Is Rice flour a viable substitute for white or wheat flour?

Question

I was thinking... since flour is like the root of all evil.. white bread, etc... and supposedly wheat flour is just a hair more healthy... so what about rice flour?

Answer 1

Rice flour is not wheat flour--it doesn't have any gluten and it makes kind of strange-textured pasta and bread, which are better than nothing for those who are gluten-sensitive but only just.

Whole wheat flour is MUCH more healthful than white flour or flour labeled "wheat flour." I find that when baking whole wheat flour, it is helpful to add a tablespoon of gluten flour per cup of whole wheat flour--this makes the texture more like store-bought bread and keeps the slices from falling apart when you make a sandwich.

Here's something about the value of whole wheat flour:

http://www.swedish.org/16446.cfm

Here's something about gluten flour (the same as vital wheat gluten--NOT the same as high-gluten flour):

http://www.bobsredmill.com/catalog/index.php?action=showdetails&product_ID=400

Answer 2

Rice flour has no gluten. Gluten is a protein that becomes stretchy and gluey when mixed with water and is the reason wheat flours traps the carbon dioxide bubbles from leavening (yeast & baking powder) so readily. When heated, the CO2 expands and fluffs the bread. So rice flour cannot be sustituted 1 for 1 in bread recipes calling for wheat flour.

White rice flour is not healthier to eat than regular white flour. Brown rice flour is not healthier to eat than whole wheat flour. They are all complex carbohydrates.

Rice flour makes a nice bread in recipes designed for that flour. The Web abounds w/ recipes for using rice flour and flour from other grains.

Answer 3

This is what I found out about rice flour:

Rice flour: It is available in white or brown, and can be used as a thickener or in combination with other flours in a variety of baked goods. Rice flour has a silkier texture than other flours.



nfd♥

Answer 4

Wheat flour sucks up more moisture. So use a little less. **LIke another poster I preferr to go 1/2 white and 1/2 wheat.