My Bread Falls!

[jmeds77]

Why o why does my gluten-free bread fall every stinkin' time??? It looks so beautiful in the oven, then I take it out and it slowly caves in the middle while it cools. Please, suggestions and advice. I'm using Bette Hagman's Butter Basted with part brown rice flour and due to dairy allergies, using Earth Balance butter and substituting the dry milk for baby soy formula.

Thanks.

Jaime

[sa1937]

Why o why does my gluten-free bread fall every stinkin' time??? It looks so beautiful in the oven, then I take it out and it slowly caves in the middle while it cools. Please, suggestions and advice. I'm using Bette Hagman's Butter Basted with part brown rice flour and due to dairy allergies, using Earth Balance butter and substituting the dry milk for baby soy formula.

Thanks.

Jaime

I've had my share of bread baking problems, too. My first thoughts are that it may contain too much liquid. And it may need to bake longer. Sometimes I take it out of the pan and then put it back in sideways and bake for another 5 to 10 min. No guarantees that it works though.

I like Earth Balance but haven't tried it for making bread. What shortening does she recommend? Butter? Or is it possible stick margarine would work better than Earth Balance? I did buy some Vance's DariFree to substitute for dry milk but haven't tried it yet. I also seem to be able to tolerate Lactaid milk or do you have a problem with casein?

Sorry, no answers...just a lot of questions for myself, too.

[SUZIN]

You are not alone......my bread does the same thing...and like you, I would appreciaate knowing what causes it...and what to do about it.....the bread is good tasting, but shrinks every time.....it does seem real moist...so maybe I could try using less water...??

[RiceGuy]

Whenever I've had bread fall after baking, it was due to too much liquid. I've also found that fats tend to make breads fall or not rise so well, thus I never use fats in breads. Fat tends to defeat the binders. This seems to be one reason why gluten-free bread recipes with fatty ingredients usually contain a fair amount of eggs.

As was stated, you may need to bake it longer. If the crust is already as dark as it should be, then bake it at a slightly lower temperature, and for a longer period of time.

Some margarines (especially the ones in tubs) have a considerable water content, so this can be a factor as well. You may wish to try coconut oil instead, which is solid at room temperature, just like butter.

Not sure about the soy formula, but I do know that soy flour retains considerable moisture. It may therefore prevent the inside of the loaf from baking thoroughly. Soy flour also makes the bread darken notably sooner in the baking process, which can misrepresent how well the inside has baked. IMHO, I think you can leave out the milk, whatever the sort. Some recipes suggest adding some gelatin to give the loaf more moisture, which I suppose is what the milk is for. But again, I'd think the bread really doesn't need it. You might try replacing that ingredient with water.

The ideal bread is a matter of opinion, so depending on what kind of bread you like, you may ultimately end up using a different recipe.

[Skylark]

I've also had bread fall from too much liquid. I find gluten-free bread is much touchier about the amount of fluid than wheat bread. The dough also tends to be moister, which means I can't follow my old and well-developed wheat baking instincts.

[jmeds77]

Thank you for all the advice.

I will cut the liquid for sure. Trying coconut oil sounds promising - and tasty!

So, tomorrow I will roll up my sleeves, grab my containers of flours and get to experimenting!

I'm such a "rule follower" but understand gluten-free baking means I need to invent my own.

[lpellegr]

Agreed - cut back on the water added. You can always add more, but can't remove it. If it calls for 1 cup, start with 3/4 and add more only if it's too stiff for the beaters once all the dry stuff is incorporated. Lower the oven temp by 25 - 50 degrees and bake it longer (5 min at a time, and then check). It's not foolproof, but it helps. I haven't had any bread yet that suffered from too little liquid, and an extra 5 minutes in the oven doesn't hurt. Cover it with a loose foil tent after the first ten minutes to keep the crust from overbrowning.

[William, Tell]

Hi, I have suffered from the same problem for the last 6-7 years or so. I use FG Robert's cottage bread mix, 380ml of  water (already gone to 375 ml, 330 gr of breadmix, 1 tsp of grapeseed oil (no cholestrol) 1 tsp vinegar, 2 tsp's yeast.This is as per recipe supplied with breadmix. It rises beautifull, eg over top of pan, bake at 215 deg C for 1 hour, still good altho slightly reduced in height, but after cooling down it has reduced to approximate same height as when dough was first put in. Love the bread but would like a decent slice lol. Many thanks for any advice.

[Ennis-TX]

Old thread 7 years since the last response William but I will go with it, I have not worked with a yeast bread in a few years, funny with me being a baker but is something I have a issue with so we just use quick breads in my bakery. Still they collapse on occasion. For us in our area the barometric pressure from a storm front moving in or it storming outside means no baking the breads are sensitive and in this part of Texas means that cupcakes, muffins and breads will invert the tops. Other causes are too much liquid or not enough binder. What is happening is for whatever reasons they can not support themselves this is often a binder issues but can be because there was too much water or liquid so it could not firm fast enough ad the escaping gasses gave rise. The heat and the gasses create the air bubbles and rise but if it can not firm up fast enough to hold shape it will collapse. We have had great luck in our bakery using psyliuum husk as a binder as it can keep breads moist. others use guar gum or adjust the starch ratio up, More starch will give bigger air pockets and pretty much acts as the lattice supports for your bread. Gums hold them together, you let less rise but a hardier bit heavier bread. Guar gum would be adding 1/4-1/2tsp to a 1.5.lb loaf, Psyllium husk would be 1/2-2tsp depending but note makes a much denser bread.  Few tips and tricks, I like to add in herbs to ours to cover any non gluten flour flavors and this makes it more appealing to many. Caraway seed can add a rye like flavor to bread and is good in some artisan blends, other fun things are try to mix in some cheese into your dough, it will help bind it up and add some good flavors.