I recently started to look into buying rice flour. Rice flour can be a good alternative to wheat or corn flour. After doing some digging I discovered that rice flour isn't really that expensive but I also learned that it's much cheaper to make your own. Plus no special equipment is needed!
Going gluten or corn free is hard enough without having to deal with the expense of buying new grains and new foods that you will have to change over. Grinding your own rice flour is easy and can be much more cost effective than buying the pre-ground rice flour at the store.
To grind up rice flour it's simple, just grind about 1 - 2 cups at a time in your blender! Your blender should be able to grind the rice into a fine enough powder to use for baking. Another great tool to use (if you have one) is a Magic Bullet. I also use my Magic Bullet to grind turbinado sugar when a recipe needs a finer grade sugar.
The only downside to grinding in a blender is that grinding harder food products (such as rice) will wear down the motor faster than if you just use it for smoothies. If you plan on grinding alot of rice flour you will either want to consider a high quality blender with a good motor or a grain grinder (or grain grinder attachment).
So how does the cost of home ground rice flour stack up against store boughten rice flour?
Bob's Red Mill White Rice Flour, Organic, 24-Ounce Packages (Pack of 4)
Cost for 1 cup = About $0.58
White Jasmine Rice 25lb - $26.75
Cost for 1 cup = About $0.27
Catch up on all the Rice N Beans articles that we've posted!
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I love all your ideas on saving money. I have a mill I use for wheat and for the rice I use my vitamix, that way they don’t contaminate each other. I have a wheat allergy and a son with an allergy to rice. I have been trying to do more with bean flour so your article on that was great. My husband is diabetic so the bean flour gets more protein for him as well as a cheaper source of protein for our whole family.
Thank you for all your help.
Lisa
I have been on a GF diet for like 6 years and this is the first i have heard of making rice chips or home made rice flour. thank you so much! I find that the alternative flours are expensive considering you have to buy multiple types for any one GF recipe. I’m definitely going to try this woo hoo!
I read in the article that it is difficult to grind rice in a blender as it will wear out the motor. What about using Minute Rice? Can you grind that down like flour instead? I think I might try that.
Just blend small amounts at a time. Then it won’t hurt your blender (except wear the blades down). You can buy good used blenders at the goodwill so you don’t have to ruin your regular one.
I just found your recipe for Rice Chips and they were yummy. Thanks for sharing such a simple, healthy recipe. And for all the photos. I used my VitaMix to make my flours. I made a couple of additions – I added a bit of ground flax meal, 1/8 tsp of xanthum gum (just cuz I got nervous about them holding together), and 1/8 cup of cooked rice (gave the chips a great texture). Thanks again. You made my lunch extra special today.
I am doing some GF research as I am suspecting we may need to do a trial elimination of wheat and/or gluten. I have a NutriMill grain grinder and will use that to make my rice flour. My question is: does it make a different if I use white or brown rice?
I love your site and use it often!
It really depends on what you are making but generally I use brown rice in everything just because of the nutritional value. You can see my gluten free flour blend recipe here: http://glutenfreebudget.com/gluten-free-recipes/
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