We have all seen the variety of gluten-free flour blends that different brands sell. They even label them for different purposes.
The big question… is there any better than the other?
I have tried a variety of different flour blends when trying my recipes, and I arrived at the conclusion that the best one is the one that you can make at home, but why?
Well, the first and most obvious one is the cost. Pre-made gluten-free flours are absurdly costly and MANY of them are really bad (and some don’t even work, which is worse). They are many times unbalanced and have nasty flavours. Usually, they say that you can replace cup-for-cup the wheat flour for any recipe, but of course, they can’t do that simply because of how these flours work. Be wary that although you can make a cheaper flour blend at home that works well, there are also more complicated and special ones that skyrocket the price as well.
Another issue is the versatility of creating your own flour. Having the knowledge of what each flour, starch, gums, and other things that we incorporate into our blend opens up the possibility of creating a specific blend for each preparation that we want to make. Of course, one cannot imagine having to create and think a blend for each recipe, it’s unrealistic (ain’t nobody got time for that!). That is why we usually create a few blends that we know work best for either bread or baking for example.
The last issue I want to mention is allergies. Commonly, celiac people are suceptible to multiple allergies, it is not only gluten that hurts them. A clear example is that celiacs are propense to develop lactose intolerance. And not just that, I see all the time people allergic to eggs, nuts, corn, sulphites or whatever you can think about. That is why it is very important for us to know our body and make a blend that won’t hurt us.
The reason behind telling you this is because I want to raise the standards in taste, texture, and quality that we are usually forced to lower because of carrying on a gluten-free life. When I was diagnosed, I was completely stunned by how things tasted or even the texture they had. Everything was weird, usually dry and flavourless. It was really hard to find something that I could say: “It is ok since it is gluten-free”. I just couldn’t settle with that, and started studying, practicing and experimenting to make food taste and feel good so nobody would notice that they were gluten-free. Food that was just delicious, period.
The conclusion I reached was that I needed my own flour blend to make things right, and now, it is your time to start trying to make your own food taste as good or better than it was made with gluten.
In the next posts, I will be showing you different blends that have worked for me and that you can use in the recipes shown here in the blog. Don’t worry, I’ll start with an easy one 😉
See you around the blog!
Remember, if you have any questions or doubts just send me an email and I’ll answer as soon as possible!
