The answer - barley malt.
Barley of course is one of the grains that contains gluten. But why barley malt in cereal? Well, the malting process helps the grain develop enzymes that better convert starches into sugars. They also add color and flavor, which is how they are used in original Rice Krispies. Barley malt is the most popular malt additive used in the United States.
Rice Krispies Gluten Free eliminates the barley malt from the process. They also are made with whole grain brown rice. Kelloggs also uses a dedicated gluten free facility to make Rice Krispies Gluten Free.
That's good.
But how do they taste?
I tried them two ways - both with and without soy milk. I could never eat the original Rice Krispies with milk - they always seemed to get soggy too fast. But I loved eating them dry by the bowlful. So I tried some of the Rice Krispies this way. And they tasted, well, rather tasteless. And the texture was...ummm...how can I say this delicately...seemingly stale.
I was going to say like cardboard or styrofoam, but that seems a bit harsh...
A little soy milk improved things somewhat. It was nice to hear Snap! Crackle! Pop! again. And the milk seemed to help soften the texture. But there was still a matter of the lack of taste. Adding fresh blueberries did the trick - you got the flavor of the fruit masking the blandness of the cereal.
The four harshest critics in the house - my children - all gave pretty much the same review - the lack of taste was a distinctive and significant drawback. A couple added honey and that did the trick for them.
We didn't try making Rice Krispie Treats with them, and I am curious how that would work out. The lack of taste would be masked by the sweetness of the marshmallows, but I wonder about the texture...
Here are some more reviews of the product:
The Saavy Celiac
The Gluten Free Optimist
GFCF Mommy
Li Loves David
The Final Verdict
I have mixed feelings about this product. On one hand, it's great that Kelloggs has ventured into the gluten free arena, and I hope that they will explore gluten free alternatives for their other cereals too. The retail price is pretty much the same as for original Rice Krispies, so us GFers and GFCFers are not being penalized in the wallet for needing a specialized product.
The nostalgia factor is huge too. Those of us who grew up on Snap! Crackle! Pop! will derive satisfaction just from being able to hear those sounds again. Even my son got a kick out of hearing his cereal "talk."
But then there's the taste, or rather, the lack of taste. It is really noticible unless you mask it by eating something with the cereal, like I did with the blueberries. And to me the texture was off if you were eating the cereal without milk.
This is a gluten free cereal that you will likely find, much like GF Chex cereals, in the regular cereal aisle in most supermarkets, which is wonderful for those who have limited places in their area to get specialty/organic GF cereals, like Erewhon or Barbara's.
I have another personal bias though - Envirokidz Koala Crisp. There are other GFCF brown rice crispy cereals on the market - Erewhon for example - that I cannot do a real comparison as we have rarely bought them. But Koala Crisp is another story. They are more akin to Cocoa Krispies as they are chocolate flavored, and they are more crunchy than crispy like Rice Krispies. But they taste great, and they make a great "Rice Krispie" treat.
While I paid $3.15 at SuperWalmart for the Rice Krispies Gluten Free (the suggested retail is $3.99), I can get Koala Crisp for about that price, especially in the larger ECO-pack (between $3.50 and $4.00 per 12 oz. but frequently on sale). And I personally like the texture and the taste (mmm...chocolate!) better. But again, that's my personal bias.
Have you tried Rice Krispies gluten free? Please leave me a comment and tell me what you think! Or, if you wrote your own review, please leave me a link - I will add it to this post.
And hopefully Kelloggs will continue to explore gluten free options for their other cereals. Some sort of GF Raisin Bran would be nice...
7 comments:
I TOTALLY TOTALLY COMPLETELY agree with you Thomas. I bought them for the first time this week. I need to do a review about them too! I had one bowl and we use almond milk at home (well I do - no dairy milk for me) and I just thought they were totally bland and tasteless... and they got soggy SO fast! Right after I ate them I asked Michael if Rice Krispies always tasted so bland and blah... he said yeah... LOL... so who knows... although I think I did eat them a lot growing up, but I think I probably added tons of sugar to my bowls! Great review though! I completely agree with your families review!
I bought the GF Rice Krispies at a local WalMart at $2.38(cheaper than the regular ones). I never really liked the regular ones or rice krispy treats. I thought they tasted fine as I do not really like cold cereals except my home-made granola cereal.
It is great that they re-created them for those who really like Rice Krispies and can no longer have the original ones.
I ate a hand-full dry right out of the box. They taste fine that way!
I would give them a thumbs up for trying to satisfy a need.
Now, you should do a review on some of the cake mixes from a really big company that has "coarse white rice flour", sugar and potato starch! Who uses coarse-grind flour in a cake? Now that is pure junk!
Call me picky, but I now mix up my own cake mixes, because the best GF ones are just a bit pricey.
@Retired - Thanks for your comments. It really seems (especially given Carrie's comment and others I've seen) that views are really split on this product.
As for cake mixes - I make my own cakes from scratch so I never really buy the products. Same goes for things like the GF Bisquik - I'd personally mix my own stuff. That being said, I may scour the web and come up with links to other mix reviews...
I haven't tried these yet but my kids wouldn't eat Rice Krispies at the beginning of this GF adventure when I *thought* they were GF. Only with a ton of sugar would they eat them but they didn't like them. I remember adding a ton of sugar when I was a kid but I am mean and won't let my kids start the day with a bowl of sugar with milk.
I haven't even looked for them locally, I might want them for Rice Krispie treats but that is about it.
Another vote with you, Thomas. I reviewed them a while ago and my verdict was, "Meh." Which is mostly what I thought of the original product... Anyhow, I don't do much in the way of grains of any sort these days, but if I'm going to treat myself, it's going to be with something that has a lot more flavor. But I guess to each his own, you know? ~Li
I also felt they are very bland. It's been a long time since the original but i remember them having more flavor. I do love the texture and they made awesome rice crispy treats! The rice crispy treats made with the health brand version of crispy rice was too stale in texture. I'm still eating the cereal but with sugar or bananas, much too plain alone!
Nature's Path makes a puffed rice cereal, that is just that - rice only. No other ingredients. With Kellogg's they like to add all sorts of other things, but also vitamins, which can be nice.
My 3-year-old son had severe eczema until he was diagnosed with food allergies a few months back. I have a blog that shares our family’s battles with eczema, allergies, and asthma (yes, lucky guy has that too).
I think the key is to learn from one another, so the more information out there to the masses, the better. With this in mind I’ve started a blog hop for anyone dealing with allergies, eczema, or asthma, either for themselves or as a caregiver. If you’re interested in joining, please add a comment. I’d love to welcome you to the group. http://itchylittleworld.wordpress.com/blog-hop/
Thanks.
Jennifer
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