Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Almost Like Rye, But Gluten Free

I've been experimenting with gluten-free flours.  It's a whole different world of different flours to explore.  The techniques are different, and so are the challenges. 

A local mom and pop health food store is selling off their grocery items at a discount, so I snatched up some Bob's Red Mill teff flour to try for this recipe.  I just love rye bread, so I wanted to see how this bread would taste.

Teff dough, just after mixing in Kitchenaid
This dough mixed up slightly firmer than my other gluten-free doughs.  The other gluten-free doughs have mixed up like a loose, sticky paste.  This one held together much more, right after mixing.





Teff dough, after rising
The dough rose nicely.  Still, the texture was much stickier than dough with gluten.



I formed a boule on a piece of parchment, by constantly wetting my hands to shape it.  It's not possible to knead this dough!





I decided to make both a freestanding boule and a loaf.  A foil loaf pan was used because they are slightly smaller than my standard ones.  I was only using one pound of dough, so I wanted a smaller loaf pan.

The breads look nice, but I'm dissappointed that the boule came out a bit flat.  I might be to blame, though.  I had a number of things cooking (including some of our dinner), and so the breads went into the oven a bit late.
However, I wonder if rising the dough in a small, cloth-covered basket would help the bread keep it's shape?  I'd have to sprinkle the cloth with gluten-free flour or cornmeal, to make sure they don't stick.  Something to try next time....

And how did it taste and look inside? 


The bread tasted great, the caraway seeds added a lot of flavor.  The crumb looked nice, also.  I'd make this bread again if the teff flour weren't that much more expensive than regular rye flour.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting!  Please leave a comment.  What have you been baking?

Stop by again, soon.  It's fun to share baking.
Judy

4 comments:

  1. Hi Judy, Breads look good. Think I'd stick with a bread pan. Or I would try a small size 5 or 6 cast iron fry pan. With the dough being sticky, this might work better than a basket and be able to bake in this too. This is what I would do, as I dislike working with really sticky dough. Happy Baking. M

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  2. Yeah, I agree with you, Mary! Let me know how a cast iron pan works. That sounds great!

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  3. Your breads look great. I just made this too, and put it in parchment paper inside my round duct tape couche to rise, then used the parchment paper to plop it into a preheated dutch oven. I baked it half the time with the lid on and then finished with the lid off. It still spread, but not quite as much. I also agree that it tasted pretty good.

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  4. Guff, I admire your creativity. I just have to see this duct tape couche!

    i'm gonna try English muffins this week, will follow your suggestions.

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