Thursday, March 26, 2009

DeBoles Multigrain Gluten Free Spaghetti


Found a new kind of gluten free pasta in Whole Foods the other day.... DeBoles Multigrain gluten free pasta!

I was pumped - this pasta had 5g of protein and 3g of fiber (something that a lot of gf food is lacking in), and was hoping this might be a good pasta to keep on hand - although, it was going to be tough to live up to my current favorite, Tinkyada.

So - I took it out of the box and went to boil it -- I noticed it breaking very easily, and when I went back to look into the boiling water, it had all broken apart! Not cool! It looked like this:


Grr -- I was really mad. The entire thing of pasta broke into little bits like this. So -- I guess if you like your pasta like this - this is the pasta for you -- but if you're looking for long spaghetti - stick to Tinkyada.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

definitely hard to beat Tinkyada :)
thanks for the review!
erin @ glutenfreewithapurpose

Jen said...

Epic Fail. I want Spaghetti tonight! with meat sauce, YUM! It's so funny that I'm eating gluten right now, yet I still would rather go buy Tinkyada to make for dinner... I only have elbows on hand, but I want spaghetti!

Kerrie @ TFK said...

Yep. Happened to me too....My new love is Schar's pasta...yum.

Marlow said...

I've tried their multi-grain penne before. It doesn't break apart so easily, but it still can't beat Tinkyada!!

kj said...

Thanks for posting this! I would have been bummed too if I bought this and it turned out like this.

H.Peter said...

Not so good pasta.

Up here in Canada, our favorite is Rizopia. Brown Rice pasta.

Here is an image:

http://theceliachusband.blogspot.com/2009/03/gluten-free-pasta-carbonara.html

~Mariah~ said...

Hi! I just started following your blog and I've really enjoyed reading it! It is hard to beat tinkyada, isn't it? Although last night I had dinner at a restaurant in Boulder, CO where they had fresh rice fettuccine and it was DELICIOUS! Next time I'll have to ask them where they got it!

I know you already have a bunch of gluten-free blogs listed on your site, but I wanted to share mine with you too. It's It's called "Gluten-Free from A to Z." My boyfriend and I review gluten-free products, recipes, and restaurants. We update our blog daily! I'd love for you to check it out: http://glutenfree-a-z.blogspot.com/

Also, I want to start a list of useful and fun gluten-free blogs on my site. Would it be ok for me to add yours to my list? Would you be willing to add mine to your list? Please let me know! (glutenfreeAtoZ@gmail.com) I look forward to hearing from you!

~Z~
--
http://glutenfree-a-z.blogspot.com/

Eric M said...

I've tried lots of brands, including Tinkyada, and I think the best GF pasta is Bionaturae. It tastes almost exactly like regular pasta and it doesn't break apart. You can buy it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/bionaturae-Organic-Spaghetti-Gluten-12-Ounce/dp/B001EQ4P00

Allie said...

Hi All -- thanks for the comments on this!

Marlow - I actually got the penne too, I'll give that a try next, I'm hoping it will be better.

KJ - I WAS bummed.

H.Peter - Thanks for the info! I'll look out for it - and that recipe made me drool a little. I'm not kidding.

Eric - I actually buy Bionaturae pretty often - I like it - it is my sister's preference - but I think I still like Tinkyada better -- the Bionaturae is kind of potato-ey or something, but it's definitely good!

Mark Jaquith said...

Hi,
Nice blog!
Stay away from the Nature's Kitchen soy pasta. Rubber bands are way better. I agree on the Tink. I also like Ancient Harvest quinoa, but what I am really having fun with are all the non wheat oriental pastas. There are tons of them.

Lots of rice noodles. Pad Thai, rice stick, thin, wide, elbows, even spring roll wrappers. There is buckwheat (hard to find pure, but you can), bean thread, sweet potato noodles even.

The Pad Thai noodles make a great linguini. I do a lot of "oriental" dishes with them as well as Italian and mac & cheese. Check out the Reliable Market in Somerville or your local Super 88. No passport necessary.

Life is good...

If you are interested, I have made a map of places where I can get a good GF meal or bag of groceries.

Here is the link>

http://www.communitywalk.com/celiac_friendly_eateries_in_greater_boston/map/219010

Mark Jaquith said...

Thanks for the update on the Oxford Spa no longer making GF sandwiches. It's off by beaten path and pricey so I have not been back in a while.

They are off the map.

If you have any other suggestions, I'd love to know about them,

MJ

Allie said...

Hey Mark --

Thanks for stopping by! And for the link... as you see, I stopped by and commented on Oxford Spa -- so sad.

In Washington Square (Brookline) the Washington Square Tavern carries Redbridge and are very helpful & very knowledgeable about celiac.

And good call about Super 88 -- I always forget it's there.

Anonymous said...

Just change your cooking method: stop boiling the De Boles pasta to smithereens! You should start normally - add the pasta to rapidly boiling water, and let the water come back to a boil. But this is what you must do differently: the instant the water comes back to a boil, remove the pot from the heat. Then let the pot sit covered - that's right, just leave the pasta sitting in the near-boiling water, without heat, for 4-6 minutes, and voila - delicious gluten-free pasta that hasn't broken apart.

Allie said...

hi anon -

you are probably right - I do tend to overcook pasta, mostly because I prefer it softer - not al dente - but If I'm making al dente, I'll definitely be sure to use this method - thanks!

But I'm not sure that's the case with this -- I kept this box of pasta, found it the other day in my pantry - and it's all broken apart in little pieces, it just isn't constructed that well. If you pick up one long piece and place it on the table, it breaks into small pieces... Have you tried it? Not regular DeBoles, the multigrain, I found the regular gf deboles stayed together.

Unknown said...

I had the same experience--ended up with a plate of 3/4"-long "mini-ghettis". I have tried the penne, and that comes out OK, with good texture. If you try the penne, start checking it after 8 minutes or so. When cooked for the recommended 10 minutes, it loses its al dente quality.

Anonymous said...

I just emailed the company- although it is much more fragile, I find the flavor is soo much richer than straight rice pasta. But i am one of those odd types who LIKED wheat germ on her cereal growing up, and hated plain white Wonder type breads.

i have a batch boiling itself into little pieces even as i type.....oh, olive oil in the water and a rinse with tepid water did help when serving.

Anonymous said...

Regarding the DeBoles gluten free multi grain penne pasta that breaks up during cooking: I had a batch of this and sent an email to the company to ask about it. They sent me some coupons for several free boxes which was nice of them. They didn't explain what was wrong with the pasta but I have found out on my own that it was a temporary problem. The new boxes that I got with my coupons in the last week or two do not have this problem. A month ago the pasta was breaking up, now it's not. The cooking time is wrong however. The box says 12-15 minutes, but it gets fully done by 12 minutes and I think it might break up if you go any longer.

The rice spirals in the blue box still have trouble. The box says cook 5-7 minutes, but it takes about 11 minutes, however by that time the pasta starts to break up a little. If you cook it less than 11 minutes it's still hard.

They seem to be experimenting with the recipe, either that or they have horrible quality control.

But my digestive system really likes their products and I find it very soothing, so I keep eating it.