Gluten Free FAQs
Gluten Free FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
Readers asked for Gluten-Free Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day here on the website. There’ve been lots of gluten-free questions. Click on any of them below– these are the ones that seem to be on a lot of gluten-free bakers’ minds. If you’re having a problem with one of our recipes, breeze through these FAQs first. If you can’t find an answer in the FAQs, click on any “Comments” or “Reply” field (doesn’t have to be related to the content underneath). Please say which book you’re working from, and which recipe and page number:
- Dense or gummy interior, or inadequate rising. What am I doing wrong?
- Gluten: What is it? And what grains contain gluten?
- Nutritional information: How can I calculate it?
- Substitutions for ingredients in the gluten-free recipes
- Videos: Where can I view videos so I can see what your gluten-free dough’s supposed to look like?
- Whole grains in gluten-free baking: how can I get more of them into the flour mixtures?
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Do you half the psyllium in the pizza and flatbread recipe if you half the recipe? Thank you so much for your hard work!
I’ve been successful with making the gluten free boule loaf. Yesterday I mixed dough for challah (GF Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes A Day, page 210) and refrigerated it in a glass bowl with a loosely closed lid. Today I was unable to make a braid with the dough because the dough was too wet and sticky. I ended up shaping the loaf without braiding it. It rose about as much as the loaf in the color photo.
Why is the dough so soft, wet, and sticky? How can I correct that problem so I can make a braided challah?
Hi Elizabeth,
Are you using xanthan or psyllium as your binder?
Are you mixing in a stand mixer or by hand?
Did the dough seem to come together nicely when you first mixed it up and then got wet, or it never really came together?
Are you using any flours other than Bob’s red mill?
Thanks, Zoë
Xanthan gum
Mixing by hand, using a Danish dough whisk. I don’t own a stand mixer.
Yes, the dough came together well, was smooth, and rose well.
I’m using Bob’s Red Mill products, except that I grind my own brown rice flour in my Vitamix. Using Mixture #1, I sub oat flour for the sorghum, as I don’t like sorghum. I grind my own oat flour from Bob’s Red Mill gluten free rolled oats.
The recipe says to dust the dough with rice flour, but I used some of the Mixture #1, as I don’t have any plain rice flour at the moment.
Would wet, stormy weather affect the dough? We had heavy rain yesterday, when I mixed the dough, and milder rain showers today when I baked it.
The loaf came out well, although next one I will bake a few minutes longer. It didn’t rise much during baking.
Thank you for responding so quickly!
Beth.
Hi Beth,
There are a couple of things that I think are at play with your dough. As I was testing the recipes I did notice a big difference in the texture when I mixed by hand and when I used the mixer. It took a lot of muscle to get the dough to emulsify when I was doing it by hand and although I got a nice bread, it never behaved quite as well as the dough from a mixer. You may need to mix a bit more and vigorously if you don’t have a stand mixer.
I know from working with home ground wheat flours, they behave very differently than the flours that are milled commercially. The commercial griders can get a much finer grind than anything you can get at home. In wheat flour this makes a big difference in the way it behaves in the bread dough. I suspect this is also true for the gluten free recipes. The coarser ground flours will absorb water differently than a finer flour. It may just be a case that you have to increase the amount of flour that you are using. You may also have to play a bit with the amount of xanthan gum to compensate. Don’t add too much more xanthan or the bread can get too gummy.
Dusting the dough with mix #1 is just fine.
The weather can play a role, but it would be very subtle.
Thanks, Zoë
GF Artisan Bread book. Recipe pg 60 Mix #1 GF AP Flour. Does the flour mix need to be refrigerated or frozen in order to maintain quality of the components?
Hi Julie,
If you don’t think you will use it in a month’s time or it is particularly hot and humid in your kitchen, then freezing it would be a great idea.
Thanks, Zoë
Also, I cut the recipe in half, and measured by weight for all ingredients, even the water.
This is all very wonderful. As a life long celiac of 70 + yrs, I’m used to having few choices until very recently. I have some questions: 1) Are the flours in your mix expensive and/or how does cost per loaf come out? 2) Can the dough be frozen instead of refrigerated? I live alone & would not use it up in 5 days. 3) Can I do this in an old oven with just a baking pan & parchment? 4) Is there any chance of coming across a used or damaged book? This will take a big bite out of my SS check.
Thank you.
1. Well, they’re not cheap. While our 1-pound loaf breads are on the order of 40 or 50 cents a loaf, these are probably double that, or more.
2. Frozen dough– Limit it to 4 weeks for plain dough.
3. Yes!
4. Used books sometimes become available on Amazon or eBay, otherwise check out your local used bookstore.
I have tried the Basic recipe twice; weighing out and measuring as directed. Oven thermometer confirms temperature, using covered clay baker. Fails to rise, dough VERY soopy. I’m at 5280′ – Denver, CO. Do I need to adjust for high altitude?
Hi Kris,
This is very interesting, because I have never baked the gluten-free recipes at high altitude. Before I assume that is the issue, let me ask you about the ingredients you are using. Are you using Bob’s red mill products and are you making any substitutions? Are you using xanthan or psyllium?
Thanks, Zoë
Sorry , I’m am working from the Kindle form of your new gluten free book.
Yes, this can be confusing. The short answer is yes, but let me explain. We found that in some recipes, we needed extra binder (beyond what’s already in the flour mixture), and in those that did, the psyllium wasn’t as effective, so we needed the increment to be twice as much (as when we used xanthan). So, in the recipe on page 172, if you were making a full batch, and you used psyllium in your Mixture #1, then you need to add 4 teaspoons of ground psyllium husk in this recipe.
Since you’re doing a half-batch, you’ll need 2 teaspoons. Rather than 4. Hopefully this clarifies.
Hi! I’m working from your new GF Artisan book. I tried the master recipe and made the boule the next day and now, exactly 1 week later, am using the remainder to do batards. The boule was a bit dense and the batards didn’t rise much. When i did the first rise before refrigeration it rose and fell a bit. Did that first rise deplete the yeast? How do i get a springier , lighter loaf? The loaves in you pictures look like they rise much more than what I’m experiencing. By the way, i live in Hawaii and my ambient temp when baking is around 72-75 degrees F. I do have artisan bread experience having baked quite a bit till we became a GF household. Thanks for the book! Ive been searching the web for recipes and modifying to include more wholesome grains. Love that you included sorghum and millet, two of my favorites!
If you’re not intolerant of eggs, try the egg-enriched version of the master recipe (page 73) before we try anything else. We defaulted to the egg-less version of that recipe because some GF folks aren’t eating eggs either. But the rise and lightness is definitely better with the eggs.
But– be aware, that GF loaves just don’t have the lightness you get with gluten.
Thanks- ill try that. Other recipes I’ve tried uses lots of eggs, but like the idea of just egg whites. Am looking forward to trying many of your recipes.
Great, let us know if you have questions as you work through.
I’m confused… what is a pizza peel?
Here’s just one example: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0043M4JTE/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0043M4JTE&linkCode=as2&tag=arbrinfimiada-20“>Epicurean 23-by-14-Inch Pizza Peel
Hi,
Your book says you have instructional videos on your website, but all I can find is promotional materials and FAQ’s. Where can I find the instructional videos. I am trying to determine the wetness appropriate for gluten free dough. You book never really says what the texture should be. Cake batter? A dough that you can actually touch without sticking?
thanks
If you check back on the Gluten-Free FAQs tab, there’s now a link called “Videos: Where can I view videos so I can see what your gluten-free dough’s supposed to look like?” Should feel like soft biscuit dough; more pictures on this post: https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2014/11/03/master-recipe-from-gluten-free-abin5
Hello from Australia!
I just purchased your gf bread book.
Your two main mixes are based largely on rice flour. My mother cant have rice or quinoa, what would you suggest the closest and best substitute would be?
Check out the Gluten-Free FAQs tab above and select “Substitutions for ingredients in our gluten-free recipes” (or look on page 61 of the book). Those are the swaps we’ve tested. The real problem is that it’s very hard NOT to base things on rice flour– and still have them resemble bread. In our flour mixtures, if you change that one, you have to completely re-test the book, all bets are off, I’m afraid. Could try increasing the other flours or trying a little of oat flour in Mixture #1. Let us know if you find something that works, but we weren’t able to eliminate rice and still be happy with the result. But– we had to publish a whole book on it– you don’t! Doesn’t have to be quite so flawless.
I’m working from the GF artisan bread book and I’ve been SUPER satisfied with the results so far. I recently made the brioche, however and it is mouth-sucking dry, I think from so much cornstarch. Have you guys done any work on subbing out some of the cornstarch or do you have any tips on how to improve the texture of the dough? The flavor is great and the rise was lovely, but the finished product was uncomfortable to eat :/
Any chance you are using ingredients from the Asian markets? They can’t be swapped. Any other swaps or changes in the recipes that you’ve made? Does the dough itself seem drier than the other doughs you’ve made from the book, or only the finished brioche? Is your oven accurate in the 350F range where that loaf is meant to be baked at? How long is it taking to bake through (I’m wondering if you’re just over-baking–egg doughs are easy to overbake)? What shape are you baking this dough into? Did you use xanthan or psyllium as the binder?
I ask about swaps because in the book we talk about how we tested with Bob’s Red Mill products– because they’re available all over the U.S. That could be at least part of the explanation.
I used bobs red mill, did NOT use psyllium, baked in a loaf pan to 185 degF internal temp. The only swap I made was that I used 1.5 cups of sourdough starter and 1 tsp of yeast (and reduced the flour and water accordingly). The dough seemed well hydrated and supple, and the bread itself was moist, but once in the mouth the cornstarch created a very strange moisture-wicking sensation in the mouth. Has anyone else had this issue? The starter plus yeast substitution works beautifully for the other breads (including the challah), so I think the culprit is the corn starch…
Since brioche isn’t usually made in a sourdough style, we didn’t test with sourdough starter, so all bets are off–this may just take a bunch of experimentation for you. I don’t think it’s the cornstarch– we tested this recipe over and over and over, and did not get a dryness problem. How long did it take you to get to 185F internal? We’re not in love with temperature probes– the less expensive ones are usually inaccurate (or unreliable because you’re not sure you’re really at the center of the loaf). When I’ve tested with them, I usually overbake the loaf. And it’s dry. So I prefer knowing my oven temp accurately, then go by time, and the feel and appearance of the loaf.
Other problem is your oven temp– if it’s too low, it takes too long to bring the internal temp to your target, and so the loaf has a looong time to get dried out.
Ok I’ll try with yeast…I have an oven thermometer and a thermapen, and baking time was right about where the recipe said it should be, so perhaps it was the starter. I’ll try it without and keep ya posted 🙂
Rather than throw away the dry-tasting loaf, I made French toast with it and it was INSANE!!
I’m testing out the yeast-only brioche today.
I’ve made several baguettes and boules from the dough made with my sourdough starter and they are AMAZING. Thank you both so much for making this book. I was a Tartine Bread home baker before and was super depressed to have to go gluten free, so I’m over the MOON at these results!
Ok – so tried the brioche again using only yeast and it’s MUCH better. Thank you 🙂
This is terrific– and your information is very useful to us. Thank you for sharing it!
Can you use psyllium whole husk instead of ground psyllium husk. It appears ground but not real fine. I’m using your gluten free book. Love your book! Thanks!
You may be able to get by, but that’s not what we tested with, because we’d heard from others that it’s not as effective in creating structure. If you already have some and don’t mind experimenting (and possibly wasting ingredients), you could try it.
Greetings!
Thank you for GF artisan bread in 5. It’s changed all of our lives for the better. Yay!
n.b. – we mistakenly posted this in corrections for all ABin5. Apologies for the double post.
We do have a couple of questions/comments:
Although not professional bakers, we’re wondering about the very basic instructions in GFABin5 that mix the yeast, sugar and salt with the dry ingredients (step 1 on page 65 & beyond)and then add the water to the dry mixture. We’ve never baked with yeast in this way.
Because gluten free baking is new for us, we followed the master recipe as written. Disaster. Dough didn’t rise, bread was a total concreter with a raw crumb and a very nicely done crust.
Then we watched the ABin5 TV spots and noticed that Zoe always dissolved the yeast in the water first (and perhaps salt & sugar, too) and then added the dry mixture. We did the same – dissolved the yeast, salt & sugar in the water first (as we were taught by mom to check for yeast viability) and then added the dry flour mixture to the bubbling yeast water. Dough rises, yeast sings and gurgles, and we now have GF bread nirvana.
Thank you for posting the videos of dough consistency. It would have taken us longer to get there if we had to rely on the book only.
Sooo, hmmm, thoughts on step 1 as published?
Question: In creating the steam environment, why only 1 cup of water for the bake time? Is the water supposed to completely dissipate for the bread to ‘finish’ or could the water pan just be filled and allowed to steam for the entire bake?
Comments: It would be awfully nice if the black and white photos were labeled. For example, we’re guessing that the photo on the right hand side of p. 67 is supposed to show us that the dough more than doubles after the ingredients are mixed.
Food processor method way over mixed the dough for us and (of course) didn’t bake correctly. After watching the TV spots, we followed Zoe’s lead in all things mixing and just hand mixed the dough with a wood spoon (Danish dough whisk on its way) so that the dough wouldn’t be over worked. This resulted in the correct rise and dough consistency along with edible finished bread.
Heads up: We improvised and now use two cast iron Lodge griddles, flat side up, to bake our bread with cornmeal on the griddles. We liked the cast iron dutch oven method so much that we took the leap from dutch oven to griddles. They work perfectly, give us all the room we need to bake a lot of bread at once, and have the added benefit of multiple uses in the kitchen beyond baking.
Lodge makes several cast iron, double sided griddles. We discovered that 2 of them fit very well on our oven rack and almost cover it entirely. The griddles are hard almost impossible to break, heat incredibly well, are about half the price of a stone and should last a lifetime.
We have mastered the Master Recipe now, made our high altitude adjustments and are on our collective creative GFABin5 way. What a fantastic system for baking bread. Thank you, again, for your donation to the betterment of humanity in so many realms (genuinely grateful)and all things bread. You’re totally awesome!
Can’t explain your trouble; we tested by mixing the dry ingrdients (incl yeast) first, and never had a failure. We’ve tested this over and over. And over.
Then, about the 1-cup water– yes, it’s supposed to dissipate. Glad you’ve gotten these to work so well for you!
Thanks, Jeff! Happy baking!
I have made 3 batches of the Mixture #1: Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour on page 60. The first two did not rise so I threw them out! I followed the directions exactly. (I weigh the flours). The book says to increase the speed to medium-high for 1 minute until very smooth. This seems to make the dough very stiff. Today I made a 3rd batch doing it in the stand mixer the way your video shows and after 2 hours it raised about 1 1/2″ only. What am I doing wrong??? Don’t know if I should throw this batch out too. Very frustrating. Hope you can help me.
When you say “3 batches of Mixture #1,” I’m confused because that’s just the flour. Which of our recipes did you use them in? But assuming it’s the one on page 63– the main thing is to understand that there isn’t an exuberant rise like with wheat bread, and you should bake these rather than throwing them out even if they didn’t seem to rise. These loaves depend more on oven spring. So try that and tell us how it turns out.
So don’t throw out the dough! 🙂
Finally– understand that GF breads will never have the loft of wheat breads…
Guess I didn’t make myself clear. I made up the GF Master Recipe on Page 64. On page 67 it shows how much the dough will rise in 2 hours. My dough does NOT rise in the bucket! I have tried 3 times now with the same result. I use Bob’s Red Mill and Authentic Foods flours. During the time it is suppose to be rising in the bucket I have the lid cracked open slightly. Is it supposed to be closed tight until it has risen? Or maybe my scale is off and I am using too much flour as the dough is very stiff even after using less flour and more water. (I have ordered a new scale from King Arthur). I am perplexed – thanks for your help.
Which flour are you using Authentic Foods for? We didn’t test with that brand, so especially if it was the rice flour (which is a lot of the bulk), you’ll get different results. But the main thing–if your dough is “very stiff,” something is very wrong. this should be a fairly wet and soft dough– like soft biscuit dough. It’s just too dry, and that won’t rise–we saw the same thing when we went too dry. Either your scale is off, or the Authentic Foods product is absorbing much more water than the Bob’s– one of those.
You may be able to fix this just by adding more water– see our videos for what the dough should look like, go to the Gluten-Free FAQs tab above, and click on “Videos: Where can I view videos so I can see what your gluten-free dough’s supposed to look like?”
When I first tasted it after it had cooled for an hour, it seemed great, but as it rested it got that dry-mouthfeel again. The loaf feels moist to the touch, but when eating it, the texture in the mouth is a little like cornbread – a little dry for my tastes – maybe I’m just not a cornstarch person. I tasted the raw dough to see if it was an overbaking problem, and (to me – maybe I’m just strange) the raw dough tasted chalky, much like the finished product. I added a couple of extra eggs to this batch and I’m going to try baking it for 35 minutes instead of 40. I’ll also try making the soft rolls out of it as perhaps the smaller rolls baking for less time will help. It does make phenomenal french toast, so I can always use it for that. But for soft dinner rolls, I think I’ll stick with the recipes that don’t rely on so much corn starch (like the Challah recipe).
I assume through your testing that you found that that much cornstarch was necessary to get a light and airy loaf? Were there any runner-up recipes you’d be willing to share? I’d love to tweak around and see if I can find a happy medium between the Challah and the Brioche…
…sorry – this was supposed to be an add-on to my earlier enquiry about the Brioche dough…somehow it got posted separately. 🙂
Yes– we found that it just made a pudding with heavier flours–too dense. We have a gluten-free brioche recipe in Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day (https://bit.ly/3wYSSN) that might be considered a “runner-up.” It has a little less cornstarch per batch (3 3/4 cups), and it calls for oil, not butter. It’s not here on the website–our publisher would kill us if we put all our recipes up here on the site!
I don’t mind supporting you guys with another book purchase…I’m a complete cookbook junkie 😉
Thank you so so much! It’s nice to have such an amazing resource – thank you for your quick and thoughtful responses…and of course, your AMAZING recipes.
Peace,
Jill
Thanks Jill!
I added two extra eggs to the rest of the brioche batch and it was greatly improved! I received the “Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes…” book and I’m excited to try those recipes as well!
Fantastic Jill!
Just found out that I have intolerances to gluten, corn and eggs. I have been searching for tasty breads and learned you have now written a GF cookbook. I see in the comments that you are flexible with eggs but what about cornstarch?
Most of the recipes in the book are made with two flour mixtures we have you mix up, and neither of them have cornstarch. That said, our brioches have lots of added cornstarch, though you wouldn’t have made those since they’re based on eggs. The challah dough, which can be thought of as “brioche-light,” has no corn, but it does have four eggs in a four-pound batch of dough. The regular breads and pizzas in the book (which is most of them except those in Chapter 9), don’t have any corn at all. Many of the loaves sit to rest on a pizza peel prepared “with cornmeal or parchment” (so it slides off, into the oven). It doesn’t have to be cornmeal, you can use any coarse gluten-free grain like oatmeal etc. Or just stick with parchment.
Thanks Jeff! Fun to follow your successes!
Allyson? So sorry, didn’t realize it was you! Unless you enlarge the Gravatar and read the address, you don’t even see it.
Thanks so much. If you want to see what you think of our GF method, check out the sample recipe here on the site, at https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2014/11/03/master-recipe-from-gluten-free-abin5 . It’s a pure white recipe, we haven’t put the whole grain GF flour mix or recipes up on the site. But this’ll give you a flavor. Also see the GF FAQs above…
New question…
If I have another bread recipe I like to use that’s not from your book (shhhhh…) can I double or triple the batch size and use the BreadIn5 technique? In other words, if I have a recipe for one loaf of bread, can I triple the recipe, and just store it in the fridge in my bucket and have it come out the same? Or will different recipes not work as well with your method?
Arg. Found my answer in the “regular” FAQ section…sorry to prematurely post…
You cannot. Regular dough, with regular hydration does not store well. You have to adapt the recipe so that the hydration is like ours.
Hi,
Has anyone tried the recipes out with using MANINIS Ancient Grains Gluten Free Multi-Purpose Flour Mix?
Is it a 1:1 flour substitution?
Our family baked for years from your “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day” but have had to quit cold turkey for dietary reasons.
Would love to start baking artisan bread again with our favourite mix.
Thanks!
We haven’t had good luck with the GF mixes; in general they’re meant for cookies and the like, not yeasted bread. Our white-flour mix is up on the web at https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2014/04/30/gfmix
You need some binder (like xanthan or psyllium) in a GF mix in order to get yeasted bread to work, and that’s one of the variables we couldn’t adjust to with the GF mixes.
Hi Jeff,
Just bought your book in the UK and even the first attempt was good (although with more practice it will no doubt improve!)
One quick question: What’s the nutritional information for the standard Boule? Is it higher/lower in fat/sugar/carbs than normal artisan bread?
Thanks, Chris
Our publisher didn’t fund the calculation and publication of nutritional information for each recipe. See post on this to see how to calculate it: https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2009/12/14/nutritional-information-for-whole-wheat-flaxseed-bread-or-any-other-recipe-in-our-book-using-the-usda-national-nutrient-database
But the short answer: the standard GF boule is a white loaf, and it’s nutritional profile is like any white loaf, including our standard wheat boule made from white flour. It’s not a low carb food, though you can always leave out the optional sugar. There isn’t much fat in it either.
Thanks Jeff!
Hi Jeff and Zoe – Do you have any suggestions for a GF Lefse recipe?
I realize it is a regional preference, but thought I would inquire.
Thank you – Karin
Hi Karin,
Unfortunately, I’ve never made lefse, but it’s on my list of recipes to try. It isn’t a yeasted bread, so we won’t be doing it here though.
Thanks, Zoë
I was hoping to get a recipe sample from the GF cookbook because I have bought so many GF books at this point and am generally quite disappointed and didn’t want to shell out another $15 (nookbook) for something I won’t use. I’m not trying to get ‘free advice’- I will def purchase if I see that this is something that works for me. I guess I can go to B&N but usually do all my books on line. Also, are there grain free recipes in there (I apologize if these questions are asked and answered. I’m in email overload mode right now and just saw this book recommendation).
Hi Ellen,
Hope you enjoy the bread! https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2014/11/03/master-recipe-from-gluten-free-abin5
Thanks, Zoë
Regarding my message of Nov. 17:
I’m about ready to give up. I have tried a 4th time and my dough does not rise more than an inch in the bucket. I’ve wasted so much flour. I have switched to using all Bob’s Red Mill flours, I purchased a new Escali scale, and I switched from the Saf-Instant yeast from King Arthur to the Red Star. I’ve watched all your videos, however I can’t tell from the tiny pictures online just how wet the dough is. You say in the book to add the warm water and mix on medium-high speed for a minute until smooth. The videos don’t show them mixing the dough that long. I’ve followed the recipe exactly, so I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. What about adding more yeast? I keep my flours in the refrigerator – I’m wondering if my water should be warmer than 100 degrees? The Red Star packets say 110-115 degrees for regular bread. Any other ideas? I so much want to be able to make good GF Bread – I am so tired of the expensive store bought junk! Thanks for your help.
Hi Sherry,
If your flours are cold, it may just take your dough longer to rise than the 2 hours we suggest. If your kitchen is on the cool side, this can add time to the process as well. You want to make sure the water isn’t too warm or it could be killing off the yeast. Hot water is the only thing that will kill yeast.
When you are mixing your flour blend, are you using xanthan or psyllium?
Are you able to eat eggs? If so, I would try the master recipe with the egg whites, as I did in this post: https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2014/11/03/master-recipe-from-gluten-free-abin5 It results in a lighter bread.
Thanks, Zoë
Hi everybody,
Just gor the GF Bread in 5 and was trying the 1st bread Master recipe on pg. 63 with mixture #1 on pg. 60
My loaf was not wet at all, it took a standmixer to mix, the resulting bread was brick. I am from Germany and never used “cups”, I always used a scale in baking.
So I started recalculation and found out that the water conversion is wrong.
On pg.48 the conversion tables say 1 cup equals 240 ml which is correct, but this also means 240 g for water. The conversion depends on the density of the material and water means: 1000 ml equal 1000g.
Example pg 64: Water: 3 3/4 cups x 240 (237) equals 900 (888.75)
Throuhout the book a factor of 227 was used, seems that all the testers used liquid measurements for water and never caught this error before publication (this goes for all the books).
Hope this helps.
You can quickly confirm this by putting 3 3/4 cups of water on a scale.
Silvia
It sounds that like me, you are a scientist! I struggled mightily with this problem when we were developing the books. Here’s what we found:
If U.S. measuring cups were scientifically accurate, a cup of water (at sea-level) would weigh about 8.2 ounces, which is close to the conversion you supply here. But in general, they are not scientifically accurate…
So as we developed weight-equivalencies for our books, we tested every US measuring cup we could find– in the 1-cup capacity measures, and the 2-cup capacity measures, because that is what most beginning bakers are going to have in the house. And we found that those sizes of cups measured in an amount very close to 8.0 ounces per cup (or 227 grams as you say). I just confirmed that again– 3 3/4 cups of water, measured with my 2-cup capacity cups, weighs almost exactly 850 grams, which is the number on page 64 (I just confirmed that again when I read your note!).
Unfortunately, we’ve also known that 4-cup capacity cups purchased in the U.S. are more variable– for example, I have one where 3 3/4 cups of water weighs close to what you got, about 900 grams.
But since most of our bakers have smaller cups, that’s what we went with. Hope this helps! The real problem is that U.S. volume measures are a terrible way to bake and cook, but we are stuck with them, because most U.S. bakers learned to bake that way. If I had my druthers, I’d eliminate them entirely!
ok, Jeff, then why is there on pg 48 the conversion 1 cup = 240 ml? By your explanation that should be 230 ml.
No matter what ‘cup’ you use, 240 ml = 240 g
The 227 factor is for flour, not water!
You can check every conversion book, chart, internet, 1 cup water = 240 (237)ml = 240 (237)g and I am rounding here a little bit.
Silvia
Hi, Sorry, I meant to say butter not flour for the factor of 227
Silvia
To be consistent and adjust for the inaccuracy we found in U.S. cup-measures, we might have gone ahead and adjusted the table on page 37 so that 1 cup was listed as 230 ml. We decided not to go that route to avoid this complicated discussion in the books.
Our books are intended for beginners, and often, this kind of complexity scares off people from a new hobby. What concerns me is that you’re getting a bad result with the recipe as written– that hasn’t been our experience with other readers, whether they use the volume version, or the weight. So I wonder if something else is going on. What brands of gluten-free flours are you using? If you used something other than what we tested with (U.S.-purchased Bob’s Red Mill brand), the hydration will be different.
I have waited as long as 4 hours before putting in the frig. My kitchen is about 72 degrees. I use xanthan and I can use eggs so I’ll try the recipe with egg whites. I’ve not warmed the water past 100 degrees so I know that’s not the problem. I’ll try again. Thanks.
Not trying to sound like a smartie pants… but am seriously intrigued if Sherry sees some better results.
Good luck!
Can I freeze non gluten bread?
I always freeze som of your original master recipe bread.
Thanks so much, Bob
Hi Robert,
Yes, the gluten-free breads freeze very well and will extend the life of the loaf, since gf bread tends to stale faster.
Thanks, Zoë
Hi Zoe:
Regarding my message of 12/9/14. As you suggested I tried the 5th time and made the Master Recipe using whole eggs and it turned out pretty good. I also used water that was about 103 and set it on the counter for about 5 hours.
I have one complaint. After letting it rest for 2 hours, I cut a slice off and it seemed a little too gummy or moist, which could have been my fault. Initially the round loaf I formed seemed a little small so I undercooked it by 10 minutes. After 35 minutes in a 450 oven it turned very brown. Not wanting to burn it I took it out sooner than the 45 minutes. If you overcook the bread does it turn out dry?
Another thing that threw me off is that in the picture on page 67 it shows the bucket of dough resting – and it definitely shows it doubling. This is what I had been waiting for. However in the instructions for incorporating eggs in the recipe it says not to expect it to double.
Is there an instructional video (for those of us at home trying to make these recipes) showing the bread being made from start to finish? I have never had difficulty making gluten bread, but GF bread making is definitely a science!
Thanks for all your help!
Sherry
Hi Sherry,
If you find the loaf is getting too dark, perhaps you should leave the sugar out of the dough. Most people find it is too pale, although the full egg loaf will get a bit darker. Baking for 10 minutes less will have a big impact on the crumb. I’ve never had a problem with the bread being too dry, so try it for 45 minutes next time.
The dough may double during the initial rise, but it is fine if it does not. As long as you are getting some rise, it will most likely be just fine. The bucket in the photo had been in a very warm kitchen, so it may have risen more than normal.
I have a video from our older recipes, but I am working on making more. https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2010/10/25/gluten-free-crusty-boule-the-video
Thanks! Zoë
Are any commercially produced, gluten free flour blends acceptable to use to make the gluten free bread dough? Preferably organically produced… Thank you!
Hi Elizabeth,
Unfortunately, we have not yet found one that we love, but we’re always trying new ones. Namaste bakes up a pretty loaf, but we found it to be too gummy. If you have one that you like, I suggest you try it with a small batch of dough to make sure you like the results.
Thanks, Zoë
Hello! Your bread has been life-changing for my GF family. I’m planning on making the pecan sticky buns for Christmas morning, and I’m wondering if I can prepare the rolls and do an overnight rise in the refrigerator? It works wonders with the plain bread recipes, I just wasn’t sure for this one.
Peace,
Jill
Hi Jill,
Yes, the overnight refrigerator rise will work equally well for the GF dough.
Happy Holidays! Zoë
On another note…before I went GF, I was a huge fan of the Tartine method for making bread – uses a young sourdough starter even for breads like challah. I had tried subbing my starter for the yeast in some of your recipes, and I found that the advice on a post from you guys about using 1.5 cups of starter plus 1/2-1 tsp of yeast works brilliantly and gives the loaves amazing flavor. I was having trouble with the challah, though. So I went back to my Tartine book and studied the method closely – I experimented and found that using a young leaven (made with starter) and a poolish (like a leaven but made with a small amount of yeast instead of starter) that were prepared the night before worked BRILLIANTLY. The next day I just added those two, and then the remaining flour, water, salt, eggs, etc. and only 1 teaspoon of yeast and it really gives fantastic flavor. The bread keeps fresh for longer this way as well.
It’s a little more work than your method, but if anyone was interested in using their starter, I thought I would share.
LOVE YOU GUYS!!
Jill
Hi Jill,
This sounds great, thanks for sharing the results of your experimenting. I’m sure some of our readers will want to give it a try.
Cheers, Zoë
Lol…I have discovered that if using the poolish/leaven for the challah dough, you must use it up quickly or it gets too sour to use in sweet bread recipes. This is why YOU guys write the books, he he. My next batch I’ll use all yeast, with a nice fresh understanding of why it’s written that way. 🙂
Yes– I know people who like the taste of natural sour in challah but it’s definitely not traditional and I find it clashes with the honey and egg. That said, you could freeze it after shaping the first batch.
I’ve been working on GF Artisan Bread in 5 and loving the results. Have you ever tried baking a “rye” recipe in a canapé tube?I am going to experiment so if you haven’t tried it, I’ll let you know how it works for me.
Hi Julie,
I haven’t tried it in a canape tube, but I am certain it will work. The GF dough doesn’t have the same rise as wheat, so keep that in mind when filling them. Please do let me know how it goes.
Cheers, Zoë
Just wanted to say how much I appreciate your new book. I was already a fan – have the original plus healthy but since going gluten free they have just been gathering dust on my bookshelf. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that you had a whole chapter in Healthy Breads for gluten free! Now that I have the new book – we made the rye bread yesterday.
Our kitchen seems to be colder (at least at this time of year) than yours – it took much longer to rise than we expected on baking day and I think it might still have been too cold when it went in the oven – there was little or no ovenspring. But OH! was it good. Really tasted like rye. We’re going to put our oven on proof for the next one. Thank you again.
Thanks Miriam! Terrific– don’t expect as much rise from these though…
I’m celiac and thrilled with this whole idea! I have Authentic superfine rice flour and brown flour. Will that work as well or better?
I’m allergic to legumes…isn’t xanthan gum from a bean? What is the end result between the husks and xanthan gum?
Thank you!
We’ve only tested with the Bob’s Red Mill products, so you’d be experimenting …
I don’t actually know if xanthan is produced with bean extracts– sorry we can’t help you here. I think the husk versions come out great though.
JAS,
I believe xanthan gum is made from corn. But check with the manufacturer. I personally stay away from gums, as do many Celiacs. Sensitivity issues. The pysillium works great.
Also, I have substituted the Authentic Foods brown rice flour for the white rice for with excellent results in the focaccia! Bob’s brown rice flour is gritty so I won’t use it.
OK, I was hoping to avoid the science here, but I have to weigh in!
The issue isn’t the xanthan gum itself, because it isn’t made from bean or corn. It’s produced by a naturally-occurring, non disease-causing bacteria called Xanthomonas campestris. But, and this is the but– manufacturers have to culture that bacterium in a culture medium to get it to thrive and produce the xanthan. Culture medium is basically a broth that bacteria can live on, and that broth might very well contain a little bean or corn extract, which might persist as a trace in the final xanthan product. Exactly what the manufacturers use for that broth is what you need to know, and that’s the piece I don’t know myself, so as Julie suggests, check with the manufacturer. And if you’re biochemically inclined, check the wikipedia page at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xanthan_gum
About the rice flour– we haven’t tested with Authentic Foods product, so we can’t vouch for the results. But thanks for letting us know it worked when you swapped it for the Bob’s (which we haven’t found to be gritty, but that’s just a matter of taste).
Before I found your book I purchased a bread machine that has just arrived. Sooooo..I wondered if I can make up a container of the dry ingredients to store then add plus the liquid in my machine. How would I determine how much of the dry ingredients to add and how much liquid? My Cuisinart 200 makes a 2 lb loaf. I’m thinking I would make up a container of mix one and mix two so I didn’t have to do all that measuring.
The main question, which is going to take some experimentation, is whether the bread machines can deal with a dough this wet. If I had to guess, I’d be concerned that these would bake up over-wet, especially at the center of the loaf, but maybe throughout.
That said, the amount needed depends on the ratio of the water to the flour, which varies per recipe, so there’s no single answer. To calculate, add up the weights in the dough’s ingredients table. Then create a proportion–the ratio of the total weight of the recipe divided by 2 pounds. You can then apply that ratio that to each ingredient. Hey, you knew high-school algebra was going to come in handy someday! 🙂
I’ve used Bob’s Flours and Xanthan, NO sugar.
the only problem I had was that 850 g water was not enough, I tried MY 900g and it worked like a charm.
(I had to increase the water in the other books as well.)
I checked all my cup measure containers and every single one came to 240g. I am using luke warm water and I am in Louisiana at 15 feet elevation. Maybe you are in Denver at a much higher elevation and that might cause this difference.
Silvia
It’ll have to remain a mystery then, we test at elevation 600 feet! Glad the recipes are working for you once adjusted…
I’ve noticed many people concerned about their kitchen being too cool for the proper dough rising. This is definitely true in our house. To compensate, I place a warmed up microwave warmy under the bowl, with a towel between warmy and bowl, put an overturned bowl over the plate on which the dough is resting, then a dish towel over the whole thing. Seems to work for me. I do re-heat the warmy as needed, but not too hot.
Sure, that’ll work. There’s been a steady drumbeat of interest in very slow-risen doughs (develops more flavor), even in the fridge. But that’s not helpful if you’re in a hurry.
Absolutely thrilled with the breads I’ve made from your GF book! (So far, basic Boule/baguettes, Challah, and Maple Oatmeal)
This last loaf of Oatmeal Maple (page 146 GFbreadin5), however, has a flat, bitter alcohol-like flavor? (and not the good kind of alcohol flavor). It was made from dough that was 5 days old. The container did not have a sealed lid (a cause of fermentation build-up). The initial rise was closer to 3 hours (we were watching a movie), and did double in size. Could it have risen too long? Also, because the kitchen was coldish, I let it rise about 2 hours (instead of 90 min) in the pan. Was that too long?
I noted on the previous batch we’d made, that when baking, there was a strong “fermentation” smell, but didn’t notice anything in the taste of the bread.
We really loved this bread, so I’m hoping to figure out what I’ve been doing wrong, and to make sure I don’t get that alcohol taste again.
Thank you!
All we can do is go back to the recommended resting times, both of which you extended, and see if that makes a difference. If that doesn’t help, try decreasing the maple syrup, which encourages fermentation– you’re getting a little maple beer-making going in the loaf. Or another kind of sweetener. Or just less sweetener.
But any changes will mean changing the amount of water you’d need.
Hey, can I trouble you for a favor? When I think of it, and someone says that the recipes are working well for them (thanks for the kind words), I’m trying to remember to ask if they’re using the volume measurements, or the weights, to measure flour and water.
I’m failing miserably with the gluten free Boule. I’ve tried two batches of GF and I turn out bricks. I weigh everything, I’m doing everything suggested in answers to FAQs. : ( Today I bought a couple of 6 inch spring form pans hoping that I will get a better raise ( I know it doesn’t raise a lot). My failed loaves are now bread crumbs. So…is the photo of breads on the cover of the GF cookbook actually wheat breads or are they really GF breads? Is making a 2 lb loaf better than making a 1 lb loaf? I wish we had the capability of posting photos of our success and failures.
Our cover photos are absolutely, positively GF breads from our GF book. The biggest reason for dense GF results is under-mixing. Are you using a stand mixer and letting it go until it’s completely smooth? Or hand-mixing long enough to get that kind of smooth result. So that’s #1.
Second–any swaps from what we called for? Are you using xanthan gum? If not, are you using ground psyllium husk?
Third: We tested with Bob’s Red Mill products because those are the most commonly available in the US. Is that what you’re using? If not, all bets are off with the hydration, and if it’s too wet (or dry), you get over-dense results.
I bought a 6 quart Kitchen aid, am using the paddle and mixing correctly. I’m using Bobs flours. First batch of master mix 1, I used xanthan gum and second batch I used psyllium hush powder. I’m using the same yeast I use to make my husbands wheat boule which turn out just like the cover of your wheat book. I’ve watched your helpful videos. And I’ve been baking gluten free successfully for 15 years. When I take a handful of GF dough out of the refrigerated container, it looks just like the video. Thank you for your help.
With the 6-quart mixer, we found that sometimes GF didn’t work as well in that as it did in the 5-quart, or the 5.5-quart. The dough seems to climb up the paddles and avoid being emulsified. Unfortunately we didn’t find this out until after the book was published.
One thing I’ve thought about is whether people should try the dough hook after all with this large mixer. That’s worth a try. If I had to guess– you’re not quite emulsifying.
The 6 quart mixer works just fine. I bought the paddle with the rubber scrapper on one side. It doesn’t ride up the paddle at all. It was blended very well. Yesterday I mixed up the GF Boule recipe and added egg whites. Its a little more springy but very little if any raise after refrigeration. I put one 1 lb loaf in the 6 inch spring for pan and the other on parchment on the pizza stone. The one on the pizza stone did a little better….but, I forgot to cover them in the beginning of the bake! :0 It has good taste but not high enough to make a sandwich.
Is it completely smooth after you’re done mixing?
Have you tried cooking in a cast-iron Dutch oven? Make sure it’s a relatively small one – the smaller the size of the base of the pot the more the bread is forced to rise upwards. I get awesome oven spring using my cast iron pot – preheat it with the oven, bake with lid on for 30 minutes then take lid off to brown 15+ minutes depending on size). But make sure that you slash AFTER transferring it to the pot, because the act of lifting the dough on the parchment tends to close up the cuts since the dough is so soft.
What is the diameter of the Dutch oven. I have used them but mine are larger. Thank you.
What is the quart size?
The one I typically use for a 1 to 1.5 pound loaf is about 6 inches in diameter, about 4 inches high. Don’t know the quart capacity of that.
My favorite one is my 4.5 quart size for baking boules. I’ve tried a 5.5 quart, and I get more spread in that one. To really get maximum lift, I also do the overnight refrigerator rise in a batard lined with parchment (or you can use a bowl), then just lift the whole parchment into the hot Dutch oven and slash, put lid on and bake.
Doing the rise in a batard or bowl really helps keep the dough from spreading during rise. Let me know if any of this helps!! 🙂
(Forgot to mention, pull the batard or bowl out of the fridge for the 40-60 minutes while you heat the oven)
Jill thank you! Everything you said makes sense. So after the fresh dough has sat on the counter for 2 hours you put it in the fridge. Then when you are going to make bread a day or so later, you put a gob of dough in a bowl with parchment, cover and leave it in the fridge overnight, then pull it the next day and let it rest again while the oven is warming. Did I get that right?
Going to try it all. Do you make 1, 1 ½ or 2 lb loaves? If I use 1 lb of dough it’s quite a small loaf. I haven’t tried anything beyond a boule, bread wise. Going to get that working first.
Thanks again.
Yes– it’s in all the books except the very first one from 2007.
Yes. After mixing with the 6 qt kitchenaid and special paddle, dough/batter is perfectly smooth. Thanks for the diameter and height of the Dutch oven. For me, weighing everything is easier than measuring. I’m always telling my husband to eat his wheat bread quicker as it’s a snap to make a beautiful singing loaf.
One thing is expectations–GF is definitely denser than wheat bread, even when everything’s done perfectly.
I DID IT! Today I tried two different things. For dough that had been in the fridge I grabbed 1.5 lb, put it on parchment and put the 6″ greased spring form pan RING over the loaf and let it rise. The second loaf, I made a batch of new dough and right away grabbed 1.5 lb of it and put it on parchment with a ring around it. I let the cold dough sit for 60-90 minutes and the fresh dough 2 hours. The cold dough had a better raise and came to the top of the ring. The fresh dough sat for 2 hours and hardly rose. I baked them both in cast iron enameled dutch ovens. The dough that had been refrigerated overnight did very well indeed! The fresh dough that sat in the ring for two hours before baking didn’t get an oven spring. So that’s my 2 cents. I used egg whites in both batches. Oh, and I put both in the dutch ovens with the rings around them.
And I mixed them differently. The dough that worked, the cold dough, I mixed until smooth with paddle. The one that didn’t work, I mixed with paddle and then changed to the whip attachment thinking it would put more air in it. NOT.
Happy baking!
Thanks for sharing your experience, Jean. Happy baking indeed…
Jeff do you perhaps have the Le Creuset 7″ diameter dutch oven? If not, what brand do you have? You had said it was about 6×5 I think. Thx.
I do, and I also have a 6-incher. The larger is great to 1.5-pounders, the smaller one for 1-pounders. They are both Le Creuset, but it doesn’t matter at all, I’ve also used Emile Henry brand. And it can be non-enameled. People have tried this is in cheap lidded pans, and so long as it’s lidded, that seems to be all that matters–trapping the steam. See this video I did: https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2010/12/27/three-ways-to-get-steam-into-your-oven-for-a-great-crust-new-video
Hello! I have been successfully baking bread for 15 years for our family and for farmer’s markets. I have been baking GF bread for about 7 or 8. The main thing I sell to my customers is the GF Brioche from Healthy ABin5. I bake in 7×3 glass pans and get nicely risen, light, fluffy bread. I also wanted to mention that I have successfully turned the GF crusty boule into a Rosemary Flax baguette by just adding rosemary and flax seeds. Delicious.
I just received the GF ABin5 and have tried to make the master recipe 2x now. My main problem is that I get no rise….barely any. And certainly NO oven spring. 1st time I tried boule form and it looked nothing like the picture in the book…never rose really at all and was totally pale! Next time I tried the Crusty White Sandwhich loaf and again no rise and super pale. I thought I was using an 8 inch pan but it was 9 inch, so it wouldn’t look as high as yours in the picture I suppose. I used measuring cups not weight, 2 eggs both times as part of the liquid, and the sugar. The first time I used the dough fresh, the second time refrigerated. Both were edible but ugly..I took pictures but can’t seem to manage to attach them! Yeast is alive…..
Thoughts? Deb
Thoughts
Have you been over this post:
https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2014/11/03/master-recipe-from-gluten-free-abin5
Does your dough look like this at every stage? Mixing for a long time? With a stand mixer? Been through the FAQs at https://artisanbreadinfive.com/gluten-free-faqs ? This recipe is more finicky in needing a very complete mix– eggs cover a lot of rising problems.
This recipe is really different from the other– zero or half the eggs, and you may be finding that it’s just not as much to your taste. You say it’s not rising nor getting oven spring. But– what is the hole structure inside? Is it likewise totally dense, without holes?
Is there a difference between Bobs Red Mill corn flour and a corn meal? This is in regard to GF pizza crust. I have the corn flour.
Corn flour is much finer-ground. You might be able to use it in the recipe, but you’ll have to adjust the water, and I’m afraid I can’t even guess in which direction.
Oh my! Have you seen the Pacific Living Pizza Oven? Google it. I bought it and am using it to bake bread and of course pizza. it will even bake a turkey. In the hot Southwestern AZ summers I don’t turn my electric oven on because the AC works hard enough to keep it cool. And we have decided to never buy another loaf of bread after making the bread in 5. So this oven is the answer for me. The Pacific Living outdoor oven is gas. Check it out.
Sounds great. But– so sorry Jean, we don’t allow links to commercial products we haven’t used ourselves.
Oh gosh I’m so sorry. I understand. I did a demo of making bread in 5 at my neighbors! Now they are getting the books and going to stop buying bread. My GF loaves with eggs are turning out fabulous! I learned you just have to shape the dough height wise the way you want it after baking. I’m using 1 1/2 lb dough. Thanks for all of your and Zoe’s dedication to bread!! Again, sorry about the link.
Not a big deal, Jean. Just so glad the GF loaves are working well for you…
Amazon replaced my GF ABin5 because I got one that had printing machine folds on the pages with photos. I know I did corrections in the other two books, but I can’t find where the corrections are for the GF book. ??
Thank you –
That’s because (happy to say) we haven’t found anything worth putting up a Corrections page. Very pleased with that. One thing to alert you to, though not an error: most of our readers are preferring the egg-white version of the Master Recipe, not the egg-free version that we chose as the default. See the GF FAQs page https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2014/10/17/dense-or-gummy-interior-or-inadequate-rising-what-am-i-doing-wrong
Hello! Thank you for making such a great book!
We made the master recipe and while the bread is beautiful only about 5 inches in diameter. Is this normal? Should the loaf be bigger?
Thanks for your help! Much Appreciated!
Cassandra
Hi Cassandra,
We tend to make smaller size loaves, so that you can eat them fresh and not have a lot of leftovers. However, if you need a larger loaf, you’ll just need to increase the resting and baking times.
So glad you are enjoying the bread! Zoë
Also, I cut the recipe in half.
Hi guys! I’ve got a new one…
I received a cookbook for Christmas that features a lot of amazing-looking recipes, but many of them contain gluten. I decided to tackle trying to merge your recipes with their ideas to come up with GF versions. One of the recipes was a blueberry-stuffed brioche. So I prepared a batch of the brioche dough, waited for it to rise, cooled it, was able easily to follow the instructions in the recipe to roll the blueberries and some sugar in the dough, rest refrigerated overnight, reshape (to better distribute the blueberries), and rest again before baking. I got BEAUTIFUL rise (baked in a 8×5 pan), and a nice crusty exterior, but then the middle was still pretty raw so I kept adding 5 minutes, 5 minutes, 5 minutes, and my total baking time (I lost track) had to have been nearly an hour and a half before the middle set up. Now, I know that there is moisture from the blueberries to combat, but I’m wondering if you have any tips for reducing the baking time so that the edges don’t get too dried out. Higher temperature? The final product tastes AMAZING, but the crust is rather darker than I’d like it to be, so I’m just looking for advice as to how to get the middle to set up while still getting that amazing rise and without burning the bottom.
Peace,
Jill
Hi Jill,
Raising the temperature will probably just burn the outer crust more, since there is so much sugar. I would try tenting the bread with foil once you have the color on the crust that you like. Tenting it may also shorten the baking time by a little bit.
Thanks, Zoë
I did tent the bread when it got dark, but it just took forever for the center to set up, so the edges got pretty dark and dry.
What do you think of reducing the oven temperature to let the middle cook through? Do you think there would be too much sacrifice in oven spring?
Also – any thoughts on using the convection fan when baking your breads?
Thank you guys so much for being SO helpful. Your availability and responsiveness is absolutely wonderful.
Peace,
Jill
Hi Jill,
You are so welcome, we love when people are enthusiastic about baking and we’re happy to help! 🙂
The first time you baked it you tented it and it still came out too dark? Then do try turning down the heat by 20° and letting it go a bit longer, it shouldn’t effect the oven spring too much. The convection heat would make this issue even worse, since it tends to produce a darker crust. In general baking with convection is fine for certain breads, like the master recipe, but you have to be careful of over browning the crust before the center is baked through.
Thanks, Zoë
AHAH! That might be the culprit then…I used my convection setting, thinking that it might improve oven spring and even cooking. I’ll save the convection setting for roasting veggies, then. 🙂
Hi Jill,
Mystery solved! Try it without the convection heat and I think you’ll get a much better result! 🙂
Thanks, Zoë
Hi Zoe! Ok, so I tried without convection at 350 and tented it as soon as the top was golden brown. It still took 60-70 minutes before the dough just under the crust cooked through (I peeked with a paring knife). It’s resting now, so I don’t know the final result yet. It looks beautiful, but I’m a little concerned that such a long baking time will dry out the edges of the loaf. The blueberries (I used fresh ones) have a lot of moisture, which I know is contributing to the problem. If you were me – would your next step be to lower the over temp to try to let the center cook through a little more before the crust does? how low? 325? 300?
I would LOVE to hear your thoughts, cuz once I get this down, this is going to be an AMAZING variation on the Brioche. 🙂
Peace,
Jill
Hi Jill,
It sounds like it’s moving in the right direction. Let me know how the interior was and we can go from there.
Thanks! Zoë
So once the bread had cooled, the moisture redistributed pretty well, so I’m closer than I thought. I think for the next attempt I’ll try lowering the temp to 325 to give the middle a chance to cook through before the crust gets really dark. The oven spring I’m getting is UNBELIEVABLE. You guys should really try to get the option of doing photos on this site – I think everyone would love to share problems and successes.
BTW – since you asked forever ago, I always prepare my dough in a stand mixer and I always measure all ingredients by weight. 🙂
Hi Jill,
Thanks for letting me know. I agree, it would be wonderful to see the pictures. I will ask our IT folks if it is an option.
Enjoy the bread! Zoë
Hi Jeff: I wa so thrilled to buy your book and get to work on creating great GF bread. I used the flour mixture 1 and made the master recipe today. I used an oven thermometer and pre-heated the pizza stone for 30 min. I also used my convention setting on the oven
I let it cool almost completely. The crust is lovely and crisp but the inside is a little dense. I’m not sure what the crumb should be like. Its not gummy but but dense and has quite a few holes, mostly small ones. Is this what I should be expecting?
Many thanks
Hi Jodi,
That does sound about right. If you want a loaf that is a bit lighter and you can eat eggs, you should try the version that uses egg whites. https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2014/11/03/master-recipe-from-gluten-free-abin5
Thanks, Zoë
Hi. We are loving the “gluten free artisan bread in 5 minutes a day.” I have a question regarding the buttermilk
bread calls for 1 cup of honey. But, I found this to produce a very sweet bread. Is it possible to decrease the honey to 1/2 cup and not compromise the bread?
The pizza, crackers and flatbread are fabulous!!!
Thanks for the reply.
Hi Lisa,
Yes, you can make the dough less sweet, but you’ll want to increase the liquids to make up for it. I would add an additional 1/4 cup of buttermilk.
Thanks, Zoë
I want to use a baguette pan but I’m not clear on if I also need to use the pizza stone? Do I use the baguette pan as I would th pizza stone. Pre heat it in the oven etc.
Hi Jodi,
The stone will provide a more intense and even heat in the oven and maintains the temperature even when the oven door is opened, so I always recommend it. But, you don’t have to use it when you are baking in a pan of any kind. I just leave my stone or steel in the oven all the time.
Thanks, Zoë
Hi Jeff
I a, in the process of trying the master recipe with eggs to get a better rise. It’s going thru its first rise. How much should it rise before I put it in the fridge? Should it double? More? Less?
Hi Jodi,
This will depend on the yeast, water temp and air temperature. If the water is warm, but not hot, the yeast will activate faster and the dough will rise more in the two hours. It will rarely double in size, but sometimes that happens in warm environments. In most cases it will continue to rise slightly after you’ve refrigerated it.
Thanks, Zoë
Thanks Zoe. I have re tried the master recipe with eggs. Without them, the dough was very dense. The re try did rise nicely in the 2 hours at room temperature. Definitely did not double. I checked it this morning in the fridge and it seems to have fallen quite a bit. I used the standing mixer for the first time. The dough climbed up the attachment, but the dough looked well mixed. Any other thoughts?
Hi Jodi,
Have you baked this batch yet? If so, how did it compare? The dough collapsing in the bucket is totally normal.
Thanks, Zoë
Hi Zoe. I just made a boule with the new dough. It looks much better with the dough having eggs. It still didn’t rise very much in the oven and I pre heated with the pizza stone for about 45 min. When I pick up the loaf, it feels heavy, much like the last one.
It definitely does not look the ones in the book. The sides are more bumpy and craggy. I did smooth out the outside, but maybe I need to endure that it is really smooth.
I will be able to eat it in a few hours. Looking forward to something soft and light-ish
Second try was better, but the bread is still very dense. It seems like the yeast didn’t work….help?
Hi Jodi,
Are you using all Bob’s Red Mill products? Did you use xanthan or psyllium? Are you using a stand mixer or doing it by hand? When you did the egg version, was it egg whites or the whole egg?
Thanks, Zoë
I know. I get frustrated to. I don’t know how the GF bakeries make the bread and it looks great. It raised and isn’t dense. I’ve tried everything. I really like the flavor of the GF Boule, but it is still like a brick. I’ve read every FAQ as well. My husband’s wheat bread turns out spectacular! But mine is pretty sad.
And Zoe, I also use safari on my iPhone and get the flashing ads at the bottom of the faqs screen. Wonder if Verizon is dropping those in or something. Grrrrrrr
Hi Jean,
Have you tried the bread without the superfine flours? What flours are you using? Do you use xanthan or psyllium? Have you done this version of the bread:
https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2014/11/03/master-recipe-from-gluten-free-abin5
Thanks, Zoë