Re: Sorghum flour

[Guest guest]

At 03:34 PM 7/8/2002 +0000, you wrote:

>Heidi,

>

>You've mentioned that you use sorghum flour in your baking. Does it

>have a slight grainy texture to it? I made some pancakes the other

>day with a mixture of flours, part sorghum, and there was a slight

>grainy texture to the pancakes. Thanks.

No, it's very soft and light. I get my sorghum flour from

www.twinvalleymills.com. Some people

are buying it from Indian grocery stores, I don't know how

fine they grind it. The stuff I get, if you taste it, seems identical

to white flour. It's whole grain, but it doesn't have the

off-taste the whole wheat seems to have. I usually cook it with

some kefir too, and the kefir seems to be hydrophilic so the

product is very soft anyway.

I've found the bean flours DO tend to be grainy (esp. if you eat them raw)

and also it seems that bean flour, being raw, isn't a great idea

anyway unless you really soak it.

Heidi

[Guest guest]

> >You've mentioned that you use sorghum flour in your baking. Does

it

> >have a slight grainy texture to it? >

> No, it's very soft and light. I get my sorghum flour from

> www.twinvalleymills.com. Some people

> are buying it from Indian grocery stores, I don't know how

> fine they grind it. The stuff I get, if you taste it, seems

identical

> to white flour. It's whole grain, but it doesn't have the

> off-taste the whole wheat seems to have. I usually cook it with

> some kefir too, and the kefir seems to be hydrophilic so the

> product is very soft anyway.

Do you know of any other flour that has a grainy texture to it,

besides rice flour?

Peace and Love of Christ be with you,

Robin

[Guest guest]

At 12:56 AM 7/9/2002 +0000, you wrote:

>Do you know of any other flour that has a grainy texture to it,

>besides rice flour?

>

>Peace and Love of Christ be with you,

>Robin

It just depends on how finely they are ground, I think. My rice flour isn't

grainy either.

It's more like corn starch. But when I grind rice myself, it IS grainy, because

my mill isn't all that good!

Do you WANT a grainy flour? Or are you stuck with some? When I buy

gluten-free mixes the mix is typically grainy, but it bakes up ok (except

they are not as digestible as my nice sorghum+kefir). When I use

corn meal (grainy) I soak it for awhile and it gets softer, so it isn't

grainy in the final product.

Heidi Schuppenhauer

Trillium Custom Software Inc.

heidis@...

[Guest guest]

> It just depends on how finely they are ground, I think. My rice

flour isn't

> grainy either.

> It's more like corn starch. But when I grind rice myself, it IS

grainy, because

> my mill isn't all that good!

>

> Do you WANT a grainy flour? Or are you stuck with some? When I buy

> gluten-free mixes the mix is typically grainy, but it bakes up ok

(except

> they are not as digestible as my nice sorghum+kefir). When I use

> corn meal (grainy) I soak it for awhile and it gets softer, so it

isn't

> grainy in the final product.

>

>

> Heidi Schuppenhauer

> Trillium Custom Software Inc.

> heidis@t...

The rice flour I've gotten has always been grainy. I've just stopped

getting it because of that. I don't want grainy flour. I don't mind

it so much but my family does. Do you always get your flour from the

place you mentioned? None of their flour is grainy (in the final

baked product)? I had soaked my pancake batter and it still had that

grainy feel to it in our mouth. I wish I could remember what flours

I had used. I guess I still need to do some experimenting.

Peace and Love of Christ be with you,

Robin

[Guest guest]

At 02:51 PM 7/9/2002 +0000, you wrote:

>The rice flour I've gotten has always been grainy. I've just stopped

>getting it because of that. I don't want grainy flour. I don't mind

>it so much but my family does. Do you always get your flour from the

>place you mentioned? None of their flour is grainy (in the final

>baked product)? I had soaked my pancake batter and it still had that

>grainy feel to it in our mouth. I wish I could remember what flours

>I had used. I guess I still need to do some experimenting.

>

>Peace and Love of Christ be with you,

>Robin

Where are you getting your flour? I've been using Bob's Red Mill flours and

one commercial brand of rice flour they have at the supermarket. I'm pretty

much doing only sorghum now though because it works like wheat flour

for the most part.

Heidi

[Guest guest]

> Where are you getting your flour? I've been using Bob's Red Mill

flours and

> one commercial brand of rice flour they have at the supermarket.

I'm pretty

> much doing only sorghum now though because it works like wheat flour

> for the most part.

>

>

> Heidi

I usually use Bob's Red Mill flours. The rice flour happened to be

from a bulk bin at the health food store. Do your products come out

heavy using only sorghum flour? I looked at that sight you mentioned

and somewhere in there, someone mentioned adding some cornstarch to

sorghum flour. I looked up some information on cornstarch and found

that cornstarch breaks down in an acidic base. Since my batter is

acid based that won't work. I also found out that potato starch is

very similar to cornstarch but won't break down in an acidic medium.

Do you think adding potato starch would help the final product turn

out lighter? I wouldn't even bother going through all this because I

don't mind heavier, heartier products. My family turns their nose up

at stuff that has a strong flavor and/or is heavy. We definitely

have decided that we don't like the flavor and heaviness of wheat

flour in baked goods. It's okay in breads and such, but not in

sweets. I have been experimenting with spelt, sorghum, and barley

flours, as a base, mixing in some tapioca and/or oat flour, or

whatever other flours I have on hand. I got Bette Hagman's cookbooks

from the library and have been doing a lot of research on flours

(doing research on the internet as well). I'm trying to come up with

a combination of flours that give a good texture, gentler flavor, and

still produces a light product. It has taken me a lot of

experimentation but I'm close. I just made a batch of cookies last

night that my husband declared a success. Previous batches lacked in

one way or another. Anyway, I have been having fun figuring out how

to cook with a wide variety of whole grains, having our food

healthier, and the challenge of turning out something that my family

likes. Cooking has always been my hobby, and this makes it a lot

more interesting.

Peace and Love of Christ be with you,

Robin

[Guest guest]

At 09:25 PM 7/9/2002 +0000, you wrote:

>I usually use Bob's Red Mill flours. The rice flour happened to be

>from a bulk bin at the health food store. Do your products come out

>heavy using only sorghum flour? I looked at that sight you mentioned

>and somewhere in there, someone mentioned adding some cornstarch to

>sorghum flour. I looked up some information on cornstarch and found

>that cornstarch breaks down in an acidic base.

I do add cornstarch sometimes, and Xanthan. Perhaps it breaks

down, I don't know. But the baked goods turn out ok.

But I'm like you -- I don't

care much if it's " light " . If I want something light though, I usually beat

a mess of eggwhites and mix the batter into the whites (think angel food

cake). Also I finally gave up on baked goods -- I've made some pretty

good ones, but the only ones that get EATEN are:

-- My oatmeal cookies

-- Cornbread

-- Brownies

-- Waffles

-- Pancakes

-- Flatbread

-- Fruit cobblers

-- Pies

None of which are " light and fluffy " . Well, maybe the waffles and pancakes,

but those are EASY. Sometimes I buy GF mixes and make bread so

people don't feel deprived, but they just don't finish the loaf (they didn't

when we had wheat bread either).

It's okay in breads and such, but not in

>sweets.

What kind of sweets are you after? My cookies are very light and

cake like (sorghum only). I gave the recipe some time ago, but

I'll send it again if you want.

>I have been experimenting with spelt, sorghum, and barley

>flours, as a base, mixing in some tapioca and/or oat flour, or

>whatever other flours I have on hand.

Have you tried the sorghum by itself? Spelt and barley are heavier.

I just got the sorghum cookbook, I haven't tried any recipes yet though.

If you tell me what you are looking for, I'll see what I can come up with.

>I got Bette Hagman's cookbooks

>from the library and have been doing a lot of research on flours

>(doing research on the internet as well). I'm trying to come up with

>a combination of flours that give a good texture, gentler flavor, and

>still produces a light product. It has taken me a lot of

>experimentation but I'm close. I just made a batch of cookies last

>night that my husband declared a success. Previous batches lacked in

>one way or another. Anyway, I have been having fun figuring out how

>to cook with a wide variety of whole grains, having our food

>healthier, and the challenge of turning out something that my family

>likes. Cooking has always been my hobby, and this makes it a lot

>more interesting.

Cool! Publish your results here!

Heidi

[Guest guest]

> What kind of sweets are you after? My cookies are very light and

> cake like (sorghum only). I gave the recipe some time ago, but

> I'll send it again if you want.

We want recipes for cookies, brownies, coffeecakes, cakes (cupcakes),

etc. The recipe I am working on now is for chocolate chip cookies.

We like our cookies chewy unless they need to be cake like. I also

did find out that honey does cause your baked goods to have a cake

like texture, so I will only use honey in cakes, breads, etc. For

cookies, though, and brownies, we like chewy and gooey, so I don't

use honey. I am using dehydrated cane juice (I won't buy the Sucanat

brand anymore. I'll tell why later, for those who care) for my

cookies. I have a bag of sweet whey powder from Bob's Red Mill and

it says you can substitute it for white sugar. I'm starting a batch

of cookies this morning and I used the sweet whey in place of the

white sugar and used the dehydrated cane juice in place of the brown

sugar. I also decided to use a mixture of sorghum flour and potato

starch, as I mentioned before. I hope they turn out even better than

last time. I'll let you know.

> Have you tried the sorghum by itself? Spelt and barley are heavier.

> I just got the sorghum cookbook, I haven't tried any recipes yet

though.

> If you tell me what you are looking for, I'll see what I can come

up with.

Right now, my focus is on the flavor more than the " heaviness " of the

flour I'm using because I can lighten the batter up by using extra

leavening, etc., if I need to. I do want my cakes, breads, etc., to

be as light as possible, but if it doesn't taste good it definitely

won't get eaten. I have learned from Bette's books the importance of

having the right flour mix for the texture you are trying to

achieve. Also, I do have xanthan gum and guar gum that I use, when

needed. So, I guess right now, the all-purpose mix I'm working on is

for things that I want to turn out gooey and chewy, like cookies and

brownies; things that don't need to be light and fluffy. I'll work

on breads next. I'm realizing already that I need to dump that

pumpkin muffin recipe I posted. I know I can get them to taste

better than that.

I'm trying to come up with

> >a combination of flours that give a good texture, gentler flavor,

and

> >still produces a light product. It has taken me a lot of

> >experimentation but I'm close. I just made a batch of cookies last

> >night that my husband declared a success.

I just realized that this statement made it sound like I wanted cake

like cookies (light). I was speaking about baking in general and

just mentioned the cookies because they were my most recent

experiment. I also have a blueberry lemon coffeecake that is almost

perfected.

Peace and Love of Christ be with you,

Robin

[Guest guest]

Well, you are way more advanced than me, I can tell! I think the

challenge to chewiness comes from lack of sugar: the sugar/butter

combo when baked leads to chewiness. But my crew doesn't like

chewy cookies so I try to make them cakey. The kefir/sorghum

is really good for that. (kefir, sorghum, baking powder/soda: it fizzes when

you mix it.!).

-- Heidi

At 04:10 PM 7/10/2002 +0000, you wrote:

>Right now, my focus is on the flavor more than the " heaviness " of the

>flour I'm using because I can lighten the batter up by using extra

>leavening, etc., if I need to. I do want my cakes, breads, etc., to

>be as light as possible, but if it doesn't taste good it definitely

>won't get eaten. I have learned from Bette's books the importance of

>having the right flour mix for the texture you are trying to

>achieve. Also, I do have xanthan gum and guar gum that I use, when

>needed. So, I guess right now, the all-purpose mix I'm working on is

>for things that I want to turn out gooey and chewy, like cookies and

>brownies; things that don't need to be light and fluffy. I'll work

>on breads next. I'm realizing already that I need to dump that

>pumpkin muffin recipe I posted. I know I can get them to taste

>better than that.

[Guest guest]

--- In @y..., " givemeamomenttothink " <deweyli@e...>

wrote:

I'm starting a batch

> of cookies this morning and I used the sweet whey in place of the

> white sugar and used the dehydrated cane juice in place of the

brown

> sugar. I also decided to use a mixture of sorghum flour and potato

> starch, as I mentioned before. I hope they turn out even better

than

> last time. I'll let you know.

I just made the chocolate chip cookies. The flavor was so good but

the texture was cake like. It seems as though sorghum flour

naturally produces a cake like texture, which is great for cakes,

bread, etc. It doesn't even seem to make a difference if you add

extra liquid to the recipe. I added (one tablespoon at a time) whey,

to the point where the cookie dough was almost a batter instead of a

(cookie) dough, and they still came out the same. I am eager to try

cake, bread, muffin, and other recipes that will do good with the

texture that the sorghum flour gives. I definitely like the flavor

of sorghum over the other flours I have used so far. Also, it was

the sorghum flour that created that grainy texture (we could feel it

in our mouth) in our pancakes the other morning. The cookies are

slightly grainy as well, although not as noticeable as it was in the

pancakes. I get Bob's Red Mill Sorghum flour. I guess I need to get

a different brand or e-mail them and ask if they can mill it finer.

Peace and Love of Christ be with you,

Robin