Powdered Psyllium Husks vs Whole Psyllium Husks: what are the differences in gluten-free baking?

Many gluten-free bakers that start baking with psyllium husks very soon find themselves with some doubts about the type of psyllium husks to buy. Some recipes refers to powdered psyllium husks, some recipes call for whole or coarse psyllium husks, some recipes just mention psyllium husks. So, what to do? What works best? And more importantly, how can we adapt gluten-free bread recipes to switch from powdered to whole and vice versa? I ran an experiment, which I share below with you, from which I took some conclusion and advices for gluten-free bakers.

The experiment was done, as a “controlled” comparison, after months of baking both with whole psyllium husks and powdered psyllium husks. I had originally developed all my gluten-free bread and pizza recipes with whole psyllium husks. After a few months, I tried powdered psyllium and I naturally adjusted the recipes as I went. So, truth to be told, I knew in advance the kind of results the experiment would show. But I still wanted to do a “controlled” experiment, so that you can also understand step by step how the choice of psyllium grind affects your process.

But let us address some basic doubts to start: powdered psyllium husks and whole psyllium husks are the same thing, the difference is only in texture as powdered psyllium husks are, well… powdered, while the “whole” version is left coarser. So, 5 grams of psyllium husks are 5 grams of psyllium husks, regardless of their form and grind. However, the powdered version will behave slightly differently… Well, let’s jump to conclusions, for once (the details of the experiment for the curious amongst you, are provided below after conclusions and advice).

CONCLUSIONS OF THE EXPERIMENT ON PSYLLIUM HUSKS

Although psyllium husk powder and whole psyllium husk is the same product, with a difference in the coarseness, the two versions can behave differently when used to bind a gluten-free dough. I believe this is mainly due to surface area, because the powdered version of the product has more surface area (thanks to it being ground finer). What I have experienced is that:

• Powdered psyllium husk absorbs liquids in a much quicker way than the coarse version. This is quite evident in the experiment, as the dough comes together in a minute or two, vs 10 to 15 minutes for a dough bound with whole psyllium husks. Indeed, the dough with whole psyllium husks will look literally liquid and very loose when you mix it, and it will tighten up considerably in the next 10 to 15 minutes.
• The overall water absorbed by whole/coarse psyllium husk appears to be lower overall, even when a few hours have passed. At parity of other conditions, the dough bound with coarse psyllium husks is a bit more loose, stickier, more difficult to handle during the whole process. This might be due to the fact that the coarse particles might not absorb water as uniformly as the ground particles (e.g., for example, the centre of the particle might stay less hydrated than the surface).
• The dough bound with powdered psyllium husk is overall tighter, smoother, and with more structure, during the whole process. I believe this is due to the fact that the powdered product absorbs more water, but even the texture might help make the dough smoother. If you think about it, it would make sense: as the psyllium is powdered, it will be better distributed across the dough, possibly binding it tighter and more uniformly. The same amount (in weight) of psyllium, but coarsely ground, will have larger particles that are farther apart from themselves and possibly creating a less smooth surface of the dough. If you think of it like a “net” of psyllium particles, the same amount of grams of powdered psyllium will generate a tighter net (the graphic exemplification below is shown larger in Step 2 of the experiment).

  

• Doughs bound with powdered psyllium develop more volume. This is shown in the experiment below. Not only the dough appears to be tighter, but it also appear to retain gases better and develop more volume. I found the two doughs to have same diameter, but the dough bound with powdered psyllium husks was much higher! This shows us that not only the dough seems to have more structure, but it also better retain gases. I deduce this from the fact that we got a dough with different shape and more volume (e.g., taller, same diameter), instead of obtaining a different shape due to water absorption but same volume (e.g., taller, but with smaller diameter).
• Powdered Psyllium performs better, but do not throw your coarse psyllium away! Fantastic bread can be made with whole psyllium husks, but follow my advice below for best results. In fact, both breads that came out of the experiment were fantastic! very good crumb, both virtually had the same taste and smell, same nuances. The main difference, that you can feel to the palate and makes the difference between a good bread and a fantastic bread, is the higher volume of the dough bound with powdered psyllium husk. Higher volumes means the bread holds more gas and has slightly larger crumb. This makes the bread feel lighter in your mouth.

BAKING ADVICE FOR WHOLE AND POWDERED PSYLLIUM HUSKS

As said above, do not throw your whole psyllium husk away! See below some advice to adjust from powdered to whole and vice versa, also with a level of impact/importance.

• [Paramount] Measure psyllium husks precisely, in weight. When measuring binders, you need to be precise. Psyllium husks absorbs an incredible amount of water, so being wrong by half gram can unbalance your dough hydration. It’s a topic for another article, but based on some tests I have run, you might need on average 9% more hydration for each 1% more of psyllium husks (baker’s percentages). That means that for each 100g of flour, if you are wrong by 1g in your measurement of psyllium husks, you might need to add 9g of water to keep hydration constant! I know for some people it is already a big step to start weighing with a scale, but do yourself a favour and buy a precision scale. Your gluten-free baking will get to the next level. I leave a link below with the scale I use. I am very happy with it. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
  
  
• [Important] When using whole psyllium husks, consider that it will take about 10min for the psyllium to absorb the water, so do not adjust the water content if you have not waited 10 minutes. For the less experienced bakers, it can be scary to see that pool of liquid just not coming together as a dough. You can be tempted to add flour. Don’t. Let it rest covered for 10 minutes, and THEN gauge if the hydration level is ok. A good way to proceed is to autolyse your dough. Not only you will get the benefits of autolyse (enzymes in the flour will be activated and start converting starches into sugars, which yeasts will love), but you will also have a chance to add water, if needed, while you mix in yeast and salt.
• [Good to know] If a recipe calls for powdered psyllium husks and you are using whole psyllium husks, start by reducing the water from 2.5% to 5% of the total flour amount. By doing so you will account for the fact that whole psyllium absorbs less water. If you are doing the opposite (from whole to powdered), start with the same amount and add 2.5% to 5% water if you feel the dough is too tight. In any case, 2.5% additional water does not ruin a bread, but if you are not very comfortable with handling wet doughs, it’s good to adjust like this.
• [Good to know] If you use whole psyllium husks, do at least two or three folds during the bulk fermentation, especially if the dough seems loose and with little structure. This will help build some structure. Do it with your hands slightly wet, the dough will stick less and it will stay smoother. A dough that is fairly tight and bound with powdered psyllium in my experience shows good structure after 1 fold. I sometimes even refrain to do more folds because it seems so nice and tight that it’s not worth the risk of stretching it and potentially rip it off on the surface.
• [Just my advice] If your dough is a bit wet, just run with it! It’s great to gain experience in handling wet doughs and the result might come out better than you expected. If the process is right, the bread will be delicious anyway. The more you bake, the more you will learn to get clues from your dough and ace the timing and process.

THE EXPERIMENT

To run this experiment, I made two yeasted dough with 100g of flour blend each. Considering the small amount of flour and psyllium, all measurements were made with a precision scale, to make sure there were no differences due to imprecision in weighting the ingredients. I compared Planete Au Naturel’s Organic Blond Psyllium Husk (whole psyllium husks) with Nature’s Root Organic Psyllium husks powder. I have been baking with both products and I am very happy with them. I leave Amazon links below (the organic version of Planet Au Naturel’s one is sold out for now, so I linked the non-organic version).

If anything from the process is not clear, please see my gluten-free bread recipes, where I explain all steps in details (for example, this and this).

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Summary of ingredients and baking schedule

Step 1 – Preparing the blend and mixing – 8:20AM

Easy peasy, with a precision scale. I prepared two batches of 100g of my Mix 2 gluten-free brown blend (click here to see my blends). I then proceeded to add 5g of psyllium in each, powdered in one, coarse in the other. I then also added to each of them 2g of salt and 1g of instant yeast (yes, I am not one for short fermentations, but I wanted to leaven this bread in a couple of hours to be faster in the experiment).

I then mixed in 125g water in each bowl. I decided to use 125g because it is the middle point of what I used to add to coarse psyllium in the past (120g) and what I usually add to powdered psyllium (130g). As you can see in the picture below, after 1 to 2 minutes mixing for each, the dough with powdered psyllium husks comes together and looks like a dough, while the other dough looks like a pond. But do not add any flour! That is just because whole/coarse psyllium husk takes time to absorb water. The good thing is that you won’t have to mix for long, it will be extremely easy to hydrate the flour and avoid lumps.

Step 2 – Checking hydration of dough + first fold – 8:35AM

After 15 minutes, I check the hydration of the dough bound with coarse psyllium husks. Now, I would not do it because it is an experiment, but at this point you could decide whether your dough needs more water (if too tight) or more flour (if too loose). I also take this chance to do the first fold (it’s also necessary, because the dough with coarse psyllium will basically be flat). After folding the dough onto itself, the dough with powdered psyllium is already quite tight and with good structure, “sitting up” quite proudly. It is also not too sticky and quite smooth (for a gluten-free dough). The dough with coarse psyllium, instead, is looser and stickier, it looks like a dough that is more hydrated (even though we added the same amount of water). It appears like the coarse psyllium: 1) absorbs less water or 2) it is less effective at bounding water or 3) both.

Although I am no chemist, I would expect this might be due to the fact that powdered psyllium will have more surface area*, possibly leading to more bounding. Moreover, powdered psyllium would be better distributed across the dough, forming a tighter “net”. Smaller particles might also lead to more psyllium available for water absorption: again, I am no chemist, but it could make sense that the psyllium that is locked beneath the surface of coarse psyllium husks might reach less water and/or bound water in a less effective way.

*for example, if you imagine a massive and cubic psyllium husk particle (for sake of simplicity) that makes a cube of 1cm x 1cm x 1cm, the surface area would be 6 cm^2 (6 faces times the face area of 1cm^2). If you ground the cube into 0.5cm x 0.5 cm x 0.5cm smaller cubes, you will wind up with a surface area of 12 cm^2 (6 faces times 0.5^2 cm^2 times 8 smaller cubes your derive from slicing the big cube in 4 from all sides).

The following is an exemplification of why I expect powdered psyllium to form a tighter net over a certain surface, keeping all other conditions constant. In reality, this would happen in three dimension with psyllium distributing over a surface.

Step 3 – Second fold – 8:45AM

After 10 minutes, I proceeded to do a second set of folds. The dough made with powdered psyllium is quite tight and smooth, with good structure, I will not make a third set of folds for this one. The dough made with whole psyllium is still softer and with less structure, kind of indicating that the dough is still not “catching up” to the other one in absorbing and binding water.

Step 4 – Third fold – 8:45AM

I did a third set of folds only on the dough made with coarse/whole psyllium. Still softer, but I feel like folding helps. I now let the doughs bulk ferment in untouched.

Step 5 – Shaping – 9:45AM

It’s been 1H since the last fold, 1H25minutes since the doughs were mixed. They are started to inflate and seem a tiny bit puffier. At this time, I shape them as small boules (with the classic technique, by flattening them into disks and then folding the sides towards the centre, flipping them over and pulling them across the table to build a round tight shape – you can see how I do it in my youtube videos and my bread recipes). See this article to learn some tips on when to shape or bake. I then let them to proof in some small bowls lined with lightly floured kitchen towels, then covering them with cling film.

When shaping, I noticed that the dough made with whole psyllium had a surface that was less smooth. It was more difficult to shape it without tearing it a little bit here and there.

Step 6 – Baking – 11:20AM

After 1H35minutes, I have seen the doughs inflated and I think they are ready to be baked. I had already turned the oven on to pre-heat at maximum temperature (250C fan, for my oven), with my pizza stone inside and a tray that I will later fill with water. I bake the two breads with the Pizza Stone and Water Tray method (again, see my bread recipes for details).

However, I used the following baking schedule:

• 20 Minutes at 250C with steam;
• 35 Minutes at 210C without steam;
• 5 Minutes at 210C with the over door ajar, to let the crumb dry.

I might have even overshoot it a bit, as such small breads can also be baked in a few minutes less. The crust initially seemed extremely hard, but while they were cooling on a rack, I covered them with some wet kitchen towels for a few minutes. That softened the crust.

The bread made with powdered psyllium has a more beautiful crust, with homogeneous browning. In the other bread, you can spot many small dots that are actually course psyllium husks. However, I must say this might have been due to me cooking the bread a bit too long (maybe burning some of the psyllium on the surface), as it is the first time that happens to me.

Step 6 – Cutting and Testing – 5PM

I let the breads cool on a rack until the afternoon (5H and a half, but anything above a couple of hours would work well), and then I sliced into them.

The bread made with powdered psyllium has more volume. They both have a diameter between 11.2cm and 11.7cm roughly, with the bread made with powdered psyllium appearing very slightly larger in diameter. However, the difference is noticeable and significant on the height, with the bread made with whole psyllium husk raising to a height of 4.5cm, while the bread made with powdered psyllium husks is 5.5cm tall!

Hence, the bread made with powdered psyllium husks has more volume and it seems to have retain more gases, which is extremely precious in gluten-free baking! I think one of the largest challenges in gluten-free baking is getting a bread that retain gas, and has an open enough crumb to feel light in the mouth.

All in all, both were delicious breads. There is not much taste difference between the two, they are actually quite similar in taste, both in the crumb and the crust. Both are really great, but the slightly more open crumb of the bread made with powdered psyllium husk makes it the winner!