• Viscosity control
• Texture control
• Thickening
• Bulking

One super useful application for this ingredient? Gluten-free baking! Rice flour is naturally without gluten, and gluten-free products need a thickening agent to make up for the lack of gluten proteins.

What makes it difference than just regular rice flour?

It’s all in the production. The main idea is to allow the starch gelatinization to take place ahead of time by creating a starch slurry, usually through heat and pressure. Then, the flour rehydrates once water is added.

There are a number of methods used for commercial production and each which gives different functions for the ingredient and in the final product.

Baking with pre-gelatinized rice flour

In gluten-free baking, pre-gelatinized rice flour can increase baked product volume by increasing dough viscoelasticity. Studies indicate that it acts as a binder that improves the dough capacity to retain water, thus increasing viscosity and helping to retain gas cells within the gluten free system.

In cake applications, the batters need to be sufficiently viscous to trap the air bubbles during mixing and baking in order to produce a voluminous and fluffy texture. Pre-gelatinized rice flour can help do this. In other studies dealing with shelf life, pre-gelatinized starches have shown to soften cakes and extend their shelf life.