Has anyone experimented with substituting

[mrsadm]

In thickening sauces... are the proportions of flour or arrowroot to water the same? Is the quality of the resulting sauce just as good as with flour? What are the pro's and con's (aside from cost)?

Thanks for any advice.

[davebr]

You would use arrowroot in the same quantities and methods as corn starch. It is said that arrowroot has a smoother consistancy than kern starch but I never really could tell the difference.

I do believe harold mcgee's On Food and Cooking has something devoted to this subject. But Im reaching 10 years back in the brain--a little scarey there.

[Stone]

If I recall, Graham Kerr's modern show always used arrowroot instead of flour.

[andiesenji]

Here is the best explanation of arrowrood I have ever come across.

I have been using it for 50 years and it is excellent for many applications.

It has the advantage of not breaking as cornstarch will do if heated beyond a certain point.

It also thickens at a lower temperature so is perfect for delicate things that need only the briefest of heating.

[chefdg]

There are specific applications in the culinary world for the uses of these two different types of thickeners. Classicly speaking, arrowroot is only used in Asian and Indian cooking where the glossy appearence and non-flavor is desired for thickening soups and sauces. Arrowroot also does not need to be simmered for a period of time to remove the starchy flavor present in flour. Flour on the other hand has its origins in European cooking where classic soups and sauces are thickened with a roux (flour and fat), the result is a less glossy sauce or soup, with a slight flavor from the flour remaining.

This probably doesn't answer your questions very well, I would suggest understanding the origins of the food you are cooking first and then decide which starch would be more appropriate to thicken it.

[newguy]

Arrowroot will produce a glossy, shiny finished sauce and corn starch will create that gloppy, almost to thick type of sauce such as in chinese foods.

[Adam Balic]

Arrowroot = translucent, Cornstarch = opaque.

Potato flour can be used like Arrowroot and this is what I see used most often in decent Chinese places. Cornstach is for tourists etc.

[FaustianBargain]

Arrowroot is pure starch...you should use half the quantity as you would flour for thickening...iirc.

[Adam Balic]

Useful information on starch