Just read a recipe that calls for instant flour for fried chicken and I could not wrap my mind around the concept. Is it a stalk of wheat that turns to flour when added to water? Flour that’s already baked? Reminds me of non-fat mayonnaise in that I could not understand what could possibly be the jar, vinegar and lemon juice?
Was that a typo or is there really such a thing as instant flour?
It’s milled really fine so it’s good for making sauces. Google “Wonrda”
(typo - “Wondra”)
It’s not milled finer, it’s actually more granular than regular flour. The difference is the heat/pressure treatment and low protein-content, not the milling technique.
I love using Wondra. I use it to thicken stew. It’s so much nicer to just pour whatever I need into the stew, stir, maybe dump some more in and just go from there. It’s also thickens the stew a lot faster than flour. On top of that with flour you have to mix it with warm water and then you have that dish full of concrete to clean later.
Ah! The instant is because you can instantly put it in the gravy. I wonder why this recipe called for it to dredge chicken in.
The page I linked above says “some people like to use it for dredging and coating,” but no explanation of why they like it. This being the Dope, you obviously need to make half your chicken with regular flour, half with instant, and report back with the results.
ETA: I see elsewhere people say it makes the crusts lighter and crispier. I still think you should test this out.
If that is how you were taught to thicken a stew, sue your teacher for malpractice.
I mix my flour with stock or water or some liquid to thicken things. I don’t have concrete left over though. I think Joey may be putting too much flour/not enough liquid in the measuring cup/dish. But if Wondra works better for him, good going.
Sorry, no teacher, I just toss stuff in the pot and see how it turns out. I really like my stew recipe, I make it pretty often.
Which part are you saying is wrong? Mixing the flour (or cornstarch if I have it on hand) with water before adding it to the stew so it doesn’t clump or using Wondra which is great because it doesn’t clump, it just dissolves without any fuss?
If one is thickening at the end of a cook, a cornstarch slurry is a much better option. It will thicken faster than flour without the (nearly) raw flour taste. It is more efficient than flour; for every tablespoon of flour one might use, try half of that if switching to cornstarch. For an even better mouth-feel, especially for stews, unflavored gelatin bloomed in warm water (or stock) at the end is wonderful, though not as powerful a thickening agent. Cornstarch can lose it’s thickening power if cooked too long at a boil though, and is at it’s thickening best at around 200F. That’s why one shouldn’t use it at the beginning of a cook.
I’ll use flour cooked with pan drippings (and extra fat, usually butter, if needed) to make the thickening base (roux) for a gravy, before adding any liquids. My ratio is one tablespoon of flour and fat per cup of liquid in a gravy, and be sure to deglaze the pan and get all that fond into the gravy. I’ll also use it at the beginning when making a stew or pot roast. If, at the end, my sauce is not as thick as I would like, I’ll use cornstarch and/or gelatin.
I’ve only used Wondra once or twice because it was all my father had in his pantry. I didn’t like it, probably because I wasn’t used to working with it. I didn’t know it boasted a much lower protein ratio than regular flour, bringing it closer to cornstarch (which is a pure, gluten-free starch). I would suspect (though I could be wrong) that Biggirl is using warm or hot liquid to mix with her flour, while Joey P is mixing with cold liquid, which would make paste quite easily.
ETA: That last phrase is literal. Wheat flour plus water is perhaps the oldest form of paste known to mankind.
I’m usually doing it a pretty low temp, just barely simmering (sometimes in a crockpot) and very close to the end, it’s that last thing I do before I eat it. Sometimes I let it go for another 10-15 minutes to cook out the ‘raw’ taste (thought chefguy once said that wasn’t needed). I use(d) flour and warm water because I rarely have cornstarch on hand.
Either way Wondra works great for me, I’ll never go back. You can practically dump that stuff in, I swear it dissolves as well as sugar and thickens perfectly. To each their own. Make it’s because I make my stew spicy (a can of Rotel tomatoes in place of regular diced tomatoes) and it covers up and raw flour taste. I dunno, it works.
Well, different situations call for different thickening methods. Stews and meat gravies need the heft of flour whether with a roux or in a slurry. I use cornstarch when I make stir fry because that needs the silky cornstarch feel.
After I posted the OP I thought maybe instant flour was another name for Bisquick. So totally wrong.
I agree. If using a slurry to thicken a stew, I prefer flour to cornstarch. Cornstarch is for stir fry for me, as well. I don’t like cornstarch thickened stews or gravies–they have a glossy sheen and slightly more gelatinous texture. Yes, cornstarch is much more efficient, but I prefer flour.
Wondra isn’t really flour, though. It’s already cooked, so it doesn’t taste raw, because it’s not raw.
I’m not particularly fond of it myself, because it’s expensive. I grew up on corn starch slurries and roux, and that’s mostly what I use today.
I like the gelatin idea, though. Great way to cheat a stock.
Ditto - cornstarch-thickened stews just don’t appeal to me at all. It’s a mouthfeel thing. But then I was raised on flour-thickened stews so it’s probably just a matter of habituation at a young age.
For emergency thickening I use instant mash potato which I only have on hand for that purpose. I would never use it as mashed potato. I avoid using slurries as they seem to often taint the dish. If the recipe calls for thickening I will have a roux prepared but if during cooking it seems unexpectedly thin and I have time I will throw in a suitable thickening agent - dried beans, lentils, oats, grated vegetables, rice. You generally don’t need as much as you would think.
I guess I do sometimes use tiny amounts of cornstarch slurry to finish stir fries but prefer adding a few tablespoons of leftover mashed pumpkin or sweet potato. Tastes better and looks better.