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Versatile
Dough
A true
dough enables all sorts of shapes and varieties of loaves, rolls, buns,
pizzas, baguettes etc to be produced. Almost every gluten-free bread in
the world fails in this regard as it is unable to be formed into a
stretchy mouldable dough either because it is a batter or because it
fails to hold shape during the rise and bake.
Therefore they must rely on the shape of the tin the mixture is placed
in.
Batter is more messy to work with, difficult to clean up after mixing
and is generally unsuitable for commercial bakery equipment.
Gluten
has been the key to creating a 'normal' dough- based bread.
We are
delighted to have discovered a combination of gluten-free ingredients
in a formulation which can to a large extent mimic a gluten based dough
and therefore result in excellent gluten-free breads of all
shapes and sizes.
Pre-made
loaves can
be convenient (loaves represented by LOAF C
above) but of course have
no versatility at all compared to making your own.
And
any pre-mix that does not form a mouldable dough scores a zero on our
chart for this section.
Loaf
Height/Volume/Value
Loaf
height and volume determines the lightness of the bread and usually its
value cost wise. The fewer loaves from a kg of mix, the more costly it
is.
Our
mix gives as good as if not better loaf height and volume than its
wheat equivalent. Its cost is therefore relatively very good
considering the more costly ingredients compared to the mass production
economies of scale of wheat bread.
Value
is also further reduced when your G-F bread is half thrown out because
it has become very unpalletable so soon after making it or purchasing a
loaf.
Aroma
and Taste
Each
flour and ingredient combination has its own particular aroma and
taste. Our aim here was to prevent any chemical, milk powder, eggy or
artificial smell or after-taste from bread produced by
the mix.
Many breads when toasted from mixes we tried also left a very pungent
and unpleasant smell lingering in the air.
Of course a "true bread" must have yeast to help it achieve a
real bread-like aroma
and taste, but, numerous other ingredients we've tried ended up
overpowering the lovely savoury 'ethanol' aroma and taste
typical
of wheat and rye based breads which we wanted to keep - both during and
after
baking...and the day after also. We are very satisfied with our score
here as are those who love eating it though they are not gluten
intolerant.
Here our breads match with or even surpass wheat based breads in
taste... we are told!
Texture
and
Flexibility
Here
we've tried to mimic as close as possible the light, moist, fine
closed-cell, flexible, airy crumb structure of a wheat based loaf. Many
of our trials resulted in heavy and crumpety yellowy texture that
crumbled easily and were not pleasant to eat.
We also wanted this flexible texture to remain for as long as possible.
We believe we have done well in this regard.
Crust
A good
white bread loaf needs a golden brown finish and a whitish crumb or
texture to really appeal. Many things affect the browning of
bread including sugar types and amounts, oil or fat content, starch and
yeast types, baking time and equipment.
Our
mixes should produce a light golden brown finish in even-baking ovens.
A good crust also has a smooth top and sides, little or no sinking of
the top or sides... especially on cooling, and is slightly soft and
chewy (though some prefer hard crispy crusts) so it does not tear your
gums. We have achieved a high score in these areas.
Fresh
Keeping
Bread
freshness has always been an arguable thing. What is fresh to one
person can seem not so by another. Many wheat breads can keep 'fresh'
(soft, moist and pliable) for many days... and even weeks, depending on
the type of bread improvers in them which have been developed over many
decades to enable mass production and distribution.
Gluten-free
breads on the other hand have tended to go stale very rapidly by
comparison... many not even lasting a whole day before becoming
unpleasantly dry to eat. Others rely on large amounts of oils and
sugars to help prevent this and so end up with heavy, unhealthy,
non-flexible damp breads... which are not particularly good for
sandwiches or for wrapping around a sausage at a BBQ.
In our
opinion,
bread can be called 'fresh' if its texture allows for soft, light,
moist, flexible, enjoyable eating (as a sandwich... especially for
childrens' lunches) on baking day and the day after it is
baked, without the need
for refreshing or reforming in an oven.
Any extension of time beyond this is either a bonus or is overloaded
with unnecessary additives... depending on your point of view.
We
have no additives or bread improvers in our mixes, very little sugar
(dextrose) and we recommend a minimum of oil or fat during making.
Bread made with our mixes should be beautiful eating for at least two
days. Just beware of mould formation if kept in a warm place (usually
about day 4 in a warm humid climate). Keeping it in the fridge will
help prevent mould for an extra few days, but it will dry the loaf out
quickly and it will lose its softness and flex.
Ease of
Use
If a
basic loaf is complex and fiddly for the average home baker to make, or
requires much physical effort to mix and or knead, it scores low.
High scores are for minimal equipment and time and effort to produce a
good loaf and
clean up afterwards.
For information on the use of Bread
Making Machines... some are very fiddly and others are
simpler.... click here.
To
make a good loaf with our bread mix involves a simple three step
process of
1.mix
and shape
2.proof
3.bake
Some
mixes are quite fiddly involving multiple steps and various pieces of
electrical equipment.
Freezing and Reforming
Successful
freezing
and thawing or reforming by reheating in a microwave or wrapped in foil
in a conventional oven is a must for good bread making as one often
wishes to make several loaves at once and then store some.
A good
score here
sees the thawed and/or reformed loaves return to a very moist and
stretchy condition without going soggy, falling apart or drying out
rapidly.
loaves
thawed or reformed at breakfast should be usable for
lunchtime sandwiches.
Toast
Gluten-free
breads
have been difficult to toast well. Because most gluten-free breads hold
a lot of water and use flours which don't brown easily without lots of
fats and sugars, dairy and/or eggs being added, it makes toasting take
much longer and the crust often burns before the centre is toasted.
We
have worked at making sure our bread toasts well although it usually
takes a little longer than wheat breads. Good toast should not be soggy
nor be hard and brittle.... and should not leave a foul smell in the
air if you slightly over-toast it!
Low Allergy
There are countless possible food-based allergens to which different people react.
We have graded them into two groups for our scoring:
1. Allergens which have been medically shown to cause severe reactions in relatively large portions of the population and include: gluten (of course!), nuts, egg, fish, lactose (in dairy products), fructose
If G-F breads and mixes contain these, they lose 2 points for each allergen.
2. Allergens which can cause discomfort and more minor reactions but are unlikely to be life threatening: potato, soy, pea protein
G-F breads containing these lose 1 point for each allergen.
Our FG Roberts breads & mixes contain only soy from these lists which is important for its protein and browning ability.
While some react to soy as an allergen, there is research supporting the possibility of it being something that children can grow out of.
Your challenge...
We are
keen to know if you have experienced a G-F bread that gives a higher overall score
than the FG Roberts one above... using the criteria above.
We will keep working to make ours even better!
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