Wheres the cheapest place to buy gluten free products?

dawn_rose

Hiya I'm wondering if anybody else has a problem with gluten and could steer me to the cheapest place to buy gluten free products. Many thanks.

Nargleblast

Both Sainsburys and Tescos do a reasonable range, Sainsburys probably slightly more. Pricewise I found buying the flour (Doves Farm, although Asda also do their own GF flour at a similar price) and learning to make my own cakes, pastry and biscuits worked out cheaper than shop bought products. The flour is about £1.70 for a 1kg bag. GF pasta not too badly priced and worth it if only you in the family eats GF - you just cook a separate little panful for yourself. Bread I have really struggled with, I cannot get it to taste right. The commercial loaves cost from around £2 for a supermarket value 400gm loaf to nearly £3 for a brand name 4-500gm loaf. Genius is a good brand, also Warburtons. If there is only you eating GF you can buy a loaf and put half of it away in the freezer so it doesn't go off.
Cereals - GF oats are about £2.50 for 500gms. Nestle now do a 500gm box of GF honey cornflakes for around £2.20. It all depends on how long these foods are going to last you. I certainly recommend buying the flour and learning to cook your own stuff for treats. And don't forget, there are many foods that are naturally gluten free - fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, dairy products.

dawn_rose

Thanks for that really appreciated, i bake cakes for my kids so have found the gf flour and going to mak some for me. Think I shall also make some biscuits and flapjacks to ring the changes. the cakes I can freeze in portions. The pasta I found ok and tend to make my own sauces and freeze them. I found the bread and the treats expensive. Can you freeze the flour like you would wheat flour to kill the wigglies?

Nargleblast

No idea, dawnrose, never frozen flour. Probably because I do a lot of cooking from scratch and use flour regularly so it doesn't hang around long enough for uninvited visitors to appear.

The chocolate brownies recipe on the Doves Farm SR flour bag is a good one, and I have adapted it using ginger and golden syrup to make a ginger cake. In fact almost any recipe can be used, you just need some extra fluid and perhaps extra baking powder for it to work.

haycorns

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5115795

HPoirot

Asda have a good range including freezer stuff, the bread is nicer than Sainsbury's.

lee111s

I like Tesco's stuff. The pasta tastes just like normal pasta, their small pizza bases are nice too. I use their own brand seeded bread too, it's decent and doesn't crumble to pieces like some others I have tried!

They have all their Free From range on 3 for 2 at the minute too

The_Blade

Have you tried getting GF food items on prescription? I think it varies from health authority to health authority as to whether or not you can get staple items such as bread, pasta etc on a prescription. I think if you have to pay for your prescriptions then you can buy an annual one for just over £100. Maybe worth checking with your GP?

As for bread I find the DS GF Ciabatta rolls the best. They do both brown and white. Tends to cost about £2 for a 4 pack though, so not cheap.

As for baking, I use the Doves Farm flours and my handy hint is to use a small amount of Xanthan gum to any recipe. It gives the mix a bit of stiffness which I find results in a better end product.

Good luck!

dawn_rose

Thanks for your replies I've made cakes and flapjacks tonight, I'm gonna have a try at some scones and biscuits next. I've found a place in town where I can get flour for £1.50 a bag. I'm considering getting a breadmaker as the of price of bread is the most expensive.