starch vs. flour

Linda · Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2005 5:16 pm Post subject: starch vs. flour

Hello All,

Newbie here! My 5.5 year old son was just confirmed Thursday as Celiac. I have borrowed lots of cookbooks from the library, and was going to attempt hamburger buns for an upcoming barbecue.

The problem is, I don't know if there is a difference between (for example) potato starch and potato flour, or tapioca starch and tapioca flour. Are they interchangeable?

Also, how many watts is considered a "heavy duty" mixer?

Thanks,
Linda

aklap · Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 8136 Location: WI, USA

Hi Linda,

Welcome! Sorry to hear about your little one Sad

Hopefully now he get on the road to health!!

OK...here's the difference...(as I understand it Wink

)

Flour is the result of grinding up a food item (potato, corn, wheat Sad

, etc)

Starch is what is extracted from a food item. It's also much finer in it's consistancy. Used a lot for thicken sauces. It's much lighter than flour.

Potato starch and potato flour are not really interchangable. You could...but it's best not to. To confuse matters you may see something labeled "Potato starch flour" Shocked

- This is potato STARCH not flour.

Tapioca Starch and Tapioca Flour are the same things.

Potato Flour: http://www.ener-g.com/store/detail.aspx?section=10&cat=10&id=1000014
Potato Starch: http://www.ener-g.com/store/detail.aspx?section=10&cat=10&id=111

This is kind of cool - lots of info on differnet starches:
http://www.foodsubs.com/ThickenStarch.html

Some basic guidelines on what to use when (look towards the bottom of the page): http://www.csaceliacs.org/recipes.php

As for mixers...you probably would want around 250 - 300. Peg (my wife) burned out our hand mixer we got when we were married 12+ years ago making me a loaf of bread Shocked

. We ended up getting a KitchenAide Pro 5 mixer. I think that has 450w. We probably didn't have to go that high...but...it was on sale...and I'm a guy...more wattage is better, right? hehehehee.

The GF dough is harder on the motors than NGF doughs. That same goes for bread machines too!

Linda I hope this helps!!!
_________________
Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa

Guest · Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2005 11:19 am Post subject:

aklap · Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 8136 Location: WI, USA

Hi Linda,

Glad to hear they caught things early!!! Also glad that the rest of you are getting checked - it is genetic. You need to keep an eye on that...just because you test negative now...does not clear you for life. It sounds like your family doc & Ty's Ped are on the ball! Good for them!! Also try to determine if the dietician has much experience with the gluten free diet. Just like everything else...there are good ones & bad ones. I was at a Gluten Intolerance Group Conference in Chicago in June and one of the speakers was a dietician...she herself said..."Make sure you get a good one". Her husband was recently diagnosed with CD and she admits that she didn't know much either (before the dx). Her joke was "I was trying to kill him by making sure he had enough fiber!!".

As for the mixer...nope we have just one bowl used for both GF & NGF. It has a stainless steel bowl which washes easily and will not harbour (I hope that makes you feel at home with the alternate spelling Smile

) gluten. Glass works well too - anything that is not porous. We do have seperate GF spatula/rubber scrappers.

Have you seen the cross contamination threads around here? They might be something for you to checkout. This should get you started: http://www.celiacforums.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=2787&

Good luck on your GF journey and the Ty will be the healthiest and happiest can be!! Hope you hang out for awhile and learn with us.
_________________
Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa

aklap · Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 8136 Location: WI, USA

bump for David
_________________
Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa

aklap · Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 8136 Location: WI, USA

bump for Os
_________________
Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa

aklap · Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 8136 Location: WI, USA

bump for Sharon
_________________
Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa

BassistKara · Joined: 02 Oct 2007 Posts: 50

Tapioca Flour and Starch are the same thing?! Now i feel like an idiot for looking specifically for tapioca starch at the health food shop...i was almost about to ask for it too haha!

mrsppmrxky · Joined: 09 Oct 2004 Posts: 1440 Location: GF Kitchen

That's an easy one...........to remember, just do not get it confused with potato starch and potato flour........those are 2 entirely different products.

I just went and bought 15 packs of tapioca starch at the Asian market for .69 for each 14 oz bag.

I have been making the chebe bread recipe and using a lot of it lately.
_________________