A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO GLUTEN-FREE FLOUR

When the gluten-free movement moved in on us like a hurricane many billed it as a fad diet or health trend-of-the-moment. A decade (and change) later, it’s clear that’s not the case. Gluten-free sections on menus and aisles in grocery stores are proof. Statista predicts the gluten-free category will command nearly $8 billion by 2020, and that’s no small potatoes (which happen to be gluten-free).

When the wheat/gluten-free reckoning took hold, wheat flour became one of the toughest riddles for chefs and food brands to solve, being the most ubiquitous and widely-used wheat byproduct. Flour is, of course, used in thousands of foods, from bread to pasta, crackers, cakes, cookies, and baked goods of all kinds.

Flour is also integral for savory cooking, coating meats in recipes like chicken marsala and steak au poivre, and used as a thickener for soups and, sauces.

Luckily for the gluten-challenged among us, there have been great strides made by way of gluten-free flour alternatives, and while the majority of chefs might tell you that there isn’t anything quite as good as the real thing, knowing the strengths and shortcomings of each can help you get mighty close.

As we’ll learn, flours made from some ingredients like beans and coconut will carry the flavor from their source, which may not be ideal, depending on your ultimate goal; and low-protein flours, like rice and sorghum, don’t always bind in the way that wheat flour does. Because no one flour totally replicates the consistency and flavor of wheat flour, flour blends have become popular to achieve balance, especially for baking where consistency, taste, and binding ability are all of utmost importance.