Potato Flour/Potato Starch

[SethG]

Something that will always remain mysterious to me is that my local groceries often fail to stock the most common sorts of crap.

Today I was looking for potato starch, which I'm sure I've bought before. I know it existed in the past. And yet the folks at my Key Food looked at me as if I were crazy. Potato starch? Maybe aisle 6 (baking)? No. Maybe aisle 8 (Goya)? No. Try aisle 7 (pastas/gravies)-- here they had a product from Ener G called "Pure Potato Starch Flour." I bought it. Is this the same thing as potato starch?

[Transparent]

It should be the same.

Ugh, I hate Kew Food. The last time I tried to use an internet coupon, the manager claimed it was a fake because it was printed on "fake paper." Then he proceded to talk to me in a condescending manner, saying how I was trash. Like I really needed the damned 55 cents anyway.

</rant>

[Mottmott]

It should be the same.

Ugh, I hate Kew Food. The last time I tried to use an internet coupon, the manager claimed it was a fake because it was printed on "fake paper." Then he proceded to talk to me in a condescending manner, saying how I was trash. Like I really needed the damned 55 cents anyway.

</rant>

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Outrageous. Here's another use for Google: find the Key HQ address and let them know about this inexcusable behavior.

When I was in Brooklyn I used Key on Atlantic. And I kept getting milk that went sour before its expiration date. I knew it wasn't my fridge, because I always keep a thermometer there. They'd replace it, grudgingly. Then I discovered the cause one day when I saw several crates of milk stored on the floor in front of the refrigerator case. It was there when I first came in, still there when I was about to leave. You can be sure I told the manager about it. It happened more than once.

[nightscotsman]

I've also found potato starch at Asian markets, next to the tapioca starch and rice flour.

[EdS]

Go to a Japanese market and ask for katakuri-ko (potato starch).

[viva]

I always find potato starch in the Kosher section, usually on the bottom shelf. Why isn't it in the bloody baking section?!?! Next to the corn starch!

I will never understand grocery store organizational principles.

[takomabaker]

I bake a few regular items with potato flour. I was in my local grocery store last night and wandered past a cart of half-priced Kosher items. Boxes of potato starch caught my eye. The ingredient list states only "potato starch". Does anyone know if this the same thing as potato flour?

[Apicio]

They are two different things and have different uses in cooking which are not interchangable. The difference is as between corn meal and corn starch.

[Pam R]

What Apicio said.

They aren't the same thing at all.

What do you use Potato flour for? I do bake with starch - but only at Passover. Otherwise I use it as a thickener or for blintz wrappers.

[oneidaone]

The best thing I ever ate with potato starch was a whole lobster that was veiled in the starch

and deep fried and sprinkled with mirin after. The coating was so thin and sealed in the juice

of the lobster it was the most amazing thing ever. The place only got 6 lobsters per night due

to storage requirements (Kona cold lobsters) flown in from Kona to Oahu and you'd have to

call ahead and 'reserve' one for this dish as they used them in other entrees as well. I don't bake

so I can't add any other information. Just thought I'd tell you about the lobster! A hui hou!

[takomabaker]

Cool! Thanks all! I figured I'd better ask before I bought out the clearance rack.

I use potato flour in bread baking. It keeps bread from going stale as quickly. I also have a favorite pastry recipe that I use for sweet rolls that uses potato flour.

[JanMcBaker]

This topic caught my eye since I kept forgetting to ask about it. So where does one get potato flour? I've seen potato starch in the Kosher aisle in my local supermarkets, but not potato flour. It's also used as an ingredient in wheat free recipes.

[Apicio]

What do you use Potato flour for?  I do bake with starch - but only at Passover.  Otherwise I use it as a thickener or for blintz wrappers.

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If you follow a bread recipe that gives you bread that dries out quickly and you cannot correct the problem by adding more liquid, put in a tablespoon of potato starch and it will improve the texture and slow down stalling. It works in bread almost like the addition of powdered lecitin.

[takomabaker]

I order it from the KA catalogue, but I think Bob's Mill also makes it. Here is one of my favorite uses for it (among others).

KA soft roll recipe

This topic caught my eye since I kept forgetting to ask about it.  So where does one get potato flour?  I've seen potato starch in the Kosher aisle in my local supermarkets, but not potato flour.  It's also used as an ingredient in wheat free recipes.

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[Patrick S]

According to CI, potato flour is made from dried and ground peeled potatos, and is 85% starch. Potato starch on the other hand is made when water is used to extract the starch fraction from the potato flour, removing almost all of the that 15% of other stuff in potato flour. Potato flour will do most of the things that potato starch will do, it just brings along the not necessarily desirable flavors and colors of the non-starch fraction of the potato flour.

[Pam R]

What do you use Potato flour for?  I do bake with starch - but only at Passover.  Otherwise I use it as a thickener or for blintz wrappers.

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If you follow a bread recipe that gives you bread that dries out quickly and you cannot correct the problem by adding more liquid, put in a tablespoon of potato starch and it will improve the texture and slow down stalling. It works in bread almost like the addition of powdered lecitin.

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That's really interesting. When I was testing some cake/cookie/brownie recipes for Passover, I found that when I added potato starch, it made the final product much drier (even 1 T. added to a cake recipe made a huge difference).

[SuzySushi]

They are two different things and have different uses in cooking which are not interchangable.  The difference is as between corn meal and corn starch.

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Interesting, because when I was in the supermarket today, I spotted a box of Swan brand "potato starch flour" that was labeled just that way!

[Pontormo]

I have to add that I was faced with similar confusion when baking a type of Mantuan cake (Torta Paradiso) that uses potato versus wheat flour, cream of tartar & baking soda. Eggs are not separated in the recipe I used; they are in others.

The second problem I had was deflation. It rose perfectly. Seemed set. Brilliant! Then over the next five to ten minutes, I watched the center turn into bright yellow goo, though a ring of very nice cake remained.

[bibbotson]

Potato starch can be included in a genoise recipe to create a finer crumb.

Here in New York, one of the standard brands (I can't recall the name right now) of bread in supermarkets has had a potato bread for at least 10 years that is delicious. Yellow/golden in color.

Question: I've seen separate references to "wheat starch" from (wheat) flour. I've been told that these are the same product, but am not sure. Anyone have any information?

[Pontormo]

Here in New York, one of the standard brands (I can't recall the name right now) of bread in supermarkets has had a potato bread for at least 10 years that is delicious. Yellow/golden in color.

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Most potato breads familiar to me are made by adding mashed, cooked potatoes into the dough. No potato starch/flour appears in the recipes. When red bliss potatoes are used, I like retaining the skins and seeing the flecks of color in each slice.

[Patrick S]

Question: I've seen separate references to "wheat starch" from (wheat) flour. I've been told that these are the same product, but am not sure. Anyone have any information?

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I think wheat starch is basically wheat flour which has had almost all of the protein removed.

[Franci]

Wheat flour is common flour :-). I find that in the States other kind of starches besides corn are not widely used. In the south of Italy, in Sicily, for example, wheat starch is very common, it is use for classical sweets: gelo di melone (watermelon pudding using wheat starch as thickner) or biancomangiare. Like in Turkey all the milk puddings are made with wheat starch.

And wheat starch or potato starch are used often for moister cakes. AP flour is generally higher gluten than europeans flour, so, for cakes you can cut your ap flour with some starch (something like 10%) to get something closer to a cake flour

Potato flour, I use as short cut, very rarely, when I do make some kind of italian focacce or bread and I don't have time to steam a potato.

I did not like bob's mill potato flour...I did find it very glue, it will ruin your bread.

Different kind of starches have a different gelifying (is correct in English?) point, for ex potatoes starch reaches its maximum thickening at a lower temperature then other starches (that's why they take less time to cook and leave the cakes moister. Btw, there is a very nice explanation on starches on Amendola book "understanding baking"

Edited May 1, 2006 by Franci (log)