Substitute for flour in a roux?
 

Hi, Karen,

I posted this question in main dishes, but didn't get any suggestions so I thought I would try here.

Does anyone have a decent substitute for the flour in a roux? I am not sure whether the Atkins bake mix, wheat gluten, or soy flour will perform well here for thickening.
(This was for a beef burgundy.)

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

--Liz

Some people use xanthan gum for thickening. About 1/4 - 1/2 tsp. per cup of liquid shopuld do it.

I like the "natural" approach. I either reduce the cooking liquid - it helps if you start out with a stock as the braising liquid for its thickening power - and then add a bit of cream and reduce it even further. Or, I use cooked and well pureed cauliflower.

Karen

Thanks!
 

Thanks, Karen!

The "natural way" is exactly what I wound up doing. I reduced the liquid considerably then just added a little butter to finish the sauce. Yummy!
:yum:

Not quite a roux, but I was very surprised to find on the Atkins website, a little whole wheat flour being used as a thickener for gravy. Basically it was deglazing the pan with wine, and adding broth. I reduced the turkey giblet and neck broth before adding it. It was delicious but didn't quite feel legal :)

http://atkinscenter.com/food/recipe...fed_Turkey.html

Maybe I'll check McGee?
 

Sandy,

Thanks - I did see that one on the Atkins site (where I've found a LOT of wonderful recipes). I've been trying to avoid ALL wheat (except for the gluten), at least for now.

I have a cooking reference book at home - the author is Harold McGee, the book is "On Food and Cooking". The book has all manner of items related to the physical chemistry of cooking (such as what makes meat tender or tough, etc.) as well as some info on digestion and nutrition. Hopefully I can find exactly (at the molecular level) what causes a roux to thicken. I suspect it's the starch portion of whatever is used in the roux, but I'll see what he has to say. If it's in there, I'll post back! :cool:

--Liz

It's the starch...
 

Hi,

I checked the McGee book (which is a very interesting read, BTW) and sure enough, it's the starch that gets a roux to thicken things. Some other interesting tidbits - back before wheat flour was used to thicken, there is mention of almonds being used. I'm sure they would have to be ground (or made into flour) and probably cooked for a fair amount of time. Also, one of the other thickening agents mentioned was egg yolks (a la Hollandaise sauce or Avgolemono soup). I don't think I'd want to use egg yolks in a beef stew type recipe, but it sounds good for some chicken based soups!

Happy cooking...

What about soy flour, would that work?
Erika

Re Would Soy Flour Work
 

Hi, Erika,

I thought about soy flour - but I'm not sure there's enough starch in it to make it work. Maybe I'll try it with a small batch and see.

Thanks!

Let us know, Liz, okay?
I was thinking that soya might be a little too "beany", but maybe it would work.

Roux
 

Hi Y'all,

I live outside New Orleans, where every recipe starts with "First, you make a roux."

Roux is the base of gravy, gumbo, and bechamel sauce to begin with.

There are two ways we use it here. One is a dark roux, used especially in gumbo and etoufee. You heat equal parts flour and butter over low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring constantly. You almost burn the flour slowly. This is what gives gumbo both it's flavor and thick texture.

The other is the light roux. For this you heat equal parts, but you don't cook it so long. Just till it turns light to golden. This is the basis of bechamel (add milk) or bisque soups, etc.

When I saw the topic I was quite excited, but unfortunately, you are talking about mere thickeners, not the flavor part.

Another way to thicken is to add heavy cream and cook it down a bit.

If you can think of any way to make the "flavor" part of roux, I'd be glad to hear it!

Thanks,
Loni

Hi, Loni,
 

Hi, Loni,

I'm not from New Orleans and I only have a couple of cookbooks from there (one of Emeril's and Talk About Good! volume 2), but you're right - they all begin with "first you make a roux". I'm not an expert on what the flavor part of it SHOULD be, but whenever I get around to playing in the kitchen and testing a couple of possibilities, I'll post whatever I come up with.

It probably WILL NOT taste like I used regular white flour in it, but I'll see what (if anything) both thickens and tastes halfway decent. The butter part is easy, but I think the flour part is going to be tough.

Nice to hear from you!

I know that this thread is a little older but I thought I would post anyway. In the atkins diet cookbook they use eggs as thickeners.

It says Two egg yolks are equal to 1 tablespoon flour or thickener. Beat eggs in a separate bowl and add 1/4 cup of sauce to be thickened to the bowl. Beat together well. When eggs are blended with sauce add egg mixture to sauce- stir constantly over low flame until it thickens. Do not boil because the eggs with scramble.

I hope this helps someone.

This thread is old so I assume no one found a real substitute for the roux? I really want to make my etoufee recipe but the roux is important.

I wonder if resistant wheat starch would work? Its a starch that passes through undigested. I don't eat wheat but I do have have resistant corn starch and it actually acts a lot like corn starch does. You can get these things at Honeyville Grains (google should find them).

I haven't had a chance to trial the resistant wheat or corn starch yet, personally, though I recall somewhere in the back of my brain that NulloModo may have done this testing some time ago, (posted) either on AtkinsAllTheWay or AtkinsDietBulletinBoard (or maybe LowCarbFriends? I get SO confused these days!:o:help::o ) and that the resistant starches lose their thickening/"gelatinization" along with their digestibility...

I can verify, however, that the Carbalose flour works really well! I whipped up a Chicken Pot Pie the other day (just had that winterfood hankering ;) ), used the Carbalose {for the first time, btw} to thicken the veg and meat and then topped the whole thing with a drop biscuit mix whipped up with the Carbquik. What a yummy fast comfort food meal!