Gummy Baked Goods

[halfrunner]

I'm extremely new to the whole gluten free baking thing, as my dh is just went gluten free yesterday. I've made several loaves of bread and a pizza crust, and they're all dense & gummy. They all have had large amounts of rice flour in them, and are from Bette Hagman's gluten-free cookbooks. I followed the recipes exactly as they were called for.

I'm not sure, but I'm wondering if it's just simply too much rice flour and the tapioca and/or potato starches, and if I need to add more of a bean or other flour in place of the rice flour? Would brown rice flour be an improvement?

I was going to try making sure my ingredients are all room temperature (does it really make that big a difference?), and try setting my bread machine to the basic rapid setting for the loaf I make in the next few days. But I thought I'd see if anyone has been successful in making better textured bread with recipes that don't use rice flour? I'm half tempted to use half of the called for rice based mix and substitute in half of gluten-free oat flour that I've got in hopes of reaching a texture closer to a wheat bread.

Please help, if for no other reason than to save my sanity.

[Juliebove]

I gave up on most gluten-free baking. My bread just never came out. I do use the recipe for zucchini bread that is on this site. It works. Brownies usually work. I've done a few other things like foccacia, bread in a bowl (microwave) and crackers. Namaste mixes. But for the most part my baking doesn't work.

[lpellegr]

When I do her recipes I never use all the water she calls for, more like 3/4 of it. Most of her breads don't come out like the wheat breads you're used to. I have made these alterations in her recipes, but this is for the oven and not the bread machine. I mix in a Kitchenaid stand mixer, using about 3/4 of the water she calls for. I generally stick to the recipes with a total of 2 cups of flour and not 3 - the smaller loaves work better. Only let the bread rise to the top of the pan before you put it in the oven, so make sure to start preheating when you start the raising time. Instead of 400, set the oven to 350. Put the pan in with the short end and not the long end facing you or the bread will raise much higher on one side than the other. Bake for the recommended time, then knock on the top of the bread. If it's at all soft in the middle, put it back for 5 minute increments until it's no longer soft, or it will cave in while it cools and be gummy in the middle. Don't cut it until it's completely cool.

Some of her breads are better than others. Her Four Flour Bean bread is best for making croutons and crumbs because it's rather crumbly. The Mock Pumpernickel is good and more long-lasting at room temp. But the best bread recipe I've tried so far is from www.gingerlemongirl.com, her Gluten-Free Favorite Sandwich Bread. This is the most "normal" bread I have made. Good luck!

[Dada2hapas]

I'm extremely new to the whole gluten free baking thing, as my dh is just went gluten free yesterday. I've made several loaves of bread and a pizza crust, and they're all dense & gummy. They all have had large amounts of rice flour in them, and are from Bette Hagman's gluten-free cookbooks. I followed the recipes exactly as they were called for.

I'm not sure, but I'm wondering if it's just simply too much rice flour and the tapioca and/or potato starches, and if I need to add more of a bean or other flour in place of the rice flour? Would brown rice flour be an improvement?

I was going to try making sure my ingredients are all room temperature (does it really make that big a difference?), and try setting my bread machine to the basic rapid setting for the loaf I make in the next few days. But I thought I'd see if anyone has been successful in making better textured bread with recipes that don't use rice flour? I'm half tempted to use half of the called for rice based mix and substitute in half of gluten-free oat flour that I've got in hopes of reaching a texture closer to a wheat bread.

Please help, if for no other reason than to save my sanity.

I am relatively new to the gluten free diet, and still trying to figure things out for myself, mostly regarding cross contamination, as the rest of my family is still fixing gluten food in my kitchen.

My background is biochemistry, and I must say that wheat flour, or more specifically the gluten that it contains, is responsible for the wonderful characteristics of french bread, pizza crust, and other breads we can no longer have. Gluten is a wonderful binder. Xanthan gum can only hope to mimic it's properties.

That being said, don't be discouraged that your first attempts are not the same as the wonderful gluten bread loaves you've made in the past. I've had some outstanding gluten free bread, but it will take alot of work/experimentation to make a gluten-free loaf to stand up to "pre-glutenfree" expectations. If you find a "breakthrough", please share with the rest of us.

[KathiSharpe]

Betty's recipes are pretty good as far as proportions and all go, but I no longer use the bean flours since I discovered cornmeal - google "gluten free goddess" and see the recipes there.

I did previously make LOTS of bean-flour recipes and developed many of my own; if they're gummy it's usually because you're not baking them long enough.

I do remember having gummy troubles though when I used my stoneware bread pans... not sure why!

[ranger]

I have a recipe for French bread that works petty good. I'll check back later if you want it. It requires a Kitchen-Aid.