in it, the quicker it will happen. Even if the product itself is fresh, maybe the flours aren't. And definitely you need a variety of flours to get a decent texture from most baked goods.

I have only had excellent gluten free brownies, ones made with rice flour and ones made with blacks beans, but both were homemade.

Are you by chance getting sugar-free items too? I know that I can't stand the aftertaste of many sweeteners, especially splenda/sucralose. That's one of the few foods I find that will always have an aftertaste versus a fairly immediate taste too.

maximoo · November 22, 2012

I believe what you are experiencing is a rice flour aftertaste. My DD & have have tasted many sweets made with rice flour & initially they taste good but then there was this weird aftertaste. Coconut flour is much better in sweets. Things made with coconut flour taste like the real thing: brownies, cupcakes, cookies, etc with no after taste. There are recipes for flourless cake which is very dense like a brownie but very good & also have no aftertaste.

shadowicewolf · November 22, 2012

i find rice flour to be fine. Its the bean flours that do it for me.

ajnemajrje · December 21, 2012

I am glad that you mentioned Glutino as tasting horrific.

I have only bought one item from them and it tasted and smelled so bad that I haven't bought anything from them since.

Their O's cereal - honey almond I think - smelled like dried piss. Me being adventurous thought maybe they'll at least taste good. I was mistaken. It tasted exactly like it smelled.

I have noticed a bit of an after taste in some gluten-free breads - almost a sour dough taste but not exactly.

The Brand EnerG makes a wonderful gluten-free bread that has the same texture and look as regular white bread and does nto need to be frozen. In Safeway where I buy them, they are on a shelf at room temperature. They make loaves, hotdog buns and hamburger buns. They tend to be a little on the dry side - kind of like french or italian bread - epsecially the bornw rice variety - but are still eatable in a sandwich. Most gluten-free breads I find you need to toast to make them sandwich worthy.

FatBear · December 23, 2012

Any flour can go rancid, even regular wheat flour. I think the higher content of protein in it, the quicker it will happen.

It's the fat that goes rancid. Nature has created the most incredible packaging for seeds and nuts. As long as they are whole, they will last all winter on the ground, in the mud, etc, and still be fresh and ready to germinate in the spring. As soon as you crack them open, the natural packaging is ruined and the contents are going to start to degrade. The fats oxidize which is how they go rancid.

But some fats are much more stable than others. I think white flours have the kernel removed and most of the oil with it. Whole grain flours have the natural fat in them. Non-grain flours ... who knows? I imagine the bean flours probably do have all the fat in them. Amaranth and quinoa are whole-seed (not grain) flours, so any fat that might be in those tiny little seeds is in the flour. Etc. Maybe the fats in the seeds that we use in place of flour are less stable. If so the flour, not the finished product, would have to be very fresh or that rancid taste will be in the freshest baked bread.

One thing I have become painfully aware of since learning of my celiac and the SIBO that has apparently occurred because of the gluten-damaged intestines, is that it is best if I make it myself and use the freshest and highest quality ingredients possible. I am not retired, but have a flexible schedule. I imagine that this would be very hard for someone with a 9-5 job.