Gluten Free? Wheat Free? 10 Cooking And Baking Tips
Finding out that you need to follow a gluten free or wheat free diet can be disappointing. Not only do you face the prospect of always having to think about everything in your diet, but the future can look dismal if you think that you will never be able to enjoy bread or cakes again. While cooking and baking for a wheat and gluten free diet can involve making changes to the way you cook, it should not mean you have to give up the food you love. Best 10 Tips brings you some useful tips and advice on wheat free and gluten free cooking.
- Wheat Free Flours - There are many alternatives to wheat flour that derive from a variety of sources. Spelt Flour, Rice Flour, Buckwheat, Soya Flour, Tapioca and Potato flour are just some of them. Although none of them are a direct substitute for wheat flour, they can provide a useful base to your wheat and gluten free cooking.
- There are some good specialist blended wheat and gluten free flours available. They are often a mix of some of the above flours and are specially made to replace normal wheat flour in traditional recipes. These flours are versatile and recipes can be often easily adapted to get good results.
- Xanthum Gum is an essential ingredient in wheat and gluten free cooking. It helps to recreate some of the natural properties of wheat flour such as elasticity and springiness.
- To create a wheat free self-raising flour, use gluten free baking powder with your specialist blended flour. Bear in mind that baking powder can flavour your mixture quite strongly so experiment with the quantities.
- Many of the wheat and gluten free flour replacements tend to be more absorbant than wheat flour so be prepared to add a little more liquid to your cooking and baking mixes.
- None of the flour replacements taste like wheat flour, some of them have quite unusual flavours so modify your cooking ambitions to suit. I find that wheat free scones are more successful with the addition of sultanas as the fruit masks any odd flavours from the blended gluten free flour.
- Because wheat free flours are often blended using lots of different ingredients they can seperate during cooking. When using gluten free pancake batter, you have to keep mixing the batter every time you pour another pancake. I have never perfected wheat free Yorkshire puddings, as the heavier elements in the flour sink to the bottom of the puddings in the oven, and they fail to rise or cook properly.
- Cornflower is another fantastic ingredient that you can use to help with the elasticity of your wheat free mixes. It is also great for thickening sauces.
- Get a bread making machine. These are great, not only for making wheat free bread, but cake mixes and pizza dough as well. There are a number of good books available with wheat free and gluten free recipes specifically for a breadmaker.
- If you use a breadmaker for your cooking and baking, make sure that you measure the ingredients really accurately. Also don’t leave the machine until after it has finished mixing your ingredients. Before the cooking process starts, scrape down the sides of the machine with a plastic spoon or spatula and give it a stir. This will ensure that your wheat and gluten free mixture is successful.
Wheat and Gluten Free recommended reading:
- Real Food: Gluten-free Bread and Cakes from Your Breadmaker
- If you are coeliac or have a wheat intolerance this book will change your life!! It’s worth buying just for the Everyday White Bread recipe. Also available in the US at Amazon.com
- Gluten-free Food
- Recipes and Practical Advice. Also available in the US at Amazon.com
If you have any of your own useful tips for successful Gluten and Wheat Free Cooking, leave them in the comment section below.
