Does Anyone Bake Their Own Gf Bread

[mwical]

Hello, My name is Mark. I was diagnosed with Celiac just a week ago. Since then I have learned l lot about a disease that I never knew existed. The Doc says I have a severe case, but I hope that the gluten-free diet will change things. Anyway, I am experimenting and trying to figure out how to make rice bread softer and so that it will raise better. I just bought a bread machine, and I Purchase a counter top style grinding mill to grind my own rice and tapioca flour.I (used to) make a lot of bread and noodles from wheat flour by hand,but I guess those days are over. I am still learning how to use the bread machine, but baking the bread in the oven seems easier and tastes better. Anyone have any suggestions.

thanks.

Mark

[cdford]

I had to replace my old mill and equipment as well. I find that I can purchase some of the new flours bulk easier than I can mill them. I still mill brown rice, Amaranth, buckwheat, and some of the others. The four flour mixes seem to give me the best texture when I use them as the base and substitute other flours to give it a different flavor and nutritional value. That flour is definitely easier to buy bulk than to mix up each time. Bob's Red Mill sells it in a 25 lb bucket when you get to that point. You may want to experiment a little before you go that far. Find what you like and what works best for you then plan for the long haul.

There are several good posts going right now from people who are working on breads and bread machines. I don't have your message right in front of me so I can't remember whether you mentioned a bread machine. It might be worth your while to sift through some of the other postings.

Good luck!

[flagbabyds]

Welcome this is the bread that i have every morning toasted it is realy good!

This recipe makes a delicious multi-grain gluten-free loaf for the bread machine, using three cups of gluten-free flours. I used to use two cups of the standard, Bette Hagman gluten-free blend* and one cup brown rice flour. Since I learned about the newer, more nutritious flours, I now use this combination:

Cup #1: brown rice flour

Cup #2: 2/3 cup gluten-free flour blend* plus 1/3 cup flaxmeal

Cup #3: equal parts amaranth, sorghum, and buckwheat flours

Sift the flours with:

3 tsp. xanthan gum

2 tsp. Ener-G Egg Replacer (optional, but I always use it)

1 tsp. salt

3 tsp. sugar

Add 1 1/3 cups non-fat dry milk powder and stir into sifted dry ingredients

Beat:

2 eggs plus 2 egg whites

1/4 cup melted butter

1 1/2 cups water

1 tsp. rice vinegar

2 tsp. Red Star yeast (I buy it in the jar)

Place wet ingredients, dry ingredients, and yeast into the baking pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Use medium setting on quick bake, or, for a newer, programmable machine, follow the instructions at the Gluten-Free Pantry web site for the Zojirushi bread machine - you only have to program it once. Open up the machine during the first kneading to scrape down the sides of the pan with a spatula.

Be prepared to experiment, and adjust water and yeast if the consistency isn

[catfish]

There are a lot of recipes out there, most are very good and some are actually great. A lot of it depends on your tastes; I wanted a softer, milder bread than many of the recipes I found. The recipe I ended up with and am very happy with is a variation of another recipe also from Bette Hagman. I modified it to fit my own taste, it is also inexpensive to make because the flour ingredients are less expensive than most. If you have a flour mill, do what I do and grind up some Great Northern Bean flour! I use it in combination with other flours to make a much less starchy flour than pure rice flour, that is also milder (and whiter) than other bean flours on the market (like garbonzo/fava bean flour for instance).

Here is my recipe:

To make the flour for this bread, combine;

1 1/2 cup Great Northern Bean flour

1 Cup cornstarch

1 cup Asian Rice flour (bought in Asian markets, it is much finer and less gritty than the stuff sold in health food markets, etc)

1 cup sweet or glutenous rice flour (also sold in Asian markets, does NOT contain gluten)

1 Cup tapioca flour

1/2 cup oat flour (omit if you are wary of oats- many people are suspicious of contamination with them)

Sift together these dry ingredients;

2 cups flour mixture described above

1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp Egg Replacer

1/2 tsp unflavored gelatin

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tb sugar

1 packet (about 2 1/4 tsp) fast acting yeast

The dry ingredients can all be mixed together and stored for long periods of time if the yeast is left out until the bread is being prepared. I mix up several batches stored in one-batch-sized sealable bags without the yeast, then when I want to make a loaf I just open up a bag. Once you combine the yeast, you need to get baking.

Preheat the oven to 400F

In a mixer, mix together;

1 egg

1 egg white

3 Tb softened butter

1 tsp distilled vinegar

a little less than 1 cup medium hot water (like a good hot bath temperature)

With the mixer on low, sift the flour mixture into the wet ingredients.

Once the dry ingredients are incorporated, add a little more water if needed- the batter should be like a thick cake batter but stretchy. Beat on high for at least 3 minutes.

Use a soft spatula to get the batter into a greased pan.

Let it rise in the baking pan, covered (and in a warm, place) for about 30-40 minutes.

Bake for about an hour- cover the bread with foil after about 20 minutes to keep the crust from browning too much. A cookie sheet with a little water on the lowest rack of the oven will also help prevent the crust from being browned too badly.

This makes a nice, soft white bread. Great for hamburger buns for instance. Good luck!

[mwical]

Thank you all so much! I will get started on these right away. I am looking forward to the results and some gooood bread>

Thanks again,

Mark

[brian26]

Mark,

I like to make home-made bread, but sometimes mixes are quicker and easier. They're a little expensive, but almost foolproof. I've tried several, and here are my thoughts on them. Anyone else feel free to respond:

Manna from Anna

It's the best texture I've found so far...almost identical to real wheat bread. It's also a good substitute for "wheat" bread since it's dark in color and has some whole grain in it. The loaves were a little short (I think my pans were a little big), and the taste was decent. Very soft and it did not crumble in the least. My only complaint is the taste...it had a strong taste of something, couldn't tell what.

Sylvan Border Farms Bread Mix

This is the best white bread I've had, home-made or otherwise. Not course or crumbly, it is almost as soft and bread-like as Manna from Anna. It has a kind of weird flavor, sweet, almost banana or nut like. But it toasts and keeps and acts just like real white bread. I just can't get over the softness of this bread and the Manna from Anna.

Tom's Light Bread Mix

Before I found Sylvan Border Farms Bread Mix, this is the mix I swore by. It is more course, dry, and crumbly than those above, but not as much as most gluten-free breads, store-bought or home-made. Also a little heavy and dense.

Gluten Free Pantry French Bread Mix

This bread was dense, heavy, dry, and crumbly. Some people seem to like it a whole lot, but I didn't.

As far as ready-made breads, I've not been satisfied with any. Most were inedible unless toasted. I also did not have good results with the gluten-free Pantry Favorite Sandwich Bread mix. I could have knocked someone out with the loaf.

Hope this helps. I wish everyone else would comment on their favorite mixes and how they compare (better or worse) to their favorite home-made bread recipes.

Thanks,

Brian

[Boojca]

Hi Mark,

I make the Tapioca Bread recipe in Bette Hagman's Gluten Free Gourmet: Living Well Without Wheat revised edition. This is very much like homemade white bread. The Manna From Anna mix is great, and tastes just like wheat bread. But it's my 3 year old who has celiac disease, not me, and this BH Tapioca Bread recipe is easy and he likes it.

Bridget

[cdford]

Thank goodness for the cut and paste feature in Word! I have had a problem finding bread that did not have a strong beany flavor, so I definitely got that one. I am now making my own "recipe book" out of your recipes and a large MS Word document. I have to assume that no one minds a "copyright infringement" if you posted it here! If anyone else tries this, remember that the newer versions of Word have to be open before you cut in order to paste.

[brian26]

Just wanted to let everyone know I just tried the recipe that Catfish posted on this board, and it turned out GREAT. Even better than some of the mixes I mentioned. The only thing I did different was to let the dough rise until doubled, then bake. I used it to make hamburger buns, and just put 1/2 cup of the dough in some of the large cans you can buy tuna or chicken in (about 10 oz I think). They came out great. I also substituted chickpea flour for the northern bean flour, since I couldn't find it.

Thanks, Catfish, for such a great recipe!

[catfish]

I'm glad you tried the recipe and liked it!

I forgot to type the rising step when I was posting that recipe, I just now edited my post to include it.

I hadn't thought about tuna cans, good idea! I have a very small (about 4") round cake pan and I press aluminum foil into it to make several forms, that way I can make several buns at once using only one round pan. The tuna can is a great suggestion, I'll have to try it!

[angel-jd1]

Quite a few people use english muffin rings to make hamburger buns. If you do a search online you can find them. I'm sure specialty cooking stores would also carry them.

-Jessica

[Deby]

For hamburger buns, I use the disposable small pie tins. Just stretch out the crimps on the bottom. I load 8 on a cookie sheet so getting them in and out of the oven is easy. They work great. Just be careful not to over fill them so that you bun is too thick

Here is the bread recipe I use for home and will use in my bakery when it opens.

use any flour you like, whatever blend you like, it doesn't matter.

2 cups flour + 3/4 cup flour (set aside)

1 tsp xanthin gum

1 tsp egg replacer

1 tsp salt

2 1/2 tsp yeast

1 1/2 tsp golden flaxseed meal

1/3 cup melted butter or oil (optional)

1/3 cup sugar or honey or maple syrup (optional)

combine all but the 3/4 cup flour. Blend well. A mixer with a whip attatchment works best. Add the butter and sugar if you like (try to add at least a tablespoon of suger to feed the yeast even if you don't add the rest of the sugar)

cover and let rise until double. Heat oven to 400 degrees

add remaining flour. (this is where it gets picky about altitude and humidity. I'm in Colorado, so the batter has to be a little sticky. But if you live in a humid area, you may be able to add in a cup of flour or more. Just play with it.

pan the dough and brush with a whipped egg if you can eat eggs. let rise until doubled. put bread in the oven carefully so you don't deflate the rise.

Reduce temp to 350 degrees and bake one hour for loaves or 30 mins for rolls.

if your bread does not double in the second rising, you put in too much add in flour.

If you use an all white flour mix such as Bette Hagmans rice blend, and you add the sugar and butter, you will get a bread like old fasioned white bread, texture, taste and shelf life.

This doesn't work for a bread machine. It's also a little more time intensive, but the outcome is worth it, I promise!

[mwical]

Thanks, Catfish, Bridgette, & everyone else. This will help a lot. I bought a flour mill from Walton Foods in Idaho, but it isn't here yet. It usally takes 4 or 5 days to get to Ohio from there. As soon as I get it and get baking I'll let you all know how it turns out. I haven't had much luck with the breads I've baked so far, even though I followed the recipe. I'll keep experimenting until I get it right. The info you all gave me today will be a big help.

Thanks, again

Mark

[Deby]

Sorry, In my bread mix, add 2 cups of water. Water and flour are equil in the first rise.

[flboysmom]

Thanks for posting your recipes. I'll be trying them out this week!

[mopsie]

Hi All,

I find that my gluten free breads get soo dry, so now I add a grated apple for one loaf. I slice the bread then freeze it and toast it frozen so it tastes freshly made. I also make waffles, freeze them and toast when needed. They are just the right size to make a nice sandwich. I grind my own grains, that saves a lot of $.

Hope this helps

Mopsie