After 6 wks of no sandwiches, pancakes or waffles, I've finally mastered the GF version. There were a few bumps...
Saturday night, went to bed bummed and dreamed I was missing my wedding because I couldn't find my shoes. I'd made perfect pancakes, but reacted badly to guar gum, which I'd been using because I react badly to xanthan gum. By badly I mean itchy eyes, rampant thirty, hunger and kidney issues.
Sunday, woke determined to find a binder in my pantry that wasn't weird and tasted good. Behold:
The line up. Cornstarch, Guar gum (my control), Sure Jell pectin, flax seed, gelatin and chia seed.
Cornstarch and pectin.
Flax & gelatin.
Chia seed overload.
Gell Test:
Control: Guar Gum 1/4 tsp per 1 c water
Sure Jell: 1/2 tsp per 1 c water
Flax seed, ground: 1 tsp per c water
Knox gelatin: 3/4 tsp per 1 c water
Chia seed, ground: 1 tsp per 1 c water
Cornstarch: 2 tsp per 1 c HOT water, for slurry
Psyllium seed, ground: 1/4 tsp per 1 c water
Knox gelatin retest: 1/4 tsp per 1 c water
Tapioca starch: 1 tsp per 1/3 c boiling water (works as egg substitute, too)
Not tested, but have potential: GF flour mixes for slurry
Results:
Guar & Xanthan gum work great, but people use way too much. I found that 1/4 tsp per 3 1/2 c is plenty to mimic gluten without imparting odd taste or texture.
Cornstarch: tender, puffed well, slightly dry. Browned fine. Good in a pinch, test other flours such as rice to see if final product is moister, as I suspect they will be. Starch = dry? John rejected as too dry.
Gelatin: puffed well, most moist. Browned fine, but needed 1/4 c more water. Worth testing again, with less gelatin in mix. I liked but John rejected as weird texture.
*retested gelatin with 1/4 tsp per 1 cup water. Worked fine, though still a hair dry. Worth retesting at 1/8 c per 1 c water, but not by me.
Flax: faint flax taste, not unpleasant, browned more. Puffed well, had to add 1/4 c more water, so should test with less flax. John has a fear of flax, so I moved on.
Sure Jell: Test 1: Pancakes puffed more, bit tough (too much pectin). Thickened more after a couple minutes, but by then accidentally added more pectin. Browned darker than other samples. Test 2: Used 1/2 tsp per cup of water and got perfect results. Works in a dry mix, too. Our winner, and my hero.
Chia: Barely browned, had to use 2x as much water, as there was obviously too much chia. The resulting pancakes were flavorless, bread-like and pale, so we gave them to the dogs. Now I can laugh at GF bread recipes calling for tablespoons full of chia or flax. Comments often mention those breads are dry, especially the next day. You think? Do you realize how much water binding fiber those things have?
Psyllium: Fluffed well, imparted a slight, "bread-like" flavor, which John liked. Was his favorite sample, but I found it a bit dry. Bet you could test at 1/8 tsp per cup flour.
Flax & Cornstarch combo: had an odd, soapy taste. I didn't test many combos, but be aware that's a possibility.
My testing was somewhat cowboy, but I have limited energy and time, and I wanted something to EAT! If anyone else takes on this test, I'd love to hear about it.
*As a side note, all of these binders were successes in that that none of my samples was crumbly, and all had lift.
BTW, I had a reaction to MASECA corn flour, which I used in the test, so beware. Do your homework and make sure it's gluten free.
Also, I got a skin test and reacted to oats. I recommend careful testing and possibly an allergy test to see if you're allergic to a given flour. Don't assume it's okay for you because it says gluten free.
My control pancake recipe:
Pancakes
1 c GF flour mix
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 c milk of choice
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp cinnamon
(now with Sure Jell!)
1. Mix dry stuff. Mix wet stuff. Combine. Cook. Enjoy!
Update: Had to keep stirring this to prevent separation, so added a scant pinch ground chia. Stays thick now, tastes fine.
GF Flour Blend w Pectin
1 c rice flour
1 c corn
1 c sorghum
1/2 c cornstarch
2 tbps pea flour
Now with 1 tsp Sure Jell pectin!
No, I don't know if other brands work. Feel free to test and let me know.
P.S. When I left out pea flour one time, pancakes were a bit fragile and insipid. Feel free to substitute bean flour, but I wouldn't leave it out.
GF Flour Blend w Guar Gum
1 c rice flour
1 c corn
1 c sorghum
1/2 c cornstarch
2 tbps pea flour
1/2 tsp guar or xanthan gum
For those who can handle the gums.
I dreamed of zombies last night, but that may have been a reflection of my exhaustion and not my cooking.
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