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Sausages, convenience foods, pâtés. Pulse flour binds moisture and holds the mince structure.
In meat processing, gluten-free flour goes into the mince to bind water. Rice flour is a neutral base that adds no flavour or colour to the mince; chickpea and red lentil flour bring plant protein and are used where soy is unwanted for labelling reasons.
In meat processing, flour is not the base of the formulation. It enters the mince at a level of a few per cent and does exactly one technological job: it holds water. How much water the system binds before heat treatment and retains after it decides the finished product yield, the firmness of the slice, jelly and fat pockets under the casing, and how the product behaves in storage. Which is why this material is chosen by a technologist watching it in the bowl chopper and in the cooking chamber, not by a buyer comparing a price per kilogram.
Kaskad LLC has been producing gluten-free flour for the meat industry since 2001 and ships it in industrial batches — sacks of 30 and 50 kg, minimum order one sack. This page is written for the technologist replacing wheat flour, modified starch or soy isolate in mince, and obliged to evidence the normative basis of the new ingredient at incoming inspection. Below: the products in our range for this industry, the role each plays in the formulation, our four processing lines, particle size in microns, certificates with numbers, and entry terms. There are no prices here — they are contractual and calculated per product, line and volume.
The role of flour in a meat system comes down to three parameters, and a technologist measures all three rather than judging them by taste.
Water binding. On heating, the starch in the flour takes up water and holds it in a gel formed inside the meat matrix. That reduces the free water able to separate out during cooking, chilling and subsequent storage. For cooked sausages, frankfurters and pâtés this converts directly into finished product yield; for convenience foods, into weight loss during the final cook.
Emulsion stability. In finely comminuted systems the flour works alongside the protein fraction of the mince: bound water stops acting as a carrier for fat, and the product becomes less prone to fat pockets under the casing. Particle size is critical here — a coarse fraction hydrates more slowly and may still be only partly swollen by the time chopping ends.
Structure at the cut. Flour gives a denser, less rubbery slice than a purely starch-based system, and pulse flours add plant protein on top of that. This is precisely why formulations in which flour displaces part of the modified starch often produce a different slice pattern from the one the technologist expects — and why such a switch starts with a trial mix rather than a straight substitution into a live formulation.
There is also a purely documentary motive for switching: the label. Wheat flour brings gluten declaration with it; soy isolate brings soy declared as an allergen in both the EU and Ukraine; modified starch appears in the ingredient list as an additive with its index. Rice, chickpea or lentil flour is declared in the ingredient list under its own name, carries no E number, and is not on the list of allergens subject to mandatory declaration. Check the final wording of your ingredient list against the requirements of your sales market — we supply the raw material and its documents, not edits to somebody else's label.
For meat processing this is the key section of the page. Heat treatment does not change the grain; it changes how the starch and protein behave — which is exactly the property flour is added to the mince for.
Native starch binds the bulk of its water only after gelatinisation, that is, during the heat treatment of the product itself. Heat-treated flour has already travelled part of that road before it reaches your bowl chopper: the starch granules have been altered by prior heating, so they begin to swell at a lower temperature and do it faster. Practical consequences for a meat system:
The degree of change depends on the treatment regime and on the base grain, which is why the specific parameters are fixed in the batch specification rather than declared on this page as universal.
One terminological fork is worth settling before your first enquiry. TXT is a processing mode available for several products in the range — rice, corn, buckwheat, oat, chickpea and red lentil flour. Heat-treated flour, by contrast, is a separate catalogue product whose base grain is chosen by the customer: the grain is agreed for the task, and composition and nutritional data follow from it and are stated in the batch specification. In a specification these two must be named precisely: "rice flour, TXT line" and "heat-treated flour on a rice base" are not synonyms for incoming inspection.
Table: Kaskad LLC processing lines
| Line | What it defines | Key parameters |
|---|---|---|
| STD (Standard) | controlled milling, consistent particle size batch after batch | moisture up to 15% |
| TXT (Texture) | heat treatment — water binding and texture | heat treatment: yes; moisture to specification |
| SUP (Super / Super+) | enhanced microbiological limits | specification agreed with the customer |
| SPC (Special) | parameters to a technical brief | milling, moisture, microbiology, pack format — from a trial batch |
Table: Kaskad LLC gluten-free raw materials for the meat industry
| Product | Lines available | Role in a meat formulation | Shelf life |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rice flour | STD, TXT, SUP | Neutral carrier: binds water, adds no flavour or colour to the mince | 18 months |
| Chickpea flour | STD, TXT | 20.6 g protein per 100 g — a plant protein fraction in place of soy isolate | 18 months |
| Red lentil flour | STD, TXT | 28.0 g protein per 100 g — the highest protein in the range; dense structure | 12 months |
| Heat-treated flour | TXT, SPC | Cold water binding in brines and mince; base grain agreed with you | to specification |
The products above are the industry’s core list in our catalogue. The related products below belong to dusting and breading operations, which run on the same part of a meat plant but are a different technological task — covered on the separate breading page.
Table: Related products
| Product | Lines available | Role in a meat formulation | Shelf life |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corn flour | STD, TXT, SPC | Dusting and breading of convenience products; milling to brief in the SPC line | 12 months |
| Buckwheat flour | STD, TXT | Breading and products with a pronounced flavour profile; 13.6 g protein | 18 months |
On the pulse flours. Chickpea and red lentil are not simply "more flour": at 20.6 and 28.0 g protein per 100 g they are a plant protein source in the formulation, and therefore a direct alternative to soy isolate in systems where soy is unwanted because of labelling or market requirements. Red lentil carries a 12-month shelf life against 18 for chickpea — a real difference when you plan stock cover.
On the rice product. Rice flour is the most neutral option on the list: 81.0 g carbohydrate per 100 g, the highest starch base in the range, with 6.0 g protein and no flavour or colour of its own. In cooked sausages and frankfurters, where any foreign tint reads immediately, that is the deciding argument.
Table: Nutritional data per 100 g (from the product labelling)
| Product | Protein, g | Fat, g | of which saturates, g | Carbohydrate, g | of which sugars, g | Energy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red lentil flour | 28.0 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 42.0 | 0.6 | 1314 kJ / 314 kcal |
| Chickpea flour | 20.6 | 6.2 | 0.7 | 53.2 | 10.8 | 1490 kJ / 356 kcal |
| Buckwheat flour | 13.6 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 71.9 | 1.2 | 1477 kJ / 353 kcal |
| Corn flour | 7.2 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 72.1 | 1.3 | 1385 kJ / 331 kcal |
| Rice flour | 6.0 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 81.0 | 0.1 | 1531 kJ / 366 kcal |
Average nutritional values are given. Depending on the origin of the produce, actual values may differ.
The note above is quoted verbatim from the product labelling and applies to every row. Heat-treated flour is deliberately absent from the table: its composition depends on the base grain and is stated in the batch specification — we do not publish calculated values.
Note the chickpea row: 10.8 g sugars per 100 g, the highest on the list. In formulations where surface colour during heat treatment is controlled, that figure needs accounting for in advance.
Most gluten-free flour suppliers describe milling with the words "fine" and "uniform". We give it as a number — fixed in our technical specifications and confirmed by the batch document.
Table: Particle size of Kaskad LLC gluten-free flour
| Milling parameter | Limit |
|---|---|
| Passing a 160 µm sieve | not less than 60.0% |
| Retained on a 250 µm sieve | not more than 2.0% |
For a meat mince these two figures read as follows. The first sets the fine fraction: at least 60% of the mass passes a 160 µm sieve, so the bulk of the flour hydrates within a normal chopping cycle rather than after it. The second caps the coarse fraction: no more than 2% is retained on a 250 µm sieve, so a batch contains virtually no grit that swells only partly and then reads on the slice as inclusions. Together they give a narrower particle distribution than a general-purpose mill — which is why water uptake does not drift from delivery to delivery and the formulation does not need re-tuning for every new batch.
Milling is done to the customer's brief. If your system needs a different particle distribution, that is agreed as a technical brief rather than hunted for among stock products. In the SPC line the brief sets milling, moisture, microbiological limits and pack format. It starts with a trial batch and testing on your own equipment; series supply follows confirmation of the results.
We do not publish dosage. The proportion of flour in a formulation depends on the product type, the fat content of the mince, the chopping scheme and the heat treatment regime, so any "recommended percentage" on a supplier's website is a figure you would end up answering for, not us. The working level is established by a trial mix on your equipment; our staff technologist takes part in selecting the material and the processing parameters.
For a meat plant declaring a gluten-free product, the status of the raw material is an incoming-inspection parameter evidenced by a document, not a positioning statement.
AOECS — the Crossed Grain trademark. Licence certificate No. UA0012026, licence number UA-001, valid to 06.02.2027. In practice: gluten content under 20 ppm, controlled as a system on the production site, with annual re-licensing. Kaskad LLC was the first company in Ukraine to obtain this right.
ISO 22000:2018. Certificate No. ODS-397/QS, certification body ICEC, valid to 19.09.2028. Scope, document numbers and limits — quality and certification.
Kosher. Certificate from The Jewish Community of Dnipro, Kosher Department, dated 17.02.2026 — relevant for export destinations and for customers whose brand requires kosher status across all raw materials.
The grain we use is Ukrainian. We import only what is not grown or produced in Ukraine.
Packaging. Industrial packaging is sacks of 30 and 50 kg. Non-standard formats are agreed as a technical brief, including for private label production.
Batch documents. A batch is accompanied by a quality passport or a manufacturer's declaration. A certificate of analysis (COA) is produced where required, by separate agreement, if your incoming inspection calls for one.
Storage conditions. Verbatim from the document: store in dry, well-ventilated premises free from grain storage pests.
Table: Entry terms for a new customer
| Stage | Terms |
|---|---|
| Validation samples | free of charge, up to 5 kg |
| Sample lead time | 5 days |
| Minimum order | one sack (30 or 50 kg) |
Five kilograms is enough for a full incoming-inspection cycle and a trial mix on your own equipment. There is no minimum-tonnage barrier between a free sample and a series contract: a first order can be placed for a single sack.
Looking for flour for your household rather than raw material for production?
Kaskad LLC ships raw materials in industrial batches in 30 and 50 kg sacks and does not handle retail orders. Products under the Ms.Tally brand in 0.2–1 kg packs are available in our Ms.Tally retail shop. Same manufacturer, same production site — a different supply format.
Most often rice flour, as a neutral carrier that binds water without adding flavour or colour to the mince. Where a plant protein fraction is also needed, chickpea flour (20.6 g protein per 100 g) or red lentil flour (28.0 g) is used. For brines and systems without prolonged heating, heat-treated flour from the TXT line is the usual choice.
Technologically, flour brings not only starch but also the protein and fibre of the grain into the system, so it gives a different structure at the cut. Documentally the difference is on the label: flour is declared in the ingredient list under its own name and carries no E number.
It is a workable replacement in systems where soy is unwanted for labelling or market reasons: soy is declared as an allergen, while chickpea and lentil are not on the mandatory allergen declaration list. Straight substitution into a live formulation without a trial mix does not work — protein systems behave differently, and the level is established on your own equipment.
Heat treatment alters the state of the starch, so water binding shifts partly to the cold stage — into chopping and mince maturation rather than only the cooking chamber. The residual activity of the flour's own enzymes is also lower, and the moisture of the TXT line goes to specification.
Both, and a specification has to keep them apart. TXT is a mode available for rice, corn, buckwheat, oat, chickpea and red lentil flour. "Heat-treated flour" is a separate catalogue product whose base grain is chosen by the customer, with composition and shelf life stated in the batch specification.
Not less than 60.0% passes a 160 µm sieve and not more than 2.0% is retained on a 250 µm sieve. The limits are fixed in our technical specifications and confirmed by the batch document. A different particle distribution is produced to a technical brief in the SPC line.
We do not publish recommended percentages: the level depends on the product type, the fat content of the mince, the chopping scheme and the heat treatment regime. The working level is established by a trial mix on your equipment, with our staff technologist taking part.
Below 20 ppm — the Crossed Grain threshold.
Sacks of 30 and 50 kg, minimum order one sack. Validation samples are supplied free of charge, up to 5 kg, within 5 days. Kaskad LLC does not supply retail packs: 0.2–1 kg packs are produced under the Ms.Tally brand on a separate site, mstally.ua.
Phone: +38 099 977 74 43, +38 050 595 75 62 · Email: office@tovkaskad.com · Personal data
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