The Fine art of Baking Better Bread

Every time I pull a plump, crusty, light loaf of bread from the oven or turn one out from my bread machine, I consider it a minor miracle. I realize I’m only an average cook, and bread making didn’t come into my culinary repertoire until twenty years ago, but you’d think I could learn in that time. Well, the one thing I’ve learned is that making bread is not just baking; it is a fine art, and baking gluten-free loaves is one of the most difficult skills to master.

Evidently many of my readers have discovered the same thing. By far the greatest number of letters I receive ask for help in bread baking. I wish I could say “Easy, just …” but I can’t, for so many elements are involved.

First, we have to realize we are combining not yeast and gluten (which gives bread that wonderfully springy texture) but yeast and xanthan gum (a poor substitute). Whether we work with a heavy-duty mixer and use the oven for baking or toss the ingredients into a bread machine, we still can’t ever be certain of the outcome, because so many factors affect yeast products: the temperature of the water we use and of the air around us, the amount of water we use and the amount of water in the air, even the pH balance of the water and texture of our flours.

I’ve found lately that oven baking is more forgiving than programmed machine baking. I’ve also found that we can use a lot of shortcuts, and I have cut the time down considerably from the almost four hours of my original gluten-free recipes to about one and a half hours. Also, we can eliminate the second kneading and rising both by hand and in the machine. I revised my hand baking method after I made a mistake and put the ingredients into the bowl in reverse order—wet ingredients first, then dry—only to come out with a lighter, tenderer, springier loaf. Since that first accidental mixing, I’ve tested the two methods several times and come to the conclusion that this new way does make a better-textured, lighter gluten-free loaf and the results are more predictable. To shorten the time even more, I double the amount of yeast and use the rapid-rise variety, thus getting my bread ready for the oven in about 35 minutes. (See here preceding the bread recipes for the exact procedure.)

The amount of liquid in a recipe is still the answer to whether the bread will be lead or light. No wonder the old recipes never gave exact amounts of flour but said: Add enough flour to make the bread suitable for kneading. That’s a bit difficult to determine, because with our flours, we don’t do any kneading and our dough should resemble heavy cake batter more than a dough ball. In making up recipes, I’ve attempted to give the amount of liquid at average temperature and humidity. You will find that when the skies are weeping outside or the humidity is high, the flour will already have absorbed some of this water and you can cut the amount of liquids by up to 3 tablespoons. The best way to do this is to hold back about that amount of water and add it in the bread machine after a few minutes of mixing if needed.

Learning to read the bread consistency is the “art” in bread making. By the hand-mixing method, the dough should be the consistency of thick cake batter. In a bread machine, the dough should round up in the pan and be shiny, not dull looking, not sloppy wet, nor should it form a heavy dough ball. If the dough is too wet, add sweet rice flour 1 tablespoon at a time until the correct consistency is obtained. When you turn out that perfect loaf, remember the consistency that you had and try to duplicate it next time. Only repeated baking can teach you to judge the correct consistency for the machine, climate, and altitude.

Some Simple Suggestions for Making Better Bread

Whether you were a skilled bread baker before the diagnosis or came to it—as I did—a rank beginner, there are different factors to consider when baking with gluten-free flours. The rice breads are most difficult and demanding, while the bean flour breads will act more like wheat. Both will need xanthan gum or another gum to achieve that “stretch” factor and keep the loaf from turning to crumbs. You will have greater success if you understand some of the problems.

BEFORE YOU START

1. Yeast is your most important ingredient. Be sure it is fresh, not outdated. Old yeast will turn out brickbats, not bread. Test any yeast that is nearing the expiration date by putting about 1 tablespoon into 1/2 cup of water with 1 teaspoon of sugar. If it doesn’t foam up to double volume in 10 minutes, discard it and buy new yeast.

2. Measuring cups can vary, so use the same cup or style of cup for all measurements whether wet or dry.

INGREDIENTS

3. Water is an important ingredient. Check yours to see if it is acid or alkaline. In a city, you can call the water department to determine the pH factor. A 5.5 to 5.6 rating would be perfect for bread, but most city water has added alkaline, so we should add either vinegar, lemon juice, or a dough enhancer. If you can’t discover your pH factor, try using bottled water. If you use orange juice as a liquid, you are adding more acid and may have to add a little baking soda. The egg whites in my recipes help to balance the pH factor. Softened water should not be used in bread, for it has a high sodium content.

4. Different brands and grinds of rice flour may require a variation in the amount of water or liquid in a recipe.

5. Lemon juice or dough enhancer added to a recipe to balance the pH factor both enhances the flavor and acts as a preservative.

6. Cottage cheese and ricotta cheese can be interchanged in recipes, but the taste will be slightly different. For the lactose intolerant, cubed tofu can substitute for the above cheeses, but remember that you are adding soy, which often calls for a decrease in liquids.

7. One teaspoon of unflavored gelatin added to the dry ingredients can add spring to the texture of your bread, but it is always optional.

8. When a recipe calls for melted butter or margarine, you can save time by cutting the butter or margarine into small chunks before adding it to the liquids.

9. Remember always to bring ingredients (except water) to room temperature before starting to bake, thus avoiding cooling the yeast too much. Cold eggs can be warmed by putting in a pan of warm water for a couple of minutes.

10. Freeze-dried coffee crystals can be replaced by GF instant coffee or regular fine-grind coffee in baking.

11. When experimenting with a recipe, change only one ingredient at a time.

12. Sugar or liquid sweetener: For machines, all the sugar can be added to the dry ingredients. Liquid sweetener (molasses, honey, etc.) should be added to the wet ingredients. If mixing by hand, reserve 1 teaspoon of sugar and add it to the water to make the yeast slurry. When converting a recipe from sugar to a liquid sweetener such as honey or molasses, cut down the amount of liquid (water) by the amount of sweetener added.

13. Milk powders retain the sugar (lactose) of the milk, so when replacing the dry milk powder in a recipe with a nondairy substitute, add about 2 extra tablespoons sugar to the recipe.

14. Baking at a higher elevation (over 2,500 feet) will require an addition of 1 to 2 tablespoons of water.

15. If the bread rises high and then falls, try reducing the amount of water by 1 or 2 tablespoons in the next batch. If that fails in a machine where you can’t control the rising time, cut the yeast by ¼ to 1/2 teaspoon.

BREAD MACHINES

16. Use recipes developed and tested for our gluten-free flours and don’t try to use those in the manual that came with the machine. The recipes will not work by simply exchanging rice flour for wheat flour.

17. Most of the gluten-free recipes for machines call for 3 cups of flour to fit the requirements of the large machine (11/2 pounds). For the smaller (1 pound) machine, just cut the recipes down by a third.

18. Whipping the eggs or egg substitutes before adding to the liquids will give the bread a better texture.

19. If the dough rises so high it threatens to overflow the pan, poke it with a skewer to break up the bubbles. Keep poking with the skewer if necessary to prevent the rising and avoid a mess in the oven.

20. Fruit, nuts, and cereal can be added to the flour mix and put into the machine with the dry ingredients at the beginning of the mix cycle.

21. If your machine automatically preheats the ingredients, use water at room temperature. If it doesn’t have a preheat cycle, use water that’s about 80 degrees.

22. My recipes suggest blending dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately before placing in the machine. This has proved to be the most successful way of working with our flours. You do not have to completely premix the dough outside the machine if your machine is good for our heavy doughs.

For placement in machines, incorporate yeast into the dry ingredients for round-pan models; place dry ingredients in the pan first, then liquids. For square upright or rectangular models, place wet ingredients in pan, then dry. The yeast should be placed in a well on top of the dry ingredients, although I’ve had good results mixing the yeast with the dry ingredients for most machines.

FOR ALL BREADS

For a more tender crust, rub the bread lightly with butter or margarine immediately after taking it from the oven or machine. Although you’ll be tempted to cut the fresh hot bread and eat it as soon as you take it from the pan, it will slice better when cool.

Choosing a Bread Machine for Gluten-free Flours

I know this is a problem for many of you, for my mail is filled with questions such as, What machine do you suggest buying? Why doesn’t my machine turn out good bread?

I had planned to make this section a comparison of the many bread machines I’ve tested, but after working with many brands, I have to confess that I find only a few that turn out a really fine loaf of our bread. The other bakers I’ve talked to have much the same feeling. Although all of the machines will make bread, some require more work than others, and the outcome is less predictable. The best of the machines have strong paddles and can be programmed to one kneading and one rising (which is all our bread needs). Some will have a cycle that is similar to this, but many of the machines cannot be so programmed. Many have very weak paddles and you either have to mix the dough ahead of time or stir it with a rubber spatula while the machine is kneading.

I hadn’t realized the vast differences between machines, because all my testing has been done on two machines. The recipes in More from the Gluten-free Gourmet were tested with the Zojirushi BBCC-S15, the ones in this book with my Welbilt Multilogic. I can recommend both of these, but they need some programming and have some drawbacks. They do have cool-down cycles, so I can put my ingredients in after the dishes are done in the evening, turn on the machine, and not worry about the bread. It will be cooled to cut for breakfast in the morning. Warning! Do not let the ingredients sit in the machine on a timed cycle, for our recipes contain fresh eggs.

Following are comparisons of machines I tested and found worked well with our heavy flours. Some are new; others are disappearing from the market. Three are expensive, two are moderately priced, and one is a good economy model. So you do have choices.

HOW TO MAKE THE BEST BREAD IN THE WELBILT MULTILOGIC

1. Program it by eliminating the second kneading, and use either 10 minutes of second rising or eliminate this entirely. (The directions for programming are in your manual.)

2. Have all ingredients (even water) at room temperature.

3. Load the dry ingredients (yeast included), turn on, and pour in the wet ingredients while the blade is rotating.

4. Remove the kneading blade after this kneading is finished to avoid the stir-down. I do this with plastic tongs to avoid scratching the paddle. This is messy and takes a bit of practice. (Be careful not to drop the blade into the “oven” section of your bread machine, as one baker confessed happened to her.)

5. Make a “cap” of aluminum foil to cover, shiny side down, the rounded glass top to keep the heat in after the paddle is removed.

The one feature that a lot of people don’t like about this machine is that the shape of the loaf is round. I am now so used to working with a round loaf that the square one looks peculiar. A drawback is that production has stopped on this model and it may be hard to find.

HOW TO MAKE THE BEST BREAD WITH THE ZOJIRUSHI BBCC-S15

1. Have all ingredients at room temperature.

2. Load the wet ingredients first, then the dry ingredients, except for the yeast. Make a small well in the top of the flours for the yeast.

3. Turn machine on to Home Made Menu. I program this by watching the dough; when it has kneaded about 25 to 30 minutes, I bypass the Knead 2 and Rise 1 and go immediately to Rise 2. When the dough has almost doubled in bulk, I press Bake and usually allow 60 minutes for baking before pressing Cool. Remember to press the Home Made Memory bar to keep this menu if you plan to use it again. You can always start with this, and if the rising or baking times need to be adjusted, change them as the bread bakes.

This machine has a cool-down cycle, so you don’t have to worry about taking out the bread.

The feature that people don’t like about this machine is that they must stay by the machine that first time to get the correct menu. Another aspect that bothers some owners is adjusting the liquid, since it is added first. I usually hold out a couple of tablespoons and add them if needed after about 5 minutes of mixing.

HOW TO MAKE THE BEST BREAD USING THE WEST BEND BAKERS CHOICE 41080

This is the Cadillac of bread machines, for it has two strong paddles, is shaped more like an oven than other machines, and makes the familiar rectangular-shaped loaf. The paddles even lie down after the knead cycle is over so there are no large holes in the bottom of the loaf. Although this machine cannot be programmed to remove the stir-downs, they come early in the cycle of rising and don’t seem to affect the final product.

1. Program to Basic/Rapid and set the Bread Color on Medium.

2. Have all ingredients at room temperature.

3. Put in all but 1 to 2 tablespoons of the liquid.

4. Add the dry ingredients. Yeast may be put in a well on top or incorporated into the dry ingredients.

5. After pushing the On button, watch the dough texture and add more liquid, if needed, after a few minutes of kneading, until the dough mounds up slightly over each kneading bar and does not form separate balls.

6. Push the Off button and remove the pan as soon as possible after the signal, for there is no cool-down cycle.

This machine has a preheat cycle, so you don’t have to worry about the temperature of the water. It has two knead bars, so all the dough is well mixed. It has an oven light that lets you see the bread without opening the lid and an Extend Rise button that lets you extend the rise time by 10 or 20 minutes as the bread is rising. The oven door swings open so you don’t have to lift the pan from the top. And it has a Too Hot or Too Cold display if the oven is either before you start. Finally, the readout button counts down the time left for the complete baking cycle.

Some of its drawbacks are that it cannot be started the night before, as it has no cool-down cycle; nor can it be started in the morning and left while the baker is at work, for the bread will tend to become soggy if it stays in the machine too long after it finishes baking, although there is a keep-warm period.

 

The next three machines are all similar in appearance with upright rectangular pans. None have cool-down cycles, but all have a keep-warm period like the machine above. The paddles are strong and will work well with our flours. I have worked with all of these and find them most satisfactory. They require no mixing of the dough outside the pan and no stirring while the kneading cycle is in progress.

The Red Star is new on the market, and at an affordable price. It can be programmed separately for Dough or Bake only, as well as the complete cycle.

The Toastmaster Platinum 1199S has an extra-heavy pan and a Rapid cycle that works well with our flours.

The West Bend 41040 has a Basic/Rapid cycle that is good for our flours.

To make the best bread using the three models above, follow the directions for the West Bend Bakers Choice, but select the button that corresponds to the Basic/Rapid. You must put the wet ingredients in first and then the dry, putting the yeast either in a well on top or incorporating it into the dry ingredients. You will not be able to change the knead time, rise time, or bake time. Be sure to remove the bread as soon as possible after the baking is done, taking care not to burn yourself on the hot pan.

There are new machines coming onto the market every year, and companies are trying to improve their models all the time. Perhaps someday we will have the perfect machine for our breads, and it may not be any of these. But for now, they will work well. Other machines must be judged on their mixing power for our heavy dough, their ability to be programmed to a shorter rising so the yeast isn’t exhausted before the bread is through the rise cycle, and their baking performance.

Yes, there is a lot to learn about bread making and I am always discovering new quirks. But I confess to feeling like a culinary Rembrandt when my bread turns out plump and crusty, looking like one of the pictures in my baking books.

FOR FURTHER READING

The Bread Machine Magic Book of Helpful Hints, by Linda Rehberg and Lois Conway. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1993.

FOR BREAD MACHINE HELP

Phone: Red Star Yeast & Products, 800-423-5040 (800-4-CELIAC).