The Best & Healthiest Flours For Sourdough |

The Best & Healthiest Flours For Sourdough | #AskWardee 065 | Free no-knead einkorn bread recipe: TradCookSchool....
**Question
Marie asks:
"I am really confused and unsure which flour is best for me to make sourdough bread with. I have PCOS and need to watch my carbs and gluten. However, I am interested in making sourdough for my husband, and I want to occasionally enjoy a slice for myself, too.
I am looking for:
- suitable for sourdough starter
-as open as possible for a variety of bread products
-not mix it with white or whole wheat flour in order for it to work
-cheap as possible
-least amount of gluten, wheat, and low-glycemic
-nutritious, natural, and organic
I know you use einkorn for your family. It’s tempting to just go with that because I know I could just follow your recipes to a T. Do you perhaps know what flour would be best for us under the terms I provided?
Thank you so much for your time. I am getting so spun around the more I read!"
**Answer
Options...
**1. Flour Suitable For Starter
All flours work for starter. They have starch and that's the starter's food.
Starters with gluten-free flours need help. Where you add water kefir or Kombucha to make them more strong.
**2. Versatile
Gluten flours are the most versatile. Spelt & einkorn are the most, making light baked goods and great breads. They don’t need to be mixed with other flours to turn out great.
Rye is not a favorite. It is hard to get right; turns out dense unless blended with other flours.
Gluten-free flours work best if 4 to 5 of them are blended together for baking. They need help with binding because they lack gluten (eggs, chia seeds, flax seeds, etc.). They can make sandwich bread, too!
**3. Doesn’t Need To Be Mixed With Wheat Flour
answered in #2
**4. Cheap
Of the gluten flours - einkorn is more expensive than spelt, though I often see comparable prices here and there.
You’ll save money if buying grains and grinding your flour. My favorite einkorn, the berries are $3.00/lb. (Members save using our special links.)
My no-knead einkorn sourdough bread needs 1-1/2 lbs flour, so it costs $4.50. That's a great compared to artisan bakery with loaves at $5 to $8 or more.
Pre-mixed gluten-free blends are likely to have more starch and cost more. The price depends on which 4 to 5 flours you use and if you blend your own.
**5. Least Amount of Carbs & Gluten & Low Glycemic
All grains have carbs = starch.
The very best thing to do is prepare all grain-containing baked goods with sourdough - the organisms in the starter eat the starch and reduce it. This lowers the glycemic index (scale of how much it affects blood-sugar levels).
The glycemic index of sourdough bread is 53; low on the glycemic index scale.
Gluten-free flours are similar -- in sourdough bread, there is some reduction of starch.
Commercial pre-mixed gluten-free blends contain pure starch - potato or tapioca. These are high on the glycemic index, higher than wheat.
*** 6. Most Nutritious
Modern wheat has been hybridized (selectively bred) to produce high-gluten and high-yield plants. Many researchers have linked it to modern diseases.
Einkorn is the oldest wheat variety (5,000 years old). It has less and gentler starch, and less and gentler. The other gluten-containing ancient grains - emmer, spelt, kamut - were all derived from einkorn and are healthier than wheat, too
Gluten-free grains -- they are nutritious.
Select organic grains or those raised pesticide and chemical free.
If you avoid modern wheat and the gluten-free pure starches, you’ll find nutritious options.
**The Bottom Line
Gluten flours - einkorn best followed by spelt.
Gluten-free flours - any of them, really - except the pure starch and blend 4 to 5 together for best results PLUS consider using a boosted starter.
Price shop to come up with what works best for you.
**Links
FREE no-knead einkorn sourdough bread
tradcookschool....
Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter Basics
traditionalcook...
Is Sourdough Bread Low-Glycemic?
traditionalcook...
Gluten Intolerance and Sourdough
traditionalcook...
4 Reasons To Love Einkorn
traditionalcook...
Einkorn 101
traditionalcook...
Membership in Traditional Cooking School
traditionalcook...
Einkorn Baking eBook
traditionalcook...
Allergy-Free Cooking eBoo
traditionalcook...
Where to buy einkorn
amzn.to/2nefJM4
Join the fun live on FB each Wed @ 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern
TradCookSchool....