Preservative For Gluten-free Bread

[benzi]

Hi!

I manage to bake pretty decent gluten-free bread, but it only tastes good for the first 24 hours or so. Next day it can be freshened up by toasting it in the oven, but when another day has passed it can be thrown out.

Is there some preservative that can be added to the mix to make the bread stay fresh longer? They put preservatives in regular bread, so why not in our fake stuff?

Thanks!

[bigapplekathleen]

I bake bread from scratch and then throw it in the freezer right away (usually already sliced)). Then it retains the same taste.

[donnalois]

I add a teaspoon of vinegar to my bread. It then lasts in a wooden bread box at room temperature for up to four days (stored in a plastic bag of course). The wooden bread box storage seems to add two days to its life. Check your vinegar source though, I have read conflicting reports in the past as to which vinegars are gluten free and which are not. I use a distilled white vinegar.

Donna

[coveowner]

I thought that distilled white vinegar was distilled from wheat!!! you might want to check that out. I always use apple cider vinegar or wine vinegar or rice vinegar

As to keeping the bread from going bad. just give up and freeze it and plan to eat it toasted.. It taste better toasted anyway. I usually bake in smaller pans so that I can make several small loaves rather than one large one. It works better for me.

[benzi]

Thanks, I already use a tablespoon of apple vinegar in the bread; it stil doesn't taste like much after a couple of days. And when I freeze it, it seems to lose its taste as well. I guess I'm stuck with toasting it....

[filititi]

My post will do nothing to help out this discussion...but does anyone have good bread recipes to share. I've tried a few Bette Hagman recipes that are much better than the crap they sell in the stores...but does anyone have any better/different suggestions?

Thanks!

fil

[Guest LisaB]

Yes, I would like a good bread recipe too, don't have any xanthan gum however, and all recipes seem to call for it. We do have rice flour, potatoe flour and potatoe starch but that is it for now, made some bread out of those but it was heavy and wet.

Lisa

[ROYAL BLUE]

can anyone help with my bread problem? I make the Bette Hagman Featherlight mix, the bread is great , until I freeze it. I slice it when cooled and then freeze it. The next day a take out 2 slices for lunch but it is already starting to crumble.

Thanx Tracy

[granny]

Yes, I would like a good bread recipe too, don't have any xanthan gum however, and all recipes seem to call for it. We do have rice flour, potatoe flour and potatoe starch but that is it for now, made some bread out of those but it was heavy and wet.

Lisa

Hi Lisa,

I can really relate to your message as I did the same thing! I had Potato flour, soy flour, and rice flour-I good combination I Thought! I saw a recipe I wanted to try ( substituting what I had for what the recipe called for) and talk about wet and heavy!! I even baked it in the oven for an hour after taking it from the bread maker<grin>. It was still wet and heavy! Later I saw an explanation on this board that said we are supposed to BAKE bread with potato starch and use potato flour as a thickener, like when making gravy or sauces. I had purchased my exanthan gun by then, but like you, I only buy an item or 2 at a time. I still haven't bought the correct flours so I haven't made more bread but will someday. I do make a lot of cornbread and I use it for sandwiches because I fry it in an 8 in. skillet like a pancake. Then I spread it with p-nut butter and jelly and indulge!

I hope this helps, even if it's only to let you know that you are not the only one who likes to experiment with what you have! There are recipes on the old message board for bread and other things that we can still go to. I'm printing a few recipes from time to time so that I'll have them before they close our connection to it. HAPPY BAKING!!

Granny

[Guest LisaB]

Thank Granny, your a doll!

I will go look up those posts on the old boards...great suggestion.

Lisa

[granny]

can anyone help with my bread problem? I make the Bette Hagman Featherlight mix, the bread is great , until I freeze it. I slice it when cooled and then freeze it. The next day a take out 2 slices for lunch but it is already starting to crumble.

Thanx Tracy

Hi Tracy,

I don't know if this will help you as I've never frozen my bread, I just put it in like zip-lock bags and refrigerate it. I've also never made

GOOD light bread! But I do make a lot of cornbread, substituting rice flour for wheat flour. I fry this in an 8 IN. skillet like a pancake and use it for sandwiches.

It was always more crumbly than good cornbread but then it started to split like pita pocket bread and I was lost. Then I made bread and substitued potatoe flour for what the recipe called for--it was wet and very heavy and I saw the message here that stated that we should use potato starch for our bread, not potato flour.

This got me to thinking and I added some potato flour to the cornbread, just a little, and IT WORKED! My cornbread was moist, not wet, and did not crumble any more! I was thrilled!!

I guess we'll all just keep asking for help and trying our wings. Others have more experience and knowledge and probably better suggestions but I just wanted to share my experience with you. Granny

[Guest aramgard]

Has anyone else tried Hagman's recipe for tapioca bread? I have been baking this one for the past month and my family loves it. However I don't make loaves out of it, I make buns with English muffin rings and hot dog buns out of small foil loaf pans. Then I freeze them and they stay really nice after thawing and toast up just like regular toast, which my family likes. We use them for sandwiches and they don't fall apart at all. Surprize-surprize. Shirley

[granny]

Has anyone else tried Hagman's recipe for tapioca bread?

Shirley, Would you mind sharing this recipe? I'd love to have it. Also is tapioca flour and tapioca starch the same thing. I found the starch today but not the flour and employee there said it's the same, but I'd prefer your opinion.

Thanks, Granny

[healthy1]

I read somewhere that you can omit the xanthan gum and I tried it & it worked! I was very happy about this since I couldn't stand the smell of my bread with it, it has a chemical smell that no one else in my family could smell but it would turn me off from wanting to eat it. I don't notice the difference in the consistancy once it is baked but during mixing seems too wet. I tried it using 2 different bread machines. Hope this info. helps someone & their wallet!

[healthy1]

for a preservative try using vitamin c powder, I've never tried it so I don't know how much to tell you to use, but I'm sure they could give you an idea at the health food store. good luck

[katieosc]

I've been experimenting with my bread making for a couple years now. On a recent trip to Buffalo, NY I visited a restaurant that had gluten-free items on the menu and even served dinner rolls. Well, that made me more try a couple more things. I found that adding garlic, onion, pepper and even oregano made the bread much more enjoyable (although with garlic it wasn't the best in the morning with jelly!!).

I've also been taking the bread dough out of the bread maker and rolling it into balls and then I allow them to rise (I even make a pan of small rolls and larger rolls for sandwiches). Since I'm only making the rolls for me, they don't have to look pretty -- and some have been very different! I've found that they don't dry out as quickly, you can make a sandwich with them (sliced bread always crumbled while eating after only one day). I also toss them in a ziploc bag and into the freezer and they seem to do better than sliced bread.

I've been using the same recipe as I was using for a loaf of bread and I'm much happier being able to eat an almost real sandwich! My brother, who is in denial of having celiac, even loved the rolls during his christmas visit (his 3rd helping let me know he enjoyed them).

[janemary]

Has anyone else tried Hagman's recipe for tapioca bread? I have been baking this one for the past month and my family loves it. However I don't make loaves out of it, I make buns with English muffin rings and hot dog buns out of small foil loaf pans. Then I freeze them and they stay really nice after thawing and toast up just like regular toast, which my family likes. We use them for sandwiches and they don't fall apart at all. Surprize-surprize. Shirley

I have tried the tapioca bread and thought it was delicious. My only problem with these breads are that they are so fattening. If anyone one has a low fat version I would love to have the recipe.

[justmel74]

I prefer the 4 bean flour breads in Bette's gluten-free gourmet bakes bread cook book. It stinks like beans when mixing in the mixer, but smells like bread when it bakes, and tastes wonderful.

I also make more buns with english muffin rings too. I put each bun in a separate freezer sandwich baggy and then put all of those in the large freezer baggy. I find double bagging my stuff keeps them fresher. If I put them in a bag while slightly warm, they tend to stay more tender. Someone else suggested using plastic shoe boxes for more stackable storage. Put the individually baggied items into an airtight, well labeled plastic shoe box in the freezer. Suppose it takes up less space. I haven't tried that yet. And I use dough enhancer from www.authenticfoods.com. It works like the vinegar, but I find my breads last a little longer and have a little better texture to them.

Also, I found www.kinnikinnick.com has some really good sandwich breads that were tender. I didnt have to eat it toasted. Oh they have bagels and other bread like things, and I loved the donuts!

As for the bread machine...it is really designed for wheat breads and really does a disservice to gluten-free breads. I don't even use mine anymore. It takes less time with a mixer because it takes only three minutes to mix in a mixing bowl, and then 30-50 minutes to rise in a pan (less for muffin rings) and then another 30-50 minutes to bake (buns cook faster than loaves). The trick to these gluten-free breads is to not overwork them, which is completely opposite to a wheat bread. With wheat breads, the more chewy you want a bread, the more you knead the dough. Kneading is essential...the very thing that will ruin a gluten-free bread. So, I find in the bread machine, the stirring process: 15-30 minutes , and the second rising, is what makes the gluten-free breads more dense.

And for any bread making, whether gluten-free or not, make sure your ingredients are at least room temp. and the water is also the right temp. If the ingredients are too cold from storing in the fridge or freezer, then the warm water won't do much to help activate the yeast. Yet, if the ingredients are warm enough and the water is too hot, it can kill the yeast. Both will produce dense breads. Last, make sure the dough doesnt rise too much. gluten-free flours are lighter than wheat and can rise higher, but will also mean collapsing is more inevitable. I have been baking regular breads for years, and I find this to be the most frustrating part of a gluten-free bread. If I get distracted and don't pay attention to my bread, suddenly it's too high. If I did that with a wheat bread, I just punched the dough down and started over...can't do that with gluten-free bread. I often forget that bread will continue to rise for about 10 minutes (more or less) after being put into the oven. So, if the loaf looks about the size I want it and I haven't put it in the oven yet, I've probably let it rise too high.

I probably gave more info than necessary, but I hope this helps.

[lovegrov]

I'm amazed to see another thread where somebody thinks all white or distilled voneagr is off limits. Once again, almost all distilled vinegar is made from something other than wheat, and even if it is made from wheat, distilling makes it gluten-free.