Q&A for How to Make Rice Flour

To enhance this basic blend, teff flour is often introduced due to its high protein content, which contributes a unique quality to the final product. However, it's essential to note that brown rice flour alone requires companionship with starches, coupled with binding agents such as Xanthan gum. In a manner akin to its role in salad dressings, Xanthan gum aids in maintaining a cohesive mixture of oil and water. These additional components are crucial to replicating the effects of gluten found in traditional wheat-based baking. Gluten, activated during kneading or mixing, creates the essential air pockets crucial for the structure and texture of baked goods. Therefore, to emulate this without gluten, ingredients like Xanthan gum, psyllium husk, or even flax meal are indispensable in achieving the desired results.

Brown rice flour stands out as a readily available and user-friendly option for gluten-free baking. However, using it as a standalone flour isn't practical; it requires the addition of a starch component. Pure brown rice flour lacks the structural qualities necessary for successful baking on its own. Despite this limitation, brown rice flour is a cost-effective choice compared to some alternative flours.

It should only take only a few minutes to make a small amount of rice flour, although the time will depend on the strength of your processing machine or mill, and its size. If you have to add lots of small batches to grind in succession, it’ll probably take around 10 minutes to complete a few cupfuls.

The noise that accompanies making rice flour is to be expected, because the hard grains are hitting against the blades of the machine used to refine the rice. A mill may be quieter than using a food processor or blender but whatever way you choose to make rice flour, there will be some noise involved. Try doing it during the daytime when less people will be bothered by its noise, and shut the kitchen door, if possible.

There is a very slight difference. Rice powder tends to be coarser than rice flour, which is more refined and powdery. To help you understand the difference, it is similar to the difference between superfine sugar and powdered sugar, both sugar products but one refined more than the other.

Rice flour tends to be more expensive than all-purpose or self-raising flour. Depending on where you live, the cost can vary around $2 to $5 a pound in the USA, around $4 a kilogram in Australia, etc. However, these are rough figures and you'll need to check your local store because the price will vary depending on whether you’re buying it from the supermarket or a health food store, and whether it’s organic or conventional.

Rice flour brings a particular kind of crispness to cookies and shortbread, and thus can be hard to substitute and still get the desired texture. Remembering that there will a change in texture and consistency therefore, you can substitute rice flour with sorghum flour, cornflour, millet flour mixed with potato starch, or any gluten-free flour blend. If you can tolerate gluten, all-purpose flour can be substituted too but it’s not very refined compared to rice flour and the results will be less crisp and fine.

It is a good idea to check the rice for any foreign materials, like tiny sticks or stones. However, most rice sold in places like the USA and Canada will have been properly cleaned before packaging. Do a quick check of the rice before using, and if it seems like it has foreign materials in it, then decide about rinsing it.

Rice flour is essential for making crispy, light shortbread, which is what many bakers know it for. However, it’s also a boon for those following a gluten-free diet, as it can be substituted for wheat flour in a variety of baked goods, including brownies, cakes, cookies, muffins and pie. It also makes great batter for Indian battered dishes, for fish and for vegetarian foods.

Yes, rice flour can be made using a food processor. Choose a processor that is capable of handling heavier ingredients, such as a Cuisinart. Add the rice to the food processor and place the cover on securely. Don’t put too much rice in, as you don’t want to make the processor work too hard. So, add 3 to 4 tablespoons a time and gauge how much it can manage before adding more tablespoons at a time. Then, process the rice until a fine, powdery flour forms. You may need to process it twice to get as fine as you’d like, and even so, it may be grainier than store-bought rice flour but is still perfectly usable for most needs.

Tapioca flour, sweet-potato flour and shingoda flours are free of gluten.

Yes, it can, there are lots of DIY tutorials online explaining how to use it on skin.

Yes. Rice flour can be used as an alternative; however, to get the chewy goodness that comes from wheat flour, you have to add either gluten or a gluten alternative, such as gelatin, agar (vegan gelatin basically), xanthin gum, etc. To obtain a similar taste to wheat flour recipes, since rice flour has a much higher sweetness quality to it, mixing it with oat flour is generally suggested. You can also make your own oat flour with rolled oats and a blender (same as the rice flour recipe above). Adding the rice flour with the oat flour helps to compensate for the density of the oat flour. A mix of the two, plus a gelling agent, will get you very close to a "wheat" mixture that is gluten free.

Flour, by definition, is a grain or nut that has been pulverized into a powder. If the rice is not ground down, then it is just rice, not rice flour, and will not work in recipes that call for rice flour.

Yes, a mortar and pestle can be used instead of a grinder. However, it takes a lot of time, energy and strength.

If it was in a sealed package, I doubt you would need to clean it. However, if you do think you should, use a sifter/sieve, put the rice in, and pour water in.

You need to use raw rice. It can't have the moisture that cooked rice does.

Yes, but wash the rice before grinding so that it doesn't separate when it cooks.

Try thyme or tarragon.

Instant rice has been partially cooked already, that’s why it cooks so quickly. To make rice flour the rice must not be cooked at all. So the answer is no, instant rice cannot be used to make rice flour.

Yes, though sweet rice flour is best (you can Google a recipe for it).

You’ll need 1 kg of long grain or 1000g of short grain.

No, the rice should be uncooked. It will cling together if it is cooked and won't grind because of the moisture.

Do not soak the rice beforehand, as it will result in a rice paste, not rice flourr.