The other day my neighbor asked if organic flour is gluten free, and I actually had no clue. So I decided to figure this out properly. Here’s exactly what happened when I tested it out myself.
Getting the Stuff Ready
First thing, I drove to that big supermarket downtown. Went straight to baking aisle and grabbed two bags: one regular organic all-purpose flour (the expensive kind with green packaging) and one certified gluten free flour that said “rice blend” on it. Paid cash and raced home.
My Kitchen Mess Test
Cleared my counter and got two bowls. Mixed each flour with water separately like making paste. The organic flour made sticky stretchy dough just like usual. When I pulled it slowly, thin strings formed between my fingers. Exactly like pizza dough behavior! Meanwhile the gluten free stuff just crumbled apart like wet sand even when I pressed hard. Zero stretch.
Then I did the iodine test Mom taught me years back. Mixed few drops into each mixture:
- Organic flour paste turned deep blue-black instantly, real obvious
- Gluten free paste stayed murky brown, no real color shift
The Big Oops Moment
Got too confident and tried baking. Made two batches of simple biscuits – identical recipes except flour types. Organic flour biscuits puffed up perfect with chew. Gluten free ones came out dry and flat like cardboard tiles. Worst part? My kitchen looked like flour bomb exploded! White dust everywhere. Spent 40 minutes wiping counters while eating sad gluten free biscuits. Tastes like disappointment.
What Actually Happens
Organic just means how crops grow – no chemicals n’ stuff. Gluten comes from wheat proteins regardless. Saw it clearly when dough stretched. That blue iodine reaction? Shows starch presence which organic wheat absolutely has. Gluten free flour has different plants altogether – rice, potatoes etc. No stretch, different starch behavior.
Final Takeaway
Don’t assume organic means gluten free like I did. Those are separate things entirely. If avoiding gluten, always grab bags with “certified gluten free” labels. Regular organic flour still has gluten unless processed specifically to remove it. Wasted 10 bucks learning this plus cleaning time. Lesson learned!