Bread Maker...bad News

[ConnieA84]

Hello All,

I have a bread maker and wanted to try making gluten free bread. I bought a mix El Petro brand brown rice bread. I followed the directions and the bread didn't rise only about half way up in the bread machine. I thought maybe I had killed the yeast as the directions said to use very hot water. So I tried the other half of the mix and the same thing happened. What am I doing wrong??

The bread just isn't rising, it's about half the size of a normal loaf of bread in the maker. The mix I bought has two packages in it, but it says to just use one for a recipe?? Maybe I should use both??

Has anyone used El Petro brand mizes?? what is it suppost to look it??

Thanks for the help...

[Ridgewalker]

Did you let the machine go through the entire cycle, including the full bake time? I only use a bread machine, haven't tried oven baking for yeast breads yet. My gluten-free breads do a significant portion of their rising during the first half of the bake time (unlike gluteny breads.)

Also, I have had no luck so far using my Rapid Bake setting for gluten-free breads in my machine. I have to use the full-length 3 hour setting.

I have never tried that brand mix, but I, too am surprised they specified "very hot" water. I agree, I think that would kill the yeast. I always use water that's a bit warmer than room temp.

Also, yeah maybe one package makes a small loaf, like a 1 lb. loaf. Some bread makers are made for 1 lb. or 1 1/2 lb. loaves, while others are made to do 1 1/2 or 2 lb. loaves. To figure out what size loaf one package is supposed to make, you can try this-- measure the mix and see how many cups it is. Then compare that to the amount of flour called for in various recipes that came with your bread machine. Those recipes will list what size loaf they make.

[Juliebove]

I haven't had much luck at all with my bread maker. Have had a few loaves come out well, only to have a subsequent loaf with the same mix or recipe not work at all.

Are you letting the bread rise twice? If so, this could be the problem. I have a cheap bread maker and it doesn't have a gluten-free setting on it. All of the settings except for the quick rise have two rises. But the quick rise doesn't seem to work so well either.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

[mftnchn]

Every bread machine is slightly different from what I understand. Also I find that the temperature in the room (time of year) makes a difference to the rise, and that I actually have to adjust the yeast amount.

Your package could have been on the shelf awhile and in hot weather and the yeast not so active anymore.

I do all of my own breads from scratch and we just tweak the recipes when we like the taste...more or less yeast, liquid, binder, etc. The recipe I use works on the fast cycle quite well.

[cruelshoes]

Is your machine programmable? gluten-free bread only needs one rise. It does not need to be punched down and rise again like gluten bread. To increase the chance of success, it would be great if you could eliminate the second rise. That can definitely impact the end product. I would check out your machine's manual to see if you can do that.

Secondly, gluten-free bread won't form into a ball and roll around the pan like gluten bread will. Many bread machines only have one paddle, which won't adequately mix our batter-like bread. The machines that tend to work the best are the ones that have 2 paddles and the horizontal loaf pan. How many paddles does your machine have, and is it a tall bread pan or a wide one?

[Daryl]

We make just regular old white sandwhich bread by The Gluten Free Pantry. We mix the liquid ingredients in a bowl forst, then add it to the bread machine. We have a 2lb, tall machine. It takes about 2 hours 45 minutes to cook. After the initial mixing is done, we scrape the inside oh the bowl, to push down anything that may have stuck to the sides. My wife also substitutes the water, for milk, or half-n-half. On occasion, we take out about a tablespoon before it rises, because it has a tendancy to spill over the top during the final bake. I don't stand over it and watch, but it takes awhile to rise. We cheat it, by killing the cycle about 15 early on a 3 hour bake time. I would say to try again using the entire mix. The first batch we made was a half batch and it didn't come very good.

[ConnieA84]

Thanks Everybody,

I will try your suggestions, I love the Gluten Free Pantry stuff that i have tried so maybe i'll try that brand.

Thanks for the help

[VegasCeliacBuckeye]

FYI, In my bread maker, I put in half the yeast when mixing all ingredients. After a few minutyes of the bread maker mixing the ingredients, I then put the other half of the yeast packet in there.

(I have a cuisinart breadmachine).

I make my bread on the "white" setting and not the gluten free setting.