Good mix of alternative flours? No gluten/rice/corn/oat.

[gabbyraja]

I dabbled w/alternative flours a few years ago, then decided wheat wasn't our problem. Well, new baby, new problems, and I'm dabbling again.

I remember using a blend with mostly tapioca, maybe amaranth, and I can't remember what else. I remember quinoa was a bitter nasty mess, so that's out. The less flavor the better.

We're eliminating corn, rice, oat, soy, wheat/gluten.

Thanks!

Edited by gabbyraja - 12/11/10 at 7:25pm

[rhesp1212]

I'm interested in this as well....we are avoiding those same things!! I bought some prepackaged gluten free flour mixes that don't have any of those, nor soy flour either (which we are also avoiding). Hodgson mills has one that is made from garbanzo bean flour, fava bean flour and something else (sorghum maybe). I don't recall it having any of the flours you are avoiding.

Anyways....I'm interested to see what others come up with too!!!

Valerie

[gabbyraja]

Sorry, forgot to mention we are soy and legume free, as well. I never realized there were flours made from beans...

I'm thinking the 3rd flour was Arrowroot starch or Millet... Just can't remember, and can't remember the balance.

[rhesp1212]

You could use teff flour, millet flour, buckwheat flour, amaranth flour. Arrowroot and tapioca starches are used as thickeners and can help hold it all together. Amaranth is very chewy from what I remember when I used it. Personally, I would try equal amounts of maybe buckwheat and millet flours, then add up to 1/3 of the amount in either arrowroot or tapioca starches. We are also egg free though so it makes it more difficult.

I've used quinoa flour before and didn't have an issue with it being bitter, but then again, I was using it in things like muffins and graham crackers so I was adding sweetener to it. It should have a nutty flavor, but it is very distinct that's for sure.

What are you trying to make with it??

[rhesp1212]

I found this recipe and you could probably just substitute with flours that you can use and see how it turns out!!

• 2 1/2 cups white rice flour (Millet flour)
• 2 1/2 cups tapioca flour
• 2 cups amaranth flour
• 1 1/2 cup sorghum flour (Buckwheat flour)
• 1 cup superfine brown rice flour  (Teff flour)

Or any combination of the above would probably work.....sounds like a good multigrain mix to me. Might have to try it out myself!! :) If you try it, let me know how it turns out!!

Valerie

[gabbyraja]

Hmmm, your mention of sorghum was the first I'd ever really thought about it/checked into it. It sounds good. I think I'll add that to my list of things to try. I'm going to try a few of these things next week and I'll report back. Thanks for your help!

[kjbrown92]

my standard is 3/4 c. of sorghum flour, 1/4 c. tapioca or sweet potato flour/starch, 1 tsp. karaya or other gum (we just got guar gum back but I haven't used it yet, karaya gum is from a gum tree, xanthan gum is usually corn based). I use millet on occasion but I usually think it's a little too gritty, except as a replacement for cornmeal in corn muffins. And I use light buckwheat for pancakes/waffles.

[gabbyraja]

Originally Posted by kjbrown92 

my standard is 3/4 c. of sorghum flour, 1/4 c. tapioca or sweet potato flour/starch, 1 tsp. karaya or other gum (we just got guar gum back but I haven't used it yet, karaya gum is from a gum tree, xanthan gum is usually corn based). I use millet on occasion but I usually think it's a little too gritty, except as a replacement for cornmeal in corn muffins. And I use light buckwheat for pancakes/waffles.

Right, that's what I thought about millet, too. Buckwheat isn't really wheat at all, right? And I knew xanthan gum is usually corn, but isn't guar gum made from a bean? I think we might be dealing with a legume problem, but then it may be the oat and/or wheat problems, really. I thought she reacted to peas and peanuts, but it could have been oat/wheat and I'll be trialing again when those are out of my system.

Thanks!

[kjbrown92]

Originally Posted by gabbyraja 

Originally Posted by kjbrown92 

my standard is 3/4 c. of sorghum flour, 1/4 c. tapioca or sweet potato flour/starch, 1 tsp. karaya or other gum (we just got guar gum back but I haven't used it yet, karaya gum is from a gum tree, xanthan gum is usually corn based). I use millet on occasion but I usually think it's a little too gritty, except as a replacement for cornmeal in corn muffins. And I use light buckwheat for pancakes/waffles.

Right, that's what I thought about millet, too. Buckwheat isn't really wheat at all, right? And I knew xanthan gum is usually corn, but isn't guar gum made from a bean? I think we might be dealing with a legume problem, but then it may be the oat and/or wheat problems, really. I thought she reacted to peas and peanuts, but it could have been oat/wheat and I'll be trialing again when those are out of my system.

Thanks!

buckwheat is not related to wheat. It's actually an herb. And the light buckwheat is hard to find, but I like it much better than regular buckwheat (not as heavy). We use karaya gum because DS reacted to guar gum and DD2 reacted to xanthan. Wilton's Gum-tex (karaya gum) can be found in the cake decorating section of big craft stores. I get it at JoAnn's when I have a 40-50% off coupon. It's what replaces the glue in gluten. Are you keeping a food journal?

 

[rhesp1212]

I thought someone told me that Sorghum was in the legume family, but I just looked it up and it's not. It's in the cereals family......so that might definitely be worth a shot for you!! If you haven't tried Teff yet, it's pretty good too......you can get a white teff that is milder in flavor from the dark one. Kind of like the previous poster was saying about buckwheat. If you google the teff company, there is a place that sells Teff and only teff...it's in a gluten free, nut free, etc. free facility!!

[littlest birds]

If you aren't avoiding nuts, you might try almond flour.  I use it at 50%-100% of the mix in our mixes.  We use the blanched, finely ground kind from Honeyville because it handles well for baking.  I know you aren't doing rice but FWIW I use rice and tapioca with it, but have also used buckwheat and tapioca. 

[gabbyraja]

Ok, I threw my rice prohibition to the wind, as the baby seems fine on it. So, I've been trying every commercial mix available and found the one I hate the least. I then used it as a base and looked for a similar list of ingredients in a recipe online. I found one and went from there. I made a flour tonight and made the BEST tasting bread I think I've ever tried, GF or not. It turned out very moist, kind of like a quick bread (thinking almost as moist as banana bread), but still fluffy and fairly light; not dense or brick-like at all. It's VERY good:

3 parts brown rice flour

3 parts tapioca starch

2 parts sorghum flour

1 part coconut flour

1/2 part Almond meal/flour

1/2 part hazelnut flour

½ part buckwheat flour

1 Tbsp. bread yeast

2 Tbsp. raw honey

1 ½ c. lukewarm water

2 ½ cups of flour mix

2 tsp. xanthan gum

1tsp. salt

3 eggs

1 ½ Tbsp. coconut oil

1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

I added them to bread machine in the order the bread machine says (wet, then dry, then yeast) and baked on the white bread, medium crust setting. Everybody loved it.

Thanks for giving me input, ladies. I might try to experiment with a "dryer" bread, better for toasting or something, but really I like it a lot as-is.