How To Make Bread Rise Better

[lpellegr]

I bake a lot of gluten-free bread, and one of the biggest challenges so far is trying to make it rise higher. Mostly I work with Ginger Lemon Girl's Favorite Sandwich Bread (it's on her blog), which really tastes good but is rather dense and heavy. It's a 3 cup of flour recipe, so I've been using pans in the 5 x 9 or 10" range. Once it rises to the top of the pan it doesn't usually go higher. If I encourage it to go higher, it sags over the edges of the pan. I think this is just due to the nature of gluten-free dough, but if anyone out there has some tips I'd be happy to hear them. I have tried:

Rising on the counter at room temp covered by a towel.

Rising in a pre-heated (200) oven covered by greased plastic wrap so it doesn't dry out.

Increasing the amount of dough in the pan (not a good idea).

Putting a collar of greased foil around the pan to increase the height of the sides (the foil seems to have insulated the pan somewhat so that it actually rose less than its non-collared duplicate and took longer to bake).

I'm considering:

Replacing some of the millet/sorghum flours with white rice flour to make it less dense.

Using a narrower and higher pan from King Arthur Flour (4" wide, 4" tall).

Switching back from the Asian store potato starch (which might be potato flour) to BRM potato starch.

The yeast is fine and there are 3t of xanthan gum holding it together, as well as eggs and gelatin and ground flax seed. Normal wheat flour dough will cling to the sides of the pan as it rises, so the center will puff up while the sides stay down. This dough tends to stay flat on top and spill over the sides if it does go higher.

Anybody with baking experience, I'd love to hear your suggestions. Thanks!

[sa1937]

I am the wrong person to ask!!! But I can relate to your experience but figured you were the pro! I just pulled up Ginger Lemon Girl's blog and the bread does look dense...a problem I also have and it's flat on top, too.

The 9x4x4" USA pan from King Arthur is nice and I do get a higher loaf with it but never get "oven spring" no matter what I try.

Have you ever tried to bake it in smaller pans? Normally I use a recipe from Jules Shepard and make a bun or two from it, which inevitably turn out more light and airy than the loaf of bread.

Looking forward to reading the responses you get.

[lpellegr]

I have smaller pans, but they are better for 2 cup recipes like many of Bette Hagman's. I get better rise with some of her recipes, which use lighter flours or include some bean flour but not sorghum or millet. But you're right, nothing like the wheat breads I used to make with that nice high dome on top. I'm also looking forward to the responses!

[sa1937]

Perhaps you could put part of the dough in a smaller pan and then make a few buns? I use a spring-loaded ice cream scoop and then flatten the dough slightly to make buns, let it rise and then bake for a lesser amount of time, of course.

[lpellegr]

That would work, but I have to try for a higher loaf. It's for someone else, not just consumption by my own self, and a bigger loaf is the goal.