It helps to understand introductory food chemistry to substitute wheat-free flour in baking and cooking. Don’t worry if you need to improve at chemistry. Continue reading to find out essential facts about flour and how to replace wheat flour with gluten-free flour.
What is Flour?
The process of making flour is to grind grains, legumes, and nuts into fine powder. These substances are referred to as “meal” rather than “flour” when combined into fine powders.
Most people think of flour when they think of wheat flour. 1 Gluten-free diets are not allowed to include wheat flour. However, gluten-containing flours from wheat, barley, and rye can make people living with celiac disease and those with non-celiac gluten sensitivities sick.
Many other options are available, and finding alternative flours is becoming more accessible. This flour can be found in supermarket natural foods sections and sometimes in the same section online as regular flour.
Gluten-Free Starches
Grains are a mixture of starch and protein. (Gluten, however, is a protein). The starch is left after you have removed the grain’s protein. You can use gluten-free starches for baking:
Cornstarch
Tapioca starch
Arrowroot starch
Potato starch
These starches have no taste. Instead, they thicken liquids and add bulk and texture to baked goods. Starch can be used to make gravy and thicken soups. Many recipes call for cornstarch instead of wheat flour to make gravy. You can’t use starch in baked goods, or they will fall apart.
You can substitute any of the four starches with another type of starch. They are almost identical in cooking.
Be aware of starch lumps when heating it. Mix the liquid and starch in a cup before adding them to a heated pan. This will prevent a clumpy mess. If your soup or gravy becomes too thick after it has cooled down, heat it again to thin it.
Gravy thickened using cornstarch, or another starch will appear more straightforward and “creamy-looking” than gravy thickened by wheat flour.
Low-Protein Gluten-Free Flour
Many grains, such as rice and millet, are low in protein. These grains contain protein, but their flour is also standard in protein. These grains can be used in baking but will only hold together your baked goods well. Mixing different low-protein flours in your baked goods will yield the best results.
Rice flour is a low-protein, gluten-free flour that can be made from both white and brown. Many people use it for baking and cooking. It is affordable, has a mild taste, and can be found at most large grocery stores. Rice flour can have a gritty texture, making it difficult to eat. These flours should be stored in the refrigerator according to manufacturers.
Millet flour, which is less commonly used but still valuable and gluten-free, can be found in the form of millet flour. It has a smoother texture than rice flour. Cornmeal (not cornmeal) has a fine texture and a more robust flavor.
There are many potential uses for low-protein flours, including:
Use millet to thicken sauces (use it in roux-thickened sauces such as Bechamel).
Corn flour is a good choice for coating meats before they are fried.
Making tempura (again, use corn flour).
Flatbreads can be baked using a mixture of rice flour, millet flour, or a combination.
Many gluten-free grains have low protein but strong tastes, making them less suitable for specific recipes. These are quinoa and sorghum. These grains can be used in gluten-free pieces of bread, for example. You can also combine them with high-protein flours.
High-Protein Gluten-Free Flours
High-protein, gluten-free flours don’t come from grains. Instead, they are made from legumes like garbanzo beans and fava beans. These flours are dense and heavy, often reminding you of beans. They can replace gluten protein in wheat flour-based baked products, but they are only recommended for small quantities as the baked goods may taste like hummus.
Combine these products with low-protein, gluten-free flour to make baked goods. They won’t work well in thickening soups or making gravy, so use starch instead. High-protein legume-based flour can be used to dredge meat and saute it, particularly if the flavors in the recipe blend well.
Substituting gluten-free flour for wheat flour in baked goods
Gluten has essential properties that are not present in the regular dough. If you eliminate gluten from your recipe, it will cause disappointing results. These are some tips to bake with gluten-free flours successfully, as reviewed by Chef Richard Coppedge. He is a professor of Baking Arts at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park (N.Y.) 3
Make or buy a gluten-free flour mixture. A single-grain gluten-free flour is fine if you only need to coat the item in flour before it is sautéed. For baking, however, gluten-free flours perform better when combined. Cornstarch and potato starch is better for thickening gravies and sauces than gluten-free flour. You can substitute wheat flour for gluten-free flour by starting with a gluten-free mix. There are many commercial options, but you can also buy individual flours (you may need to order them by post) and make a mix.
You can bake loaves of bread and rolls in wall-protected containers. Bread loaves and rolls that lack gluten won’t keep their shape. For registrations, bake bread in muffin tins or Bundt pans.
Gluten-free flour can be made gluten-free by adding gums. Guar gum and xanthan gum can simulate the sticky effects of gluten. These gums can be added to recipes in small quantities (such as 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon per Cup of flour). They are also included in many gluten-free flour mixes.
Gluten-free flour can add some protein. Chef Coppedge explained that gluten is a protein and can increase the protein content of baking recipes when substituting wheat flour for gluten-free flour. He suggests you replace half of the water in your recipe with egg whites or liquid egg whites.
Find great recipes and blogs about gluten-free cooking
You will discover new ideas and tips as gluten-free cooking becomes more popular.
Try new things and revisit old favorites. You don’t have to change your old favorites to make them gluten-free. Sometimes it may take several attempts to find the right way to go. Take a weekend to try new things and find out if you can recreate what you love in a way you can eat.
Cross-contamination with gluten should be avoided. Unless thoroughly cleaned, you should prepare gluten-free food on a different surface than gluten-containing foods. It is safer to have separate sets for gluten-free food preparation. Use various sifters to separate gluten-free flours from regular flours.
Gluten-free flour should be kept in the freezer or refrigerator. This is especially important if you purchase bulk flours. To preserve their freshness, do not store flour in the fridge. Instead, let them cool to room temperature before using.
Make sure that the flour you’re substituting is gluten-free. These flours are dangerous. These flours may have confusing names, but they contain gluten.
