What is Kamut® Flour?
Kamut® flour is a wheat flour, made from the ancient durum wheat relative called Kamut® grain. You will generally not find Kamut® flour in your local grocery store. Instead look for it in natural foods and specialty stores, where it is sold by a variety of companies. If you’re interested in organic flours, this particular type is excellent, since the grain is hardy and pest-resistant and can in many cases be grown organically with greater ease than traditional wheat.
You can substitute this flour for any recipe calling for wheat flour. When you do so, you’ll be adding lots of extra protein, amino acids, and a higher lipid content. It’s a less starchy flour and also drier. When stored in the fridge, it has less tendency to turn rancid and usually outlasts the shelf life of traditional wheat.
The protein content of Kamut® flour attracts bakers, and food manufacturers. On average this flour has 40% more protein than does regular wheat flour, and most people find it more satisfying and filling in baked goods than those made with wheat because of its higher lipid to carbohydrate ratio. It’s healthier in many other ways, and its taste is sweeter. Most wheat flour has at least a bitter aftertaste, which Kamut® flour lacks. You can therefore reduce or completely eliminate sugar in recipes calling for flour, which provides overall healthier baked goods. Use Kamut® in waffles or pancakes, for instance, and you may get to add a little extra syrup to them, because these recipes won’t require sugar to mask the taste of the wheat.
Another benefit of this flour is that it can often be tolerated by people who are sensitive to wheat or who have wheat allergies. If your allergies or sensitivities to wheat are severe, this may not be your flour of choice. You should check with a doctor before trying it. Surprisingly, about 70% of people with allergies to wheat tolerate Kamut® flour well.
Since Kamut® is still considered a specialty grain, it is more expensive than traditional wheat flour. It can cost three to four US Dollars (USD) per pound. Conversely, the average organic traditional wheat flour usually costs less than three USD per pound. If you purchase non-organic Kamut® flour, you’ll save a little money, but the flour is still a pricier alternative.
Cost is clearly not the only incentive toward purchasing Kamut® flour, and most cite that the nutritional value of the flour and its delicious taste make a little extra cost far worth it. If you want to save a little money, you could even try a 50/50 split between Kamut® and traditional wheat. You will still add more protein and greater vitamin content to your baked goods by using a 50/50 split.
Written by Tricia Ellis-Christensen
