"T i m" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 22 May 2020 19:43:03 +1000, "Rod Speed"
wrote:



"T i m" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 22 May 2020 12:57:25 +1000, "Rod Speed"
wrote:



"T i m" wrote in message
m...
On Thu, 21 May 2020 13:20:59 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:

snip

Daughter picked us up a 1.5kg bag of white self raising flour and I
had to look up things to do with it. Very little you can make is
good
for you. (We aren't likely to bake cakes when we don't normally buy
them).

Eg, so far it's made some (vegan) pancakes and Yorkshire puddings.

Handy for a bit of thickening in a stew / casserole.

Isn't that 'cornflour'?

You can use either, they both work fine.

So what's cornflour supposed to be used for

It is mostly used for that thickening stuff and
does work better than white flour for some
stuff like relish etc.

and why would people buy /use it over 'ordinary'
baking flour if it worked equally well?

It doesn't work equally well with some stuff like relish etc.

What can you do with cornflour that you couldn't do with white
self-raising (as that's what daughter happened to get me)?

Relish etc does work better with cornflour.

Eg, I found a recipe for vegan 'custard' [1] and that required
cornflour (that I didn't have at the time) and not 'white self raising
flour' (that I did).

Yeah, its mostly the lighter flavoured stuff like that that it does better

Would it have worked, looked and
tasted just the same with self raising?

No, but plain flour and cornflour do work just as well with roast
meat gravy and stews. the stronger flavoured stuff like that.


Ah, so they have the same effect when used in those roles (thickeners)

Yes, with the stews/casseroles.

but you are better off using cornflour where light
tastes are involved or where you need to avoid gluten.

Yeah, I meant to mention the gluten and forgot to.

If you use gravy granules (rather than your cooking stock)
for your gravy, would you typically need to thicken it?

Yes. You don't if you use the other alternative, the powdered gravy mix.
https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/p...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

Could that be why I've never had the need?