Hard crust

Seanachai

I've started baking my own gluten free bread in the past couple of weeks because I'm fed up with the stuff in the shops. My experiments have turned out pretty well except for the crust being very hard, I've been using sodium bicarbonate and I'm wondering if I'm using too much?

I'm cooking the loaves for 50 mins - 1 hr at 200 c, any less and the dough is still sticky from a test.

Ingredients

500g gluten free flour (potato,rice, oats, xanthan gum)
4 eggs
1 tablespoon sodium bicarbonate
500ml water/milk
1 teaspoon honey

th283

Seanachai wrote: »

I've started baking my own gluten free bread in the past couple of weeks because I'm fed up with the stuff in the shops. My experiments have turned out pretty well except for the crust being very hard, I've been using sodium bicarbonate and I'm wondering if I'm using too much?

I'm cooking the loaves for 50 mins - 1 hr at 200 c, any less and the dough is still sticky from a test.

Ingredients

500g gluten free flour (potato,rice, oats, xanthan gum)
4 eggs
1 tablespoon sodium bicarbonate
500ml water/milk
1 teaspoon honey

There are a few ways to soften crusts but I prefer the old fashioned way of wrapping the loaf In a damp clean tea towel and allowing it to cool like this.

Also just to mention your recipe seems to be a little eggy, this could account for the stickiness, maybe try reducing it slightly. Also when using bread soda it's better to have some acid included ( buttermilk/ cream of tartar/ lemon juice ) to activate the chemical reaction which cause the bread to rise.

I've also found that polenta, natural yoghurt and gluten free porraige help the texture and taste of gluten free bread

Whistlejacket

Plus one on some acid in the recipe and wrapping the loaf in a tea towel when it comes out of the oven.

Also I find putting a mug of water in a baking tray in the bottom of the oven makes it steamy during baking and gives a slightly softer texture to the loaf.

Tree

1 tbsp of bicarb seems like a lot, it can give a very soapy taste to baked goods if it's not fully neutralised. It'll also give a darker crust, so you'll probably find that the crust is dark when the middle is still squidgy.

I'd be inclined to drop the bicarb to 1tsp ish. Maybe replace your honey with a larger volume of treacle (which itself is acid and is the other half of the bicarb/leavening pair in treacle bread). Replacing some milk with yoghurt would also help. You might not need 4 full eggs either, usually an excess of eggs in gf baking is to replace the gluten protein, but you've added (some) xanthum gum which also is mostly protein.

Seanachai

Tree wrote: »

1 tbsp of bicarb seems like a lot, it can give a very soapy taste to baked goods if it's not fully neutralised. It'll also give a darker crust, so you'll probably find that the crust is dark when the middle is still squidgy.

I'd be inclined to drop the bicarb to 1tsp ish. Maybe replace your honey with a larger volume of treacle (which itself is acid and is the other half of the bicarb/leavening pair in treacle bread). Replacing some milk with yoghurt would also help. You might not need 4 full eggs either, usually an excess of eggs in gf baking is to replace the gluten protein, but you've added (some) xanthum gum which also is mostly protein.

I forgot to say I put a teaspoon of Apple Cider Vinegar in it too, I'll try the damp tea towel. I remember my mother doing that years ago. I'll pull back on the eggs too.