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gluten-free roux?

post #1 of 7
3/15/10 at 1:57pm
Thread Starter 
I have a surprising amount of customers who require gluten-free foods.  I've managed to tweak a lot of my recipes, including making gluten-free bread in mini pullman loaves and slicing them up to melba-ize for cheese & cracker trays...

My question; what can I use in place of AP flour when making a roux?  What will behave the best, and produce the yummy nutty flavour I require?
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post #2 of 7
3/15/10 at 3:46pm
sweet rice flour. same proportions, just don't cook the roux too long, it becomes gritty. if you're making mac and cheese make sure you rinse the rice pasta really well after cooking.
feel free to ask me any questions, been gluten free for 5 years now.
kathee
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post #3 of 7
3/15/10 at 6:35pm
'Cornflour' is gluten free, but it is not suitable for making a roux.


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post #4 of 7
3/16/10 at 7:06am
What are you using the roux to make?
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post #5 of 7
3/16/10 at 9:35am
Thread Starter 
I'd like to be able to make the usuals; bechamel, veloutes.   Thickening my soups and sauces with a regular flour roux limits the amount of customers who can enjoy them.

Its a shame that the sweet rice flour can't be cooked for long.  A nice dark roux makes me smile (and drool)
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post #6 of 7
3/16/10 at 10:32am
Corn flour mixed with rice flour (or other gluten free flour) makes a perfectly good "barely blonde" roux.  That is, cook about a 1/2 cup of rice flour with a 1/4 cup +1 tbs of corn starch and a stick of butter just until the "raw" comes off -- about 2 or 3 minutes. 

The cornstarch will give you a sauce that's both more substantial and silkier than a roux made from straight rice flour, potato flour, tapioca starch, or what have you. 

However, as with corn flour alone it's better to add it at the end of cooking rather than at the beginning as you'd ordinarily do for a gumbo or etouffe for instance.  Neither cornstarch or any of the wheat flour substitutes can take a lot of heat without breaking down and losing their thickening powers. 

It's the lack of glutens, you see. 

BDL
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post #7 of 7
3/16/10 at 1:09pm
if you're making a creamy vegetable soup, you could also puree some of the soup and temper it back in. as for the corn flour it has a distinct taste so it can be slightly overpowering.
kathee
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