Gluten Substitutes

[ockham 0]

Hi Folks,

I wonder if anybody has had a similar experience and can offer advice.

I'm a recently diagnosed celiac and have spent the last few weeks trying to create an acceptable bread that is both palatable and easy to make.

Unfortunately, in my neck of the woods (a third world country) I can't get Xanthan or Guar gum. After many failed attempts with odd ingredients such as agar agar, I was almost ready to give up altogether when I remembered that OATS supposedly contain a molecule that is very similar to gluten.

Sure enough when I combined 2C rice flour with 1C oatmeal (pre-soaked) I finally got a bread mix that rose and stayed risen. SUCCESS! But then after a few days of eating this "bread" I started getting back my celiac symptoms again. Doesn't the recent research show that oats are safe for most celiacs? Perhaps it's the wheat flour contamination in the Quaker oats? (The other brands that were tested and found to be less contaminated than Quaker are not available here.)

Back to the drawing board. Then I recalled that soaked oatmeal had properties very similar to flaxseed meal that I had tried adding (in very small quantities) in my previous bread baking experiments. So I tried 2C rice flour and 1C flaxseed meal (pre-soaked). IT WORKED! The bread is rather more "springy" than normal bread so perhaps I'll cut down the flaxmeal to a 3:1 ratio with the rice flour but I'm sure that it will just fall flat if I use much less than that.

Has anybody else used flaxmeal in this way? Is there a better mix of flours that could be used? Do any other flours behave in the same way?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[stef_the_kicking_cuty 11]

Unfortunately i don't really know how to help there. The only thing I can help you with is your question about the oat. I have heard, that with the celiac disease we can't have wheat, rye, barley and oats. So oats is a no no, too.

Greetings, Stef

[KaitiUSA 9]

Yes oats is a no no. Is there any gluten-free bread available to buy where you live? I'm sure there is a way to make bread without those ingredients. If you do a search on the Internet for substitutions for xanthan gum you might get results.

[cdford 2]

Try not using quite so much flax seed. I use about 1/3 cup to 2 cups gluten-free flour. I also add 2 tsp of xanthan gum, so you may need to adjust a little. I mill my flax so that it is not seedy. Don't know if soaking accomplishes the same thing.

One thought, could you order xanthan gum from somewhere here in the states or Europe or would the shipping costs outweigh any benefit. Since I don't know for sure where you are, my suggestions have to be a little generic. At least one of the major manufacturer of some gluten-free foods is located in Israel. I know of some missionaries who have to order almost everything specialty and have it shipped to them. Their church helps offset the cost, so I am not sure if the logistics are similar.

[angel_jd1 10]

Rice has a stickey quality to it. I have heard of quite a few people before using a rice flour mixture and not using xanthan gum at all with it because of the rice flour property. If you are using rice flour with other flours, I would think that a large percentage of your mixture would need to be rice flour to keep it "together".

You might try doing some research or trial and error baking on other kinds of flour and their "glutenous" properties (meaning how they stick together). Such as bean flours and sorghum.

As far as oats go, even if they are of low contamination levels, they still have contamination!! Meaning you are still doing damage to your body no matter if you are having symptoms or not. Stay away from the oats.

Happy Cooking!

-Jessica

[catfish 0]

I've been thinking along similar lines, I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one. My own bread flour mix has a small amount of oat flour in it because of the gluey consistency it has. I guess I like walking on the dangerous side. So far it hasn't caused me any problems, but I use a pretty reliable oat flour. It seems to me that oats are so incredibly useful that I have a hard time abandoning them; I would be thrilled to see a company manufacture oats from a dedicated field using dedicated machinery for sale to the celiac community, but I fear that it will not happen because there is too much suspicion surrounding oats.

I've also been brainstorming other possible substitutions for wheat gluten, including food grade gums like the kind used in making chewing gum. It sounds weird I know, but if you mix those gums with oil they become very similar in consistency to wheat gluten. And although they are non-digestible, they are also non-toxic so there would be no real harm in using them. I think that they might perform better than guar or xanthan gum for the purposes of bread making, but right now it's nothing more than a thought since I haven't actually tried any experiments as yet. Getting the desired performance might require too much of these gums to be practical.

[ockham 0]

Thanks for the responses.

gluten-free bread is not available in Jamaica. Wish it were. I've found out that some bakeries etc here do use xanthan and guar gum. Unfortunately the distributor only sells them in 55 lbs boxes. So I'm now trying to persuade them to "break" a box and sell me a pound or two.

About the oats: There have been two recent studies. One showed that most (maybe 90%) celiacs can tolerate oats with no damage to their intestinal villi. The other study tested three different brands of oats (taken off the supermarket shelf) and found that all of them had unacceptable levels of wheat flour contamination. So it seems that most celiacs will be OK with oats IF they can find oats that are free from the usual cross-contamination. Big IF.

I've tried various flour mixtures including bean flours and glutinous rice but these don't hold the gas (from yeast or from baking soda) that allows bread to rise and stay risen.

But the real purpose of my original post was to get a recipe (or other suggestions) for making bread without gum. Today I tried the rice flour and flaxseed meal in a 3:1 ratio and it worked well . . . more like normal bread.

Ockham

[kactuskandee 0]

I agree about reducing the flax seed amount...also about grinding it first, and even soaking it first is helpful.

Other gum alternatives might be gelatin, chia seed, and acacia. Acacia is wonderful for keeping baked things moist. I have a mail order source if anyone is interested. I especially like it for quickbreads and it is a PRE-biotic so helps somewhat with any tummy distress as well.

As far as oats..........gee I don't know. I can handle them ok, but have reduced my consumption of them due to the controversy. I sure like then though, for a number of things, not to mention oatmeal cookies and muffins!

ockham, go sweet talk those distributors out of the gums you want, or barter with something they want

Kandee

[kvogt 1]

This might be worth the small investment if tapioca flour is available

Buckwheat Pete

[cdford 2]

I pulled this recipe provided by Laurie of another post and used it. It is so good that I bake a loaf every other day in my machine. You might try adjusting the flax up a little and using it.

gluten-free Bread

I have a Welbilt too; it works great every time. Even though it makes a 1.5 lb loaf, when I make gluten-free bread, I only make a 1 lb loaf. I think the smaller loaf works better because gluten-free breads do not rise like conventional breads. Here is the recipe I use (adapted from another recipe I found on a different website):

2 cups gluten-free flour (I use B. Hagman's - 2 parts brown rice flour, 2/3 part potato starch, 1/3 part tapioca flour)

1/3 cup ground flax seed

3 Tbs Sugar

2 tsp Xanthan gum

1 tsp salt

1.5 tsp yeast

2 Tbs Oil

2 Eggs

1 cup gluten-free buttermilk

This bread turns out great every time. It is great for grilled cheese sandwiches. My daughter loves it.

-------------------

We also like it toasted with cream cheese or garlic and butter or strawberry jam...you get the picture. It is really soft and good for about two days.

[cdford 2]

Oh yes, all of the flours, etc. are available mail order. I use mostly Bob's Red Mill because I can get larger amounts. I mill my own rice flours but the tapioca I buy.

[Happytobefree 2]

Hello,

Some people are sensitive to a protein on oats too. I do know that gluten-free oats are hard to find. When I started the diet I learned this the hard way from a bowl of Quaker Oats after a relative had told me that oats were safe. The truth but not the whole truth.

I have been using "bob's Red Mill-Gluten Free Oats" for some time now and have had no trouble. I order in bulk online along with my other gluten-free baking needs.

Hope this helps.

Jessica Enevold

Hi Folks,

I wonder if anybody has had a similar experience and can offer advice.

I'm a recently diagnosed celiac and have spent the last few weeks trying to create an acceptable bread that is both palatable and easy to make.

Unfortunately, in my neck of the woods (a third world country) I can't get Xanthan or Guar gum. After many failed attempts with odd ingredients such as agar agar, I was almost ready to give up altogether when I remembered that OATS supposedly contain a molecule that is very similar to gluten.

Sure enough when I combined 2C rice flour with 1C oatmeal (pre-soaked) I finally got a bread mix that rose and stayed risen. SUCCESS! But then after a few days of eating this "bread" I started getting back my celiac symptoms again. Doesn't the recent research show that oats are safe for most celiacs? Perhaps it's the wheat flour contamination in the Quaker oats? (The other brands that were tested and found to be less contaminated than Quaker are not available here.)

Back to the drawing board. Then I recalled that soaked oatmeal had properties very similar to flaxseed meal that I had tried adding (in very small quantities) in my previous bread baking experiments. So I tried 2C rice flour and 1C flaxseed meal (pre-soaked). IT WORKED! The bread is rather more "springy" than normal bread so perhaps I'll cut down the flaxmeal to a 3:1 ratio with the rice flour but I'm sure that it will just fall flat if I use much less than that.

Has anybody else used flaxmeal in this way? Is there a better mix of flours that could be used? Do any other flours behave in the same way?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.