Bean flours

[bright_eyes]

What do you think about bean flours? I found a good gluten free mix that uses chickpea flour but I'm not sure if it's okay since the beans are not soaked/cooked before being made in to flour. Would they be hard to digest, do you think? Is there anyway to make them more digestible?

[Otto]

Originally Posted by bright_eyes

What do you think about bean flours? I found a good gluten free mix that uses chickpea flour but I'm not sure if it's okay since the beans are not soaked/cooked before being made in to flour. Would they be hard to digest, do you think? Is there anyway to make them more digestible?

Chickpea flour is comparatively low in raffinose and stachyose, the main offenders in the "flatogenic" category, if that's what you're getting at. Its main alpha-galactoside is ciceritol, which for some reason seems to be broken down more slowly and less distressingly than its friends. Heating to 320 F also seems to break down some of these oligosaccharides, at least in extrusion studies (and besan flour is often toasted in Indian cooking, FWIW).

[Straggletag]

I can offer this for what it's worth: my ancestors going back three hundred years would eat wheat when they could, cut with rye if the wheat crop failed, and that cut with pea flour in famine years. All the flours were dry ground, no soaking. However, the staple bread was made with a grated potato starter into which the flour(s) were directly kneaded and left to rise, so some fermentation effected the beans and the wheat, and these people being good Catholics produced dozens of perfect children besides pulling up acres of virgin forest until their old age. As I understand it, a similar bread regimen was found in the old world, and apparently the only reason a switch was made to potato water starter was that it was faster. In all the bean flour making cultures I'm familiar with, they'd ferment it after grinding.

[Chloe'sMama]

How do you ferment it after grinding (as in the case of purchased flours).

[Straggletag]

Originally Posted by Chloe'sMama

How do you ferment it after grinding (as in the case of purchased flours).

Nothing fancy, just make a starter with it, which usually means add water and let it sit at room temperature. The starter then becomes the leavening agent, if there's enough gluten for structure. Different grains or other materials, different regions, and different temperatures will all create a different flavored bread.

[bright_eyes]

I haven't ever attempted to make ferment flour and am not feeling brave enough to try. But I want to try using chickpea flour to make gf bread products. I just wonder- if I am having a hard time digesting gluten, would I have a hard time digesting chick pea flour if it isn't fermented first?

[Chloe'sMama]

Originally Posted by Straggletag

Nothing fancy, just make a starter with it, which usually means add water and let it sit at room temperature. The starter then becomes the leavening agent, if there's enough gluten for structure. Different grains or other materials, different regions, and different temperatures will all create a different flavored bread.

Sorry to have more questions.... should I add some whey with it? How long do you let it sit? I have a gluten free flour blend (says all purpose GF flour). Do I make a starter and then add that to all baking? What proportions? Perhaps if someone has a link, or even PM me as to not hijack the thread...

[Koalamom]

I think I would not make a habit of using bread that has chick pea flour in it. If you are dealing with gluten issues then you may not want to stress you digestion with a bean that hasn't been soaked.
Here is a traditional flat bread that is soaked that is GF and uses beans, net reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dosa
And another:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idli
One without beans, but still GF:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Injera

I am worink on a GF sourdough bread that uses lentil flour. I am going to soak the lentils, and then dry them, all before grinding. If it were a treat, then fine don't soak them before handm but for a daily bread, I want the best preparation.

I thought about just mixing the bean flour (without soaking) with the teff and brown rice, but I hear that you must discard the water from the beans and can keep the water from grains. So I have to do it in 2 parts.