Quoted from Landie

RuthieGirl (or any Type Os out there) - I'm about to tackle some serious O-friendly baking, and I was wondering about the potato starch. I haven't had a white potato since I started this eating plan in January, and I don't want to start slipping and sliding off track.  Do you think the use of potato starch as part of the gluten-free flour mixture is a big deviation for a Type O, or not signficant?  I hadn't read about arrowroot, so I'll do some research on that to see if I might go that route instead.

I've grown quite a  bit in terms of nutritional knowledge since I shared that gluten-free flour mixture on this thread nearly 2 years ago. I no longer eat potato starch at all, as I've found that it leads to carby cravings. I've also learned that none of the gums (such as xanthan gum) are BTD compliant either. Gums were a big part of the texture of gluten-free baked goods, especially breads and cakes. The gums substitute for the gluten in terms of holding the dough together, but they're also hard on the gut lining (just as gluten is.)

I now mostly bake with plain rice flour, rather than any complicated flour mixtures. For cookies and pizza dough, this works just fine. For cakes, I find that I need extra oil and/or eggs in the recipe, so the moisture holds the dough together rather than gluten or  gums. The result is more crumbly than "traditional" cakes, but still quite yummy. Sometimes I'll use a mixture of rice flour and arrowroot in a cake, but it's easier just to use the rice flour by itself. I don't attempt to bake rice flour based sandwich breads at all.

Most of the baking I do for my kids (and for guests) is with spelt flour. I buy both white spelt and whole grain spelt flours, and use them just like I used to use all-purpose and whole wheat flours. Whole grain makes yummy pizza dough or pitas, white (with a bit of whole) makes good challah, whole (with a bit of white) makes good sandwich bread, and the white makes great pie crusts, cookies, and cakes. I now only bake gluten-free goodies if I plan to personally eat some of it (as I don't tolerate spelt well.) Spelt is easier to work with than rice flour, and produces results indistinguishable from wheat products (according to many wheat-eating guests.)

Spelt is neutral for O secretors, but an avoid for O non-secretors and a black dot on my personal SWAMI (meaning it's something I should only have a few times a year.) It's also not appropriate for somebody with Celiac Disease. So not all Os can use spelt, and the information on baking with rice flour is still important.

Quoted from 13708

The main thing I have learn't is do not try to bake what wheat bakes but learn to bake what Rice bakes.

That's great advice!

It really applies to more than just baking- it applies to all kinds of cooking and meal planning.

I made brown rice starter flour with kefir milk whey. I started the starter with brown rice flour and water and sealed up the mason jar! Big mistake because the starter flour could not "breathe".

The kefir whey (added about 1/8 cup or slightly more) made my dough rise like crazy. I went into the kitchen yesterday and found the dough trying to flow out of the jar (I had covered the jar with a coffee filter so it could breathe).

I took some of the dough and fried it up in my cast iron skillet without mixing anything. It was chewy, fluffy, and crispy.

I am looking forward to making actual sourdough pancakes, sourdough bread, and other things. The starter flour is used in place of baker's yeast. After my little experiment, I don't think I will miss any sort of commercial yeast, ever!

The mason jar just sits outside on my counter and I just "feed" the starter flour 2-3 times a day. I just make sure not to give it too much brown rice flour or I will end up with too much dough.

One thing I learned using kefir whey in the starter flour mix is that I should stir the starter flour mixture well before pouring it into the skillet... Some parts of my "pancake" tasted sour like kefir while the other parts did not. Otherwise, it tasted really good.

Quoted from passionprincess

I went into the kitchen yesterday and found the dough trying to flow out of the jar (I had covered the jar with a coffee filter so it could breathe).

   Sounds like it is alive eh? Which I guess it is  

Uhmmmm very much so! It is almost too active! My milk kefir grains practically doubled within a week so I can make 2 quart bottles daily - which is great since I drink almost a quart a day (yeah, I am a kefir hog; The liquidy kefir makes it much easier to drink on a whim than solid Greek yogurt.).

Quoted from Possum

   Sounds like it is alive eh? Which I guess it is  

Sounds inspiring Must check out what the kefir starter in my fridge is doing... I am told it is impossible to kill them I am also getting inspired to make bread from rice flour, so appreciate your tips re kefir

I did not know they were that hardy.

Dom (kefir site guy) writes that you can also eat the grains. If you have a lot, maybe you can try that and incorporate it into your cooking.

Please post your rice flour recipes once you get your breads started. Would love to try them! Thanks!!!

Quoted from Possum

Sounds inspiring Must check out what the kefir starter in my fridge is doing... I am told it is impossible to kill them I am also getting inspired to make bread from rice flour, so appreciate your tips re kefir

As a gluten free pastry chef, I can tell you that you'll need a combination of a few different flours to mimic all purpose flour. I use a combination of white and brown rice flours, arrowroot and tapioca flour. This combination has allowed me to transfer all of my traditional recipes to gluten free without a loss of flavor, texture or tradition. For every cup of all purpose flour, it is recommended that you use 1/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum. Now, with all of this said, I'm in the process of researching my recipes to that of the type A diet. I hope I can help anyone who is considering a Gf way of eating.

Quoted from 15581

As a gluten free pastry chef, I can tell you that you'll need a combination of a few different flours to mimic all purpose flour. I use a combination of white and brown rice flours, arrowroot and tapioca flour. This combination has allowed me to transfer all of my traditional recipes to gluten free without a loss of flavor, texture or tradition. For every cup of all purpose flour, it is recommended that you use 1/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum. Now, with all of this said, I'm in the process of researching my recipes to that of the type A diet. I hope I can help anyone who is considering a Gf way of eating.

Would you please post your all purpose GF flour mix?  I have used some combinations from online and book recipes but just haven't found the right mix yet.  

I am a flop at making good gf bread. I don't know if it is possible to not get a really dense bread baking gluten free.  I really miss rye bread and the occasional graham cracker.  I can't handle flax seed right now so I don't bake with that at all.

gfpastrychef -

Would greatly appreciated your gf flour mix.
I tried to make cinnamon buns a few weeks ago from an internet recipe, not very palatable!

Thanks a bunch!

Quoted from 15581

As a gluten free pastry chef, I can tell you that you'll need a combination of a few different flours to mimic all purpose flour. I use a combination of white and brown rice flours, arrowroot and tapioca flour. This combination has allowed me to transfer all of my traditional recipes to gluten free without a loss of flavor, texture or tradition. For every cup of all purpose flour, it is recommended that you use 1/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum. Now, with all of this said, I'm in the process of researching my recipes to that of the type A diet. I hope I can help anyone who is considering a Gf way of eating.

I used to use a mixture of white or brown rice flour, potato or corn starch, and xanthan gum. When I started BTD, I switched to using arrowroot flour in place of the corn or potato starch,  and omitted the xanthan gum (since it's corn-based and an avoid for Os and Bs.)  I quickly realized that plain old rice flour worked fine in many recipes (such as pancakes, pizza dough, and muffins) and there was no need for a complicated mixture of flours.

It's hard to get the  texture quite the same without the xanthan gum, but the whole point of changing the flours is to improve health, and xanthan gum isn't something that's health-promoting.

I also use a lot of white spelt flour in my baking. It's not gluten-free, but it's appropriate for all Bs and for O secretors.

GFPastryChef,

I am willing to accept any help that you can offer regarding gf baking. Thanks. Looking everyday to see if you are still posting.

Another trick I learned is to use dry pectin in your rice based yeast breads to help give it stretch. I make a yeast batter bread that will actually hold together long enough to toast. It is still a little soft for spreading stuff on it so I also would be interested in more bread recipies.

What is dry pectin please?

I do the same as Ruthie, brown rice flour and sometimes spelt, depending. Cookies are too soft with just spelt so I use 1/2 and 1/2. Breads too but haven't made a sandwhich type bread yet, just pumpkin, banana, etc. All tastes great

Quoted from Possum

What is dry pectin please?

Pectin occurs naturally in some fruits and vegetables. It is used to thicken jams, jellies and preserves.

You can buy both dry and liquid forms at grocery stores.

Kraft Foods makes the most common brand of dry pectin: Sure-Jell.

http://www.kraftbrands.com/surejell/products.aspx

Chemically it is a mixture of polymers of D-galacturonic acid.

Thanks for that I was having a mental blank when I asked,(& knew I had used it before) but of course it's the good old jam setter...

I just bought white rice flour yesterday to try and make baked goods and to use as a substitute for flour, sine that is not allowed. I will try out some recipes, and will buy arrowroot flour as well. i have xantham gum, but will try not to use it much. Thanks to all who contributed

I found this recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies using almond meal (flour) and although they don't rise very high, they are super tasty.  One time I did add a little rice flour and that seemed to make them stand up a little better (depends on the style of cookies you like).

http://meaningfuleats.blogspot.com/2012/11/almond-flour-chocolate-chip-cookies.html

mtmom3,thanks for sharing!

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welcome!

I use Bob's Red Mill brown rice flour and find if there is at least one egg per 2 cups of flour or less it holds together well in any recipe I've tried.  I bake biscuits, cookies, cakes, brownies, pie crust, pizza crust, and pancakes this way and don't have to deal with all the odd ingredients in pre-made baked goods from the store.  

I LOVE brown rice pancakes with a little lemon juice and powdered sugar on top or a smidge of maple syrup. I'm making myself hungry here.

I make a thick batter type biscuit with no oil/fat that I bake on a cookie sheet and slice in half for sandwiches.  Nothing fancy but does the trick.

  

Kitari,
I use Bob's brown rice flour, too! I love the taste! No need for gums or mixing with other flours...I use it to make everything...just as I would/used to with wheat flour.