Bread Recipe Fail

[MerrillC1977]

I've been experimenting with various homemade gluten-free bread recipes, with some success. The one I tried last night was that I took our regular traditional white bread recipe and changed nothing other than substituting out the flour. The problem is that it didn't seem to rise like my other gluten-free loaves did. I am not sure if the yeast was bad (it didn't seem to foam up like my other batches did), or if there's a problem with the recipe itself that makes it not work with gluten-free flour. Taste-wise, it was fine, but the loaf was a dense, un-risen brick. Any suggestions on what I can do to fix it will be most appreciated. This is what I did:

Ingredients

1 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast

1.5 tablespoons white sugar

1-1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45degrees C)

1.5 tablespoons Crisco shortening

1.5 tablespoon salt

3-1/4 cups bread flour King Arthur Multi Purpose gluten-free Flour + 3-1/4 teaspoons Xanthan Gum

Directions

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Stir in lard,salt and one cup of the flour. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time,beating well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn itout onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8minutes.

2. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coatwith oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled involume, about 1 hour.

3. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Dividethe dough into two equal pieces and form into loaves. Place the loaves into twolightly greased 9x5 inch loaf pans. Cover the loaves with a damp cloth and let riseuntil doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.

4. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

5. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for about 30 minutes or until thetop is golden brown and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

Here's what it looks like:

Any suggestions? Thank you!!

[sa1937]

I've been experimenting with various homemade gluten-free bread recipes, with some success. The one I tried last night was that I took our regular traditional white bread recipe and changed nothing other than substituting out the flour. The problem is that it didn't seem to rise like my other gluten-free loaves did. I am not sure if the yeast was bad (it didn't seem to foam up like my other batches did), or if there's a problem with the recipe itself that makes it not work with gluten-free flour. Taste-wise, it was fine, but the loaf was a dense, un-risen brick. Any suggestions on what I can do to fix it will be most appreciated. This is what I did:

Ingredients

1 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast

1.5 tablespoons white sugar

1-1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45degrees C)

1.5 tablespoons Crisco shortening

1.5 tablespoon salt

3-1/4 cups bread flour King Arthur Multi Purpose gluten-free Flour + 3-1/4 teaspoons Xanthan Gum

Directions

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Stir in lard,salt and one cup of the flour. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time,beating well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn itout onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8minutes.

2. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coatwith oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled involume, about 1 hour.

3. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Dividethe dough into two equal pieces and form into loaves. Place the loaves into twolightly greased 9x5 inch loaf pans. Cover the loaves with a damp cloth and let riseuntil doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.

4. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

5. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for about 30 minutes or until thetop is golden brown and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

Here's what it looks like:

Any suggestions? Thank you!!

Welcome to the forum, Merrill!

To preface this, I have to say I've baked my share of bricks...or dense gummy loaves of bread so you are definitely not alone. A good many of us struggle to come up with bread that replicates our old gluteny bread. I'm still searching for that perfect loaf. Not one to give up, I'm going to try yet another recipe today.

I do have a couple of thoughts or questions:

1. It sounds like you have a lot of salt for only 3-1/4 c. of flour. Since I'm not a baking guru (far from it), it just seems like too much.

2. Gluten-free bread is not usually kneaded. In fact, I don't believe I've ever seen a recipe that calls for it. It's also unusual that it would call for two rises, although one on the King Arthur website does.

3. Did you use a stand mixer? Since you used King Arthur flour, you might want to check their website as to the procedure they use for their Open Original Shared Link Many times gluten-free bread recipes also call for eggs, something I never used before in regular gluteny bread. I'm assuming that eggs also add elasticity or help prevent bread from becoming crumbly.

While I doubt it's entirely the yeast you used, I did proof some yeast the other day that didn't measure up and I ended up throwing it out and starting with a fresh packet. I still ended up with a loaf of French bread that was gummy on the bottom even though the top and sides were crunchy (almost too much so). Even though I used the amount of water it called for, I think it was too much.

I've also questioned the amount of xanthan gum I use and wonder if that has something to do with it. I think some recipes call for too much but 1 tsp. per cup of flour is many times called for.

Thus far I have not been ambitious enough to try to convert a regular yeast bread recipe to one that's gluten-free. It's definitely a whole new ballgame.

Hopefully we have some baking gurus on here that might be able to give some more suggestions. I'm looking for every tip I can get.

[irish daveyboy]

I did an awful lot of experimenting with bread recipies 90% went to the birds to eat, and on occasions even they wouldn't eat it.

To start to avoid unnecessary waste only use enough for 1 loaf until you have it right.

I'm not sure about King Arthur Flour (don't know the mix)

use one packet of yeast per loaf (2 1/4 tsp)

Use 2 tsp of sugar per yeast packet (to feed yeast)

use 1 cup? of warm water per loaf (I use 300ml)

use 4 Tbls of Vegetable oil per loaf

use 1 tsp of salt per loaf.

use 1 tsp of lemon juice in wet ingredients or 1 tsp of Vitamin c powder in dry ingredients.

use 1 whole egg + 1 extra white.

Use 1 - 2 tsp Xanthan per loaf

add 1/4 tsp of ground white pepper (flavour)

mix flour with xanthan, ground white pepper, salt and vit c powder if using set aside.

mix the yeast warm water and sugar in a bowl and allow to stand to foam.

Mix the oil egg and lemon juice if using in another bowl.

combine the dry and all wet ingredients together, the mix should be a batter consistency you should not be able to handle it.

transfer to a greased and dusted loaf pan, even off with a wet spatula, place in a warm draught proof place for about 40 - 60 mins until it has risen to top of pan, place in a preheated oven 350F for about 40 mins until brown and hollow when tapped.

allow to cool completely before cutting.

[Takala]

Gluten free flours, no matter what the mixture, tend to behave differently than regular flours when going thru a cycle of preparation that is supposed to end up being "bread."

Kneading doesn't do a thing for it, because kneading is to make the gluten protein in wheat act a certain way, become more stretchable, and there is no gluten. There is xanthan gum, and that is a lot and the longer it sits, the more it sort of locks up the bread dough and keeps it from rising.... whoops!

Secondly, there isn't much of a "second rise" with this gluten free stuff, if you do get it to do a "first rise" with yeast. Typically the dough or batter goes into the pan, rises once, then gets baked. Last week I experimented with a whole grain loaf without gums, using chia seed gel, and got a nice first rise, stirred it down, then added additional leavening in the form of eggs, baking soda, cream of tartar, and apple cider vinegar, then put the batter into the loaf pan and let it re - rise again, but still didn't get the "pouf" you'd get with regular flour. It came out okay, but this is probably more than what people want to do, I was just messing around with flavors.

3+ cups of bread flour for 2 pans of 9x 5" pans isn't going to work, either. Traditional bread has a great deal of expansion. Ours requires all sorts of tricks to get some air and rise into it. But it also takes more gluten-free flour. Typically it's about 1.25 cups for a mini loaf, 2 cups flour for an 8 x 4" med small loaf (what I call "quick bread size" ) and 3 or more cups flour for a full size loaf, for gluten free.

Gluten free loaves also benefit from the addition of extra fat such as a bit more oil, lard, coconut oil, butter, shortening, eggs.

Baking temperatures tend to be longer and at lower temperatures because gluten free flours like that sort of thing.

What you can do: if you like experimenting, you can play around with it, or you can use a gluten free recipe/technique and the same flour. What to do if you don't have a stand mixer: You CAN bake without one if you're willing to go at it differently - take your dry ingredients, mix together well, then pre soak them in water for several hours, adding enough that it is not a dough but a thick batter, then mix in the yeast and put it in the loaf pan and let it rise once, then bake. Because the dough is much moister, bake for a longer time, typically 45 min to 60 min, testing with a clean knife stuck into it - not done until knife comes out clean. You may have to drop your baking temp to 350

[pricklypear1971]

Use egg+ egg white. Most gluten-free recipes call for 1-2 eggs plus 3 egg whites. Egg whites mimic gluten by stretching.

Mix it about 3-4 minutes on medium in a mixer. That activates the xanthan gum and makes it stretch.

Most gluten-free bread dough is very wet. If yours isn't that may be a sign of imminent failure.

If you haven't used any gluten-free mixes, try those first. You'll be pleasantly surprised. I am a very good bread baker. Or WAS. I haven't tried converting my old recipes yet. That's "advanced" gluten-free cooking!

[Februaryrich]

I also failed mine miserably when I tried to make one with rice flour, but after a couple of times I was able to get the result and the texture I wanted.

[MerrillC1977]

I do have a couple of thoughts or questions:

1. It sounds like you have a lot of salt for only 3-1/4 c. of flour. Since I'm not a baking guru (far from it), it just seems like too much.

2. Gluten-free bread is not usually kneaded. In fact, I don't believe I've ever seen a recipe that calls for it. It's also unusual that it would call for two rises, although one on the King Arthur website does.

3. Did you use a stand mixer? Since you used King Arthur flour, you might want to check their website as to the procedure they use for their Open Original Shared Link Many times gluten-free bread recipes also call for eggs, something I never used before in regular gluteny bread. I'm assuming that eggs also add elasticity or help prevent bread from becoming crumbly.

While I doubt it's entirely the yeast you used, I did proof some yeast the other day that didn't measure up and I ended up throwing it out and starting with a fresh packet. I still ended up with a loaf of French bread that was gummy on the bottom even though the top and sides were crunchy (almost too much so). Even though I used the amount of water it called for, I think it was too much.

I've also questioned the amount of xanthan gum I use and wonder if that has something to do with it. I think some recipes call for too much but 1 tsp. per cup of flour is many times called for.

Thus far I have not been ambitious enough to try to convert a regular yeast bread recipe to one that's gluten-free. It's definitely a whole new ballgame.

Hopefully we have some baking gurus on here that might be able to give some more suggestions. I'm looking for every tip I can get.

To answer your questions, in numbered order:

1. The bread didn't taste overly salty -- I was just following the recipe. I honestly have no idea if it would affect the gumminess brick factor. Lol.

2. Again, I was just following my pre-gluten-free life "traditional white bread recipe" and trying to convert it to gluten free by changing nothing but the kind of flour. Maybe that just won't work. Maybe it does need the eggs, like you suggested.

3. I did use a stand mixer. I always do. I also did when I used King Arthur's sandwich bread recipe, which came out really good. I will probably go back to that recipe and work from there, since that's the one my husband liked the most. In fact, he *really* liked it; so much so that I am surprised by it.

And yes, I questioned too whether that was too much xanthan gum. It did seem llike a lot to me, especially compared to how much was called for in my previous gluten-free bread recipe attempts, all of which turned out much better than this one.

[MerrillC1977]

3+ cups of bread flour for 2 pans of 9x 5" pans isn't going to work, either. Traditional bread has a great deal of expansion. Ours requires all sorts of tricks to get some air and rise into it. But it also takes more gluten-free flour. Typically it's about 1.25 cups for a mini loaf, 2 cups flour for an 8 x 4" med small loaf (what I call "quick bread size" ) and 3 or more cups flour for a full size loaf, for gluten free.

Gluten free loaves also benefit from the addition of extra fat such as a bit more oil, lard, coconut oil, butter, shortening, eggs.

Baking temperatures tend to be longer and at lower temperatures because gluten free flours like that sort of thing.

Oops. I forgot to edit the instructions part of this recipe. I halved the original recipe, so it would be for only one loaf....there was no dividing of loaves. My bad.

All of the reasons you give here are legit reasons why this "bread" failed. I think I will definitely go back to the King Arthur recipe that hubby really liked and work from there.

Thank you so much!

[sa1937]

To answer your questions, in numbered order:

1. The bread didn't taste overly salty -- I was just following the recipe. I honestly have no idea if it would affect the gumminess brick factor. Lol.

2. Again, I was just following my pre-gluten-free life "traditional white bread recipe" and trying to convert it to gluten free by changing nothing but the kind of flour. Maybe that just won't work. Maybe it does need the eggs, like you suggested.

3. I did use a stand mixer. I always do. I also did when I used King Arthur's sandwich bread recipe, which came out really good. I will probably go back to that recipe and work from there, since that's the one my husband liked the most. In fact, he *really* liked it; so much so that I am surprised by it.

And yes, I questioned too whether that was too much xanthan gum. It did seem llike a lot to me, especially compared to how much was called for in my previous gluten-free bread recipe attempts, all of which turned out much better than this one.

I was just wondering if that much salt could "kill the yeast". Don't know...it just sounded like a lot of salt. And I do like salt! LOL

I have a feeling you're right about trying to convert a regular yeast bread recipe to gluten-free. It is so different than making regular gluteny sandwich breads. If you've had success with King Arthur, I think that's your answer. The procedure and ingredients are quite different.

When you find that "knock-your-socks-off" recipe, please make sure you share it with us! A number of us are still searching for that perfect loaf of bread!!!