For me, flour has to cook for some time or the dish will taste like, well, flour. For a quick hit, like to thicken marsala, I'd use corn starch. It doesn't take much, so if it tastes corn-starchy I'm thinking maybe you added too much, and you might have added too much because you cooked it too long - corn starch un-thickens when cooked. Corn starch also gives kind of smooth, silky texture (think Chinese soups) which may or may not be desirable. I prefer flour for something like gravy or stew. And if I need to add it towards the end I'd tend to make a quick roux in order to cook that flour a bit.

That's just me. I'm sure at least part of this will find disagreement among the experts!

Foodonastump nailed it. For a last minute addition I use cornstarch (or if I want the sauce slightly glossy, flour makes for a duller look). And yes, if you bring a cornstarch thickened sauce to a boil it will break and be thin again.

Add the cornstarch slurry and heat to barely a simmer.

Alexa

I prefer a flour roux or beurre manier ( a flour and butter paste) to thicken most sauces and gravies, I find the flavour richer. A sauce or gravy made with flour reheats beautifully, I don't find cornstarch reheats well at all.

However, for all my Chinese recipe requiring a thickened sauce I prefer a cornstarch slurry added at the last minute. It blends and thickens instantly and makes for a clearer sauce.

I always have used cornstarch. I know my mom used flour so I really don't remember how I got started using it. I've never tasted cornstarch. I think I used flour once and had a few lumps.

Generally I'll use cornstarch because it tends not to lump. The best though is Potato Starch but I always have trouble finding it.
Beware; I'm not talking about potato flour, actual potato starch though I imagine you could use potato flour, I'll have to try it sometime.

I keep a 50/50 mixture of flour and cornstarch in a jar and use that. It solves the riddle and works well.

SharonCb

I like flour thickened gravy and lots of sauces. flour cooked for 3 minutes at simmering will thicken and not taste raw.
I use corn starch for sweet sauces, like a lemon sauce for a cake, and for stir fry thickening.
I also sometimes use arrow root when cooking for a friend who is gluten intolerant. But if you over cook that it gets ropy and a very icky texture!
The "thickening power" of cornstarch is greater than that of flour but less than arrowroot.
If I have a pan which was used to roast meat and has been deglazed with some broth and wine bubbeling on the stove, I will ladle some out.....add an ice cube or 2 or 3 to cook it down, shake with some flour ( about 3 T per 1/2 cup of liquid) and slowly pour back into the simmering stuff in the pan, whisking all the while.
Or, if there isn't a lot of bits to scrape off, I might thicken by adding the flour to the fat in the pan and then whisking in the liquiid....as you would make a white sauce.
Linda C

PKGuy!!!!!!

Passover is coming up. If you can get yourself to some stores that stock for Jewish customers, you will find PLENTY of potato starch.

I grew up using flour and my family uses it for everything. My husband's family always uses cornstarch and I actually prefer their roast beef and turkey gravy thickened with cornstarch to my family's with flour. It's the only thing I can say his family is superior to mine in when it comes to cooking! It never has lumps, it never has that raw flour taste. I can taste the raw flour even in things thickened with a roux, which is what I used to use myself. I'm a cornstarch convert.

Lisa

I have come to understand that there is a science to cooking with flour. It can be anything from raw to cooked black depending on the flavor and character the cook is looking for.

All my life I've used mostly corn starch. As I get older I'm still learning and looking forward to making a huge mess with a bunch of flour. Even with corn starch you have to be careful or you will get lumps.

: )
lyra

Here is a link that might be useful: Which way did that roux go?

Stir fri:
I never tasted Cornstarch. I'll have to mix some and taste it.
Maybe you should let it simmer a little longer.
When I use Flour, I cook it awhile.

How could it sometimes taste of Cornstarch ? and not other
times ? I thunk about that.

Alexa:
I always boil the juices when I add the Cornstarch.
And keep boiling until I know it is thick enough.
It never got thinner from boiling, it got thicker.

Pkguy:
Sometimes I use Instant potatoes for thickening !!!!!
Did I say that ?

Lou said that '09

Me too Lou! Shhhhh...

I use flour in stews and creamy sauces/gravies that I don't need the "clearness". For those I use cornstarch (turkey gravy, stir fry, etc.)

Or...............whatever I have on hand...

Deanna

Potato starch is definitely better than cornstarch, and I've never had trouble finding it, although I do tend to buy it in a Japanese market, where it is quite common. You can substitute potato flour, which I also like and which has a bit more flavor. Instant potatoes might be similar to potato flour, but I haven't tried them.

I will only add flour to a sauce after it has been cooked in a roux. Potato starch reheats just as well as a roux - I used potato starch last night in the chicken soup I made, just because I wanted it to be a bit thicker than the broth. I mixed it in a bit of cold water before adding it, but I've also added it directly to broth without it lumping. Since there were other things in the soup, however, I decided a slurry was safer.

I use cornstarch pretty much only for desserts.

Lars

I use Wondra flour if I have it on hand for gravies and stews. Lump-free, always. Otherwise I use a roux and whisk like crazy. I use cornstarch occasionally but prefer the texture of flour in the above items.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wondra Flour

I go through boxes of cornstarch....as a breading for Japanese chicken cutlets. Chicken Karaage. Thats another thread since we are talking thickeners here.

I'm a fan of the pre sauce fat/flour roux over the post correction cornstarch. I can always taste the cornstarch so I try to do a preemptive strike whenever possible.:)

Well said everyone !!!!!

Barnmom: I haven't seen potatoe Starch around here.
But I don't have to Wondra about Wordra Flour.
I've seen that.
But I Wondra why I never used it ? Gotcha !
Deanna:
I won't say anything. About what ?

Bunnymman:
How did you get lumps usuing Cornstarch ?
I'll have to try harder.

Lisa:
Kermit and his little Brothers are here to Serenade You

Mona Lisa , Mona Lisa, Men have named youuuuuuuuuu
You're so like a Lady with a Mystic Smile !!!!!
Doooooo , Dooooooooooooooo !

If you want more you will have to pay them.
LOU

I have to agree with Sharon, totally. I like the texture and the flavour of flour over cornstarch. I don't like the glossy clear sauce cornstarch makes. Except in Chinese cooking.

Ann

Sometimes it is difficult to "whisk like crazy" (barnmom, that gave me an amusing mental picture-though I know exactly what you mean), like when you're thickening a stew with big chunks of meat and vegetables in it.

Also, if you lump, it's hard to fix.

I've found that if I make my roux (cooking it well) and then ladle out liquid from the stew to add to the roux instead of the other way around, it's easy to whisk the sauce smooth and then it can be added back to the rest of the liquid in the main pot.

This way, if it lumps when you add the liquid to the roux, you can always process it before adding it into the rest. Lumps are icky, I don't want a single one.

I don't generally like cornstarch except in glazes and Asian dishes. However, a little trick I've learned is that if I've thickened a soup, stew or sauce already, but misjudged the amount of roux so that it's still too thin, a bit of cornstarch slurry will fix it up quickly, and you still have the nice flavor from the roux.

Instant potatoes! I've never thought of that, though I often grate potatoes into cream soups so I can cut down on the amount of fat, as I like a nice, thickened cream soup.

Julia recommends pureeing a bit of cooked rice to thicken soups for the gluten intolerant.
RE....those aren't "lumps" they are tiny dumplings....very hard to achieve!!

SharonCb:
I haven't had an occasion to try your mix yet but as I said before, I will.
I can't get the clear glossy look and flavor, everyone is talking about, by using Cornstarch.

It always tastes great, I'll have to try harder.
Lou

Roux (flour butter/oil)requires cooking to develop flavor and color. If you dump flour and water mixture into something you had better cook it for several minutes to get rid of that flour taste.

Flour and cornstarch give you two different results, visually and texturally. Only add cornstarch mixed with water (to avoid lumps) just before serving. It is cooked when it turns clear (almost immediately). My Chinese cook teacher said "add cornstarch mixture, and stir once around". As I found out, it will break down, as others have noted.

-Babka

Purely by accident I found that brown rice flour makes a very acceptable sub for flour. I dust my chicken cutlets with it and have added it successfully to a number of recipes that call for flour, *not for serious baking, but for sauces or something that requires just a bit of flour.It didn't tend to lump when stirred in as a thickener.

As an aside, apart from flour and cornstarch, there are recipes I use in Mallorcan (Spanish Balearic Islands) cooking which do the following to thicken a stew or savory pot while adding flovour: fry a thick slice of country style brown bread in olive oil until toasted and dark, remove from pan, drain on paper and set aside. Mash a clove of garlic together with about 1/2 teasp sea salt using a mortar and pestle, crumble up the toasted, oily bread into small pieces and mash it in the mortar together with the garlic and salt until you have a paste. Add that to your stew pot.

Another is when using yellow squash, lentils or potato in a pot, take some out and mash it to a paste in the mortar and return it to the pot to thicken.

Sweet sauces sometimes use blanched almonds crushed and mashed, sometimes with a bit of milk or honey. The use of those ingredients is typically Arabic, from the days when they lived in that area of what is now part of Spain.

SharonCb

I didn't really want to add FLOVOUR....better would be flavour LOL.

Speaking of thickeners, recently I made a gumbo and for the first time sprinkled some file powder on it. I was amazed at how a small amount magically thickened it without even cooking. It smells kind of like tea and I didn't notice a change in taste (of course the gumbo has a strong taste) so I'm wondering if there are any other uses for it?

I suppose you could use File in any soup or stew you wanted thickened, but it would change the flavor as it does have a distinct flavor of it's own.

Best thing I know is the same for what I use in gravy - white rice flour. It is readily available in the Ethnic section of the grocery store (Mexican cuisine), very inexpensive, dissolves quickly in a little cold water, and just a tablespoon thickens any stew, casserole, or gravy. It has no real taste so the flavor of what you are making is not masked, nor highlighted, just thickened.

Cornstarch needs to be cooked to thicken and is hard to dissolve, flour should be combined with fat and cooked to take away the paste flavor but is easily burned, and file powder has its own flavor that is not what you want in a delicate Marsala chicken dish. Something else that I use for thickening fruit pies is Instant Clear-Jel, and for jams and jelly - non-instant Clear-Jel but never the instant for those canned fruits. You may want to try using that no-flavor thickener, though I have not used it in anything other than fruit based cooking, it might work fine.

Bottom line - try a little white rice flour - is my suggestion. Tried and true!

Nancy

I much prefer flour to cornstarch for nearly all cooking, although I've been known to use cornstarch in a few fruit based recipes and an occasional sauce.

Grandma used to tell me to cook flour for a minimum of 5 minutes to get rid of the raw flour flavor. I always use flour in pies, in gravies, in white sauces, etc.

I don't care for the texture of cornstarch, it reminds me too much of jello, which I detest, so I avoid it for the most part.

I've tried tapioca a couple of times, I have one old fresh strawberry pie recipe that takes tapioca flour, but I've never used potato starch or arrowroot, neither are available in my little grocery

Soups usually get thickened with mashed potatoes or other pureed vegetables.

Annie

Nancy:
I don't understand ( Cornstarch is hard to dissolve ? )

Do you mix it in Dry? I always mix it in cold water first.
Maybe that's why some are getting lumps?
- - - - - - - -
Here is some Chicken Gravy over breast slices, I made tonight. No coloring.
Just gave it a taste test and added spices and some Cornstarch.
If I want it thicker, I just add more.
Everyone loves it ???
LOU

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