skip to main content

Healthier flour for bechamel

14 years ago

Hello everybody. I've really been enjoying experimenting with bechamels lately. I've found that olive oil can be used successfully as a substitute for butter as long as the seasonings are right. (Coconut oil works even better, but I'm not made of money.) I'm wondering if I can healthify them further by replacing AP flour with something else. Anyone tried? Thanks.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (17)

triciae
14 years ago
IMO, even using unbleached AP is healthier.

I'd try using 1/4-1/2 white whole wheat and see what happens. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work - you may need to add a little more milk.

I like making bechamel replacing 1 cup milk with white wine & adding a big glob of whole grain mustard plus some minced garlic. It's very good over chicken.

Have fun.

/tricia
lpinkmountain
14 years ago
Back in my bechamel days I used to routinely use whole wheat flour, just the run of the mill AP stuff which you were lucky to get back then. You get little flecks of wheat bran in your sauce, but I actually prefer the taste. Laurel's Kitchen Cookbook recommends using pastry flour for the best taste, and I usually have that on hand these days.
Related Discussions
substitutions for healthier eating
Q
Comments (17)
Hi, rosecmd - thanks for posting that information as well as the link. I have recently been doing a lot of research on eating healthier since my daught was diagnosed with PCOS - she has high insulin levels as well as elevated triglycerides and cholesterol. Here is some info that may be helpful: From You the Owners Manual: Foods laden with cholesterol, simple carbohydrates (white flour, white bread, sugar, pasta), and trans and saturated fats can cause high LDL levels (bad cholesterol). And it can partially be caused by genetics. Exercising, losing even 10 lbs of weight, avoiding simple carbs, and restricting saturated and trans fats to fewer than 20 grams will lower your LDL. Increasing HDL (good cholesterol) can also help, it can be done several ways Â consuming healthy fats (olive oil, fish, walnuts), physical activity, taking niacin, having 1 drink of alcohol. Intake of soluble fiber can also help to lower cholesterol, and some studies have shown that it also decreases the risk of heart attacks. From the AHA website: What are omega-3 fatty acids? Omega-3 (n-3 polyunsaturated) fatty acids are essential fats that your body needs to function properly but does not make. Humans must eat them through food, which means eating seafood, such as salmon, tuna, sardines, mackerel or shellfish. Omega-3 fatty acids benefit the heart of healthy people, and those at high risk for Â or who already have Â cardiovascular disease. What are omega-6 fatty acids? Omega-6 (n-6 polyunsaturated) fatty acids are the other group of essential fats that your body needs to function properly but does not make. Hence, they need to be consumed in the diet. Food sources of omega-6 fatty acids include some vegetable oils (soybean, safflower, sunflower or corn oils), nuts and seeds. Increased consumption of omega-6 fatty acids in place of saturated fats and trans fats is associated with a decreased risk of coronary heart disease.
...See More
Article: Chefs work with food industry for healthier options
Q
Comments (1)
Those of use who cook our own meals don't care what chefs do!! Sorry, but I couldn't help saying that, since most people here cook more than eat out, and I cook at least 90% of my meals. Restaurants are nice if you are on a date but not as a regular source of food. I go to restaurants mainly to get ideas or try new cuisines which I then improve upon when I get home, but I seldom eat out more than once a week, and it is not for a lack of great restaurants to choose from. I have long ago reduced the fat, sugar, and salt in my food, and especially the salt, which I find especially offensive, although sugar offends me also, except in desserts. My point is - cook your own food, and you will eat better and not have to be bothered with chefs and their occasionally offensive attitudes. People on Chowhound might be more interested in that article. Sorry if I sound cynical.
...See More
Bob's Red Mill 10 Grain Flour Stone Ground
Q
Comments (14)
I mill my own flour from a wide variety of grains/seeds/beans, so I've also learned gluten levels and how they work in baked goods. Although the 10-grain flour contains wheat flour, it's not clear how much is used in the mixture. Probably a large portion is wheat because it's much less expensive than the other grains/seeds in the mix. It's also not clear what kind of wheat - soft or hard wheat - is in the mixture, which will make a lot of difference for making bread dough. I like to mill my own mixtures so I can be sure what I'm using, and to assure I have the freshest flour possible for the highest amount of nutrition possible. Fresh is best..... You need a high portion of flour from wheat (bread flour or all-purpose flour, or whole wheat milled from hard wheat varieties), in order to have enough gluten to make a yeast-risen bread. It's also preferable to have a high-gluten flour for making pizza dough. Wheat has the highest amount of gluten of all grains. Any other grain/seed will be either low-gluten or gluten-free. Spelt is the only other grain with enough gluten to make a nice loaf of yeast bread, but even the gluten type in spelt is much different, and much lower than the gluten in wheat. The gluten level in spelt is about 5,000 parts per million. Compare that to wheat which begins at 50,000 parts per million and goes up from there. For your pizza dough you will probably be fine using 1/2 bread flour and 1/2 10-grain flour. As Teresa pointed out, you may need to add a little extra flour to get the right "feel". The low-gluten and gluten-free flour doesn't absorb as much hydration as high-gluten flour (bread flour). If you don't like the results, use a different ratio of bread flour to 10-grain flour (75% bread flour to 25% 10-grain), or add some vital wheat gluten (1 T. per cup of 10-grain flour) to make up for the low-gluten flour. If the 10-grain mixture has a lot of rye flour in it, rye flour characteristically makes dough rather sticky to work with - even with the correct hydration. People often add too much flour to compensate for the stickiness, which will make the dough too dry. There are other methods to use when working with a sticky dough, such as kneading it with wet hands (dip your hands in a small bowl of water periodically), oil your hands with vegetable oil, or placing the dough in a gallon-size freezer zip lock bag, pushing out as much air as possible before closing it, and kneading it from outside the bag (you can alter the hydration if necessary). There are also kneading gloves available that work for kneading sticky doughs. -Grainlady
...See More
Whole Wheat Pastry Flour Question
Q
Comments (16)
--Whole wheat pastry flour is milled from low-gluten, low-protein, soft wheat varieties. I use soft white wheat for pastry flour, or anywhere I don't need a lot of gluten development. Spelt is another good wholegrain choice when you don't need a lot of gluten development. Spelt has a gluten level that is 5,000 parts per million; compared to wheat which begins at 50,000 parts per million and go up from there. --Technically, "all-purpose" flour was developed commercially for bleached/unbleached flour from a mixture of hard wheat and soft wheat. There's enough hard wheat so it has enough gluten to make yeast breads, and enough soft wheat flour so it makes decent quick breads, pastry or cakes - so it covers "all purposes", but it's NOT the optimum choice of flour for most things, other than soft dinner rolls. We've just developed our flour use from the most common commercial flour available - all-purpose - with occasional moves to Southern all-purpose for biscuits and quick breads, and the even more elusive cake flour for beautiful tender cakes. Even in the world of commercial bleached/unbleached all-purpose flour there are great differences... Northern all-purpose flour (King Arthur and Robin Hood - 11-12) have a higher protein level than National Brands (Gold Medal and Pillsbury 10-12). Southern all-purpose flour (7.5-9.5) is milled from soft wheat, so it's best used for quick breads, biscuits, muffins, pastry, cookies, cakes - foods where you don't want a lot of gluten development. A mix of 3:2 hard wheat to soft white wheat is a great "all-purpose" mixture when you want soft yeast rolls. Otherwise, choosing a mix of hard wheat and soft wheat is less than optimum for other baked goods. --Whole wheat "bread" flour would mean a high protein level milled from hard wheat. Bleached/Unbleached bread flour has a protein level of 13-14. I've milled wheat that was 16% protein and made yeast bread with it, but it takes a lot more kneading to develop the gluten and you find you have tough bread as a result of the high protein level. This also happens when you add too much vital wheat gluten to a recipe, so more (protein/gluten) is not necessarily better. The protein levels of wheat I purchase is generally between 13% and 14% protein, which is more than enough to raise a lofty loaf of bread. If you tend to get short squatty loaves of 100% whole wheat bread, there are other factors you need to address besides protein/gluten levels - such as stop using a (quick mix) direct dough method and switch to a sponge method. A sponge will help soften the bran - the sharp edges of bran can cut the gluten strands. A sponge method also helps develop the gluten without kneading. Adding an acid ingredient (vinegar, lemon juice, ascorbic acid, etc) to the recipe has a positive effect. There is a substance in wheat germ called Gluthione which breaks down the gluten strands. Adding an acid, such as ascorbic acid, counteracts the negative effects of Glutathione. Ascorbic acid helps to prevent the gluten bonds from breaking down and will repair the gluten bonds, so you'll get a high-rising loaf of 100% whole wheat bread. I generally add 1/8 t. ascorbic acid per loaf of bread when making bread that includes wheatgerm (as a single ingredient or from whole wheat flour). -Something we tend to forget, or possibly didn't even know, hard wheat wasn't even available for milling until the late 1870's when the German Mennonites arrived here in Kansas and brought the granddad of all hard winter wheat varieties, Turkey Red, with them from Europe. Prior to the developing of the hard winter varieties of wheat, all flour was milled from soft wheat. The mills liked soft wheat for milling into flour because it was easy to grind in one pass through the mill, and had a much larger extraction of flour. Soft wheat tends to be a plumper seed with more endosperm, while hard winter wheat is small and rather wrinkled with more bran and less endosperm. You can tell the difference between hard and soft wheat when you mill it at home - the hard wheat flour is more coarse and gritty from the bran, while soft wheat renders a very soft, talcum powder feeling flour. --"Bread flour" or high protein flour milled from hard wheat, was available to commercial bakers and they referenced it by calling it "strong" wheat flour. Strong and weak wheats indicate a wheat or flour's baking strength. It wasn't until the advent of the bread machine in the 1980's that high-gluten bread flour became available for home use. Up until that time all-purpose flour, which is a medium-protein level flour, was about the only kind of flour available for home use. If "whole wheat bread flour" is called for, it means use a "regular" whole wheat flour which is milled from hard wheat, instead of "pastry" whole wheat flour, which is milled from soft wheat. -Grainlady
...See More
ynnej
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks guys. Lpink, what happened to your bechamel days?
Lars
14 years ago
I generally make veloute instead of bechamel, in order to avoid the milk, and I've been using all whole wheat flour for some time. I prefer the flavor that it gives, although it is somewhat difficult to just doneness of the rue by color. For that reason, I will still use white flour when making a rue for gumbo.

Lars
Islay_Corbel
14 years ago
Just a little aside, Lars, it's a roux. Rue is a street. You did make me smile!
Islay_Corbel
14 years ago
You can substitute a bechamel for other things. If you want a cheese sauce, just melt cheese into creme fraiche. What are you putting your sauce on?
caliloo
14 years ago
Another option for a creamy white sauce that I recently discovered in Giada's Fonduta sauce that is used in her Manicotti with sausage and peas. I have not made the manicotti part yet, but I have made the fonduta a couple of times and it is quite good.

Alexa

Here is a link that might be useful: Manicotti with Sausage and Peas
ynnej
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you for the link Alexa. Islay, the sauces I make are usually for pasta. I like experimenting with different flavors- curry, southwestern, and plain old garlic. I use almond or coconut milk when cooking for myself but use real milk and cheese when cooking for the rest of the family.
lindac
14 years ago
And is the pasta you are putting it over whole wheat pasta?
My thoughts are that the amount of flour I use in a bechamel is so small as to not be much of a factor in my nutrition level.
Lars
14 years ago
Thanks, Islay - it was really late at night when I posted - I realized my error too late! I did have big problems in French class because so many words sounded the same but were spelled differently.

I agree with Linda that the amount of flour is a bechamel is so small as not to be much of a factor. That said, I still prefer the flavor of whole wheat, but if you prefer the flavor of white flour, I don't think it is worth worrying about. I also prefer the flavor of whole wheat pasta to white pasta in most cases.

Lars
triciae
14 years ago
We also much prefer whole wheat pasta. Several years ago we discovered Bionaturae Organic Whole Wheat pasta and it's been in our storage program ever since. We love both the flavor & texture. I highly recommend giving a package a try. It's available in my Cranston, RI Whole Foods, in our local Mystic health food store, & a few shapes are available at amazon.

FWIW, I also really like the company. Bionaturae Organic pasta is my contribution to global trade! (grin)

/tricia

Here is a link that might be useful: Bionaturae Organic Whole Wheat Pasta
ynnej
Original Author
14 years ago
I usually do use whole wheat pasta unless it is unavailable, which, in our small town, is not uncommon. I just feel like topping whole wheat pasta with a bechamel made of white flour is sort of like getting a quarter pounder with fries and a diet coke. Actually, that's a pretty ridiculous comparison. I'm just trying to eat as well as I can without sacrificing taste. Thanks for your suggestions, I'll give the wheat flour a try.
lpinkmountain
14 years ago
A combination of things has put an end to my bechamel days. First, the attempt to eat lower fat and calories, but also I have become increasingly sensitive to lactose, or something or other in what passes for milk these days. I was never a milk drinker and just don't use it enough to warrant getting raw milk, which I'm sure would help with the flavor and lactose issues. The last couple of times I have tried to make it I just wasn't satisfied and I think it has to do with the shelf stable milk I used, which is what I have on hand nowdays. I read the alternative recipes posted here with great interest. I find that mostly these days I just use a reduced liquid for my sauces, even pasta. Or just top with evoo and parm. or feta cheese.
shambo
14 years ago
Have you considered using brown rice flour? I have used it in making gravies -- not the same as a bechamel, though -- and it worked fine. I've also used it successfully for dredging baked chicken wings, eggplant rounds, and other foods.
ynnej
Original Author
14 years ago
I'm sensitive to dairy, too. I haven't had any for a while- maybe a month or two, I haven't kept track. But I feel much better at this point. Sue, I've never worked with brown rice flour. I haven't worked much with any flour besides AP.
Islay_Corbel
14 years ago
I don't put bechamel on pasta.A slimming world light "carbonara" is very healthy and tastes rich and creamy.
Fry an onion and some garlic in a light spray and a couple of tbls veggie stock. Grill some lean bacon - all visible fat removed.Add to the onion. In a bowl, mix together a 100g tub 0%fat fromage frais, a couple of eggs, 1 tbls grated parmesan, some parsley and s&p. Cook the pasta of your choice, drain then pour over the sauce and mix. Yum.
lpinkmountain
14 years ago
Interesting on the brown rice flour Shambo. I have some in the freezer that I thought I would never use up. Must try it as part of some breading.

Related Stories

HEALTHY HOME 16 Ideas for a Healthy, Feel-Good Home

By Laura Gaskill

Making these small tweaks and bigger shifts at home can help you thrive everywhere you go

KITCHEN DESIGN Houzz Call: What’s Cooking in Your Kitchen?

By Stacy Briscoe

Most of us turn to recipes, videos and culinary shows when we cook. Where do you set your cookbook, tablet or TV screen?

HEALTHY HOME 12 Ways to Set Up Your Kitchen for Healthy Eating

By Becky Harris

Making smart food choices is easier when your kitchen is part of your support team

KITCHEN DESIGN 8 Kitchen Organizing Ideas for Messy Cooks

By Lisa Frederick

Not the clean-as-you-go type? Not to worry. These strategies will help keep your kitchen looking tidy no matter what your cooking style is

OUTDOOR KITCHENS Your Guide to Grills and More for Great Outdoor Cooking

By Laura Gaskill

Learn the pros and cons of gas versus charcoal grills, and about neat add-ons that let you do more

MOST POPULAR 7 Ways to Design Your Kitchen to Help You Lose Weight

By Mitchell Parker

In his new book, Slim by Design, eating-behavior expert Brian Wansink shows us how to get our kitchens working better

LIFE Show Us Your Thanksgiving Fails

By Mary Jo Bowling

On some holidays you are just thankful when it’s over

HOME TECH 3 Kitchen Contraptions You Won’t Believe

Pizza hot from the printer, anyone? These cooking gadgets harness imagination and high tech — and have price tags to match

PRODUCT PICKS Guest Picks: Get Juicing

By Tracy Benjamin

Stay hydrated and healthy with these tools and accessories for juicing fruits and vegetables right at home

MATERIALS Fabric Focus: Decorate With Grain Sacks for Quick Farmhouse Style

By Karen Egly-Thompson

Vintage and reproduction grain sack material creates thick, durable upholstery for sofas, chairs, pillows and more

Sponsored

More Discussions

What do you eat when it's REALLY hot?

30

Have you made fruit leather? Any tips?

3

Hasselback Plum Tomato Caprese

17

Favorite fruits and recipes… berries included

9

I can get ONE FREE spice. What would YOU choose?

14