What's the Deal with Gluten-Free Wheat?

What’s the Deal with Gluten-Free Wheat?

Those with gluten sensitivities are taught to avoid wheat products, but is that always necessary?

The first time I heard of gluten-free wheat flour, I thought it was a joke - a gimmick. How could something I had trained myself to watch for on labels, wheat, be used to make gluten-free flour? After doing a bit of research to see if gluten-sensitive people have adverse reactions, I decided to give it a try and it absolutely blew my mind.

It should definitely be noted that gluten-free wheat flour may be safe for gluten-sensitive individuals, but not those with wheat allergies.

So what exactly is gluten-free wheat flour made of? The main component, and the one that arouses suspicion, is wheat starch. Interestingly enough, wheat starch is one of the byproducts in the manufacturing of gluten to sell to bakers to increase bread quality. In this process, wheat flour and water are thoroughly mixed and then separated. The starch remains part of the water slurry while the gluten is left behind. While this is an extremely oversimplification of the process, it does help clarify why wheat starch can sometimes be gluten-free.

If the starch is purified well, it can be below the 20 parts per million threshold dictated by the FDA to be labeled gluten-free and not cause adverse effects in most gluten-sensitive individuals.

So now that you know that wheat starch can be gluten-free, what should you do with it?

While in New York city we went on a quest to find the best gluten-free pizza. When we found it, I couldn’t help but ask if they brought me the gluten-free crust. Of course, we asked what flour they used, and it was gluten-free wheat flour. The crust was so fluffy and flavorful, which was a stark contrast to the gluten-free crusts we’re familiar with.

Having seen such success with the pizza, we bought some gluten-free wheat flour for ourselves and tested it by making loaves of bread. Again, we were blown away by the texture and flavor we were able to achieve. The air bubbles were perfectly sized and distributed throughout the bread, and when sharing with friends they were amazed by the lack of the “gluten-free flavor”. 

For our kitchen, gluten-free wheat flour has been a revelation. With the excellent pizza dough and loaves of bread, we’re excited to continue to test this flour in different dishes.