Whats the difference between using corn starch or flour in cooking?
Although flour is the traditional thickening agent in most cooking, cornstarch, also known as cornflour, is a fine, powdery flour ground from the endosperm, or white heart, of the corn kernel. People often wonder what the difference is between cornstarch and flour. Both are starches, but cornstarch is pure starch, while flour contains gluten. The gluten reduces the thickening power of flour, so lacking gluten, cornstarch has twice the thickening power of flour. Sauces thickened with cornstarch will be clear, rather than opaque, as with flour-based sauces, and it doesn’t cause lumps like flour. How To Cook With Corn Starch What are the advantages of using corn starch rather than flour? Corn starch has twice the “thickening power” of flour, so it’s necessary to use only half as much. Example: If recipe calls for 1/4 cup of flour, use just 2 tablespoons corn starch. Corn starch thickens with a satiny smoothness and glossy appearance. It adds no taste of its own to mask the flavor of foods
