A Note About Ingredients

In most of my baking recipes, I am switching from specifying what kind of grain and/or flour, to just "flour": pick your own (there will always be some exceptions, and I won't get around to fixing everything immediately). I don't sift, because I'm using a Nutrimill, and I pick which kind of wheat (soft white, hard red, spelt, other) based on protein content, flavor profile, and other characteristics of the grain. In practice, a finely ground whole grain flour or an all-purpose white flour should work in all the recipes. I don't sift (obviously), and what I am using is not packed down.

Here is my Nutrimill, in its home in the garage between the crock-pot and the bin of shipping supplies, on the shelf above the bottled water and the salty junk food box. Keeps the noise and occasionally floury mess out of my kitchen, but handily right outside the kitchen door.

Between trans-fat and saturated fat, I no longer use stick margarine. I am milk allergic and lactose intolerant. I was using Earth Balance a lot, but the sodium was causing trouble. I'm currently using Smart Balance Organic, which is almost as high in sodium, when I absolutely cannot substitute oil. Otherwise, I've been switching from creaming fat and sugar to emulsifying egg and oil, then adding sugars, etc.

I still occasionally buy Spectrum's non-hydrogenated, trans-fat free bucket o' shortening that works okay for cookies and pies (and is also sodium free). It's palm based. Use at your own risk.

I pick oil for a recipe based on what I have and/or what best matches the flavor profile I want in the finished dish. Default for savory is olive; default for baking is canola. I use soy milk almost exclusively, preferring the soybeans + filtered water ones with no added flavors or sugars; we've fully acclimated to the beany flavor, and I no longer much care what anyone else thinks.

Created: January 7, 2008
Updated: 11 October 2013