Very New To This And Using My Bread Machine

[Virgie]

Hi! I am pretty new to this (about a month in) and just got my bread machine today. I immediately had to bake some gluten-free bread to see if it tasted better than some of the breads that I have been buying. Well I used Bob's Red Mill gluten-free bread mix and it raised good and looked good but when I took it out of the machine the sides caved in . Also it was just a little slightly doughy in one spot when I cut it. What did I do wrong??? It tasted pretty good and the one end that my daughter cut off because it looked weird I used to make croutons and they taste really good.

So what should I be doing different? Oh my bread machine is a Breadman Pro and has a gluten free cycle if that makes any difference.

Please help and if you have any other tips I would love to hear them.

Thanks.

Virginia

son 18 Ulcerative Colitis and Eosinophilic Esophogitis and daughter 13 dx with Celiac 9/2007

[Ridgewalker]

I just had this happen to a gluten-free loaf I recently made in my bread machine as well. This particularly aggravated me, because I'd made other gluten-free recipes in this machine successfully. I think it simply didn't bake long enough, but I'm not sure. Hopefully someone will chime in with the answer.

-Sarah

[Susanna]

We use the Bob's Red Mill mix a lot, because it's easy to find in our area. It turns out fine in my machine (I have a Zojirushi machine), but I bet you need to pick a cycle that bakes a bit longer. Still, I do get a little cave in on some loaves. Interestingly, when I use the Bob's Red Mill, mix it, let it rise, then pour it out onto an oiled baking sheet to make a french bread-shaped loaf and bake it in the oven--I get no cave in at all. Not sure why that is--I guess I just have more precise control over the baking time when I do it in my regular oven. Or, maybe the french bread loaf shape is better than the standard loaf shape for these kinds of mixes.

Oh, if you want to try it this way (on a baking sheet in the oven), I recommend taking a long piece (about 2 feet long) of aluminum foil and folding it the long way a couple of times until you have a piece 2 feet by 4 inches, then take this, spray it with vegetable spray, then use it to wrap around your dough and pinch the 2 ends of the aluminum foil together to creat a collar around the dough--this will help it maintain it's shape while baking, and NOT turn into a pizza shape behind your back.

Also, in regard to mixes, I think that EVERY mix I've tried has been far superior to any loaf I've bought. Fresh baked is just hugely better than the ready made loaves you can buy.

good luck,

Susanna

[Franceen]

I have come to the conclusion (after about 100 different baking epidsodes with both oven and machine and several different mixes) that each and every loaf or batch (rolls, breadsticks, muffins, etc) will turn out different than the previous EVEN with the same recipe, same machine, same settings.

I have researched and discovered that yeast and dough are very sensitive to temperature, humidity and density altitude (air pressure which varies widely even at sea level). The temperature is both in your house and in the oven. The humidity is the same issue. And I mostly use Bread by Anna mixes, Chebe, and Bette Hagmans 4 flour mix. They each turn out differently every time. So, keep at it, you'll get it right some of the times and eventually many times - but probably not every time!

It takes practice and weather to align like the stars and the moon....... :-)

Have fun - it's worth it - as said in previous post - homemade is ALWAYS better than prepackaged as far as baked goods go.

[Virgie]

Thanks everyone for the tips and words of encouragement. Interestingly enough my brother asked me if it was windy & rainy when I made my bread and I said "es it was." And he was "There you go, that's why it did that." So maybe it wasn't totally me messing it up. And it did still taste good. Much better than the boughten stuff. Although my daughter doesn't mind the Ener-G light tapioca loaf too much. She brings peanut butter sandwiches to school pretty much everyday so bread is essential at our house. Otherwise she has been doing very well with going gluten free.

Thanks again all. I'm sure that I will be yelling "Help" again in the future .

Virginia