Should gluten-free Bread Fall A Little Bit When You Take It Out Of The Oven?

[mamatide]

I was making Carol Fenster's bread last night and cooked it the entire time, exactly according to directions and notice that when the bread's still in the oven, it's nice and big but when I take it out to cool it sags in the middle.

Is this normal or am I undercooking? Should I expect a certain amount of droop upon cooling?

I've noticed this with most gluten-free bread I've cooked so now I'm starting to wonder whether this is normal or whether I'm perpetually undercooking (but cooking the maximum time allotted) my bread?

Thanks for any advice and experience

[eKatherine]

I test the interior to 200°F with an instant read thermometer. It still falls.

[jenvan]

I wish I had some stellar culinary advice for you... I am a pretty good cookout all around, but bread is one I have not master so well. Mine always fall a bit too Could you be letting it rise a bit too long?

[mamatide]

I wish I had some stellar culinary advice for you... I am a pretty good cookout all around, but bread is one I have not master so well. Mine always fall a bit too Could you be letting it rise a bit too long?

I suppose that could be the case (rising too much) but I'm not so sure. I let it rise to the top of the pan per the directions and it took 45 minutes (supposed to take 45-60+ and the ambient temperature was at the bottom of the stated range of 75-80F) so I tend to think the rising was ok.

Now that I cut into this bread, it's a slightbit underdone at the bottom for some reason. Like a thin layer of doughy bread but ok in the middle and ok on the edges.

The upside is that it tastes really really delicious. A tiny bit moist. I'm going to leave it in an extra 5-7 minutes next time and see what happens.

I made her bread (sorghum flour blend) with the fennel option (add a Tbsp fennel and a Tbsp Molasses) to her regular recipe according to her directions and it is very yummy. This is the first time my Celiac 5yo actually ate the entire slice even the crust.

So I'm not giving up. Yet.

Thanks for the feedback...

I test the interior to 200°F with an instant read thermometer. It still falls.

Well I tried that too, with the previous generation of this bread. I took it out 5 minutes early and tested with the instant read thermometer and the temperature was actually higher than the recommended so I left it out. It flattened like a pancake. That's why I'm ignoring the temperature from here on out and not poking anything into a loaf that has just come out of the oven for fear of collapsing it.

So now I need to continue to adjust the time. I went the maximum recommended time this time and it only sagged in the middle a little bit - so I'm thinking I need to bake it just a little bit longer.

Must look at her website now that I think of it.

Open Original Shared Link

In her pictures there is no sag. I think I'm onto something.... keep on trying!

[jenvan]

Sounds like you did it by the book! Frustrating I know... Good luck with the next one!

OH!! And I nearly forgot until just now! I started a thread on this same topic !

Ck it out below, might have some more ideas for you: Open Original Shared Link

Oh, and one more thing! Just cked my e-mail and my Clan Thompson newsletter had arrived, looked it over and found this Q & A. Another idea... Maybe I do have something to offer after all!

Hello, I have a question for the cooking expert. I have a problem with my baked

goods that rise and after tested with a toothpick, are done. After I take them

out of the oven, they fall about one third. I recently made pumkin bread that

had a combination of flours (Wendy Wark's mix). It contained pumpkin puree,

chopped nuts and chopped dried cranberries. I added two teas. zanthan gum, one

teas. egg replacer in addition to the two eggs and 3 teas. baking powder. This

was for two loaves and had two and one quarter cups of flour. I beat the eggs

well and then with the two cups of sugar another 5 min. They looked great when

taken out of the over and then they fell. Please help with any suggestions to

keep them from falling. Thank you. Doris

Hi Doris,

Usually when breads fall it is because they are not baking evenly inside. The

simplest solution that usually works is to use smaller baking pans and to

slightly decrease the amount of liquid used. Also, do not use a dark

Teflon-coated pan; use the shiniest metal pans you have. Two cups of sugar for

2 1/4 cups flour sounds like a lot. While different recipes call for different

proportions of ingredients, the amount of sugar generally used to make sweet

breads is about 1/2 the amount of flour. So if you are using 1 1/4 cups flour,

try reducing the amount of sugar to no more than 2/3 to 3/4 cups. Because you

are using pumpkin (which is slightly acidic), I would also add 1 tsp. baking

soda. Connie

[Cheri A]

I had that problem w/the sinking in the middle and a soggy bottom a few times that it was doughy.

I have a couple of tips:

I switched to mini-loaf pans and recently to the size between regular and minis and it worked great.

I also found a different bread recipe that seemed to work better for me. www.twinvalleymills.com

I also read somewhere about preheating the oven to 200 and when you put the bread in to rise, turn the oven off. Takes about 30 minutes. Then, without touching the bread, turn the oven back on to 400 and bake for about 20 minutes.

I haven't had the falling problem or doughy bottoms since.

[Green12]

I was making Carol Fenster's bread last night and cooked it the entire time, exactly according to directions and notice that when the bread's still in the oven, it's nice and big but when I take it out to cool it sags in the middle.

Is this normal or am I undercooking? Should I expect a certain amount of droop upon cooling?

I've noticed this with most gluten-free bread I've cooked so now I'm starting to wonder whether this is normal or whether I'm perpetually undercooking (but cooking the maximum time allotted) my bread?

Thanks for any advice and experience

I just took 2 9" cakes out of the oven and they fell a little in the middle.

It seems like all the gluten-free baked goods I bake fall a little after I remove them from the oven and they cool for a bit. Maybe it is the properties of the substitute flours and other ingredients?

[queenofhearts]

In my experience it helps to cut the rising time/height a little. I don't know if it's because I live in a hot, humid area or what, but if I let the gluten-free breads rise to the height spec'd in recipes, it's much more likely to fall.

Also, an old bread-baker's tip is to tap the bread when you think it is close to done & listen for a hollow sound. (Signalling no soggy stuff in the center.) HOWEVER, if you are going to keep the bread around for longer than a day, it tends to get really dry if you cook it as thoroughly as you would wheat, so I undercook it just a smidge compared to my old wheaty standards.

I'm still a newbie at the gluten-free stuff & bread is by far the greatest challenge, but I'm baking up a storm & every loaf gets a tiny bit better, so I'm hoping I'll eventually get the hang of it!

Leah