My Attempts To Make Bread :)

[Guest imsohungry]

Hope this makes you smile

Attempt 1: "Biscuits"

It sounded simple enough. I found a recipe and substituted rice milk for dairy and soy flour for regular flour, and lard for butter. I opened the oven door with excitement as I reached in to grab my very first gluten-free biscuits. I pulled them out, looked down at my pan...and they were orange! Little mounds of crumbly orange goop. Hestitantly, I tasted it. It was as gross as it looked. But I decided to feed it to my husband, he'll eat anything. I walked to his recliner and told him to shut his eyes...I popped an orange crumbly bite in his mouth. Yummm! He said. So very quickly, I went and doused the rest of the "biscuits" in ketchup (to hide the flourescent orange color) and let him eat them. He did. And about 30 minutes later he wanted to know what the hel* I had fed him. His rapid speed to the bathroom let me know I was really glad that I hadn't eaten them. I couldn't help but giggle as I watched him run back and forth to the toilet. Please Note: If you are trying to poisen your husband, apparently I have the recipe!

Attempt 2: Loaf Bread???

My mother gave me a breadmaker when she heard of my celiac disease diagnosis. Mind you, I'm barely proficient at using the microwave. Anyway, she left it on the front porch as a surprise one morning (it wasn't in the box). My hubby opens the front door to feed the cats and says, "somebody left a miniature washing machine on the front stoop!" Curious, I went around the corner and scooped up my donated bread machine.

The bread: That evening, I poured in all of the ingredients required by my new breadmachine. I turned it on. "That was too easy" I thought to myself as I proudly walked away. When the buzzer rang, my hubby removed the insert and went to slide the bread out...and then beat the bread out...I had to make him stop (afraid the cast-iron would dent my countertops) Just as we gave up...the bread slid out. It gave a big "clunk...thud." I had just baked a cinder block. My husband shrugged, "well, we've been needing something to prop open the garage door with."

Attempt 3: Banana "bread"

Undeterred, I bought fruit and walnuts and I was going to make banana bread. I poured all the ingredients in, turned the machine on, and sat down to watch TV. I could barely hear the television for the horrible knocking sound coming from the kitchen. My bread machine was knocking! (Did the bread want out?) Curious, I peaked through the window. It was smoking and shaking! Oh God, I've killed the bread I screamed to my husband! The hubby walks in looks at the rocking, smoking, knocking "possessed" bread machine and says, "ah, it'll be fine." Suddenly, the machine quit and switched to bake. "See, what'd I tell ya?" he gloated.

Ding! the bread was done. Hesitantly, I dumped the banana bread on the plate. It looked like banana bread, and smelled like it too! I cut off an end piece...it was good! Yahhhooo! Then, I put my knife in the center to slice it in half. I pushed the knife deeper, and the bread slowly deflated It was completely hollow!!! So, I stuck it in the microwave hoping it would "poof-up," but it didn't. Just for good measure, I put it in the regular oven for a little while too. My husband looked at me, "well, babe, thank God you have other strongpoints."

Attempt 4: Success!

I'm posting in another thread....hope you enjoy! -Julie

[tarnalberry]

You may want to take a look at some gluten-free recipes and consider trying the oven before the breadmaker. Your first attempt at substitutions highlights the problem with substitutes in baking - baking is chemistry, and you've got to keep the dynamics the same. By exchanging for soy flour, you brought the protein content up very very high, by substituting for rice milk, you missed some lecithins which help act as a binder and increased the water content, and by substituting lard, you also change the water content. It's tricky!

I've never had a problem with banana bread before, but what you describe notes that you had too much moisture (which is, I believe, common in recipes not designed for bread machines being used in bread machines). (The issue there is that the moisture generating a lot of steam which made the bread rise a lot, but with nothing to support it, it collapses when the steam escapes after it's done cooking. It does help, in those situations, to let it cool all the way through before cutting.)

Have you checked out any books specifically on baking gluten-free bread?

[Guest imsohungry]

Thank you for the advice...I'm printing it out for my "tips" section for baking that I'm putting in my gluten-free cookbook. I need all of the helpful tips on baking that I can receive!

This message was actually "pinned" late today. There is another message I wrote also titled, "Success, I made bread" where I actually baked an edible loaf!

Hee hee...I'm still struggling, but slowly, I'm making progress!

Take Care and THANK YOU!

-Julie

[KAthyB]

Hi...i just tried the Mana from Anna mix and it is truly good....even the non-celiacs in my family ate it........it tastes like one of the Panera Breads....i got on the net from a site called gluten evolution. Kathy

[kactuskandee]

Jules!!!

I am LMBO...................those are so funny..and I can so relate, although I do cook, and pretty well (I should I used to teach it), but baking gluten-free is another story. My first bread machine gluten-free bread was like your number 2 experience....only I threw mine out in the back yard for the ravens to eat....It took them a week just to peck thru the thing and I swear a few of them have broken beaks today because of it.

Thanks for sharing....

Kandee

[Guest imsohungry]

Hey thanks Kathy,

I'm going to log on to that site and see what they have!

Kandee,

Broken beaks! How funny

A friend of mine said I should feed my bread loaf to the birds too, but I told her I'm afraid I would come home from work and find 30 dead birds in my back yard (CAUSE OF DEATH: choking to death on gluten-free white bread). I nearly killed my hubby with the biscuits...I don't think I could live with myself if a killed innocent little birdies too!

Besides, I'm not sure I'm strong enough to break that brick bread into small enough chunks for a bird to peck on anyway!

Take Care.

Much hugs to all.

-Julie

[kactuskandee]

Jules,

I WASN'T strong enuf to break the bread up...that's why it took those HUGE ravens almost a week to peck through it! All survived however...I'm happy to report!!

Since then I've learned that a bread machine is OUT for making gluten-free bread. If anyone knows of a sure fire way to make it in one (my oldie makes a vertical loaf) please share. I've since invested in a heavy duty stand mixer....and when I say invested I mean just that. For $300 I better darn well start getting good loaves out of it's use.

*****************

Kathy,

The Mana from Anna looks interesting, (will have to order it on line) but I had to laugh at the picture on the glutenevolution web site of the loaf of bread that was gluten-free and DF....it was concave on the top...not convex like you'd hope it would be.

They also show a nifty bread machine: Zorjirushi Home Bakery Supreme

Anyone have one of these?

**********************

I may have hit on a good loaf of bread by accident. I bought Bob's Red Mill Wonderful gluten-free white bread mix. The first 2 times I made it, it was high..I mean as high as any nice non-gluten-free loaf. Pretty tasty too. I made two of them like that and swore I'd never try another bread mix again. Well, the last two times I made it both were a bust......

I thought and thought and then realized that the first 2's batter was VERY thick...so much so it was less like pouring the batter in the pan, and more like dumping the big mound of goo in it....but the loaf came out wonderful!!! The last 2, mixed as the directions stated yielded a runny dough. I wondered why. On the back of the mix it calls for 1 and 2/3 cup liquid but I must have misread it the first time and only added either 1 cup or 2/3 cup, but not both.

I've got another loaf mix and this time I'm going to add the liquid SLOWLY to the dry ingredients (not the other way around) and see if I can duplicate the first 2 loaves I made...if I can, then the amount of liquid called for may be way off on the package instructions.

Anyone else have this problem...???

Any suggestions?

gluten-free bread making will continue to be the quintessential challenge of gluten-free cooking!!!

[jaimek]

I was just introduced to a bakery in Scranton, PA called "The Grainless Bakery." Supposedly their bread is wonderful so I figured I would order some from them. It is being delivered on Wednesday so I will let you guys know. I had previously given up on gluten-free bread since all of the ones I have tried have weighted 20 lbs and don't taste good at all. If anyone wants to look at their website it is www.thegrainlessbaker.com

[FreyaUSA]

In Bette Hagman's, More from the Gluten Free Gourmet, she has a recipe for CRUMPETS. I made the recipe using her flour mix and it was very good. It calls for 1-1/2 c gluten-free flour mix. I then made it using 1/2 c chickpea flour, 1/2 c soy flour, 1/2 c fine ground corn flour, added 5 Tbs ground flaxseed (a heaping 1/4 c). I use 5 mini loaf pans rather than rounds (since I didn't have them.) The time is off in the book for me so I only bake them 16 minutes or they brown too much (rather than the 18-25 minutes stated in the book.)

ANYWAY, fixing them with my changes, they are DELICIOUS. They smell just like regular bread. They look kind of whole grain-like with the flaxmeal. I end up making this recipe 2-3xs a week for sandwiches for my 15 year old to take to school. My other two kids like it toasted, one with just jelly, the other with peanut butter and a little jelly for breakfast. (You'll note the sneakiness of my adding just enough flaxmeal to give each one a tablespoon. )

I'm going to try this recipe with quinoa flour for the chickpea next time. Just for something different. (Or maybe for the fine corn flour, though texture-wise, I think rice flour would be a decent substitute for the corn flour...) I'm also thinking of adding 1/4-1/2 c rice bran (if I can find it.) It's a very forgiving recipe, too.

Oh, the original recipe makes a really nice pizza crust! I just spread it on the pie pan, bake it for 10 or so minutes, then add all the toppings and bake until all hot and bubbly.

[GlutenFreeGirlie]

I can completely relate to your problems making bread gluten-free! I have had similar experiences, all frustrating with some degree of hilarity. I just found the most wonderful thing for gluten-free bread making- a bread machine bread mix made by Bob's Red Mill (www.bobsredmill.com)! I really love their products and I stumbled across this on their website- it's a bread mix for the machine and it's just delicious! It has saved me so much frustration, as there is no way to mess it up. I originally ordered it online, as I figured no one would carry products that are gluten-free. Then I found it at Fred Meyers, I guess someone does remember us!! Good luck with the new machine.

[Guest imsohungry]

Hey everyone! Thank you for all the tips for web-sites (I've checked them all out!)

I'm wanting to buy a Bette Hagman cookbook. I actually ordered one from Chapter 11 bookstore, but they sent me the wrong one! So I'm going to try again next month's payday

I've also tried Bob's Red Mill products (I LOVE their gluten-free brownies)! I tried the bread mix, and I messed it up BAD! It was gross...I have no idea what I did wrong.

Take Care everyone! Happy baking

-Julie