From: faigin@aero.org (Daniel P. Faigin)
Subject: Re: Alternative Flours
Organization: The Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, CA
Date: Sun, 5 Apr 1992 02:49:21 GMT

On 2 Apr 92 17:51:21 GMT, mjk@sei.cmu.edu (Mary Jane Kelly) said:
> Now my friend has tried to make a pizza dough
> by sutstituting rice flour for wheat.  And is failing every time.  She
> sets it in a warm place to rise, and an hour later, the same small, hard
> lump is sitting in the bowl.  I was reading a little on yeast and what it
> is doing at this stage, but nothing was suggested about alternative flours.
> Anyone cook with rice flour?  Anyone have any suggestions?

Gluten does hold the bread together, and allows stuff to rise. Devin Ben-Hur,
in <1992Apr2.215835.4605@quclab.scn.rain.com> suggests using Xanthan Gum as a
binder, but puts way too much in (can you spell r-u-b-b-e-r) -- you only need
about 1t per cup of flour. That's what my wife uses to bake bread (she's
dictating this article to me over my shoulder!) 

First of all, let me recommend a cookbook to you: The Gluten Free Gourmet:
Living Well Without Wheat, by Bette Hagman. It is published by Henry Holt;
ISBN 0-8050-1210-9. This cookbooks has all kinds of baking recipes, including
mutliple pizza dough recipes. Its main trick is to use a mixture of non-gluten
flours as a substitute for regular flour -- this mixture is 2 parts white rice
flour, 2/3 part potato starch, 1/3 part tapioca flour. You can use this
mixture almost as a 1 for 1 substitute in regular recipes for quick breads
(e.g., corn bread, muffins). You can also use it in normal breads, but other
adjustments are required -- see the book for details.

Here's a quick pizza dough that doesn't even use the mixture. My wife has used
this and thinks it's pretty good. You take 1/4c of milk, and 2 lg. eggs and
beat them together. Add 1/3c cornstarch, 2/3c rice flour, 1/4t xanthan gum
(optional, see note), 1t salt, 1/4c melted shortening. Beat well. Spread this
stuff on a pizza pan. Top it, and bake in a preheated 400oF oven for 25
minutes. Allegedly serves 6, although if you have pizza-starved, GF people,
will probably serve about 3.

Note: If you don't have a local source for xanthan gum, you can order it from
Ener-G Foods, in Seattle, 800/331-5222. In WA State 800/325-9788. This is also
a source for Methylcellulose and prepackaged GF stuff.

> 2 weeks ago, my friend mad a delicious blue cornmeal bread using rice 
> flour and it was all crumbly.  It tasted fabulous, but it wouldn't hold
> together.  Is this the very function of gluten?  I am going to make
> the same bread tonite, one with some rice flour and one with wheat flour
> to see if that helps.  She is really disappointed in all attempts to make
> yeasted breads.  Any help would be grately appreciated.

First of all, get the above mentioned book. Second of all, Email me if you
want the names of more good GF cookbooks. Thirdly, corn breads with sufficient
milk and eggs, using the GF flour mix mentioned above in place of wheat flour,
will usually hold together OK. You can also use the cornbread recipe from the
side of the Albers cornmeal box, substituting GF flour mix or rice flour for
the wheat flour (and soymilk for the milk, if need be). It holds together with
the GF flour mix. Lastly, if your friend is truly gluten free for a medical
reason (such as Celiac Sprue), she should contact the Celiac Society. The
number is in Bette Hagmans book ... hold on whilst we look it up ... there,
got it ... Gluten Intolerance Group of North America -- 206/325-6980; Celiac
Sprue Association of the US: 402/558-0600.

If you have any more questions (or anyone else out there does), feel free to
drop us email. If you give us your phone number, we may even call you.

Daniel (and Karen)

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