Dense or gummy interior, or inadequate rising in my gluten-free breads. What am I doing wrong?

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If the breads in Gluten-Free Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day are coming out dense or gummy, or don’t seem to rise as much as you expect, here are the things to check:

Expectations: No question about it, gluten-free breads are denser than wheat breads, and they don’t rise as high. Plus, they get most of their loft in the hot oven (that’s called oven spring). Don’t expect to see a lot of visible change while the loaf is resting (after its shaped).

If you’re not loving the no-egg version: Since 2009, our wheat books have included one chapter with gluten-free recipes, always with eggs. Many of our gluten-free readers asked for gluten-free recipes that were also egg-free, so when we wrote Gluten-Free Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day in 2014, we made our default Master Recipe egg-free, with a variation that includes whole eggs or egg whites (on page 73). But–there’s no question that the egg versions have better rise and are less dense. If you can eat eggs, our favorite is the egg white version; there’s more on this at a post describing the version with egg. If you cannot eat eggs and you’re finding the no-egg version too dense, go through all the tips on this page–and if you’re still not happy with the density of the loaf-breads, consider using the dough for flatbreads that won’t require as much structure and loft.

If you’re making the gluten-free recipes from The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, there were typos that mainly affected the gluten-free recipes. Click here to view the corrections. The recipes will seem much too wet without these corrections.

Inadequate mixing: Consider using a stand mixer if you’re finding the loaves to be denser than you like. It’s certainly possible to get good results by mixing with a spoon or dough whisk, but you really have to work at it, to get a completely smooth mixture, and some of our readers are giving up too soon. Bottom line, the stand mixer will give more reliable results. One thing to be aware of–the very high capacity stand mixers (eg., 6-quart) don’t work well for this gluten-free dough–it seems to “climb” up the flat beater and avoid the mixing process. Stick with about a 5-quart capacity.

Wrong hydration: In other words, too much or too little water relative to the flour mixture. If you’re swapping for a flour that we didn’t test with, go back to Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free flours (not their flour mixtures), which are the only ones readily available in U.S. supermarkets, and test again. Other flours may absorb water differently, and you may need to adjust. If you can’t find Bob’s, you may need to adjust the water–take a look at our videos so you can see what the dough looks like fully mixed. If there’s no explanation for your overly wet dough, consider mixing it a little drier next time–increase the flour by 1/8-cup, or decrease the liquids a little.

Swapping in a flour or other ingredient we didn’t test with: As above, all bets are off if you aren’t using what we tested with. In particular, we did not have good results with rice flours from Asian markets.

Measurement  problems: You’ll get most accurate results if you weigh the ingredients rather than using cup-measures. We’ve had good experience with the Escali and the Eatsmart digital scales. Cup measures may be allowing too much (or too little) flour, which throws off the hydration. If you do use cup-measures, be sure to pack gluten-free flours into the cup (like you were measuring brown sugar). These flours are powdery, and we found this to be the only way to get reasonably consistent volume measurements with gluten-free flours (this is very different from what we recommend in our wheat-based books and in videos and posts here on the website).

Oven temperature may be off… which can wreck your “oven spring.” Always check with an oven thermometer.

Adequately preheat your baking stone: Some ovens and stone combinations require a longer preheat than the 20 or 30 minutes we specify in the book.

Resting time: Make sure you’re resting for the full interval that we recommend in the book.

Large loaf: In general, we tested these as small loaves (usually one pound), so if you made something larger, rest them for longer, and bake them for longer.

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84 thoughts to “Dense or gummy interior, or inadequate rising in my gluten-free breads. What am I doing wrong?”

    1. Click on the Gluten-Free FAQs tab above, and then choose these two items:

      Substitutions for ingredients in our gluten-free recipes

      Whole grains in gluten-free baking: how can I get more of them into the flour mixtures?

      1. Hi- I am an experienced gluten free baker (former bakery owner) and I was fairly disappointed with using your basic recipe from the gf artisan bread cookbook as a loaf bread. There is extremely little rise and I have found that in my own recipe, folding in whipped (stiff) egg whites gives the best rise. Have you tried this? I used your addition of the eggwhites with the water but stiff found it dense. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

      2. Have you tried all the suggestions above? Note that we were having problems with the 6-quart stand mixer (not the 6 1/2 as it said until recently corrected). And also very important– are you making any ingredient substitutions? Are you using Bob’s Red Mill flours, which is what we tested with? Are you making the version with xanthan, or the version with psyllium?

        If none of these are helping, then yes, try whipping the egg whites before adding and see if that helps. If you have a chance, I’d love to hear if that worked well for you…

      3. I was wondering if you have ever tried any non-dairy milk substitutes in your bread recipes as I’m dairy free & gluten free? If so, what works well? Thanks

      4. Most of our gluten-free recipes are made without dairy–so it’s much of an an issue with our recipes. Brioches which call for butter are the exception, though some of ours call for oil.

      5. I am wondering if and how to use albumin instead of egg whites for the master recipe?

      6. It might work, but I don’t know how to advise you on the liquid. You’ll need some water with the powdered albumin.

  1. I do not know what I might be doing wrong. I have your gf artisan bread cook book. I have made two batches of your nbr one mix. Just trying to make the first simple bread. I used a mixer on second batch – have a baking stone – have a new oven thermometer- thought I followed all your directions very carefully – the dough just does not raise. Do you ever teach any classes?

    1. We’re not scheduled to do any gluten-free classes, but we should be able to help you here. So first, some questions:

      What brands of flours are you using?
      Which are you using, xanthan or psyllium?
      Does your dough look like what you see in our videos (https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2014/10/20/videos-from-tv-segments-on-gluten-free-artisan-bread-in-five-minutes-a-day)?
      Did you see any improvement when you switched to a mixer?
      How are you measuring, by volume or by weight?
      What is the hole-structure like when you bake the bread? When you say “doesn’t rise,” do you mean there are no holes in the baked loaf and all you have is a dense, solid, cake?

      1. Also, make sure the yeast is still good. Yeast doesn’t need to be proofed anymore, but if it’s been laying around a while, it might not be active enough.

  2. Mixture #1 Using BRM flours. I substituted brown rice for white rice flour every thing else the same. New oven thermometer, heat baking stone 60 minutes, let dough rest same amount of time. Not much oven spring, finished bread very dense, good flavor but not what I’d serve to company. The outside doesn’t sizzle and crackle, it actually looks like some thing made of clay, kind of grey and ugly. HELP!!

      1. Yes, I have seen that post and my loaf looks very similar except for the color. I think using the brown rice flour instead of the white is causing the color to not be so white. I can live with that. My loaf looks like yours before I put it into the oven,but not much spring at all. When it comes out there isn’t anything brown on it. I am using xanthan gum. We can have eggs so will try that next time. I do have enough left to do a loaf in a pan, will try that.
        Thanks Zoe for your help.

      2. Hi Alma,

        I do think the egg version will produce a lighter loaf. Are you adding the sugar? It helps the gluten-free loaves get better color. Last thing is to make sure your oven is running hot enough with an oven thermometer.

        Thanks, Zoë

  3. I have a bucket of dough in the frig right now. I used whole eggs and I do use the sugar. I test my oven each time, so feel confident the temp is correct. I plan to do a loaf in a bread pan this afternoon. Also, the spring with the two hour resting outside the frig was much more this time than the first batch. I’ll let you know.

    1. Well, I still haven’t nailed this bread. My last bucket was made with eggs (whole), the crumb was only marginally better. Still really dense. I did the last of the batch in my loaf pan, and they did not turn out any better. The picture on page 85 of your book doesn’t look anything like my loaf’s. There is barely any change on my loaf baked from the one that has risen. My yeast is good, I’ve tested it. My oven is correct, I checked it, I use my stand mixer. I use a digital scale to measure. Thanks

      1. Hi Alma,

        Are you adding the additional water because you are using the brown rice flour? The additional water will loosen up the dough and allow it to rise better.

        Is your water warm to the touch? Is the kitchen warm or on the cool side? I just wonder if the temperature of the dough is cool, which would require a bit more resting.

        Are you baking on a baking stone? If so, how long are you preheating?

        Thanks, Zoë

    1. I recently purchased the electronic GF book from iTunes. Have all the typos been corrected?
      Thanks

  4. I also am having issues with the basic bread (Mix #1) being extremely dense. I am an experienced baker, have a nice stone, temperature is correct, following the mix and steps exactly (BRM flours, eggs, water amount and temp, sugar, xanthan gum, yeast) and all ingredients are fresh. I’ve tried the longer resting time, whipping the eggs and a slightly higher oven temp but I just can’t seem to nail this. Is there any value in increasing the amount of yeast to get a little more loft?

  5. I’ve made the artisan bread gluten free and it came out great but I’ve tried to make the loaf sandwich bread two times and can’t get it. It’s really dense and looks strange. Can u post a video on that one or provide some advice. Should I be using something other than the master recipes dough ?

    1. Hi Kelly,

      Do you have our Gluten-Free book? If so, I’d try the challah recipe as a loaf pan bread. I like the idea of doing that as a video. I will try to get to that soon.

      Thanks, Zoë

  6. Hi Guys, thanks for taking the time and energy to do all of this. I made the bread for guests and it was great on the first try (so relieved lol), but all of the subsequent times it did not turn out well. I refrigerated the dough and allowed it to rise, etc., all the same steps as the first (it was the dough from original batch). Wondering if not using it fresh right away impacts rise & density? I’m about to try a second batch of dough and I’m going to try baking a larger loaf this time to see what happens. I read all your FAQs and didn’t see this issue addressed. Any ideas would be appreciated 😉

  7. I tried making the gluten free master recipe 6 separate times, and every time the loaf has a wonderful dark, crisp crust, but the inside is dense (very small holes) and somewhat ‘wet’- almost like it it didn’t cook enough (I tried cooking one batch longer and it had a crust that was so thick it was teeth shattering but the inside was the same. I’ve followed all of the tips (I even preheated the stone for 1 hour and let the dough rise for 1.5 hrs before backing it), watched the videos, bought an oven thermometer, weigh the ingredients, and have played with the moisture level of the dough, but I’m having no success. I have a convection oven that does let out a lot of steam, but I just add more than 1 cup of water to the broiler pan to compensate. Do you have any suggestions? I desperately want to make the recipes in this book, but am very frustrated.

    1. GF breads are definitely denser and damper than wheat breads, and some people just don’t like them as well. That said, most people who experience that will find that this is fixed when they may the variation with egg whites, which you’ll find in the Master Recipe chapter. We do find egg whites work even better than whole eggs.

      Find it on the bottom of the page with the Lazy Sourdough Shortcut, in Chapter 6.

    2. Rosemary I had the very same problems. I tried all the suggestions that Jeff made, nothing worked. Was a very expensive experience. Got rid of the book.

  8. Rosemary: Have you tried the version with egg white yet? In the notes above, it looks like Alma stopped at the whole egg version, which is definitely denser than the egg-white one.

    The other thing is to switch to a stand mixer (or borrow one). Definitely emulsifies the ingredients better, which leads to a lighter result.

    And the other thing to remember–GF breads are denser, and as always this is a matter of taste. Check out our Amazon reader reviews, at https://amzn.to/1msOBmY. About 85% give the book 4 or 5 stars (out of 5). I think what we’re seeing is that some people just aren’t going to enjoy GF bread–it’s just not as light and airy as wheat bread. This is a trade-off, see what you think.

    But if you haven’t tried the egg-white version, that’s the next thing to try.

    1. No I did continue with the egg whites, that did not work for me either. I do know the GF bread is more dense and I did use a stand mixture.

    2. Hi Jeff,
      I did do the egg white version and used a stand mixer. I’ve been gluten free for 10 years so I am very familiar with gluten free bread. I’ve made many loaves at home and know they are denser which is fine. What comes out of my oven when I’ve made the Master recipe is by far the densest bread I’ve ever made. I’ve read the Amazon reviews as well, which is why I’m confused about why my bread isn’t turning out like what the people in their reviews describe. I will try another batch and see what happens.

      1. Well– I have to admit, sometimes we just can’t figure it out on the website this way. I’m assuming you didn’t make any substitutions or omissions. All Bob’s Red Mill, etc.? Used the structuring agent (psyllium or xanthan)? Not at high altitude (more than 5,000 feet)?

  9. Hi. I am working with the Gluten-Free Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I currently have a pizza dough recipe made with 00 GF flour but it’s not that great. I would like to try your pizza dough. With sugar removed from the pizza dough recipe, can I use it to make pizza/flat bread in a wood fired pizza oven? I cook at 750 degrees fahrenheit. Thanks.

    1. We never had great results with commercial GF flours, which is why we developed and tested our own mixtures. You can leave the sugar out but it’s a tenderizer and you may find the results to be a little tough. Also, we don’t have access to ovens that hot so we’ve never tested it at 750F. It’d probably work…

  10. I have tried to make the gf sandwich loaf with mix#1. The rise was very successful, within 1,5 hours the dough reached the lid of the container (more than 3 times volume increase). After that it started to slowly drop. Overnight in the fridge the level dropped further.
    The loaf had a homogenous pore structure and rise a little in the oven and was edible.

    Is it normal that the level drops after the initial rise, and than further in the fridge?

    Any suggestions on how to teach a more moderate and stable rise?

    1. Hi Luding,

      If you can eat eggs, I suggest making the dough with egg whites. You’ll find the instructions on page 73 of GFin5. The egg whites give the dough a bit more rise and lighter texture. You can also mix the dough and put it in the pan to rise right away (page 68).

      It is normal for the dough to rise and then collapse in the bucket, but when it is set to rest on the counter the yeast will be active again and start to rise.

      Thanks, Zoë

  11. Hi… just want you to know.. I just made the gluten free brioche – from your gluten free book..OMGEEE, it is beyond delicious – I had to sneak a piece – I am so excited to use this in my stuffing for Thanksgiving! I can’t believe out of baking my way through a lot of those recipes, I never made this before… I can’t wait to use it for french toast!

  12. I purchased a gluten free bread machine. Used the cycle and recipe suggested. Time was 2 hr & 10 min. Taste was great. But as the first loaf I made-it was extremely dense and not cooked through in the center.
    When using the setting for gf bread, there is no way to set it for longer baking time. I read the instruction book -nothing about any way to extend it. What can I do? hope you can help-

  13. I made dough for the 100 percent whole-grain loaf on page 102 of GF Artisan Bread in Five. I made it in a bucket and placed the lid just resting on top. When it rose, it touched the lid. I put it in the fridge and now (next day) I notice that the dough fell. It is maybe 1/4 less than what it was. Is that OK or to be expected? Or is it because I didn’t give it adequate room with my bucket/lid? (I never did seal the lid). In any case, do you think the dough will work OK? I measured all ingredients on the scale.
    Also, I would like to make this bread using mini loaf pans. What resting/baking time would you suggest?

    1. You should be OK–that initial rise is what matters, and it sounds like it was vigorous. Our dough always shrinks back once refrigerated, and 1/4 is typical. The resting time, I’m guessing, won’t change between 1-pound free-forms (as written), and mini-loaf pans.

  14. I have made three attempts at making GF bread (from Gluten-Free Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day) and while the taste is great the middle is doughy and the crust is hard. What am I doing wrong? For all the recipes I have made a half batch of the Gluten Free All Purpose Flour mix (pg.60). I also cut the Master Recipe in half (pg.64). I have been using a scale (Escali Primo Digital Scale) to measure the flours and the majority of the flours are Bob’s Red Mill. The first loaf I made was the artisan free form loaf (pg.65). I mixed the dough using a dough whisk. I baked it on a pizza stone with a silicone mat and water in the pan below. I followed the instructions in the book for rest time and oven heat time. It came out doughy with a hard crust. I waited till it was completely cool before cutting (sawing) into it. Per instructions I left the leftovers turned cut side down on a plate. After a couple days the outer crust was even harder to cut through. I read in your book about the trouble with gas ovens and so my next loaf I made some adjustments. I added extra water to the pan below the pizza stone and covered the bread with an overturned large aluminum baking pan. The bread did not seem done when the timer went off so I think I baked it 5-10 minutes longer without the aluminum pan covering it. Once again the bread was doughy with a hard crust. After a couple days it was so hard I threw the leftovers out. Yesterday, I mixed up another half batch of the master recipe (pg.64) and made the Crusty White Sandwich Loaf (pg.85). I mixed the dough this time with a hand-held mixer to get a smooth dough. Unfortunately I baked it in a regular size loaf pan not seeing that your pan was smaller. I followed the instructions for rest time and oven pre-heat (since I used my pizza stone.) I covered the bread pan with the large aluminum foil pan and added water to the lower pan. I baked the bread for 60 minutes, but it did not look golden on the top. Added 10-20 more minutes to the bake time to get the golden color. When I took it out of the oven it had some give when pressing on it. I let it cool completely overnight. When I tried cutting into it today it was so hard. I ended up using an electric knife and almost frying the motor. The bread tastes great (after toasting it), but I want to be able to eat the bread without toasting. What am I doing wrong? I have an oven thermometer and it reads correct temperature. GF flours are not cheap so I really would like to figure out what I am doing wrong. Also, have there been any corrections made to the book? Thank you!

    1. The likeliest thing that could explain your experience is flour-swapping (you say that only the “majority” of the flours are Bob’s Red Mill). As you know, we tested exclusively with Bob’s Red Mill, because it’s the only GF product line consistently available throughout the U.S. We found that GF recipes are very, very finicky about water content relative to the flour, and that different flour-brands can have radically different water-absorption properties.

      So–my first guess (and it’s a guess) is that your dough has too much water relative to your flour-switch. First thing I’d try would be to go to 100% Bob’s products. Alternatively, you could just decrease the water a bit. You’ve needed to increase baking time, so the crust gets tough–but the middle’s too wet–that jives with too much water. Does your dough look like the consistency you see in our video at https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2015/03/03/gluten-free-bread-in-five-minutes-a-day-the-video/ ?

      Long shot alternative answer: your oven thermometer could be wrong, and actually your oven’s too cool. That would give the same result as too-wet dough. So you could just try increasing oven temp in 25-degree increments (hate to see you run out and buy a new thermometer).

      Another long-shot: the stand-mixers work better than hand mixers in emulsifying this. Can you borrow one to try that possibility? Stand-mixers are the best for GF dough (see page 42). Both are better than hand-mixing.

      Last-ditch effort if the loaves aren’t to your liking–flatbreads cannot miss–you just never get a gummy crumb with flatbreads, even if your GF dough is flawed (page 171-207).

      We haven’t been alerted to any corrections in this book.

  15. I am interested to know whether there are recommended changes for the GF artisan recipes when baking at altitude. I live at about 5500 ft.

  16. I was an artisanal baker for many years before having to go gluten-free eight years ago. That’s when my focus turned to gluten-free baking with a focus on great texture and flavor. When I found your book, I was eager to see what you had come up with for an artisanal bread. My first attempt with the incorrect recipe ended with dough that was way too wet and bread that was very gummy. So, I was relieved to find the corrections to the first printing of “The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.” Once I made the corrections, the bread was wonderful. Later, I found your “Gluten-Free Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day,” and was very excited to try your new Master Recipe. Unfortunately, it was dense and heavy and nothing like your original recipe. (I made the version with eggs.) I’m wondering why you chose to change your Master Recipe so dramatically, why you don’t use any oil in your new recipe, and if you prefer it to the original one in “The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.”

      1. I haven’t tried it with egg whites, I was mostly just curious about the change in your recipe since it was so different from the first GF master recipe.

      2. The reason we defaulted to egg-free in the Master in that book is that a fair number of folks who don’t eat gluten and wheat also avoid eggs. It was a judgement call, and many people find the egg-free version to be to their taste. That said–the egg versions do rise better, because eggs (really, the egg whites) have rising power when heated. That’s why I suggested that you might like the egg-white version.

  17. I have the GF Artisan Bread in 5 cookbook… first off, be honest- the photos are all using regular flour. There is NO away they’re made with the gluten free mixes.

    Few things.

    1) When you say for example with the baguette to use a 1/2lb orange size piece of dough- that’s such a ridiculous small looking baguette. Nothing like your photos. Same with boule. I’m annoyed with that. I have to use double practically.

    2) My loaves aren’t browning. I’ve tried the aluminum pan with hot water steaming technique.

    3) My loaves come out super cracked looking. Not smooth at all.

    1. Danielle, somewhere in our comments-stream, we did acknowledge that a few of the black-and-white instructional photos were actually wheat doughs from a previous book of ours–it’s an embarrassing editing mistake for us, it’s true. But, that’s it. In particular, all the beautiful color photography–those are all GF breads made using our GF flour mixtures. No exceptions.

      About browning: larger ovens are more difficult to get good browning (small ones reflect the heat more effectively). Don’t know if that’s your situation, but other things to try are: 1) check oven temp with an inexpensive oven thermometer (even if you have digital readout). If it’s too cool, it’s tough to get the browning. 2) Try one of the other steam techniques on page 31-33. 3) Try adding a little sugar to the dough, which promotes caramelization. 2 tablespoons to a full batch should be enough.

      Cracking: These are prone to that. Take a little extra time to smooth the surface with very wet fingers.

      About your baguettes: you didn’t say how they turned out when you doubled the size. Nice crumb-structure and flavor?

      Jeff

  18. Hello, I’ve been making breads from your book for a few years. I’ve been baking bread without gluten for 16 years, but never had a concise resource such as the book you’ve created, so thank you! I live in the Netherlands (left the US in 2016) and have consistently found that the flours available in Europe require a lot more water than the recipe calls for. Lately I am making the “Seeded 100% whole grain bread” (p106) a lot (with psyllium husk instead of xanthan gum), and with the combination of flours and water-absorbing seeds the dough needs about 20% more water to become a wet enough consistency to resemble thick cake batter, which gives a good rise. Using the recipe’s recommended amount of water results in a small, dense loaf about a third smaller. I see that the book has been translated into German; I am wondering if the recipes were re-tested here?

      1. Thanks Jeff. The geek in me wishes for that. Bob’s Red Mill flours are not sold in Europe (and frankly that’s fine – there are many fine brands here). In any case, I get much better results increasing the water significantly. For example – in the Seeded Whole Grain loaf, I make a half recipe of dough, which normally would call for 455g of water. I use 600g. A bit less of a difference with the peasant breads, pizza dough and brioche. Getting to know the consistency of a good dough is key.

      2. … and especially when using different flours than the ones with which we tested. Have to be flexible when using US books in Europe or vice-versa. Sounds great!

    1. Hi Susan, I just wanted to thank you for leaving this comment. I am in Ireland, and probably have similar sources of flour to you in Germany. I will follow your advice about the water, as I’ve just gotten the book this week 🙂

      1. Hi Stacey,
        Thanks, that’s nice to read. I definitely recommend starting with GFABin5’s exact proportions (but perhaps only half a dough recipe) just to see what the baseline is. I think you probably have some other flourmill products available there so best is to figure out which brand is easiest to get a hold of on a regular basis. I end up ordering my flours online from GF webshops since the stock here is inconsistent (especially now, with everyone taking up baking during the pandemic). Good luck!

  19. Hi! Made my first Master Recipe (no egg or egg white as I want to try the lazy sourdough method). I made a 1 lb loaf. Everything went according to plan, used the cast iron ceramic coated dutch oven method. I was having trouble getting my oven temperature right. I let the loaf cool for 2 hours (on the dot) and it rose perfect, lots of little holes, nice crust, etc. but it is a bit gummy – I’m thinking perhaps I under baked it? I baked at 450 for about 40 minutes (not 45). I do have the option to convect bake but I was unsure if I need to lower the temperature if I choose to convect bake? Also, when you pre-heat your dutch oven, do you first pre-heat your oven and then put the dutch oven in for 30 minutes to pre-heat it? Your recipe is wonderful – just want to tweak my loaf.

    1. Sounds like you underbaked a bit, so if you don’t make other changes, just go for 45 min. With convection, in older (or maybe just less deluxe) ovens that don’t make an automatic correction, you need to lower temp by 25 degrees F, or the crust will over-brown. Probably the same baking time though. Pre-heat the oven and the Dutch Oven together, starting at the same time.

  20. Hi, I would really like to try your recipe but wish to clarify if the 60 mins resting time applies if I wish to bake the bread immediately after the two hour proofing period. Thank you.

    1. You need to rest the love after it’s shaped, between 40 and 90 minutes depending on what recipe you’re working from

  21. My oven has a proof setting that can hold the oven temp at 95°. Can this be used to decrease the resting time? There is also a steam bake setting, this seems like a good alternative to using the other methods for adding steam.

    1. Hi Patrick,

      Yes, you should take advantage of both features. Keep an eye on the first loaf so that you can figure out the right timing. Maybe check it half way through the rise and see how it is progressing in the proofer.

      Enjoy! Zoë

  22. I have a question about using psyllium in your gluten free recipes. It is not clear if I use psyllium husk or psyllium powder. The powder is much more dense. I know I’ll get more accurate results if I weigh but just want some clarity on which type you use in your gluten free recipes.

    1. The recipes were tested with products labeled ground psyllium husk, not powder. I thought the powder might be interchangeable, but readers have written in to say that it doesn’t work. Stick with ground psyllium husk only.

  23. i am trying the gluten free artisan bread with your flour mixture however, my first try at forming the loaf was a disaster. the initial dough mix i believe is too wet since i was getting more stuck to my hands even though using the rice flour. since i have more dough to use at another time i am wondering about whether i can add more flour and let it rest again before trying to form another round.

    1. Yes, you can add more flour, and then let it sit out on the counter to re-ferment. Have you seen the video of how it should look here on the website? Which of my books are you using, and which page number?

  24. Can I substitute mixture #2 for mixture #1 in recipes? I prefer whole grain and made a large batch of Mixture #2 before I realized I could substitute brown rice in #1.

    1. Not as a one for one swap, because they behave completely differently in recipes. There are several recipes in the gluten-free book I wrote that use that flower. You should know that 100% whole grain gluten-free recipes are pretty dense. Some people who find the Lowe’s to dense still like them when made into flatbread

  25. My GF bread dough, using the gluten-fee all-purpose flour and the Master Recipe, rose nicely in the bowl, then deflated when chilled. The round loaf on the baking stone rose minimally once in the oven. The loaves in the bread pans never rose. The round loaf was tasty.

    1. When you say “… the gluten-free all-purpose flour,” do you mean a commercial blend of flours? My books call for a custom blend you make yourself. The commercial blends are designed for cookies and cake, not bread. Do you have my gluten free book (https://artisanbreadinfive.com/gf)?

  26. I’m a pretty experienced gf bread baker, found your GF book and thought to give it a try. I mixed up a batch of your master recipe, on page 64, no substitutions, used a weigh scale and stand mixer. My dough looked like the video. I put it in a large bucket with lid, and it sat in the fridge overnight. The next day I tried the loaf on page 85, let it rest on the counter 90 minutes, there was little to no raise. Preheated my oven for over half an hour and put in an oven thermometre as I know it can fluctuate. I baked as per the recipe, with hot water in a tray. The result was a dense, pale brick – pretty much no oven spring, just a little lift along the slash. What went wrong, and how do I salvage the rest of the batter and not waste more $$$ flours 🙁

    1. I know you made no substitutions, but that includes flour-brand. For the flour mix that the recipe refers back to (on page 60), all recipes were tested with Bob’s Red Mill brand flours–for the white rice flour, sorghum flour, tapioca flour or starch, and potato starch (not potato flour). I did not have good results when I used other brands with this recipe formula. And its best to weigh out ingredients when creating the mix, not just when weighing out the mix for the dough you’re making. Second– did you use xanthan gum or ground psyllium husk? If you used ground psyllium husk, that’s a less standard product and may be inconsistent. Could switch to xanthan gum and again, I’d go with Bob’s Red Mill.

      If all those check out and aren’t the explanation, I’m stumped–in terms of ingredients. I know the recipe works as written–the book has 88% four- or five-star ratings on Amazon. Other options…
      1. Oven isn’t hot enough to get oven spring– check with something like https://amzn.to/3Zl7Ozg. Or if too hot, sets the crust before the crumb has a chance to expand.
      2. Measurement error, throwing off the hydration?
      3. Not fully fermented? Might work better on day 2 or 3?
      4. If we can’t figure it out– consider making this dough as a flatbread–start with the pita on page 199, which is the most forgiving bread for density problems. The loaf you picked– a tall pan-bread–is the least forgiving if there’s been a measurement or mixing error.
      5. Finally, any chance your yeast is dead? Expiration date?

  27. Thanks for the response. I used some BRM flours but not all are available here in my Canadian town. That has never been an issue with any of the other bread recipes I’ve successfully baked.
    1. Oven is hot enough – I use an oven thermometre and I know my oven needs to be 50*F hotter than recipes state.
    2. I weighed everything. Very carefully. I’m an experienced gf bread baker with lots of successes.
    3. I fermented in the fridge for 1 day (so could let it sit longer, true)
    4. Yeah a loaf can be trickier, for sure.
    5. My yeast is active, not past expiration date, stored properly, foams nicely – and works for every other recipe I’ve tried.

    I did not want the rest of the batch to go to waste, so I took the suggestion of others who had the same issue. I added half a cup of water to the remnant (about 1/2 of the original master batch) and mixed it up. The last 4 days in the fridge, it showed further development, rising some. Today I pulled out about a pound and made it into a boule, let it rest on the counter while the oven preheated, and baked using the preheated dutch oven with ice cubes method. It made a lovely little boule, rose to double in the oven and had a nice crumb. So I’m wondering if your humidity levels are different where you are. I live near Edmonton, Alberta, 670m above sea level and usually quite dry.

    1. Based on what you said, the originally-mixed dough was too dry, and the only explanation is that some of the flours you used weren’t the ones I tested with. No matter– now that you know these flours require higher hydration, you can compensate at the beginning. A full cup extra sounds like a lot for a full batch, but if that’s what your testing is showing, that’s probably right. I don’t think a difference in humidity could account for this much difference in hydration requirement.

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