Brown Rice Flour

As promised, here is my take on brown rice flour:


When we first started this gluten free journey, every recipe I found, every store-bought pre-made item had brown rice flour as the main ingredient, and with good cause. Brown rice is relatively affordable compared to other grains, is certified gluten free (many other grains are processed in facilities that also process gluten-rich grains so cross contamination can happen. For those who have more than just a sensitivity to gluten, this can be a major problem) and holds together well when blended with other flours. There's just one problem with it...I HATE its flavor and texture in baked goods!

Honestly, there are people who aren't bothered by it, but I know for a fact that there are LOTS of people who really have a hard time with it, choking it down just so that they can have a sandwich every once in awhile. With a husband who has always had texture issues, this quickly became a real problem. I was having to buy separate loaves of regular bread for him, which was not cost effective, and when I made bread at home using the conventional brown rice based flour mixes, half of the loaf would end up in the trash (also not cost effective) because the kids and I could only stomach it when it first came out of the oven.

That is when I set out on a mission to find a BETTER flour mix.

The best resource I found to help me with my experimenting was http://www.livingwithout.com/. They have an entire section devoted to all the different flours, including how to use them, ratios for optimum moisture content, etc. Here is the link to that specific page: http://www.livingwithout.com/issues/4_1/gluten_free_flour-1073-1.html

After weeks of experimenting, I came up with a winner! A mix based on Oat flour turned out to be perfect for our family. The texture is great and there is no funny aftertaste like we had experienced with the brown rice flour. It works well in bread, cookies, waffles, pancakes, cakes, etc. The only hitch is that those who have serious gluten allergies need to make sure the oat flour they buy is certified gluten free. One way of getting around this is to simply grind your own oat flour in a blender that has never been in contact with gluten, using uncooked whole oats (oatmeal).

I would like to encourage everyone to visit the link above to read up on all the flours. Perhaps something different will work better for your family. Maybe, for you, quinoa flour would be better than oat. Have fun! Experiment! Bottom line, just because you can't have gluten doesn't mean you have to eat things that are barely palatable. The whole reason I started this blog was to encourage others on this journey that we truly can have a wonderful life, eating great-tasting food that doesn't make us sick. You can have MORE life in the gluten-less world.

And if you need something palatable in the meantime, while you are figuring out what will work best for your family, try my flour mix! I am re-posting it here.

Andria's All Purpose Gluten Free Flour Mix

3 cups Whole Oat Flour

2 cups Sweet Sorghum Flour

1 and 1/2 cups Tapioca Flour (not starch)

1 and 1/2 cups Potato Starch (not flour)

Mix well in mixer until well blended.

Yields 8 cups of flour