Wheat flour alternatives?

[lostinthewoods]

Hello all.

I was wondering is there something that you can use in place of wheat for flour. I know you can use other things in place of wheat flour for things like pasta but I was wondering about bread. Could you use other types of flour for bread making? If I were to grind some dried beans, for example, could I use them to make bread?

Boy, there's a dumb question for ya.


lost

[Shamrock1121]

Hello all. *

I was wondering is there something that you can use in place of wheat for flour. *I know you can use other things in place of wheat flour for things like pasta but I was wondering about bread. *Could you use other types of flour for bread making? *If I were to grind some dried beans, for example, could I use them to make bread?

Boy, there's a dumb question for ya.


lost

Bean flour doesn't have any gluten in them to make yeast/sourdough breads. Beans are high in protein and can be added to yeast breads, but keep it between 10-20 percent of the flour amount and use a high-protein (high-gluten) flour as well. If you add bean flour to baked goods, be sure to choose small white beans. They have the least amount of beany flavor.

Where milling beans comes in handy is when you mill black beans or pinto beans into flour. To make refried beans you can omit the long overnight soak of whole beans, and the long cooking session to make cooked beans. Using bean flour you can make an "instant" refried bean mixture in just a few minutes of cooking time (bean flour plus water).

There are also many gluten-free flours (usually in combinations of grains/seeds/beans) that can make "bread". They take some special ingredients and information. You can't just substitute these gluten-free flours to replace wheat flour. GLUTEN is the key to the differences in these grains.

Grains with enough gluten to make a risen loaf of yeast or sourdough bread... SPELT is an excellent choice, or KAMUT, or the hybrid that is a wheat/rye combination -TRITICALE.

Spelt (aka dinkel) is the ancient form of today's soft and hard wheat varieties, while Kamut is the ancient form of durum wheat. The gluten in spelt is much less than wheat (5,000 ppm in spelt, to wheat's 50,000 ppm and goes up from there), and a different kind of gluten. Therefore, it takes less kneading to develop the gluten, and it absorbs less hydration than wheat flour so you will need less liquid to get a nice soft dough than you would using wheat flour. The loaves will also be smaller than loaves using wheat flour. I use a lot of freshly-milled spelt for cookies, cakes and quick breads. A good cookbook on the subject is "The Spelt Cookbook" by Helga Hughes .

-Karen

[annabella1]

The reason you are giving up wheat flour is important. If you just want something different you can make a lot of different kinds of breads as long as you add gluten. If on the other hand you have an allergy or intolerance to gluten then you have another problem. The gluten is what forms the pockets that holds the co2 that the yeast produces when making a yeast bread. Without it there is nothing to hold the co2 to make the bread rise. You can however use other proteins (gluten is a protein) to do a similar action. Beating egg whites to incorporate air then folding them in a batter made from non-gluten flours will give a similar result but it will be heavier and the texture will be different. Gelatin is another protein and can be used to stabilize the dough but it will melt at the temperatures needed for baking. The advice that Karen gave above is very good, but if you are sensitive or allergic to gluten you may react with spelt or Kamut or triticale.

[lostinthewoods]

I guess I should have been more specific. I was looking into what I could use in place of wheat flour just "in case" the world turns to muck around us. ;) I don't really think I'm up to growing wheat in the garden for flour but I can grow things like beans etc. Wheat in my mind seems like it would be a lot of work for not a lot in return. Has anyone grown their own wheat before for bread making?

Sorry I wasn't more clear. Thanks for all the help, I need all I can get!

lost

[Shamrock1121]

I guess I should have been more specific. *I was looking into what I could use in place of wheat flour just "in case" the world turns to muck around us. *;) *I don't really think I'm up to growing wheat in the garden for flour but I can grow things like beans etc. *Wheat in my mind seems like it would be a lot of work for not a lot in return. *Has anyone grown their own wheat before for bread making?

Sorry I wasn't more clear. *Thanks for all the help, I need all I can get!

lost

I live in the middle of wheat fields and the "work" is in the harvest and separation of the seed from the head - especially if you are doing it by hand - not necessarily the growing - but it's a very simple process that can be done by hand. You don't have to water wheat (other than what it gets from rain) like you would other plants. Sorghum is another grain plant that yields a lot but doesn't take all that much care.

Wheat usually yields an average of about 40 bushels to an acre. A bushel of wheat is 60 pounds and will yield 60 pounds of whole wheat flour. That's a lot of bread... So you really could get a lot of grain from a small patch of wheat.

You could grow corn and mill it into corn flour and corn meal, grits, etc. (just be sure to use the correct variety of corn); and popping corn so you'll have some "snack" food.

I grow Amaranth to use as a cooked cereal and as a whole grain I add to muffins and quick breads, as well as milling into flour. A few plants will yield a lot of food, and most people wouldn't know it's a food plant. You can also pick the young leaves off amaranth and use them for "greens", similar to spinach, early in the growing season and then the seeds from the mature plant.

You should also think about something other than a nice fluffy loaf of yeast bread. Especially if you don't know how to make breads. You'll also need to learn how to make naturally-leavened breads (sourdough starter), rather than other leavening like bakers' yeast, which will probably be unavailable.

Your oven may not be working either. I have a couple Solar Ovens for alternative baking/cooking source. Dutch Ovens would also be a good alternative source. Storing charcoal is a cheap and efficient fuel source for cooking/baking. You can also make your own charcoal (http://www.eaglequest.com/~bbq/charcoal/).

But you might want to consider what they make for "bread" in poor (3rd World) countries. They consume unleavened flat breads - tortillas, chapatz, chapatti, cracker bread, pancakes, etc.

So to start with, I'd suggest you learn to make a tortilla, which is very simple to make and can be cooked on any kind of pan/griddle over any source of heat. If you can make a tortilla, you'll have "bread". If you have beans for a topping, you'll also have a complete protein source (beans + grains = complete protein), which will be important in the diet.

You can also use different types of grain flour for making tortillas. I'm working on a gluten-free tortilla recipe using white sorghum flour, which is also a grain readily available in my area and would be easy to grow and harvest. You can also make sourdough tortillas when you run out of baking powder.

Native American Tortillas in a Bag
(Source: Kansas Wheat Commission -
http://kansaswheat.org/general.asp?id=332

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour*
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons shortening
½ cup hot water

In a large self-locking plastic bag, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Close bag and shake to mix. Add shortening and work into flour until fine particles form. Add the hot water and knead the dough in the bag until it forms a ball.
Remove dough from bag and place on a lightly floured work surface; knead 15 strokes. Divide into six equal pieces; shape into balls. Cover; let rest 15 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece as thin as possible. Roll from the center out, turning several times to form an 8-inch circle.

Heat an ungreased griddle or skillet over medium heat. Cook until the surface begins to bubble and the under side is speckled golden-brown, about 15-20 seconds. Cook other side. Stack tortillas under a cloth as they are done and serve warm. Makes 6 tortillas.

*Variations: Use ½ cup corn meal and 1 cup all-purpose flour, or use ¾ cup whole wheat flour and ¾ cup all-purpose flour.
Quick Meal Idea: Lightly brush cooked tortillas with oil. Bake tortillas on baking sheets in a 400oF oven 4 minutes. Top with browned ground beef or pork, black beans, onion, chopped tomato, shredded mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese. Season with dried oregano leaves. Return to the oven; heat 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Nutrition Information: One tortilla provides 150 calories, 4.5 g total fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 230 mg sodium, 24 g total carbohydrate, .5 g dietary fiber, 3 g protein.

-Karen

[annabella1]

I have used those exact ingredients to make tortillas but I never thought of mixing them up in a bag. What a great way to keep it clean and neat.

[LittleChick]

Some of us (really, it's not just me) are gluten intolerant (celiac disease) ... and the process of experimenting with all kinds of flours to get "bread" is very long and should be approached with patience and expectation of ending up with something closer to "cake" or "corn bread" in texture until you figure out what works best for you.

I gave up on trying to make gluten free bread that actually had bread texture (important for slicing or makin sandwiches) years ago...

Anyhooo, cookies and brownies are much easier to make and much YUMMIER! :)

--LittleChick

[carugoman]

My wife has come up with a combination for her daughter(now with a family of her own),that is wheat free and has a fairly decent texture for a yeast bread. She said to use a combination of tapioca and potato flours(not starches,but flours?), and xanthan gum( to hold the bubbles created from the yeast.) I have tried it,it's ok...I'm a type 1 diabetic, insulin dependent, therefore most carbs are not on my diet except this bread. It can be sliced; we make grilled sandwiches with it. There's no particular recipe, you'll just have to adapt one that tastes good to you. She has tried many flours,gums and yeasts. She said that guar gum doesn't work well with the tapioca nor potato flours. Also don't use that refrigerated yeast, since it is made from compressed wheat starch; use active dry yeast. Why not start a rye pickle yeast? Or a sourdough sponge? These don't require any special cost nor fancy starter from Alaska nor San Francisco!

[Klapton]

I've been wondering just how much wheat my lady and I would need to grow for what we use, and how hard or easy it might be. *I found this article which was informative: *http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7284011.stm

We could probably do about a 20 by 20 foot plot and grow most of what we would need, I think.

I also found this site some time ago, and put it in my favorites, in case we ever do get around to growing our own cereal grains: *http://www.scythesupply.com/outfits.htm

It's a little expensive at $180, but the best tools are almost always expensive. *They tell you how to measure yourself so they can make it fit you perfectly, which I thought was REALLY cool. *I always have a hard time with hand garden tools, because the handles are almost never long enough, and I end up with a sore back every time from bending while I use it.

I've sprouted the Montana Wheat "Red Chief" hard red winter wheat I've got, so I know the germination rates should be good. *The article above talks about spring planting though.

Would winter wheat need to be planted in the fall to grow right?

EDIT: I think I found my answer!

http://montanakids.com/agriculture_and_business/crops/Wheat.htm

[bee_pipes]

There are a number of posts on this subject. Use the search feature to find them. Here's one on a free book: book review: Small-Scale Grain Raising (http://www.backwoodshome.com/forum/yabb/forum.pl?board=per-books-poetry-fiction;action=display;num=1210614805)

Regards,
Pat

[Klapton]

Thank you for that other thread and the linkies. I checked Amazon, and I think the book is going to be reprinted, or a new edition is going to come out. I added it to my wishlist.