Now that I can’t have wheat, I’m trying to find good, or even adequate, gluten free bread replacements. I’ve tried a few store-bought brands. Some are too sweet so don’t work with sandwiches, others I just don’t like the flavours of. O’Doughs has a good bagel though.
I like to bake so I wanted to try making my own gluten free bread. I tried many recipes but always find they taste yeasty, which I really don’t like. I even concocted my own version of bread with no yeast (using baking powder as the leavener), but I didn’t like the flavour, no matter what type of flour I put in.
I miss the artisan-style, traditional breads made with preferments and sourdoughs, like I used to make at the bakery. So, I looked up and was happy to find that sourdoughs do exist in the non-gluten world which gave me hope. This is my last resort before I just have to buy bread – expensive and just not as interesting as making it myself. I like to see the process.
Sourdough starter was the first step. I used whole grain flours as per the recommendation in http://www.artofglutenfreebaking.com/2010/10/sourdough-starter-gluten-free/ and chose teff, sorghum and brown rice flours. After a couple days of feeding, it looked like this.
I found a couple recipes to try – one with sweetener, egg and milk – the other without, to make an interesting comparison between two rather different recipes:
Sourdough Bread (Boule), Gluten-Free http://www.artofglutenfreebaking.com/2010/10/sourdough-bread-boule-gluten-free/
Gluten-free Sourdough French Bread http://www.culturesforhealth.com/learn/recipe/ (you have to sign up to their website to view this recipe)
I was amazed at how long the rise time was for! 4-6 hours for the “Boule” and 6-8 hours for the French bread! Come on yeast, work for me! Make my tummy happy! 🙂
Here is after baking:
Hm, well, the bread didn’t rise at all and it was very very sour. But, I think I know why. The starter recipe asks for 1-2 red cabbage leaves, which I skipped, so my starter will take longer to develop properly (balance btw lactobacilli bacteria, yeast, lactic acid). Right now, there is waaaay too much lactic acid, giving it too much sourness. The starter needs at least a full week to develop (I only gave it three days).
However, I’m definitely on the right track. The characteristic flavour of sourdough is there (comparing to the wheat sourdough bread), so it’s just a matter of feeding my “mother” i.e. starter twice a day and trying the recipe again in a week or more.
I haven’t given up yet!
