My New Toy - KitchenAid Grain Mill

Some may not consider a KitchenAid grain mill something worth getting excited over but to me it is one of the coolest things. There is something very comforting to me about getting back to the old way of cooking. I know that I am doing the very best I can to keep my family healthy with nourishing foods. Each time I attend a Weston Price conference I am more convinced of this. So much vitality and positive *emotion* flows from the people there. It's inspiring.

So now I have a grain mill. Why did I want this? For two reasons. Gluten free flours are more difficult to get quickly. This way I can stock the grains and grind as I need them. No more bags all over the house of 20 different flours. Of course there will be some that still remain like teff and sorghum. But brown rice and white rice are easy now. Second, as I read more I am learning that as soon as the kernel of the grain is broken it begins to deteriorate. The wonderful vitamins and oils within it begin to diminish and go rancid. Since we are eating food to be nourished it makes little sense to use something that is less than optimal. I have also read that rancid oils can be damaging to our bodies. That got my attention!

So now you can see what the grain mill looks like attached to the end of my mixer. A little tip for those of you who may want to buy one. Take your 20% off Coupon to Bed Bath & Beyond and have them order the grain mill for you. If you get it before the end of the year you can send a refund offer into KitchenAid for another 20% off. It's a great deal!

This is the end knob. You can see how it turns 360 degrees around to go from fine to course grind.

This is the top of the hopper - see the rice in the bottom. It's almost finished......

And here it is....... my first batch of freshly ground white rice flour. My next step is to learn how to soak my flour to get it to break down the phylates that make grains hard to digest. Nourishing Traditions book (by Sally Fallon) here I come.......

Keep watching my blog to see how my new adventure with a grain mill goes.

To your health.

Stephanie

Gluten Free Cake Flour Mix

I use this mixture for my cakes. It works very well and creates a gluten like cake.

Gluten Free Cake Flour Mix

3 Cups Brown Rice Flour
1 Cup Potato Starch (not potato flour)
1/2 Cup Tapioca Flour
1 1/2 tsp guar gum or xanthan gum

Sift ingredients together, combining thoroughly. Use in place of flour in cakes and other baked goods. Store in a ziplock bag or airtight container.

Printer Friendly Version

Mock Better Batter Mix

A gluten free group I am on set out to figure out the ingredients and combinations in the better batter flour blend. They came up with a mix that seems to have worked.

MOCK BETTER BATTER

2 cups brown rice flour
2 cups white rice flour
1 cup tapicoa starch
1 cup potato starch
1/4 cup potato flour
1/4 cup xanthan gum
1/8 cup pectin

Printer friendly version

Pamela's Gluten Free Bread Mix & Flour Blend - Update

The plot thickens...... Today when I was making another loaf of bread with the mix I received the other day I noticed that the ingredients on the bag are not what is listed on Amazon.com for this item. So here are the ingredients of the various products for your reference.

Wheat Free Bread Mix

INGREDIENTS: Sorghum Flour, Tapioca Flour, Sweet Rice Flour, Brown Rice Flour, Organic Natural Evaporated Cane Sugar, Chicory Root, White Rice Flour, Millet Flour, Honey and Molasses; Rice Bran, Sea Salt, Xanthan Gum, Yeast Packet.

Bread Mix & Flour Blend

AMAZON INGREDIENTS: Tapioca Flour White Rice Flour Organic Evaporated Cane Sugar Brown Rice Flour Sweet Rice Flour Sorghum Flour Xanthan Gum. Yeast Not Included. Sea Salt Rice Bran Molasses & Honey Millet Flour Chicory Root

PACKAGE INGREDIENTS: Sorghum Flour; Tapioca Flour; White Rice Flour; Sweet Rice Flour; Brown Rice Flour; Organic Evaporated Cane Sugar; Chicory Root; Millet Flour; Molasses & Honey; Rice Bran; Sea Salt; Xanthan Gum. Yeast Not Included.

Pamela's Wheat Free Bread Mix vs Bread Mix & Flour Blend

The Taste Test - Pamela's Wheat Free Bread Mix vs Bread Mix & Flour Blend



Pamela's came out with a new flour mix called the "Bread Mix & Flour Blend". It is available in 4 lb bags. I decided to try it yesterday and made some hamburger buns and a mini loaf. I had made a Wheat Free Bread Mix on Sunday so now was the time to do a taste test side by side.

I posted a picture (above) of the two breads side by side. The small loaf slice is the new bread mix and the larger one (right) is the old Wheat Free version. They look the same. Same color and texture. But would they taste the same?

So I warmed them both up a tad and added some butter. I think the "Wheat Free" was a little sweeter and this is probably due to more sorghum in the ingredients but to be honest. If you gave me both and didn't tell me I would think they were the same thing. It took several back and forth of tasting to even notice the slight difference.

So thumbs up for the new mix. You get 3 - 4 lb bags on Amazon.com for $35 with free shipping.

Wheat Free Bread Mix

INGREDIENTS: Sorghum Flour, Tapioca Flour, Sweet Rice Flour, Brown Rice Flour, Organic Natural Evaporated Cane Sugar, Chicory Root, White Rice Flour, Millet Flour, Honey and Molasses; Rice Bran, Sea Salt, Xanthan Gum, Yeast Packet.

Bread Mix & Flour Blend

INGREDIENTS: Tapioca Flour White Rice Flour Organic Evaporated Cane Sugar Brown Rice Flour Sweet Rice Flour Sorghum Flour Xanthan Gum. Yeast Not Included. Sea Salt Rice Bran Molasses & Honey Millet Flour Chicory Root

Assembling the Flour Mixture

I decided to mix up a batch of the flour mixture today. I tried using one of my Tupperware cereal containers and it worked quite well. I could put all my flour in it and then shake it to mix them together. It will also work to put it into the freezer to store.

I also wanted to figure out how much this mixture cost to make. I

used 2 bags of Bob's Red Mill White Rice Flour + 1 Cup, 1 Cup of Ener G Potato Starch and 1 Cup of Tapioca Flour / Starch from my local health food store. The total was about $11.50 for a little over 4 lbs of flour mixture (11 cups).

Off to do more baking..........

To your health!

Gluten Free Flour Mix

Gluten Free Flour Mix

9 Cups White Rice Flour
2 Cups Potato Starch
1 Cup Tapioca Starch / Flour
Blend well and store in an airtight container.

This mix can be substituted 1 for 1 where flour is indicated. Use one tsp of xantham gum per cup used of mixture.

Budget Tip:
I have been able to go to my local Asian markets and purchase white rice, potato starch and tapioca starch all for .89 - .99 cents per lb. They are ground very fine and make your baked goods nice and light and not gritty as some gluten free flours tend to be.