Lo-Carb Roux Substitute for Wheat Flour

[PatriotX]

I'm trying to make some sauces that'll be lo-carb. I know that there're soy flour and such that have a higher protein to carbohydrate ratio than wheat flour.
I've never tried any of them.
Do they behave much differently than wheat flour?
What would you reccomend?

[Shana]

My favorite wheat alternative flours have been spelt and rice. The rice flour seems to be better in a roux - Less lumps for some reason....Unfortunately I'm out of both at the moment so I can't check on carb content for you...sorry! I have always wanted to try Soy flour. A friend of mine said that it's great for baked goods. (Not sure about soy flour specifically for a roux though.)

[PatriotX]

I've read in "The Joy of Cooking" that waxy rice flour is excellent for freezing and thawing.

I'm not sure of it's prot v. carb ratio though.

Qinoa flour anyone?

[NinetyWt]

You can use corn starch as a thickener, too. I haven't tried it for roux per se, but with a little experimenting you might make it work.

[PatriotX]

I've used corn starch before with admirable reults. It's not lo-carb though. It's, well, mostly starch.

[Mangetout]

Most thickening agents (at least the ones used at home) are starch-based, so they aren't really low carb. It may be possible to use other thickeners like Xanthan Gum, but I suspect this would make your sauce more slimy than thick.

I suppose you could take a fondue recipe (basically melted cheese with wine and cream, but often no flour) and use it as a sauce, or if you wanted a tomato-based sauce, maybe start with something like passata(sp?) and just be careful not to add any extra liquid ingredients.

There are also mucilage-based thickeners (based on plants like those in the Mallow family) - do a google on Melokhia for more details, but again, these can be unpleasantly slimy if you're not used to them.

[jjimm]

When I'm low-carbing, I avoid thickening agents altogether, and use a cream-based sauce instead.

Try this (sorry, I'm metric): melt 25g butter on a low heat. Pour in 150 ml single cream. Bring to simmer, while stirring. Season with whatever you like (salt, pepper, mustard), then add 200 ml sour cream and stir well. Bring back to simmer, then allow to reduce to the desired consistency. Add grated cheese to get it really thick.

The only problem with this is it tends to separate and curdle if you reheat it using a microwave, though it seems to stay together if used as a bechamel in lasagne, etc.

[Mangetout]

You could also look into using rich cream cheeses like Ricotta and Mascarpone, although these tend to melt and go quite thin when heated.

Also, what about eggs as a thickener? (you have to be really careful to whisk as you heat so that you don't just end up with scrambled eggs) - it works in sweet cream sauces like sabayon, so it ought to work in savoury ones too.

[jjimm]

Originally posted by Mangetout
Also, what about eggs as a thickener?

How about basing a sauce around the Hollandaise method?

[PatriotX]

These are all excelent suggestions.
however, I'm looking for a way to make sauces repetitively for mass consumption. Eggs as thickeners require are a little more care than what I'd like to have to devote. One of my goals is to reduce the man-hour requirements. Holandaise, (and it's relatives), is wonderful; however, I'm not competent enough to deal with the variation that humididty can cause to the consistency of the sauce. (I live in a sub-tropical zone.) I also worry about how egg sauces will hold up after being refrigerated / frozen.

As I understand it, it is the proteins in the flours that allow them to bind the fats and oils to the sauce, not the starch.

[porcupine]

Expert Foods not Starch is great for thickening w/out adding any carbs. I use it for cream of whatever soups and it works great. It's fairly expensive but you don't need to use much at all. I think the soy stuff tastes nasty. This stuff has no flavor at all that I can detect.

[PatriotX]

Interesting. ThanX.

So you've tried soy flour sauces?

[Tomcat]

I've tried soy flour for a roux...didn't work too well. It doesn't have the chemistry to bind like that. I gave up and started using some cornstarch when thickening. It thickens about 3 times more than flour by weight, IIRC, so the carb content shouldn't be THAT bad. A tablespoon of cornstarch will thicken about 250ml of liquid to the consistency of glue and will add only 5 to 7 grams of carbs, so you'll be adding 2 to 4 carbs per serving...not horrible. But the Expert Foods stuff looks cool...I wish I could get stuff like that easily over here.

-Tcat
PS- I also use a cheese from Germany called ButterKase. It's 45% and melts into sauces, thickening them nicely if you don't overheat. Overheating and re-heating tend to make it seperate, but for the first use it's yummy.

[PatriotX]

I'm glad to hear about soy flour. Too bad that it didn't work. Have you ever tried qinoa flour?
I know that cornstarch isn't that large of a part of the sauce; however, i'm trying to cut corners wherever possible so that I might be able to include other more tasty, ( more tasty than thickener), items iin the dish, like tomatoes and such.
i'm curious about the expert foods product.

Can't you order online ther in CZ?

[DeadlyAccurate]

You might post on the LowCarbFriends message board under their Recipe section. They might have suggestions. The only thing that comes to mind from me is wheat gluten, and I have no idea if that would work.

[PatriotX]

thanx. sounds like a good idea