What a great time I had in Portland, OR, last week teaching two gluten-free bread-making classes at Bob’s Red Mill Cooking School.
Carol with Lori Sobelson and Susan Gilbertson
Both classes were full, the students were very engaged in bread-baking, and I worked with my favorite kitchen team: Lori Sobelson and Susan Gilbertson (see photo).
We were “whirling dervishes,” making 5 different yeast breads in a 2-hour class. Portland is a great “gluten-free food” town and the folks at Bob’s Red Mill are so welcoming (see photo).
Carol Fenster at Bob’s Red Mill
Five Breads in Two Hours
With careful planning and preparation, we made 5 different breads during each 2-hour class: French Baguettes, Focaccia, Dinner Rolls, Pizza, and Breadsticks, demonstrating how a single dough can be tweaked to achieve different flavors and shapes.
For example, one basic dough was made into French bread, Focaccia, and Dinner Rolls with some flavor tweaks and different shaping techniques, just as the Pizza and Breadsticks originated from similar doughs, but were also made into very different shapes. Here are some of the highlights from the class.
Time-Saving Tips for Bread-Baking
[a] Cold-Oven: The cold-oven method only works with narrow shapes (such as baguettes or breadsticks), or thin breads (such as pizza). Basically, you prepare the dough and shape it on the pan and then put it in the oven, starting the heat and the timer at that time (without preheating the oven). The dough rises as the oven preheats and then bakes when the oven reaches full temperature. The crust dries slightly as it rises (a good thing in baguettes and breadsticks) and French bread can be ready in about 40 minutes, including making the dough and baking. (Loaf breads, Focaccia, and Dinner Rolls don’t work with this technique; they are too thick and dense.)
Not all ovens are appropriate for this technique (e.g., quick/fast pre-heat ovens cannot be used for this method). Try the method once in your own oven; if the bread won’t rise or burns quickly you know you have to use the traditional method of bread-baking next time.
[b] Refrigerating Bread Dough. Many chefs use this method which involves making and then refrigerating the bread dough for up to 3 days before baking. This means you can make dough on the weekend and bake it when you want later in the week. Gluten-free dough is easier to shape when cold (less sticky) but the dough should reach room temperature before it will bake effectively.
The benefits of this refrigeration are: [1] better taste, since enzymes work together during refrigeration to produce a more complex flavor in the bread, and [2] better texture, since these same enzymes produce a texture more like the “normal” bread texture with irregular holes (rather than the cake-like texture we often see in gluten-free breads). I often make dough the night before or the morning of a dinner party and that leaves me with more time during the final hours before a party when preparations can be hectic.
[c] Baking ahead. The third technique requires planning ahead. Certain breads (e.g., pizza) are well-suited to this technique and we perfected it during the second class. Bake the pizza crust on the bottom rack of the oven (as directed in the recipe), then (instead of topping it) bake it on the middle rack just until it is lightly browned all over, about 15 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack. Freeze, tightly wrapped, for up to 1 month. What you now have is a ready-to-bake pizza crust, much like the Boboli shells we once ate.
Pizza with Non-Dairy Cheese
Then ?when you are ready to eat pizza?unwrap the crust and place it on the pizza pan. It will thaw while you prepare the toppings. For best results, have toppings, sauce, and cheese at room temperature. If you are using vegetables (as we did in class) have them microwaved or sautéed so they are no longer crunchy because the pizza only needs to bake as long it takes to melt the cheese and reach serving temperature. (By the way, for the dairy-free students we used Daiya cheese and it tasted great.)
How to Make Bread Stay Fresh Longer
One very clever student shared this tip: she freezes the sliced loaf of bread, then removes as many slices as she will eat in 2 to 3 days (let’s say 4 slices). Then, while the 4 slices are still frozen she vacuum-packs them (in one package) and stores them on the kitchen counter. They stay fresh for a couple of days, tightly wrapped. I’m thinking of using this method for traveling abroad.
Other tips to assure freshness: let the bread cool completely before slicing. Cutting into a (photo of baguettes) hot baguette releases precious steam that would otherwise stay inside to keep the loaf moist. And gluten-free bread is slightly gummy inside until it is sufficiently cooled, so that’s another good reason not to cut it too soon after baking.
Another way is to use Expandex (modified tapioca starch), so we used ¼ cup in the French bread. Expandex extends shelf life, but also promotes a higher rise and more “normal” crumb. Bob’s Red Mill sells Expandex in their store, right next to the cooking school.
Savvy gluten-free bakers know the best way to revive stale bread is to gently (very Low power) warm it in the microwave oven and then eat immediately OR toast it in a toaster or toaster oven.
Tips for Handling Sticky Gluten-free Dough
Gluten-free dough is surprising soft and wet, so it is sticky and hard to manage. Using a wet spatula to shape French bread helps immensely. Chilling the Dinner Roll dough makes it less sticky.
Dinner Rolls brushed with egg wash before baking.
If you shape the dough right after making it, use a spring-action ice cream scoop to portion out the balls of dough and dust them with brown rice flour to make them less sticky while handling.
Sprinkle brown rice flour on pizza dough to prevent sticking to your hands as you press it onto a pizza pan. Breadstick dough is very sticky, but extruding it through the cut-off corner of a heavy-duty freezer bag works beautifully.
