Arrowroot/ tapioca flour substitutes?

[ahoney]

Hi I want to make the gluten free bread but cannot find arrowroot or tapioca flour that does not contain a preservative, even the one in the health food shop has a 220 or 202? In it! Is there something I can use instead?

[quirkycooking]

You can buy a packet of whole tapioca and grind it up to make your own tapioca flour... if you can find some without preservatives!  I have tapioca starch from the health food shop that contains only manioc (88%) and water (12%) - it is from Thailand, Erawan brand, has a little logo with a group of elephants on the front, blue print on a clear packet.  I usually use that. It's not too expensive - $1.90 for 500g. 

[meganjane]

Are you allergic to those preservatives? 220 is sulphur dioxide and it's commonly used in many dried foods and in wine and beer. Some people with asthma can react badly to it if they consume it in large quantities. 202 is potassium sorbate and it's pretty innocuous.

[andiesenji]

You can grind rice, amaranth, millet, quinoa and even buckwheat (no relation to wheat and no gluten) to flour for gluten-free baked goods.  A mixture of coconut flour and one of the above grains produces a nice end product. 

I don't know if it is yet available in Australia but a fairly new product is "Montina" which is milled from Indian Ricegrass and has become very popular with some of my friends who need to keep to gluten-free foods.

Someone has probably posted a similar source document in one of the other threads about gluten-free diets but
this site has an extensive list for reference.

Guar gum is another but has to be used carefully or the end result can be gummy.

[abundanceatangas]

I just realised how silly I am.  I have been buying whole sago (tapioca) from the supermarket to grind for arrowroot flour because I'd noticed arrowroot flour has preservative 220 - after reading this I checked the whole sago and it too has 220.  I didn't even check before because I thought why would it need a preservative if it's whole.

Silly me, I am usually very careful to check things.

Anyway, I'm sorry I haven;t helped, but  thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Has anyone heard of the Indian Ricegrass that andiesenji mentioned being available in Australia?

[quirkycooking]

Yes, I only noticed yesterday that it had 220 in it, too!!!  Never heard of the ricegrass... probably can get it off the internet.

[meganjane]

Sulphur Dioxide is used to stop things oxidising.

Interesting programme on Foxtel recently investigating all the E numbers. The presenter made them from parts of his own body:

I can only remember that he made glycerol from his fat - he had liposuction done. Basically made soap with human fat and then extracted the glycerine.  He made another from sweat, one from hair and one from tears. He also consumed as many E numbers in one day to see if he'd gone over his daily limit. When tested, it was found that he hadn't.

He came to the conclusion that E numbers are designed to keep food safe, stopping rancidity, oxidisation and bacteria and mould.

I believe many are overused to maintain food freshness for longer than necessary and to keep foods looking 'nice'.   

[ahoney]

Thanks for the replys my son can't have preservatives, colorings or flavorings, television or wheat or dairy as he reacts quite badly to them= behavior, sleep disturbances and night terrors/bad dreams. So that's why need a preservative free substitute.
So if I was to use coconut flour and either rice or millet as I have them in my pantry, would I do Half/ half and replace the same weight as what the recipe requires of tapioca/arrowroot flour?

[cookie1]

I saw that program too MJ. It was very interesting and a bit yuk.

[quirkycooking]

Sorry, ahoney, I don't know how much to tell you - Andi???  I haven't used coconut flour.  Just experiment, that's what I do!! 

That's interesting that TV bothers him - I think it probably bothers a lot of kids (as well as play station, etc) and causes behaviour problems... we don't watch much tv, and I try to limit use of the wii, although at least they do a bit of excercise with that!  I know I don't sleep well if I watch a movie at night - my brain won't switch off!

[meganjane]

I saw that program too MJ. It was very interesting and a bit yuk.

Yes, quite a bit yuk, but very educational!

Sorry to hear of all the issues your son has, ahoney. I think achookwoman uses coconut flour, so perhaps pm her.

[Meagan]

Yes I watched that one too. Did you see the colours one last week    the crushed dried  beetle blood used to create the Carmine colouring!!! Amazing to see how natural and man made colours reacted differently to deferent ingredients in  things 

That human hair experiment is what apparently all bread products have in them. It is based on animal nail and hair products though. apparently it is used to allow bakers to decrease the kneading time of bread doughs so that the whole process takes less time from flour to end product. 

[quirkycooking]

Gross!!!!!