Almond Flour/Almond Meal?

[cookman]

I ALWAYS make almond flour but i have a small swedish nut grinder I bought at Williams Sonoma in 1979 when I became  a pastry chef.

it does just that grinds them into flour with no heat... no oil.

←

Gotta ask: what is a Swedish nut grinder?

[Patrick S]

One baking book I own suggests using a processor, then putting the chopped almonds through a sieve, then rechopping the the pieces that did not go through. You repeat until the remaining pieces are too smal a batch to be effectively chopped. This method is obviously really good at getting a consistent particle size.

My recollection from some old posts here is that real almond flour is processed by an entirely different method in which the almonds are crushed and the oils eliminated, so no home method is going to be able to precisely reproduce this.

←

This I learned is school -- true almond flour is the crush of what is left after the almond oil extraction. Almond meal is just the pulverized whole almond. I've never seen true almond flour in a grocery store. Bob's Red Mill is labeled as Almond Meal/Flour.

←

For which applications would you want oil-less ground almonds? I've used homemade almond flour in many financier and macaron recipes, with no problems, so I'm curious what the advantage of "true" almond flour is supposed to be.

[dejaq]

I have heard but have not tried,

a technique of first freezing almonds, then processing them in the food processor, this is what Chef's Warehouse has done with their Almond Meal (and charging a premium) for it, to in theory-create a finer meal.

Michael Robert Porru

[cookman]

I have heard but have not tried,

a technique of first freezing almonds, then processing them in the food processor, this is what Chef's Warehouse has done with their Almond Meal (and charging a premium) for it, to in theory-create a finer meal.

Michael Robert Porru

←

Interesting. I would think that the condensation that formed as the almonds warmed up would make the almond flour too moist.

[etalanian]

Gotta ask: what is a Swedish nut grinder?

It's a hand-cranked grinder that attaches to a countertop or table. It has a grater barrel, like the mouli graters, and grates the nuts into a fluffy mass instead of an oily mess. Helps to make bery light cookies and pastries.

If I remember, I'll set mine up and photograph it tomorrow, then try to figure out how to put the photo into this thread.

Eileen

[beccaboo]

Gotta ask: what is a Swedish nut grinder?

It's a hand-cranked grinder that attaches to a countertop or table. It has a grater barrel, like the mouli graters, and grates the nuts into a fluffy mass instead of an oily mess. Helps to make bery light cookies and pastries.

←

I have a poppy seed mill which that sounds similar to--do you think it would work for almonds?

[takomabaker]

I got together with some baking friends and bought 25 lbs. and split it up. I have a vacuum sealer and sealed it in 2 pound increments. This qualifies for free shipping, so if you REALLY love almond flour or have some pals who want to split it up with you, this is the way to go in my book.

alber uster almond flour

When I run out and need to buy it on my own, I have much better luck with KA almond flour that Bob's. Per pound it's twice as expensive than buying in bulk at AU, but it works in a pinch.

KA almond flour

Also, I've been wondering about this, but the price just makes it seem too good to be true, frankly. I don't know how fine it actually grinds.

KA nut grinder

I only use Bob's if I'm really desperate. It's more like almond meal than almond flour. I don't get very good results from it. Frankly, I'd be inclined to make my own in my FP first. I'm a macaron and frangipane junkie, so I like having a lot around.

When we made pistachio macarons in class, we did grind our own pistachio flour with a little AP, but we sifted it through a drum sifter (regrinding the larger bits as needed). You can buy pistachio flour at Albert Uster, but I make pistachio macarons only a few times a year (although I do LOVE them) so I tend to continue this way. I would imagine I could get better results from doing the same with almonds than using Bob's, frankly.

[Wholemeal Crank]

coming upon this thread after a not-very-light or lovely batch of macaroons (first ever). I ground the nuts with the sugar in my food processor, but since they came out fairly heavy and gooey, it occurs to me my nut grinder makes light dry meal from almonds that I've used in cookies and cakes for years--any reason not to try it in macaroons?

This is probably the swedish nut grinder mentioned above. I've had a couple of them. They look a lot like a rotary cheese grater, but instead of being handheld, are clamped to a counter or board. They have a drum that grates small fluffy bits from the nuts. The pieces are not flour fine--it does feel more mealy than floury, but softer than, say, semolina.

Any reason not to use the "grated" nuts next time?

BTW, here is the nut grinder vs a poppy seed grinder--

http://www.flickr.com/photos/debunix/sets/72157594393848112/

[jimmynCR]

In Costa Rica I cant buy Almond flour or meal, so I make my own. My problem is I cant get it fine enough. I Grind in a grain mill for the rough grind and put it back in the oven to dry. Then I use my old Cuisinart to finish, which does not do a good enough job. My question is. Since I cant afford a Robot Coupe R2 like I used when I worked. Is there another food processor that will cut the almond and sugar mixture to a flour or at least a meal fine enough for use in paste, Dacquoise, Macarons and Marzipan. Thanks Jimmy

[ChrisTaylor]

Just kicking this out there--and you'd have to work in annoyingly small batches--but what about a coffee and spice grinder?

[jimmynCR]

Chris I need larger quanities and Ive used a spice grinder which was no better than my food processor. Thanks

[prasantrin]

Have you considered using a meat grinder? The manual type, though you can get a motor for them, too. If you get a plate for fine grinds, you should be able to get a fine enough grind for almond flour.

like the type in the top two pictures here.

[dougal]

... Is there another food processor that will cut the almond and sugar mixture to a flour or at least a meal fine enough for use in paste, Dacquoise, Macarons and Marzipan.

You are looking for a Grater attachment. These can be found for some mixers, usually as an adjunct to the (meat) grinder.

The idea is that it doesn't crush the nuts to a paste.

If you look at http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/magic_mill_dlx_mixer.aspx and search the page for Grater (or just scroll way way down), you'll see the attachment for the Electrolux DLX. Unfortunately, its a fairly serious price if you need the grinder and mixer as well. But that's the type of thing you should be looking for.

They use nut flours in Austrian and German baking.

The german name for this grater attachment is Reibevorsatz

Searching for that on www.ebay.de (Germany) or .at (Austria) will find you things like this http://cgi.ebay.de/JUPITER-Kenwood-A900-chef-major-Universal-Reibevorsatz-/120554405408? which should work on any #8 meat grinder ... (like the current model grinder for the Kenwood Chef mixer). Your task is to persuade someone to ship it to you!

Edited November 9, 2010 by dougal (log)

[DLim]

Are mass-produced almond flours normally defatted? Been wondering...

[rickster]

One suggestion I saw in one of my baking books if using a Cuisinart was to us a fine sieve to sift out the smaller particles of almond flour and then reprocess the larger pieces. You continue these steps until most of the almonds are fine enough to pass through the sieve, although there is some wastage. The concept is that removing the fine pieces "concentrates" the Cuisinart on chopping the larger ones more finely.

It worked for me before I found almond flour in a grocery store , but I'm not sure how fine a flour you're trying to get to.

[lennyk]

I use a cheapo Hamilton Beach FP to grind almonds/icing sugar(50/50) for macarons.

I make sure the almonds are properly dried by putting them in a hot oven then switching off the oven and leaving overnight.

Weigh out the both ingredients and start with a little more almonds than sugar then sieve and regrind and add more sugur also.

There will always be a little left over which will not grind down properly but that goes straight in my mouth.

I also sharpened the blade on my food processor which helped somewhat.

I just ordered a Kitchenaid FP for more capacity and hopefully it will do a good job.

[qrn]

+1 on the hand meat grinder,Iuse a real old one for almond paste for almond macaroons..For some reason its better than the F/P

May be the "crushing" as it gets squezed thru the holes.

Bud

[Mjx]

I hate to suggest, this, in case you've already tried this and had it fail miserably, but have you tried the finest setting on a coffee grinder?

If it has an espresso or Turkish coffee setting that ought to do the trick, since the latter, particularly, essentially turns out dust (justs run a bit of rice through to clean it before/after).

[lennyk]

just bought a new kitchenaid 9cup food processor.

Its doing a pretty good job of turning the almonds into powder with the icing sugar.

The previous food processor would require stopping and shaking up the contents to get a better mix, with this one I just leave it a little longer and the sieve and go again.

However the cover does leak powder a bit.

[jaynesb]

I was just testing a nut torte recipe that called for grating nuts with a manual rotary grater (like you'd use for hard cheeses) and I figured that I'd see what my kitchen-aid slicer/shredder attachment would do.

It worked really well. The smallest shredder attachment yielded a soft fluffy meal with a couple of small nut pieces that sneaked through. (I may never purchase the expensive ground nut meal again.)

This was a very nice discovery and also means that you can toast the nuts before grinding/grating them.

Jayne

[janeer]

I was just testing a nut torte recipe that called for grating nuts with a manual rotary grater (like you'd use for hard cheeses) and I figured that I'd see what my kitchen-aid slicer/shredder attachment would do.

It worked really well. The smallest shredder attachment yielded a soft fluffy meal with a couple of small nut pieces that sneaked through. (I may never purchase the expensive ground nut meal again.)

This was a very nice discovery and also means that you can toast the nuts before grinding/grating them.

Jayne

Interesting. Thanks for the tip.

[Deus Mortus]

I have recently started dieting again, because, well I like eating good food and it shows. However in a twist on previous attempts to lose weight, I have decided on a ketosis diet, which means, no carbs at all.

Now i got some almond flour to experiment with, but I figured I would check around here and see if anyone has already done some testing with the stuff, or perhaps that there are other ways to get some baked goods without carbs.

Currently I mostly want the ability to make something like crackers (which seems doable), make some rough puff pastry (which I think I should be able to do) and see if I can make bread and pizzacrusts with the stuff (though that might not be possible).

I'll update the topic when I get around to testing, but in the mean time, I would love to hear if anyone here has any experience with this.

[robirdstx]

I mostly use almond flour, with or without grated parmesan, as breading for boneless skinless chicken breasts but here is a bread recipe I've made several times:

Three Minute Microwave Bread

After making this bread, I like to brown/toast it in a medium hot non-stick skillet, make a sandwich with ham and cheese, and nuke it again just until the cheese melts. The Best Grilled Ham And Cheese Ever!

Ingredients

1 Tbs butter

1 large egg

2 Tbs almond flour

2 Tbs flax meal

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 pinch Splenda

Procedure

• Melt butter in square "bread slice size" or larger microwavable container.
  
• Beat in egg. Stir together dry ingredients in another bowl and then add to beaten egg and butter.
  
• Mix thoroughly with a fork. Cover with plastic wrap and vent.
  
• Microwave on high for about 1 minute 30 seconds. Microwaves may vary. Check on it. Do not over cook.
  

Source: lowcarbfriends.com

[Darienne]

I mostly use almond flour, with or without grated parmesan, as breading for boneless skinless chicken breasts but here is a bread recipe I've made several times:

Three Minute Microwave Bread

After making this bread, I like to brown/toast it in a medium hot non-stick skillet, make a sandwich with ham and cheese, and nuke it again just until the cheese melts. The Best Grilled Ham And Cheese Ever!

Ingredients

1 Tbs butter

1 large egg

2 Tbs almond flour

2 Tbs flax meal

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 pinch Splenda

Procedure

• Melt butter in square "bread slice size" or larger microwavable container.
  
• Beat in egg. Stir together dry ingredients in another bowl and then add to beaten egg and butter.
  
• Mix thoroughly with a fork. Cover with plastic wrap and vent.
  
• Microwave on high for about 1 minute 30 seconds. Microwaves may vary. Check on it. Do not over cook.
  

Source: lowcarbfriends.com

Wow! I'll try it. (To be eaten just before the 3-minute chocolate cake, no doubt. )

[Panaderia Canadiense]

There are all sorts of torte-style cakes that call for either almond or hazelnut/filbert flours in place of wheat.