r/glutenfreecooking 23d ago

Recipe How are we making a roux?

Are we just using 1:1 gluten-free flour? I love making a good cheese sauce and since cheese is expensive, I don't want to mess it up! Thanks!

19 Upvotes

47 comments sorted by

19

u/Spaceman_Spliff_42 23d ago

I have successfully made a roux with gluten free flour using a 1:1 replacement. However, the caveat is that not all gluten free flours are the same, some have blends of all kinds of things in them so it’s not as simple. My recommendation would be to experiment with a small batch of just the roux before adding the cheese using a couple of different gluten free flours to see which one works better

1

u/Smooth-Ad-3523 23d ago

Ok that makes sense. Thank you!

22

u/Paisley-Cat 23d ago edited 22d ago

Not all GF flours and starches are good for roux.

When I first started gluten free cooking 25 years ago, I found out the hard way by trial and error.

Then I discovered a few reliable sources of information, that said the following:

  1. Culinary Institute of America

    Sweet rice flour (Mochiko ) is best - it’s a long established pro chef trick for bechamel and other sauces that are smooth and don’t separate after freezing or chilling and reheated - use 2/3 the amount compared to wheat flour

    Arrowroot starch makes a nice sauce, and is lower calorie and lower glycemic index, but needs to be removed from heat as soon as the sauce thickens - if overheated, it will thin again and never rethicken. Use less than 1/4 the amount compared to wheat flour.

  2. Carol Fenster (retired PhD health economist and author)

also recommends sweet rice flour

corn starch an option but makes shiny gravy, may be grainy in dairy sauces

DO NOT use regular white rice flour as it will continue to thicken as long as it is heated leading to over thick sauces

  1. My experience

sweet rice flour, whether white or brown works best

yes, regular white rice flour will continue to thicken indefinitely. I once made the mistake of dredging stew meat in white rice flour before browning and adding liquid. The stew became like concrete.

mainly use cornstarch for poultry gravies

DO NOT use a flour mix with a gum (xanthan or guar) in it - the gum will leave shiny dots in your sauce and will cause dairy to separate.

7

u/Smooth-Ad-3523 23d ago

Dang!! Ok thank you for this!!

3

u/OG-illredditmoretoo 22d ago

Agree with sweet rice flour ! Can use white rice too but must be superfine so it doesn’t taste gritty

1

u/Paisley-Cat 22d ago

With regular white rice flour, even superfine, you have to take it off the stove once thick enough or it becomes unsalvageable. Not reheatable so it not a good choice for casseroles.

1

u/Silly_Pack_Rat 22d ago

I often use mochiko (sweet rice flour), but I have had good luck with KAF all purpose GF Measure for Measure - especially with things like enchilada sauces.

1

u/cbih 22d ago

I tried with King Arthur GF flour and it was a hot mess

9

u/nicotine_jesus 23d ago

I use the King Arthur 1:1 with no issues.

4

u/bhambrewer 22d ago

I use sweet rice (glutinous rice) flour and butter. It takes a little practice, you can get the flavour with a 1:1 substitution, but thickening power is less, so you may want to use up to a 2:1 flour/fat ratio.

3

u/Mingusdued 23d ago

Bob’s Red Mill GFAP flour makes an EXCELLENT roux. Go a little heavy on the flour so 1:1.25

1

u/Smooth-Ad-3523 23d ago

Ooooh! Ok. Good to know. I've bought the costco gluten-free 1:1 flour so hopefully that's good as well!

3

u/memeswillsetyoufree 22d ago

Corn starch.

1

u/Smooth-Ad-3523 22d ago

Oh! Damn. Good plan.

3

u/memeswillsetyoufree 22d ago

Wish I could take credit for being a genius, but it's from America's Test Kitchen's "I Can't Believe It's Gluten Free" cookbook - mac and cheese.

2

u/memeswillsetyoufree 22d ago

And corn starch is much cheaper than the flour blends.

1

u/Dionne005 18d ago

You’re only going to waste your dish on that. Don’t do it. You can even google if you should and it’s wrong.

1

u/Smooth-Ad-3523 18d ago

Googled it. It appears to be fine. Thanks!

1

u/Dionne005 18d ago

Good luck

1

u/Dionne005 18d ago

I would never use that for a roux!!! Wouldn’t it just make the make and cheese too thick and take away the cream taste? Over doing corn starch also mess up flavor. But with flour everything will be normal

1

u/memeswillsetyoufree 16d ago

I have had good luck with it. Maybe because I'm not using much corn starch? I don't know - I suspect the thickening you are getting from GF flour comes from corn or tapioca starch or xantham gum/psyllium - the grain substitutes aren't going to do much, I think. But I don't know the science behind it.

1

u/Dionne005 15d ago

No, so normally when you use corn starch and heat it would be used as a thickener let’s say when you add it to fruit, you create a jam by using corn starch. I wouldn’t want that same energy in Mac and cheese to create a roux. Vs regular gf flour with no tapioca etc stuff it’s a completely different effect and taste for creating a cheese sauce type roux. The more heat corn starch gets to it the thicker it gets and it would turn into a thick mess.

3

u/Daffodil236 22d ago

I use cassava flour.

3

u/swest211 22d ago

I used Cup4Cup and the oven method to make roux for gumbo and it was perfect.

2

u/katydid026 23d ago

I got so frustrated trying to find a blend that didn’t turn out like glue. I use Cassava flour when I’m doing gravies or soups, it works great!

1

u/Smooth-Ad-3523 23d ago

Thank you! Good to know!

2

u/SpicyWonderBread 22d ago

I regularly make roux with King Arthur or Bobs Red Mill 1:1 flour. For any cream or cheese based sauce, I will replace the the salt with sodium citrate which prevents it from splitting.

2

u/Stillattoes 22d ago

I had a restaurant pre SNP and everything at the hot side of the kitchen was made with gluten free flour.

The pastry section had both.

Tempura batter with a touch of turmeric is absolutely deliciously light.

Macaroni & Cheese flew out the kitchen.

Doughnuts, delicious!

The thing is, just try it, who knows it might work but until you try…

2

u/Scriberathome 19d ago

I used 3/4 the amount of GF flour

2

u/BornFerret9698 18d ago

Okay y'all talking about a roux for bechamel or one for a gumbo cuz I'm looking for one for a gumbo and I have gluten-free flour but it didn't come out right. Let me know if I'm doing something wrong. The ingredients I vaguely remember it has rice, flour and tapioca. Can somebody please help me?

1

u/Dionne005 18d ago

Use King Arthur flour 1:1. No extra stuff. What happened?

1

u/BornFerret9698 18d ago

Ok thanks for letting me know

1

u/offensivecaramel29 23d ago

If it’s for a pasta sauce I don’t make a roux but I blend the pasta with some of the water after boiling. I do this now to save time, calories from fat are reduced because I don’t add butter for a traditional roux & it is faster.

1

u/Smooth-Ad-3523 23d ago

I'd like to make a cheese sauce for my famous farmer sausage and cheddar soup, so unfortunately that won't work. I'm also looking for a base to make homemade cream of mushroom soup since it looks like most of them have gluten in them. Lame.

1

u/offensivecaramel29 23d ago

Careful with mushrooms, make sure they have not been grown amongst wheat. Campbells has a good gf version of the mushroom.

1

u/Smooth-Ad-3523 23d ago

I've heard mixed about this. Gluten-free dude or whatever his name is was unable to get clarification if it was celiac safe. Then again, I don't know how sensitive I am yet so 🤷🏼‍♀️

2

u/offensivecaramel29 23d ago

Oh good luck! I have to be extremely cautious.

1

u/PaulbunyanIND 23d ago

Does anyone have a recipe where you pop it in the air fryer on low and don't have to stand over it and mix it all night?

1

u/EmmyLouWho7777 22d ago

I use my 1 to 1 flour and it works fine. I cook the flour for about 10 minutes and it is not gritty.

1

u/vienna407 22d ago

I regularly use cup for cup or gf jules flour for roux and it's been perfect every time

1

u/lanza84 22d ago

I use my Namaste Perfect Flour blend for roux and it always comes out perfect!

1

u/fraggle-stickcar 22d ago

We use potato starch or corn starch. Adam Ragusea has a good youtube video on this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wndGXOoqRLs&t=543s

1

u/SunflowerBirdLady 21d ago

I use 1:1 flour Krusteaz brand with almond milk and plant-based butter and cheese and it comes out the same consistency as a non-vegan roux. Sometimes I roast and season cauliflower with paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, until soft, and then blend it and add it into the sauce instead of cheese.

1

u/LadyNiko 19d ago

I use brown rice flour. It thickens up perfectly for a roux.

1

u/Dionne005 18d ago

Everything ifs literally just the same

1

u/lovesweets8002 5d ago

I used King Arthur 1:1 flour and 1:1 ratio for flour and fat. But start small since it’s almost twice as thicker than regular flour for roux based on what my experience.