Have you ever considered how to process cassava flour at home?
When it comes to making cassava flour at home, a lot of questions come to mind. Will it come out nice, what will it taste like, will it be healthy enough for consumption?
These and many more I will be touching on, and I will show you how you can process cassava roots and get the best cassava flour.
But if you want the best processed and certified cassava flour, I recommend Jeb foods cassava flour.
Introduction To How to Process Cassava Flour At Home
Well, to process cassava flour at home, we will need the cassava roots.
Cassava flour, as we all know, is made by peeling the whole root, then drying and grinding it. But do you know that it requires a procedure to follow to ensure high-quality cassava flour?
All through my 8 years of using cassava flour for baking, processing cassava flour at home has been my hobby I occasionally do as I buy directly from Jeb foods on Amazon.
Notwithstanding, I will show you the step-by-step guide on how to process cassava flour at home.
The main factor to note is that cassava contains cyanide, and it has to be properly processed so it will no longer be in your processed cassava flour.
Know all about cassava flour
Let’s dive into it
Is It Possible To Process Cassava Flour At Home
Most people assume that processing cassava flour at home is quite tricky, but guess what?
Cassava flour is simple to produce and requires only essential kitchen tools. For people with celiac disease, it is gluten-free.
I use it to make pancakes, slices, and cookies, combining them (half and half) with other flour to make bread or pizza dough.
It has a neutral and mild flavor and works well as a substitute for wheat flour. Therefore knowing how to process cassava into flour is essential.
Requirements For Making High-Quality Cassava Flour
Cassava flour is prepared within a day of the root being harvested. It is incredibly white, has a low-fat level, and is not sour like traditional.
High-quality cassava flour should be bright white and pleasantly scented. It should not be contaminated by insects or bacteria that are hazardous.
Fermented cassava flour does not impart a foul odor or taste to food goods and may be mixed nicely with wheat flour for use in bread or cakes.
Requirements for producing high-quality cassava flour at home include
- a place for processing cassava,
- a storage facility, and
- a facility for safely disposing of waste materials.
- Cassava root processing equipment (knife, bowl, drying device, grater)
Home equipment for processing cassava flour?
Most people assumed that manufacturing cassava flour required a significant investment in machinery and equipment to get started.
Due to its simplicity in nature, you can process cassava flour at home using some essential household equipment.
However, you can produce cassava flour by simply utilizing typical home and kitchen materials like as
- A Knife
- A Chopper (cutting board)
- A bowl or a pan
- A grater
- A jute or sisal sack
- An electric food dehydrator or Oven
- A grinder. Or a Blender
- A Sieve
How to make high-quality cassava flour at home
Making cassava flour at home appears to be a difficult challenge for most people; because of this, learning how to make cassava flour is vital.
Creating your cassava flour at home will save you money, and you’ll enjoy seeing how the flour is made just from the comfort of your environment
There are many ways to process cassava flour at home, but if you follow this simple guide, you should find it relatively easy.
Step 1: Choosing The Best Cassava Roots
Making high-quality cassava flour is a process that begins with selecting high-quality raw cassava. You have to know which cassava tuber is of good quality
Cassava roots should be picked or purchased when fully grown, strong/hard, and fresh from the harvesting process.
There should be no bruising on them at any time. In addition, there should be very few fibrous roots present, and there should be no fractures in the root flesh.
Step 2: Peeling the Cassava Roots
Remove any soil sticking to the skin of the roots after harvesting before peeling. The roots must be carefully peeled once they have been collected.
The skin is fairly thick, up to 2mm thick, robust, and easily removed from the flesh.
Using a sharp knife, peel the roots and remove the stem, woody tops, and fibrous roots. Failure to peel correctly will result in an off-color product.
Cassava peel may be used for animal feed or composting after drying, so don’t throw it away!
Step 3: Washing The Peeled Cassava Roots
Pack all the peeled cassava into a bowl and wash it with water,
The primary aim of washing is to remove sediment from the outer layer of the cassava cortex, as well as stone, sand, weeds, leaves, and other debris that may have gotten attached to the cassava after harvesting.
Although simple in principle, this method is essential to get the best quality cassava flour possible.
It involves washing away any dirt accumulated around the cassava before grinding it, which results in a whiter final product.
Step 4: Grating Cassava Root
It is necessary to grate the roots once they have been peeled and thoroughly cleaned.
You may use a regular kitchen grater or an electric food processor to do this task. For a variety of reasons, the finer the grating of the roots, the better it gets.
First and foremost, the smaller and more refined the grated bits are, the greater the amount of surface area you’ve produced, which, when exposed to air, will oxidize and aid in the breakdown of the prussic acid.
Secondly, finer particles will dry more quickly and will be easier to ground into flour after drying.
Cassava roots can be easily crushed and ground into a fine mashed, using a perforated iron sheet or a mechanical grater found in most homes.
Step 5: Pressing the Grated Roots
The grated cassava mush should be packed tightly into a clean bag, such as a jute or sisal sack, that will enable any excess water to drain out the cassava starch.
Place a bowl and Squeeze the bag to remove extra water from the grated cassava, which will allow the cassava starch to sink the bowl. You can use your hand to squeeze and crush the sack until it is crumbly.
or
Place the freshly grated cassava on a large clean cloth or tea towel, tie the corners, and hang for at least 5 hours.
I generally hang mine over the kitchen sink after grinding the cassava. The hanging has two functions.
The first is to let any extra moisture drain out, and the second is to allow for a bit of fermentation, which further breaks down the prussic acid.
Step 6: Drying Cassava Pulp
Spread the grated cassava out to dry, no more than a few millimeters thick. Usually, When drying on a sunny day, the cassava should be completely dry within 2 to 3 days, otherwise it will start to mold.
The cassava pulp can be dried in sunny weather, spread the cassava in a thin layer on flat-surfaced containers, such as baking pans or winnowing baskets,
If drying is done outdoors, it must be done on sunny days. Otherwise, the chips would stink and become brown.
The drying process might take many days. You can dry using the cassava pulp enclosed solar dehydrator or direct sunlight, bring the trays in overnight and cover the cassava with dry tea towels.
And If the climate condition is too humid or rainy, I’ll either use an electric food dehydrator or place the trays in the Oven to dry.
For best results If you’re drying in the Oven, make sure it’s set to the lowest temperature of 45-55℃ for 2 hours and that the oven door is half-open to allow moisture to escape.
You should dry mash until extremely floury. Cover with netting to keep flies and birds away. Although solar, stove and hot-air dryers are more expensive,
the drying process is more dependable and of more outstanding quality.
Step 7: Grinding Dried Cassava Pulp
Following the drying process of the freshly grated cassava, it is now necessary to crush it into a powdery consistency.
To process cassava flour, once it has been dried, crush the grated cassava till it becomes powdery.
Grinding may be accomplished quickly and easily using a blender or a vita miser. The cassava must be dry and crisp before it can be ground into a fine powder.
Step 8: Sieving Grounded Cassava
This is the last stage when processing cassava flour because it separates cassava starch from cassava flour.
To finish this process, sift the ground flour through a fine kitchen sieve to remove any large or coarse particles and place them back into the next batch to grind.
You may sieve the ground cassava with a basic homemade sieve to eliminate fibrous debris and lumps.
This is essential to get high-quality grain-free flour void of fiber and has a uniform particle size.
Step 9: Packaging And Storing Cassava Flour
To make the sieved cassava flour last longer in storage, it must be stored promptly after sieving, preferably in big sealed glass jars or black plastic bags to prevent it from becoming mushy and wet later.
The ground and sifted cassava flour may be stored in airtight containers to avoid re-humidification.
Always ensure that you pack the bags to keep them safe from the sun’s rays. Maintain a cool, dry environment for the cartons by providing ample ventilation.
The flour will be good for approximately six months once it has been packed and stored.
After storing it in an airtight container, dried grated cassava may be stored for an extended time until it is ready to be ground.
Is Homemade Cassava Flour Safe
This is indeed a question that I get asked practically every day. by people who want to make cassava flour at home.
Although cassava root contains naturally occurring cyanide chemicals. Yes, they may be quite poisonous. But only if consumed unprocessed.
Cassava flour is poisonous, yet this should not prevent you from including it in your daily routine because it has several health benefits.
It is gluten-free for people with celiac disease. I use it to create pancakes, slices, and cookies, as well as mix it (half and half) with other flours to produce bread or pizza dough.
There are many processing techniques for eliminating cyanogens, and their success depends on the processing steps and sequence utilized, which is often time-sensitive.
The process of crushing and sun-drying cassava roots to make flour eliminates 95 percent to 99 percent of the total cyanogens present.
See other flour mixes that you can try
Is Cassava Flour the same with Cassava Starch
People always get confused in identifying cassava starch and cassava flour
Cassava flour is different from cassava starch; Although the raw materials of cassava flour and cassava flour are the same plants, there is still a big difference between the two.
First, the raw materials are different cassava flour is extracted from the roots of the cassava plant, and cassava starch is dehydrated and dried after starch extraction,
Second, the production method for cassava flour consists in peeling the cassava, crushing it, and drying the powdery particles, and sifting, which are typically generated through family-style workshop operations.
Cassava starch manufacturing is more difficult to master since it involves peeling, cleaning, washing, screening, filtering, concentration, dewatering, and drying. These are often accomplished by industrial mass production.
Is cassava flour and corn starch the same
Final Thought
I made cassava flour at home for 8 years occasionally, and this has been a part of my and my family’s routine, especially since it makes us bond the more.
Using cassava flour as an alternative for other flours like wheat is a good choice because of the natural nutrients it contains.
It is commonly considered an important flour for keeping excellent health, and it is also the cheapest flour available to you.
I’m certain that by now, you’ve learned how to process cassava flour at home using this easy procedure, which has allowed me to create a smooth and gluten-free baking flour to use in my daily routine.
