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Homemade potato starch |
I've talked many times on my blog about how I stay away from processed foods, only using whole foods, that I don't want to eat food that needs to be made in a lab, but rather only wholesome foods that I can make myself at home.
And then you probably wonder why I regularly use something like potato starch or tapioca starch in my recipes, such as my gluten free flour mixes- doesn't that completely go against my food philosophy to eat something as processed as that?
Well, actually, no. Though potato starch and tapioca starch and the like seem like overly processed ingredients, they are easily made at home, no bleaching or chemicals required (unless you're one of those who snarkily refers to water as a "chemical"- everyone knows what someone means when they say "chemical free"). So no, I don't feel bad at all using the store bought version, since it is something I am able to make easily at home.
To prove that- I did make my own potato starch at home, and it wasn't complicated at all- just a little time consuming. I don't plan on doing this regularly because I can get potato starch easily enough. However, if I would go on a paleo diet, or nightshade free diet, I would consider making my own sweet potato or tapioca starch instead of buying potato starch. (Actually scratch that- just sweet potato starch, since I can't get the raw ingredients for tapioca starch locally.) And if I were on a deserted island and unable to buy my potato starch ready made and had a large supply of potatoes- you know what I'd make! Or if I had my own garden and grew large quantities of potatoes, maybe I'd make my own potato starch as well.
However, that is in large part because potatoes and sweet potatoes especially are not so cheap here per pound, even when on sale, and yuca isn't available at all... If I were able to get my hands on them cheaply, there's a good chance that I'd be making this regularly.
As for frugality- people keep on asking me if making my own potato starch is frugal, if it works out cheaper than buying it. Well, there's a few things to consider- first of all, are we just looking at how much potato starch you're getting, and figuring out the cost that way? Or are you factoring in the fact that you're left with hash browns, so essentially you made hash browns for however much the potatoes cost per pound, and the potato starch was just a free bonus?
Either way- the main reason I did this was more to have the knowledge of how, you know, for that dessert island scenario, but also to reassure myself that potato starch, tapioca starch, etc... are real foods, and not an uber-processed unhealthy foods that I should avoid.
So what is starch used for anyhow?
Well, starch is a carbohydrate. And it is gluey/sticky. It can be used to thicken things, like
puddings,
gravies, and
sauces. And it can be used to bind things, like in my
grain free cracker recipe. And it is used in homemade powdered sugar to offer stability and keep it from clumping. And I use it in my
gluten free flour mixes, because otherwise recipes made with them tend to get crumbly. And you can even use it to make
homemade glue. Or
homemade spray starch. Or
white clay, a crafting material.
The standard starch that people think of is corn starch- however that is one of those things that I do try to avoid, as it can't be made at home yourself and does involve a lot of refining processes, etc...
But at home you can turn:
Potatoes into potato starch
Sweet potatoes/yams into sweet potato starch
Cassava/yuca/manioc (multiple names for the same plant) into tapioca starch
Wheat flour into wheat starch
The same process would be used for the first three, and another somewhat different process for the last, which also will yield seitan, a vegan, gluten based meat substitute.
Homemade Potato/Tapioca/Sweet Potato Starch Recipe