Making decent breads with low carb flour

[Terrasanct]

I've been trying to stay fairly low-carb for health reasons, and have just bought a bag of Carbalose flour. It's not the same thing as Carbquik baking mix--it's supposed to be a straight substitution for flour. I've read a lot of recipes but haven't been able to get answers to some of my questions. I thought that maybe some here could help me figure this out. Some of it has to do with the chemistry involved in baking.

I've been reading The Bread Baker's Apprentice and the La Brea bread cookbook, and thinking about sourdough and breads with long fermentation times. I'm wondering if a low carb flour would even work for sourdough breads (would there be anything for the yeasts to eat?)

Here is what the website says about it:

Carbalose is a revolutionary new flour that can be used in place of wheat flour, but contains 80% less carbs.

Use like regular flour in most recipes!

Adjustments: Water or liquids may need slight adjustments. Increase yeast or leavening up to double the original recipe. Drop baking temperature by 25 degrees F and slightly increase cooking time.

In most recipes, Carbalose behaves like wheat flour, because unlike similar products, it is made mostly from wheat, yet it lacks most non-fiber carbohydrates. There are products that claim to be “Low-Carb flour”, but they just don’t function as well. They are generally made from soy or other non-wheat components, and are not only difficult to work with, but also taste poorly.

Carbalose is as close to real flour as you can get without being real flour.

Carbalose is made through a unique process and contains enzyme-modified wheat, as well as plant fiber, wheat protein and some unique conditioners, enzymes and emulsifiers. Carbalose does not contain any soy protein, sugar-alcohols, dairy, animal-originated, trans-fatty, or saturated fat products.

19 grams of "Net Carbs" per 100 grams (approximately 1 cup).

Ingredients: Enzyme enhanced wheat and wheat protein, vital wheat gluten, wheat fiber, high-protein wheat flour, vegetable fiber, canola oil, salt, emulsifiers, enzymes, ascorbic acid, sucralose, calcium propionate (a preservative).

Considering the ingredients, can any of you chemists figure out what would happen if I try to make sourdough or long fermented breads with this? If it would even work at all, that is. I've also thought about combining with regular flour to just make a lower carb bread, which would be better than nothing.

[miladyinsanity]

Well, it does have gluten.

I guess the question is whether the other things would cause the microorganisms to die.

[jayt90]

Is it an expensive product?

You might do just as well with a high gluten flour from a bulk store.

[Terrasanct]

It is fairly expensive. High gluten flour would still be really high carb, which is what I'm trying to avoid.

I'll just have to do some experimentation--I was hoping that someone had beat me to it. I haven't seen the kinds of recipes I'm looking for.

I do know that the flour requires about twice as much leavening as regular flour. I don't know if that's because of the salt content, the high fiber, or for other reasons. I haven't made a raised bread or roll from it yet. I did make some very good crepes the other day. I used the Joy of Cooking recipe that we've used for years, subbing Splenda for the powdered sugar and Carbalose for the flour. I cut down the salt to a pinch. The crepes turned out very well, hardly distinguishable from the "real thing."

As a first experiment maybe I'll try making a sourdough with regular flour and making a lower carb bread with it. I'm not expecting it to be the same as regular bread, but I'd like to make something good.

[Brioche57]

Sorry, devil's advocate here....Salt content? Splenda? How is that better for your health?

Not being snotty, but wondering.

Edited May 16, 2006 by Brioche57 (log)

[Terrasanct]

It's only a little salt, which you would put in bread, anyway. I imagine the Splenda is to make it taste more like regular flour. I don't think sugar is all that healthy, either. It amazes me what a big deal people make of artificial sweeteners not being healthy but no one seems to mention that about sugar.

It's better for me because I have blood sugar problems, and when I eat regular bread, it makes me ill. Even though I love it, and even though I make very good bread. So if I can make decent bread that won't make me sick, that's a good thing.

[pigeonpie]

It's only a little salt, which you would put in bread, anyway.  I imagine the Splenda is to make it taste more like regular flour.   I don't think sugar is all that healthy, either.  It amazes me what a big deal people make of artificial sweeteners not being healthy but no one seems to mention that about sugar.

It's better for me because I have blood sugar problems, and when I eat regular bread, it makes me ill.  Even though I love it, and even though I make very good bread.  So if I can make decent bread that won't make me sick, that's a good thing.

←

In terms of keeping your blood sugar level, I don't know what kind of bread you normally make/eat, but have you tried using stoneground wholemeal (ie stoneground whole grain) flour, in place of white or even regular wholemeal/whole grain flour? The point is that stoneground flour is not as fine as regular flour, which means that it is digested more slowly than regular flour (a lot more slowly than white flour) which means that it shouldn't cause your sugar levels to spike and then dip so sharply. It also happens to make really great tasting bread!

By the by, there's nothing inherently unhealthy about sugar - it's eating a lot of sugar that's unhealthy. Though if you have blood sugar problems, then I guess even a little can cause problems.

Edited May 16, 2006 by pigeonpie (log)

[Terrasanct]

For me, there's something inherently unhealthy about sugar. I can't always avoid it, but I'd like to try baking without it. There's nothing unhealthy about Splenda either; it's been a real help for a lot of people.

I might eat a piece or two of bread a week (good bread only, not cheap stuff) but when I make it from scratch it's hard to keep from eating more.

Yes, I do make whole-wheat bread from time to time, and I even grind my own wheat. It's probably fairly healthy. But this isn't an either/or thing--I have this low carb flour and I'd like to experiment with it.

[Brioche57]

Well I guess if your body can metabolize chlorocarbons there's nothing unhealthy about Splenda.

[Terrasanct]

I have concrete proof that sugar harms me. Not so with Splenda. Plus, I have a genetic disease that makes me react to a lot of different foods and chemicals, and Splenda doesn't bother me.

I really didn't start this thread to get lectures on what's healthy and what's not. Why not jump over to the cake vs. pie thread if that's your intent? I really just wanted to know if anyone has experimented with this low carb flour.

[glennbech]

Considering the ingredients, can any of you chemists figure out what would happen if I try to make sourdough or long fermented breads with this? If it would even work at all, that is. I've also thought about combining with regular flour to just make a lower carb bread, which would be better than nothing.

I'll try to stick to your question. :-) To make proper bread out of this you'll need gluten to make air pockets. I can see that you have both High Gluten Flour and a Gluten addative as well. I guess that's good .-)

You'll also need starch as fuel for the yeast, so that It can fill those gluten pockets with carbon dioxide. I guess this is where the problem begins, because starch = carbs.

I guess you'll just have to experiemnt a bit, (sounds expensive *grin*). A few things you could try ;

- Double proofing and bulk fermentation.

- Use Wet Doughs (65% hydrarion + ). Retard the dough overnight in fridge before baking to maximize oven spring.

- Soda breads would work just as well as with a high-carb flour I guess.

Good luck wit the baking experience, and keep us posted of the results!

[Terrasanct]

Yeast food was one of the possible problems I was concerned with. Another potential problem--I know that slow fermentation converts a lot of starches into sugars and I wonder what possible effect this might have on the low carb aspect of a finished bread. That's something I can't really determine precisely by experimentation. I suppose I could make a slow rising bread and compare with a regular loaf.

All of this is assuming that the stuff will even make a decent loaf to begin with. This might just be a fool's errand, but it won't be the first time.

For what it's worth, I eat mostly natural, healthy foods. When I have a garden it's organic. I buy from the farmers market, local suppliers when possible, and almost never buy convenience foods. The artificial sweetener thing is somewhat of a compromise, but since I can't deal with the effects of sugar, and I'm really not willing to go without sweet stuff forever, the Splenda is helpful. It hasn't killed me yet, anyway. I like fruit the best, but it's got a lot of sugar in it, even if it's more natural.

As soon as we're done with this heat wave (high 80's this week) I'm going to do some baking. This would be a good time to attempt a starter.