When it comes to making gluten-free bread, we are faced with many problems. The bread doesn’t seem to be the same, it doesn’t taste the same, it doesn’t have the same texture and it’s difficult or almost impossible to make bread with just one type of flour.
Gluten gives characteristics to the dough that allow it to remain fluffy and united. With gluten, bread has the elasticity, consistency and appearance that we are used to seeing and tasting.
But making gluten-free bread is not impossible, we just have to add flours that mimic the properties of gluten-containing flours and use, when necessary, precious auxiliaries such as xanthan gum.
Xanthan gum is a natural additive as it is a polysaccharide obtained by fermenting bacteria. It often comes from the fermentation of corn, so be careful if you have any kind of corn intolerance.
It is currently readily available for sale. It is sold in powder form and can be used for various purposes: thickener, stabilizer, emulsifier, suspending agent, bodying agent for salads, sauces, instant products, desserts, confectionery, dairy products, fruit juices and pastries.
This gum will allow the flour mixture to have similar characteristics to thex` mixture with gluten, as it will be possible to preserve the gases resulting from fermentation, allowing a fluffy and consistent bread.
As a rule, for each cup of flour you can add between ½ and 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum, but it is best to follow a recipe the first time you use this aid.
EsmeraldAzul suggests that if you still haven’t gotten it right with a gluten-free bread/cookies/cookies recipe, try a recipe that includes xanthan gum.
EsmeraldAzul – for a healthy, conscious and sustainable life.