Gluten-Free Bread

January 25, 2016 1:45 AM

So I've started baking, and in doing so I've realized that I have a problem with the gluten in fresh-baked bread. (But not commercial stuff from the store--go figure.) So I want to start baking gluten-free bread.

What tips would you give a new gluten-free bread baker? What should I know about the various flours that go into the bread? How do I keep the bread light and airy the way many wheat breads are? What books/sites have you found helpful for gluten-free bread?

I've been baking wheat bread out of Ken Forkish's book, and I've really enjoyed that. So to the extent I could do gluten free in that sort of way, that'd be fantastic.

Thanks!

posted by persona au gratin to Home & Garden (15 answers total)

Best answer: What happens is that most GF breads use a mix of various starches (corn, potato, rice), adjuncts for color/flavor (buckwhere, quinoa, etc) and then eggs, xanthan gum and/or guar gum to give the mix the body to hold in bubbles.

The bubbles come from either baking powder or yeast or both. If the mix has baking powder, then expect something to balance the pH. If there is yeast, expect some sugar to feed it.

I've not found a particular recipe that stands above the rest.

Be careful with GF bread. It has a lot more in common with cake than with bread and carries the calorie density with it.

Also, your sensitivity to bread might be just the start so heads up on that.
posted by plinth at 3:05 AM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I have a problem with the gluten in fresh-baked bread. (But not commercial stuff from the store--go figure.)

I have a suspicion that something other than gluten is the culprit - commercial bread has at least as much as homemade, and often they'll add even more. How old is your whole wheat flour?
posted by STFUDonnie at 4:52 AM on January 25, 2016 [13 favorites]

Best answer: King Authur Flour has some well respected gluten free flour. I would try their flour and their recipes first.
posted by gregr at 6:42 AM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: It is not the gluten. Are you using yeast to bake the bread?
posted by bhnyc at 7:18 AM on January 25, 2016 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Just using GF flour won't do it - you don't get the airiness and it tends toward cardboardy. The best cookbook I found is the How Can It Be Gluten Free? cookbook from America's Test Kitchen.
posted by ldthomps at 8:32 AM on January 25, 2016 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I've realized that I have a problem with the gluten in fresh-baked bread. (But not commercial stuff from the store--go figure.)

Your problem is not the gluten, not least because commercial breads are higher in gluten than home-baked breads. Before embarking on what is often a pretty fruitless process (making decent GF bread is difficult enough when you have massive resources and research; at home it's incredibly hard) resulting in tasteless cardboard, look at your other ingredients.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:18 AM on January 25, 2016 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Thirding that it's probably not the gluten. If you've been making bread with yeast, do you have the same reaction if you make say, muffins without yeast? Are all your ingredients fresh? What about the pans you're cooking bread in--if you make something else with those pans, do you react? There are a lot of variables here!

There's nothing different about the gluten in commercial breads versus home-baked breads except that commercial breads may add more gluten, stuff that has been processed to be a separate product from the flour itself.

If you're still sure it's gluten (even only the gluten in home-baked goods) go to the doctor and get tested.
posted by purple_bird at 11:39 AM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Is this Forkish's Saturday whole wheat recipe? Whole wheat flour, white flour, water, salt and yeast? If so, I'd start with a completely fresh set of ingredients and try again. I think something is off - probably the flour has gone rancid, but maybe the yeast.

As others mentioned, it's unlikely that you're having gluten issues only with home baked goods. A dodgy ingredient is a more likely culprit.
posted by 26.2 at 11:48 AM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Yeah, I'm strictly gluten free and bread is bread when made with wheat - it all kills me. It's got to be another ingredient.

Also gf bread, while much improved in recent years is not a worthy replacement for regular bread. I'm sure other GF peeps will know what I mean when 'thud' and 'crumble' are reassuring indicators that one has been served the gf bread roll option and not the regular bread roll :-/
posted by kitten magic at 3:45 PM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Baking gluten free bread has almost nothing in common with any kind of wheat-inclusive baking. Normal bread baking is like art to GF bread's advanced chemistry with crushing disappointment. It is not something you casually pick up. And there will never be a nice crusty yeasty loaf at the end. I've been at it for over 5 years, and the best I can do is a single serving microwave extra-chewy biscuit/muffin that requires damn weird ingredients I have to special order. It is the only "bread" I've made that can actually support sandwich making, and I can never be certain that it will turn out right each time. If any manufacturer stops making any of the ingredients or changes them, I'll have to start from scratch again with my flour mix. This is not because I am a bad baker. I am a very good baker. GF is that difficult.

Do not jump to gluten conclusions. Save your sanity and wallet. You don't even say what kind of problems you are having, and if you can eat commerial wheat bread just fine do not give up. Get all fresh ingredients and start again.
posted by monopas at 5:46 PM on January 25, 2016 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks, all. I am using yeast to make the bread. I would be delighted if it were bad ingredients. I'm going to make sure it's gluten that is the problem. But, a bit more evidence: bread from Le Pain Quotidien upset my stomach, too. Others have eaten my bread and been fine. Sprouted wheat bread from TJs seems to be ok. I had some TJs wheat crackers tonight and my stomach was upset. But it was so soon after the bread yesterday that I'm not sure it wasn't a continuation of yesterday. I did have three bowls of Wheat Chex for breakfast with no trouble.

I'll load up on what tomorrow after work and see what happens.
posted by persona au gratin at 12:30 AM on January 26, 2016

Response by poster: I cooked in two different Dutch ovens. One is cast iron, and the other is enameled cast iron.

I will a) try bread from the other pan (enameled one), and b) bake some new bread next weekend if other gluten doesn't give me trouble. And the trouble is gas, bloating, etc. Standard reaction to gluten. But, also, I read, a standard reaction to too much iron.

Maybe it's the iron from the Dutch oven!

Thanks all! Much to sort out.
posted by persona au gratin at 12:38 AM on January 26, 2016

Response by poster: And by "new bread" I mean bread with all new flour and yeast.
posted by persona au gratin at 12:41 AM on January 26, 2016

If you're eating multiple bowls of wheat cereal, your problem is not gluten. If you're eating other loaves of bread, your problem is not gluten. Have you been tested for allergies?
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:29 AM on January 26, 2016

Response by poster: So I ate a ton of wheat tonight. It's not the gluten. It almost certainly *is* the cast iron Dutch oven. I had some bread from the enameled one, and I was fine.

I can't tell you how happy this makes me, as I love making bread! Thanks to all!
posted by persona au gratin at 1:33 AM on January 27, 2016 [3 favorites]