Baking Gluten Free Bread

I can't imagine going through life with out whole grain bread!  Many of our customers have had to face the challenge of baking their own bread without using any gluten.  This is a challenge in itself as Gluten is what helps the bread doughs to stretch and what holds it up while it is baking.  Most of our regular grains that we use everyday without thinking will cause allergic reactions to people who have this food allergy, and in some cases drastic allergic reactions.  Gluten is also found in items you may not even be aware of like certain vinegars or corn starch.  The medical community has given this allergy a name--Celiac Disease.

What is Celaic Disease?  This is a medical condition in which the absorptive surface of the small intestines is damaged by gluten.  This results in an inability of the body to absorb the nutrients like protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, which are necessary for good health.  Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, triticale, barley, and oats.  Although statistics are not readily available it is estimated that 1 out of every 2000 persons in Canada are affected by Celiac Disease.

Symptons:  In Canada the commonest symtons reported by the Canadian Celiac Association national survey were diarrhea, large floating stools, abdominal pain, irritability or apathy, and nausea or vomiting.  Other realtively common symptoms wer constipation, easy bruising, swelling or edema, and anemia.  Other less common syptoms range from difficulty concentrating, to bone pain were also reported.  Most symptoms of Celiac Disease can be related to intestinal damage.  In Celiac Disease, gluten causes the villous cells in the small intestines to be damaged and lost, and in time the villi become flat and unable to function normally.  As a result, the untreated Celiac is unable to properly digest or absorb nutrients and is said to suffer from malabsorption.

Gluten Free Diet for Life:  Medical Authorites emphasize that the gluten free diet should be adopted ONLY AFTER A CELIAC DISEASE HAS BEEN PROVEN BY A SMALL BOWEL BIOPSY.  The gluten free diet is difficult at first and appears restrictive, however, after proper information is made available and some experience and counselling form a dietician and from other Celiacs, a near normal eating regiment can be restored. 

(Thanks to the Canadian Celiac Association for Information)

We have now posted a new section on the NEW RECIPES for Gluten Free  Click here

Baking Gluten Free:  Baking a nice loaf of bread without the use of grains that have gluten, can be a tricky process, but can be overcome with practice and some good equipment.  We like to use Brown Rice flour as our main alternative grain.  Many of our Celiac Customers have told us that they mill or grind their own and save a great deal of money.  The best brown rice to use is Short Grain brown rice either regular or organic.  The Nutrimill will mill on the finer settings and make rice flour easily.  Other flours that we add or use with other Gluten-Free baking are Chick pea flour, Soybean flour, Buckwheat and Corn flour-- all easily milled in a Nutrimill as well.  Hand Mills will not be able to do most of these flours at all because of the special natures of these beans and grains.  We also use potato flour and almond or other nut flours which cannot be made with an Electric or Hand operated grain mill. 

Guar Gum and Xanturm Gum:  The biggest problem with these gluten-free flours is that they don't have gluten, so they tend not to rise well, nor do they hold together well.  (the properties of gluten)  To compensate for this, usually eggs are added to the recipes as well as Guar Gum or Xanthum Gum, to help hold the baked good together.  Both gums are available at health food stores, althought the Guar Gum is a much cheaper product.  These gums are used commercially.  They are added to salad dressings, canned gravies and sauces, and ice cream to give these foods a smoother texture.  They also have the ability to hold the particles of food together well which makes it a good stabilizer.  These gums are a polysaccharide, which means they have a long chain of simple sugars linked together but they are joined by links that the human intestine cannot split apart.  This means they are not readily absorbed ant that very few of the sugar units can be used by our cells for energy.  Thus, the caloric value if very low, about 8 calories per Tbsp.  Usually most of our Gluten-Free Bread Recipes call for only 1 to 2 Tbsp. of one of these gums

Kitchen Machine Vs. Automatic Bread Machine:  Most gluten free breads are mixed very little (They definitely cannot be kneaded as we do the grains with gluten)  This is because we do not have to develop the non-existent gluten in them.  The dough will be similar to soft cookie dough or even mashed potatoes.  Because of this many of the automatic bread machines will not do a great job of making Gluten Free Bread.  We have found that the Zojirushi Automatic Bread Maker will be able to produce really good Celiac Bread since is can be programmed to mix very little and then give the "dough" a long rising time and a long baking time.  I usually set it for 6 min. on the knead cycle, 90 min. on the rise cycle and 60 min. on the bake cycle.  The machine will remember your Gluten Free program so the next time you make is you just select HOME MADE and it will repeat the last cycle.  We have added a couple of good Zojirushi Bread Machine Gluten Free Recipes to our NEW RECIPES section on our website as well as having 2 Gluten Free Cooking Classes for are Cooking Class subsciption customers. 

Gluten Free Automatic Machine Recipe

I prefer my Bosch Universal because I can make 3 loaves at once and it has a cover.  I always triple most of the single loaf  recipes except for the yeast.  I use a slightly rounded Tbsp. of yeast.  The higher the altitude the less yeast you need.  The biggest difference to making regular yeast breads is the consistency of the dough.  I use my whips to make it as it is like mashed potatoes, and when we take it out of the bowl, I use a spatula to move it into the greased loaf pans or to spread it on a cookie sheet to use for pizza.  We let the dough rise both for the loaves and pizza, for about 1 hour in a warm place before baking.  In the case of the pizza I add the toppings and bake at 425 F. degrees until the bottom is brown and the cheese starts to brown on top. 

Gluten Free Bosch Machine Recipe