<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Bread Machine Tips ------------------ by Mary Guerriero Excerpts from Mary's talk at our October meeting. Red Star (makers of Red Star yeast) has a booklet entitled "Gluten-Free Bread Recipes". The booklet explains a lot of the basics of making gluten-free (GF) bread and contains some really great recipes. [We usually have copies at our meetings, or you can call Red Star on their special celiac hotline (1-800-4CELIAC) and they will send you one.--ed.] Mary showed us the Red Star breadmaker, which sells for less than $100. (It is now called the Magic Chef bread machine, available at Wal-Mart.) Other bread machines may work equally well, so long as they are programmable. When you make GF bread you only need one kneading cycle and one rising cycle. Most bread machines have two cycles, which unnecessarily prolongs the time it takes to make a loaf of bread and can help cause GF breads to fall in the center. But with a programmable machine you should be able to eliminate the extra cycle. If you have problems with your machine just call the manufacturer; they should be able to tell you how to eliminate the extra cycle. We also have a brochure from Toastmaster, another bread machine company. Most of their recipes use soy flour and make an excellent loaf of bread. Mary starts by whipping her eggs with a fork and then mixing in all the other wet ingredients. She then puts the wet ingredients in the bread pan. Next she whisks all the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and dumps them into the bread pan. Then she starts the bread machine and lets it knead for about five minutes. At this point she takes a spatula around the edges of the bread pan to make sure it all mixes. This is recommended because the GF flours are so heavy that you sometimes have to help things along. [Some bread machines direct you to put the dry ingredients in first, then the liquid ingredients--follow the directions for your machine.--ed.] When measuring your flours, remember two things: Don't pack your flours down, just spoon them into the measuring cup; and always level the measurements off using the back of a knife. If your bread sinks in the middle, that usually means it had too much liquid. The other thing to remember (with the Red Star bread machine) is that once the kneading is finished, NEVER lift the lid. If you do then all your heat is gone and the bread ends up sinking like a crater. Mary slices her bread before freezing it, and has each slice wrapped in plastic wrap so that she can easily pull one slice out at a time to thaw. If you decide to experiment with a new recipe, first make a loaf of bread using a tried-and-true recipe, slice it up, and freeze it. Once you've done that, you will have a loaf you can fall back on if the new recipe doesn't work out. That way you won't be in a panic late at night, still needing bread for the next day. Bette Hagman's cookbooks (The Gluten-Free Gourmet, More From the Gluten-Free Gourmet, and The Gluten-Free Gourmet Cooks Fast and Healthy) are absolutely wonderful. If you don't have them, get them. They are our kitchen bibles. If you don't have a bread machine, you can still make bread. You can do the same mixing as is done in the bread machine, then spoon the dough into bread pans and bake it in the oven. You may find that you have to bake it longer. Another alternative is to use the little mini-loaf pans. You can still get normal sized slices if you slice the mini-loaves lengthwise. You will probably have to cover the loaves with a tent of aluminum foil, shiny side up, after 10-15 minutes in the oven or they will burn on top. If you have any questions about making GF bread in a breadmaker, call Red Star at their special celiac hotline. Even if you don't have one of their bread machines, they will help you out. For instance, they recommend that the water you use in the recipe be only 80 degrees F, because the bread machine will heat your water for you to the proper temperature and at the proper time. Until you are getting dependable, repeatable results, DON'T leave your house while the bread machine is in use. Otherwise, you may come home to find that it overflowed the bread pan during the rise cycle to form a baked-on, crusty mess on the heating element. Always use large eggs for baking. Extra-large or jumbo eggs are too big, so part of them must be discarded. A good rule of thumb is 1/4 cup per egg (or egg substitute). Some celiacs tell me, "I can't bake, it would only be for me." But that is the case for most celiacs. A loaf of GF bread is expensive, so it only makes sense to get regular bread for other household members and save all of the GF loaf for the celiac in the family. That is why you package it individually and keep it frozen. Try to keep at least two different kinds of bread in your freezer, to give you some variety. Bagels are time-consuming to make, but they aren't hard. There is a recipe in the third Bette Hagman book that is excellent. Mary advises us that she never used to bake anything and was convinced she never would. She decided she would just eat rice cakes her whole life. Now she has learned how to bake her own breads and has become fairly successful at it. So no matter how futile you feel in your kitchen, you can and should learn how to bake your own GF breads. Mary remembers calling Toni Richardson in tears to talk about her latest disaster, which the birds wouldn't even eat. Toni would then make her a loaf of bread to have so that she wouldn't panic and could keep on experimenting and trying. You just have to keep working at it until you start getting good results. As you experiment with a recipe, put a post-it note next to it and write down exactly what you did different from what the original recipe said. If the bread turns out good, then write in your changes right on the recipe itself; if the loaf is a flop, then throw that post-it note away. The cheapest places to find your flours are ethnic stores that cater to oriental or Indian cuisine. Don't buy in-bulk from open bins, make sure you buy it in prepackage containers. [For example, we regularly purchase 5-lb. bags of rice flour for $1.99-2.49 at India Grocers in Sterling Heights--ed.] To pack a GF sandwich for lunch, put your toasted bread in one container and the sandwich fixings in another container; then when it is lunch time put it all together. This keeps the bread from becoming soggy. (You need to toast it to keep it from crumbling.) One member suggested adding an extra egg and using honey instead of sugar in the recipe to help keep the bread from getting crumbly. Dough scoops can be great tools for making buns, muffins, etc. The high-quality ones can be bought at Kitchen Glamour for $30; cheaper versions are available at places such as Lechter's. Put these items on your holiday gift list!