Things I’ve Learned about GF Flours and Pre-made Pastas

Buying pre-mixed GF All Purpose Flours is expensive!  As a result, I’ve learned to either mix my own or calculate out the amount of each type of flour needed in a recipe and just scoop it in.

If I mix my own, I typically use the “Better than Cup 4 Cup” mix from Gluten Free on a Shoe String.  The recipes (along with more information on GF Flours) can be found here. 

• Corn Flour (aka Masa) may be substituted for Enriched Corn Meal.  Corn Flour is just ground corn with nothing added.  I think it is ground a little finer and doesn’t leave as much of a gritty texture in some foods.  I typically use this in place of Corn Meal.  If you see “Corn Flour” or “Masa” in my recipes, you can substitute Corn Meal. 

• Sweet Sorghum Flour and Corn Flour may be substituted for one another.

• Tapioca Starch and Tapioca Flour are the same thing.

• Potato Starch and Potato Flour are not the same.

• Just as there are different grades of pasta in “gluten-full” cooking, there are different grades of pasta in GF cooking.  Generally, rice noodles are lower grade than a Quinoa or Quinoa-Corn pasta.  The rice noodles fall apart and become mushy easier.  Rice noodles also taste different.  I notice the taste every time.  Both my son and myself find the texture and taste of the Quinoa based noodles to be much closer to regular pasta.