Rice flours are staples in most gluten free kitchens. They are the main ingredient in most store bought and homemade blends, so it is perfect for our gluten free food fact today.
Brown rice flour and white rice flour are just what they sound like they are, they are ground brown and white rice. You can buy brown rice and white rice flour or you can grind your own using brown or white rice.
Store bought rice flours can vary greatly in how fine they are. If you try brown or white rice flour and do not like it, I would try a different brand. Some brands have made my food gritty and others have not. I like Bob’s Red Mill Rice Flours
. They are pretty readily available and I have had good results in using them, but there are other good brands of rice flours out there.
One question I am often asked about rice flours is if brown rice can be substituted in recipes that call for white rice flour and they answer is usually, yes.
Baking with brown rice flour versus white rice flour is a lot like using whole wheat instead of regular flour in recipes. The results may vary a little, but it will work.
I often use a mix of both. If a recipe calls for 1 cup rice flour, I will often substitute half of that with brown rice flour.
I have also been known to use what I have. I try not to run out of rice flours because they are a pretty basic ingredient in a gluten free kitchen, but if I run out of white rice flour and only have brown rice flour, that is what I will use.
Now, I know a lot of people are anti rice flours for various reasons. Some are allergic, some think they produce gummy results, and others don’t like them for health reasons, but I am an everything in moderation type person.
If one of us were allergic to rice, I would totally stay away from it, but occasionally using it in my gluten free baking is something I am fine with. The fact is that I do a lot less baking now that we are gluten free and if rice flours give me the best results for the baking I do, I am fine with using it.
And as far as the gummy texture, I have not found that at all. In fact in breads, rolls, biscuits, etc., I have found rice flours to give me the lightest and fluffiest results.
What are your thoughts on rice flours? And I would love to hear what brands you like to use.
Your GF cake recipes using rice flours are the best I’ve ever had. I love the moist texture the rice flours give in them.
Thanks, I am glad that you enjoy them.
I think Authentic Foods https://authenticfoods.com/ makes the best, finest ground flours. However, they are pretty expensive and not super convenient for me to get locally, so I tend to use Bob’s Red Mill. I can’t imagine baking gf without rice flours. I have never heard of that before.
I recently tried to make a carob recipe which called for rice flour, carob powder, water, and little vanilla extract. I substituted the rice flour with brown rice flour and vanilla extract with pancake syrup. It’s supposed to (according to the recipe) produce a very crumbly texture but instead I got a very sticky dough. I’ve done some research and still have mixed results; some say that these rice flours are sticky yet others say it does not. When I attempted to make this recipe again using whole wheat flour, the stickiness was still there. Is it the carob powder that is making the dough sticky? I’m stumped.
I have never used carob powder for cooking like that, so I am not sure. Sorry I can’t be of more help.
What do you suggest is the best pasta?
Is quinoa better than the rice? What other kinds are there? On our 1 day a week pasta & HM turkey meatball dinner the scale goes up & I gain weight after having the rice pasta. Then it takes me a day or 2 to get back. What do you suggest. I am trying to lose weight. Thank you, Junie
Here is a post I did about gluten free pastas. I give my favorites and there are a lot of good tips in the comments. I hope that helps. https://www.lynnskitchenadventures.com/2014/01/best-gluten-free-pasta.html
I have been experimenting with rice/tapioca pancakes and they taste good but cause “cotton-mouth”. Adding more oil didn’t seem to help. Adding yogurt helped a little and made them fluffier. Are there any general rules about making baked good less dry?
Here’s what I last tried:
4 tbs red rice flour
2 tbs tapioca flour
1 Tbs ground flax seed
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
2 Tbs maple sugar
3 Tsp coconut oil
2 Tbs yogurt
enough milk to make pouring consistency
I hve attented workshops and I have read the wheatbelly book and both say that starches, like tapioca and corn are
not good for us. Now you are saying that tapioca flour
and starch are the same. Is this also true of corn and other starches/
flours? Does this mean that also tapioca snd corn flours are also not good are us because as you say they are the same.
Thank you
Rosemary
I heard on the Dr. Oz show that brown rice has a significant amount of arsenic in it and should be avoided. Using white rice is better because the outer husk is what has the arsenic and that is removed in the process. What do you think of that?
I am allergic to brown rice because it has sulfur. I substitute equal amounts of white rice and tapioca flour in my baking. Should I use more white rice than tapioca flour?
Thank you.
Usually white and brown rice can be used in place of each other in recipes. However if you are replacing it for regular flour it needs a starch like you are using with tapioca. I hope that helps.
Thank you for your help. My granddaughter is gluten free but my nutritionist recommends not doing any whole grain brown rice due to the mercury. So this helps me feel more confident about switching it out for plain white rice flour. 🙂
sorry arsenic