Rice Flour

[Katester]

Why can't I use rice flour instead of all-purpose flour? In making a normal recipe gluten-free, can I just use rice flour to replace all-purpose flour? I have a lot of brown rice flour and some white rice flour too. What is the difference between white rice flour and brown rice flour? And what is the difference between an all-purpose blend and just rice flour? I really don't understand how to replace flour in different recipes. I don't know where to start. What I've been doing is just using Bob's all-purpose flour mix for cup-to-cup replacing and adding xanthan gum to the mix depending on what I'm making. I don't want to rely on that to make every recipe as that gets expensive and sometimes tastes weird. I feel like making my own mix would get really expensive too. Any input or answers would help a lot.

[ShayFL]

There are many places that help explain this. I bought "Cooking Free" cookbook and it is awesome at helping to figure out exchanges. There are also some websites:

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

[dollamasgetceliac?]

Hi,

I just had a long talk with a rice company called KODA FARMS they make MOCHIKO rice flour. She gave me a long explanation about rice. Maybe if you go to their website you can figure out all the rice questions.

The thing is that if you are replacing regular flour with just rice flour it will bake difrantly so I have a cook book from Betty Hagman where she tells you what to substitute, inorder to make the dough more like wheat dough. I think maybe trying recipies from other cultures like Tai food or Middle eastern food ( Where rice is there main staple, and they hardly use milk) is the way to go.

The brown rice has more fiber, so it will lowe your sugar level and Cholesterol.

I hope that helps

llama lady!

[Mom23boys]

Why can't I use rice flour instead of all-purpose flour? In making a normal recipe gluten-free, can I just use rice flour to replace all-purpose flour? I have a lot of brown rice flour and some white rice flour too. What is the difference between white rice flour and brown rice flour? And what is the difference between an all-purpose blend and just rice flour? I really don't understand how to replace flour in different recipes. I don't know where to start. What I've been doing is just using Bob's all-purpose flour mix for cup-to-cup replacing and adding xanthan gum to the mix depending on what I'm making. I don't want to rely on that to make every recipe as that gets expensive and sometimes tastes weird. I feel like making my own mix would get really expensive too. Any input or answers would help a lot.

All flours are not created equal - not in taste, not in performance... an all purpose blend is a blend to as closely match regular flour as possible. There are other blends -- some more suitable for sweets, some for breads... a single flour (rice) is not going to perform in most recipes like regular flour.

The reason you think the Bob's tastes funny in some things is because it has a garbanzo flour. It is an acquired taste IMO. There is no 1 simple answer for what to use that will taste good and be affordable. Some people like a sweeter mix, some don't and I don't think any of the specialty flours are cheap.

You may want to try some of the other all purpose mixes. Since Bob's gives you a weird taste try one without bean flour -- it has taken me 5 years to get used to Bob's. It is my primary now. A lot of it is going to be experimenting to find the textures and tastes that appeal to you - you may find it in a premade mix, you may have to mix your own.

[Juliebove]

Rice flour can be subbed in for some things, but I think the texture is not the same and won't usually work on its own for baking. Then you need a mix of flours. I used to mix up my own, thinking it was cheaper. I don't really think it was, given how little I bake. Now I keep some white or brown rice flour (whatever my current recipe calls for), some sweet rice flour (use it for thickening) and whatever other odd flours might be called for in a recipe. I also buy Bette Hagman's Four Flour Blend. I use it for baking.

[purple]

Here is where I first learned only about 4 months ago: www.eatingglutenfree.com The recipes have been tried and tested by Bette Hagman. They have flour mixes and good recipes. And: Open Original Shared Link They have 100's of recipes and the starred ones have comments and tips about the recipes. You can learn alot! Don't give up. It gets easy once you learn how and find some good recipes. Some ready made mixes have bean flour. It does taste weird. I'd rather use my own. I like Bette Hagman's Featherlite mix the her gluten-free flour mix (without beans). I like Carol Fenster's flour mix made with sorghum. It has more protein and fiber than rice flours and its not grainy. Once you find a good recipe that turns out well, you can stop looking for a better one or play with it to see how it turns out using different flours or ingredients. I have a few favorites so I don't have to look for those any more. It saves alot of time, money and headache. Read up on coconut flour before you use it, its a bit tricky but super healthy. Go to a book store and skim thru the gluten-free cookbooks just to learn about the different flours and what the cooks say. Best wishes to you!!

[RiceGuy]

Plenty of good responses here. I can say, that from all my gluten-free baking, that blending the flours does work best for the majority of things. Rarely does a single flour work alone. This is because some flours result in a very dry and brittle texture, while others stay moist, or get rock hard, or gummy, etc. So blending the various flours properly can create a balance of these properties. Rice flour might work by itself for things like cookies, but you'd still need a binder, like xanthan gum.

When just starting out gluten-free baking, I'd recommend cookies and other simple things which don't have to rise much. Try a few different flours and see how each work. I started by making just one or two biscuits at a time, so it wouldn't waste much if it turned out inedible. Fortunately, most were edible, though I had a ways to go before figuring out what would result in the texture I was looking for. Muffins are perhaps the next easiest that I know of, and you can make only one at a time if you want.

I think it is much cheaper to blend your own than to buy a mix. There are plenty of good suggestions for blends on this site and on celiac.com, so you might want to start with those.

[bakingbarb]

Why can't I use rice flour instead of all-purpose flour? In making a normal recipe gluten-free, can I just use rice flour to replace all-purpose flour? I have a lot of brown rice flour and some white rice flour too. What is the difference between white rice flour and brown rice flour? And what is the difference between an all-purpose blend and just rice flour? I really don't understand how to replace flour in different recipes. I don't know where to start. What I've been doing is just using Bob's all-purpose flour mix for cup-to-cup replacing and adding xanthan gum to the mix depending on what I'm making. I don't want to rely on that to make every recipe as that gets expensive and sometimes tastes weird. I feel like making my own mix would get really expensive too. Any input or answers would help a lot.

Here is another Open Original Shared Link

There is a basic mix you can use at home using rice flour and I tend to use brown rice flour, assuming it is better for me because it is in its natural state as opposed to white flour.

Here is the recipe:

You still have to add xanthan to most of your baking,

Brown Rice Flour Blend

From Gluten Free Baking Classics

Food Philosopher Gluten Free

Brown Rice Flour Mix

2 cups brown rice flour

2/3 cup potato starch NOT POTATO FLOUR

1/3 cup tapioca flour

Open Original Shared Link ::::

Bette Hagman, a pioneer in gluten-free baking, provides a good basic flour blend in her cookbooks that can be used in equal (1:1) substitution for regular wheat flours. Her gluten-free flour blend suggests that:

For every cup of wheat-free/gluten-free flour, use 1 tsp. xanthan or guar gum for cakes, 2 tsp. xanthan or guar gum for breads or pizza, and 1 tsp. or no xanthan or guar gum or most cookies.

<DIV><FONT face=Verdana>

2) Most gluten-free flours will require the addition of xanthan or guar, a substitute binder used to compensate for the lack of gluten. The amount needed to add will depend on the type of product and it's reliance on the gluten structure. Breads rely heavily on gluten for their structure, cakes to a lesser extent, and cookies almost none. Typically the starchier and/or more refined the crumb, the less the reliance on gluten. Xanthan gum tends to be almost three times as expensive, and in the US is grown off of corn syrup (but tests out corn-free in the lab after processing). Some gluten-free groups discourage the use of guar because of the higher fiber (and therefore possible laxative effect) of large amounts of guar gum use. Try both and see. If these gums are not appropriate for you, some suggest the use of mung bean (AKA green bean) flour (1/8 of cup to every cup flour) or pre-gelled potato flour.<FONT face=Arial size=-1>

<SPAN style="COLOR: black"><FONT face=Verdana>Suggestions for the addition of xanthan or guar: For every cup of wheat-free/gluten-free flour use:

[Aleshia]

here is a flour mix recipe that I found on betterbatter.org it is their basic recipe but they say they add more xanthan gum.

I'm quoting my text with updated pricing (pricing for both figures accurate as of April 1, based on commodity pricing) here.

I've highlighted where it becomes morecost effective to order than to make flour.:

4 c rice flour (.89) ($.89 per pound)

1 c tapioca flour (.19) ($.76 per pound)

1c potato starch (.27) ($1.08 per pound)

1/4 c potato flour (.55) ($8.80 per pound)

1/4 c xanthan gum (1.17) ($18.72 per pound)

Using this formula................... It's going to cost you about 3.07 for a pound and a half to make flour.

If you are buying flour from another kind of store you should double the cost of this to 6.14 per pound.

I'm using our flour as the example of a commercial equivalent for comparison, since I know the current retail pricing of it. You can do this with your current brand of flour, as well, or with any brand you're thinking of buying. All you have to do is add the cost of what it would be to make a flour mix with the same ingredients as the commercial product, using the ratios as a rough guide, then divide the total cost of your batch and the bag of commercial mix each by the poundage to get the price per pound.

[dollamasgetceliac?]

[or guar gum for cakes, 2 tsp. xanthan or guar gum for breads or pizza, and 1 tsp. or no xanthan or guar gum or most

Hi;

I have a question, since I just changed to gluten-free I have not baked much yet. I still feel in pain and I wish I could get on with life. I used to love cooking , if you would be so kind, can you help me with a few things:

1. what is the differance between Xnathan gum and Guar Gum?

I always had trouble making cookies? Now I worry do I have to throw out my baking sheets and my cake pans? I bought them from a baking catalog ( I forgot their name...something with Baking?) Any way it does not have teflon on it , it was professional Bakers pans. There might be a layer of something? but they look smooth. I wonder if I just bought the silicone sheets is that good? I will try contacting the company and ask what the coating is? they asured me it was not teflon.

3. I am craving apple pie, I did buy some quick mixes but I can not aford it for too long. I have a lot of rice flour so I will try the mix you suggested. Is that going to work?

4. I like the Life is Good Pretzels I wonder if I can blend that with something I saw a recipie earlier this week with that and Philie cheese , problem is I am Dairy free, for about 6 months.

hope I am not asking too much

[RiceGuy]

1. what is the differance between Xnathan gum and Guar Gum?

Xanthan gum is a bit stretchier, thus better for breads, while guar gum is a bit spongier, thus better for cakes. However, guar gum tends to hold more moisture, so it can make things a little gooey depending on your recipe. If it turns out too dry with xanthan, guar gum might help. I've seen recipes calling for a blend of both too.

[dollamasgetceliac?]

I just was googeling creamy mash potatoes from paradise valley, and I noticed that AmandasMom had it listed as that their rice was not G.F , so for now I have to call them again and see if they changed facilities or so because on the back of their box it says suitable for gluten-free diets and dedicated to rice processing.

So I am not sure what is going on but I will contact them maybe her info is old? I hope because their sweet rice flour is yummy.

[bakingbarb]

[or guar gum for cakes, 2 tsp. xanthan or guar gum for breads or pizza, and 1 tsp. or no xanthan or guar gum or most

Hi;

I have a question, since I just changed to gluten-free I have not baked much yet. I still feel in pain and I wish I could get on with life. I used to love cooking , if you would be so kind, can you help me with a few things:

1. what is the differance between Xnathan gum and Guar Gum?

I always had trouble making cookies? Now I worry do I have to throw out my baking sheets and my cake pans? I bought them from a baking catalog ( I forgot their name...something with Baking?) Any way it does not have teflon on it , it was professional Bakers pans. There might be a layer of something? but they look smooth. I wonder if I just bought the silicone sheets is that good? I will try contacting the company and ask what the coating is? they asured me it was not teflon.

3. I am craving apple pie, I did buy some quick mixes but I can not aford it for too long. I have a lot of rice flour so I will try the mix you suggested. Is that going to work?

4. I like the Life is Good Pretzels I wonder if I can blend that with something I saw a recipie earlier this week with that and Philie cheese , problem is I am Dairy free, for about 6 months.

hope I am not asking too much

With your baking pans you do not have to replace them but I would suggest lining them with parchment paper. Some grocery stores sell it in rolls near the waxed paper and such.

The mixes will work for pie crust, and you don't need xanthan gum as far as I can tell (although the xanthan isn't going to hurt it, it just isn't needed). The crust will be extra flaky and yummy made with the rice flour blend. BUT rolling it out isn't as easy, roll it cold and between plastic wrap sprinkled lightly with rice flour.

Sweet rice flour is excellent for a thickener for the apple pie if you have it. If not use cornstarch.

Which part do you have trouble with when you make cookies? Gluten free are almost the same, they need the xanthan gum and it is best if you freeze balls of cookie dough and bake it frozen, use parchment paper to bake on.

Xanthan and guar are supposed to be interchangeable. I see guar in many many items from the store so it used by food manufactures quite a bit. I think if used in too large amounts it can act like a laxative but the amounts we use in baking is quite small.