What Is The Difference Between Corn Flour And Corn Starch?

today we will discuss The Difference Between Corn Flour And Corn Starch. There are some foods or food elements in this world that may create confusion in you for their similarities in appearance and name. No wonder, many become confused with Corn flour with cornstarch. This article will help you to explore the Difference Between Corn Flour And Corn Starch.

There is no denying that both of them come from starch. The yellow powder produced from the whole corn is called corn flour. When it comes to cornstarch, is produced by grinding the starchy endosperm.

If you are still confused about them, explore this article to remove all of your confusion.

Difference Between Corn Flour And Corn Starch:

Generally, cornstarch is all about starch, while corn flour has some other necessary nutrients as well along with starch. Below I will discuss all of the major differences between these two popular food elements. 

1. Difference in Processing:

The main difference between them lies in their processing steps. If you grind whole corn kernels, you will get a powder that is typically yellow. This powder is called corn flour. As it is made from whole corn, it contains fiber, vitamins, starch, protein, and fiber.

Now, if you talk about the processing of cornstarch, it is quite different from corn flour. If you remove nutrients like fiber and protein from the whole corn kernel, you will get a starchy endosperm. It is later grinded properly to get a white powder which is called cornstarch. So, you’ll get only starch in cornstarch.

2. Difference in Flavor:

If you know about the taste of corn, you will get a similar taste- sweet and a little bit earthy from the cornflour. If you want to get a different taste from bread or pancakes, you can replace traditional wheat flour with corn flour.

However, don’t confuse it with cornmeal. Typically, cornmeal is more ground in terms of processing and also produced from the whole corn kernel.

Now, if you talk about cornstarch, it is kind of tasteless. So, it is widely used to bring textures into dishes. To be more specific, it will make your dish thicker.

Can You Interchange Them in Recipes?

There is no doubt that both of the food ingredients are made from corn. But, as I have already mentioned above, they are quite different in terms of processing and flavor. So, it is not possible to interchange them in recipes.

Typically, you can use corn flour to make bread, biscuits, pancakes, or pastries. It will make your food taste like corn. Besides, your food item will become yellowish due to the original color of corn flour.

Please note that you can use it instead of using wheat flour. Or, you can simply add corn flour along with wheat flour to increase the taste of dishes. However, as it is free of gluten, replacing wheat flour with it will make the food quite crumbly and denser.

On the other hand, cornstarch is mainly used to make soups, stews, or sauces thicker. As cornstarch contains only starch, you can’t use it in baking. If you want a crispy finish from fried items, you can use it there as well. It is also used in the sugar of confectioner for preventing clumping.

final words

Both corn flour and cornstarch are important elements of our daily life. They have their pros and cons and have a great contribution to our daily life. When it comes down to corn flour, which is made from whole corn kernels, cornstarch is produced by further processing of the endosperm of the corn. I hope this article has helped you to know the difference between corn flour and corn starch.