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                         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!