Thoughts from a Reader

Thoughts from Readers What is "Normal" bread? Hello baker friend, The other day I had dinner with a friend and she made a paleo yeasted bread. She is quite the explorer in the kitchen and especially around baking. Though she hasn't shown much interest in sourdough yet. She was hoping to make a paleo challah. She said the dough wasn't the right consistency for challah so it came out as a loaf. It was very beautiful and delicious, almost cake like. She also expressed that she wanted to make a high rising bread. (Her bread had risen quite well and looked like"normal" bread.)

I share all this with you because I think that we are culturally bred (pun intended) to regard bread as being big, grown into something with a particular shape and consistency. While exploring and enjoying my sourdough loaves, which are not big and light and fluffy, my partner and I often reflect that it's like working with a different artistic medium. Pastels and oils can make a portrait, but the effects are quite different. It's a reminder that sourdough gluten free baking is just different. It's not meant to look like Wonder bread. Just like Wonder bread isn't intended to have the same nutritional or digestive properties GF sourdough does.

My partner and I like to reflect upon the origin of bread and what early loaves might have been made from and how they were discovered. It's easy to imagine that some ancient woman had porridge left over and it sat in some corner of her hut for awhile as she was unwilling to throw precious food away and as it aged and fermented, rather than throw it out, she patted it together and put it on the fire somehow and came by bread. Looking at the origin of breadmaking like this, makes me feel that what I am eating is actually closer to its origin, than the fluffy light yeasted loaves we regard as "normal" and desired today.

That's my tangent for today. Wishing you happy baking, J. Oregon

Sharon's Response:
Here is my opinion about light and fluffy bread:

I totally agree with your opinion that we are culturally "bred", (excellent pun, by the way) to expect bread to be light, fluffy and tall. This is what most of us in the US grew up with. Wonder bread is the epitome of light and fluffy but even the "real Jewish rye' breads from bakeries in Brooklyn, where I grew up, were light and fluffy.

There was light rye and dark rye. I asked a baker what the breads were made of, (this was before the era of mandatory labeling). She said mostly white flour with a small amount of rye flour. I asked what was in the dark rye bread and she said it was the same ingredients with a little caramel color added to make it dark.

Wow, was I surprised! I had this fantasy that the dark rye was some ancient recipe handed down from baker to baker. In reality it had a bit more substance than Wonder Bread but probably no more nutrition.

We all know that that gluten makes a wheat bread rise. To create a light and fluffy bread, one must have a variety of wheat that has a high amount of gluten in it. Over the last 50 years, perhaps, I believe wheat growers have been selectively seeding for strains with more and more gluten in them to fill the desire for light and fluffy.

Humans can adapt to selective seeding over long periods of time but the amount of gluten in current strains of wheat has been increased so much and so quickly it is probably more than most of us can adapt to. As a result our digestive systems are stressed. If we continue eating these strains of wheat we may develop Celiac intolerance and end up with the autoimmune disorders and many other serious diseases our population is dealing with.

To have the expectation that good bread is light and fluffy may mean that we have been greatly mislead. The breads of our ancestors, no matter what our lineage is, was coarse, dense, fermented, nutritious and with a long shelf life.

When I set out to make my breads my first goal was to make a nutritious bread using only food ingredients. Using an old rye sourdough technique made it possible. The bread was not light and fluffy but was chewy and substantial. I didn't need to eat much of it to feel sated.

When people taste my bread, the ones have only light and fluffy as a reference point don't care for it. The people who appreciate old world breads love it. The people who appreciate sourdough love it. And of course, the gluten-free people, who are looking for something beyond potato flour and tapioca starch breads, are really happy to have it.

Bread has sustained humans for perhaps 5,000 years. Fluff never sustained anyone!

April Newsletter

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Read about bread tips and a great recipe using parsnips!!
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July Newsletter Click here to read it!







This month's topics:
Article: How Do You Get Your Probiotics?
From the Kitchen: Easy Summer Poached Bluefish
Fruit: Bumper Crop of Fruit? Water Kefir to the Rescue
From the Garden: Walking Onions

May Newsletter!!

________________________________________________ HI All, The May Newsletter is here! Topics include Water Kefir Soda, Quinoa, Fermented Mackerel and Oven Baked Gluten-Free Pancakes. Click to read it!

Letter from a Reader

Hi Sharon,
I purchased your ‘Art of Gluten Free Sourdough Baking’ book a little while ago. It arrived just in time for me to transform my first batch of boosted brown rice starter into a reasonably successful loaf. It was a little flat and moist but with a great taste and lovely chewy texture that is missing in the normal gluten free shop offerings!

I didn’t think I would make another loaf soon so I used the leftover brown rice starter to make pancakes for Easter breakfast and included fruit and some spices. We ate these with soft goat cheese and sugar free jam. Wow! Even my husband and mother enjoyed these. I ran out of bread before my next batch of starter was ready so I used a bought loaf that I had in the freezer. I couldn’t believe the difference in the way my stomach felt.

I have just made two loaves using a mix of brown rice starter with Quinoa flour and potato flour. I had a really good result with these, so much so that I had four slices of the first one that I cut up! They seem to slice easily and last very well.

Thank you so much for putting so much effort into researching and producing this book. I had all but given up on bread until my sister in law brought your book to my attention. I am looking forward to trying some of the other things as well. Like banana bread!

Warm regards and thanks again!
D.B., Australia

Saturday Night, November 5, 7:00 pm EST! Live Internet Radio Interview with Vickilynn Haycraft!

Wow! Another interview! This time it will be a live internet radio show by Vickilynn Haycraft, who is an excellent interviewer. This will be a relaxed one-hour talk where we will delve into gluten-free sourdough baking as well as discuss some aspects of my own personal healing journey.

Click here for a direct link to the show page.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/doctorprepper/2011/11/05/get-real-get-prepared-with-vickilynn-haycraft-1

The show will be live Saturday Evening, Nov. 5, from 7-8PM EST, so you can tune in live via that link.

This link will be available after the show to access the interview On Demand, or to download as an Mp3.

If you would like to hear the show live via phone and not on the computer, the number is 1 (347) 326-9604

We will also be open to taking live calls on the air at the above number!

Make a cup of tea, toast a piece of gluten-free sourdough bread and join me for an easy going evening!

Summer Starter Tips for Gluten-Free Sourdough Starters

Just a tip to all of you baking in the hot summer weather:
Feed your gluten-free sourdough starter every 5-6 hours rather than every 7-8 hours to prevent overfermentation, which results in unpleasantly sour tastes and loaves that don't rise much. This is a good time to grow your starter partially or even completely in the refrigerator. I'm growing mine on the counter during the days and refrigerating them at night.

Also, if you have fruit flies, make sure you keep your starter covered.
Enjoy the summer,
sharon

To Cloche or Not to Cloche - That is the question!

A while ago a reader asked me a question about why the tops of her gluten-free sourdough breads had lots of cracking during baking. I really didn't have an answer as my breads also became cracked during baking. I thought it was just part of the package of making my rather unusual bread.

Another reader wrote to me saying she got nice smooth bread tops by using a "Pullman Pan" which is a metal pan with a slide-on lid. I ordered one of these interesting pans and had trouble just sliding the lid on and off. I returned it knowing I would avoid any pan I needed to struggle with to make work.

Then I started experimenting with rice-coconut breads in the hopes of achieving an angel food cake. When they ended up cracked on top I tried another batch and covered it while baking. I used an inverted cake pan. It worked extremely well!

Then I went back to some of my older loaf bread recipes that regularly cracked and baked them with an inverted loaf pan on top. That also worked really well to smooth those tops!

This is not a new idea. Historically, some bakers have used covered clay pots for baking breads. I've read of people making cloches out of tin foil, clay pots, roasting pans and anything else that will safely cover a pan to keep the steam in and the drying air out.

There are loaf breads in the loaf pans and rice-coconut biscuits in the round pan.





______________________________________________

Here is a photo of a bread with a very cracked top.
Below that is a photo of my Sourdough Bread #1, that was cloched with an inverted pyrex pan during baking.

This week's experiments: Teff Carob Dessert Breads

This week's experiments included my favorite, Teff Carob Coconut Bread made in a muffin tin and mini loaf. The starter was a bit soupy so the breads were a bit heavy but the taste was still excellent. On the plus side the muffins didn't need the usual requisite toasting so I could grab them for the ride to work without having to toast.


Teff Carob Coconut Mini Loaf and Standard loaf slice

Teff Carob Coconut Muffins




The possibility of making a gluten-free sourdough cake, while staying within the parameters of my pure food standards, has been floating around my mind for a few months. Tapioca has some good potential cake properties so I added a hefty amount of it to a 2 cups of Teff starter.

I used an angel food pan and was pleasantly surprised. Besides being a bit rubbery, the finished product had a lovely flavor, a nice texture, and good crumb. This recipe has great potential. To reduce the rubbery-ness I will lessen the amount of teff flour and add some more oil.

The top was crusty and the bottom was nice like cake. I may need to cover the pan as it bakes.

If I achieve the texture I'm hoping for I hope I can double or triple the recipe and get a standard size cake in the angel food pan that is light enough to lift itself for proper rise. Will report back after my next trial.

Teff Tapioca Bread/Cake - Nice crumb!


Teff Tapioca Bread/Cake rising in an angel food pan


Teff Tapioca Bread/Cake with a crusty top


Teff Tapioca Bread/Cake with a nice cakey bottom

Gluten-Free Sourdough and Perfect Loaves, Yeah Right!

 

 

 

HI All,
Lately I've been asked many questions about various technical aspects of making my bread. It seems the universe decided to remind me of some of the challenges so I could answer your questions from the best experience possible.

I'm preparing to vendor at a conference in a few short weeks.

Let's set aside that I decided to revise my book so the books I sell will be the most current and needed to have that done in time to self-print many books.

Let's set aside that my editor had to let go of my project about 10 pages into the book.
(My wonderful daughter took over the editing while she was preparing to move out of my house. The first night in her new apartment she stared at her computer for many hours, faithfully editing my book. I owe her big time)

Let's set aside that the ink I bought, at a good price online, has been delayed. When it finally arrived, I wasn't home and the delivery people needed a human to sign for it so it is still in their truck. (got ink from different site, not the best price, no shipping, next day delivered. I'm printing books as we speak, or as I write)

Let's set aside the logistics of packing my car for the conference: books, bread samples, humans, our own food, (we're all on special diets) rice cooker, toaster, hot pot, special pillows.

Now we come to what I wanted to really write about: I'm making samples, Mock Rye Bread. I froze some starter last week, took it out on Friday and planned to bake on Monday. The starter was sluggish, minimal bubbles, not much ferment smell at all.
Gave it an extra dose of water kefir but it didn't really help. (someone just wrote to me about just that).
Then I had to be out for a whole day so fed the starter and refrigerated it. (someone asked about that recently).
Still sluggish, no smell. I kept feeding it worrying it wouldn't be ready or perhaps it was never going to ferment properly. (Now that it's Fall the ambient temp in the house is cooler, probably part of the problem) (3 cold aspects, frozen starter, refrigerated starter, cool house)

Monday morning comes, I hoped to have Peggy videotape a Mock Rye Bread demo for the online course but the starter is just sitting there. We switch gears and do a Feeding Technique #1 and #2 video.

Early Monday evening I feed it once more rather than dump the whole thing in the compost.
Late Monday night the starter starts rumbling and quaking and is in danger of overflowing its 16 cup bowl. (someone just asked about batters overflowing their pans)

I divide it into quart measuring cups, feed, cover and plan to bake on Tuesday morning. I'm left with 5 batches, a lot to do at once but hey, a baker's work is never done.

As I assemble the ingredients for the first loaf I see the starter is a bit too thick, so I add a little water to the next 4. They seem to be alright but instead of a slow pour into the pan, they plop in to the pan. Nowhere in my book do I mention "plop" as a batter texture.

Of course, my schedule for Tuesday does not allow for a proper rise. I will get home one and a half hours later than a 7 hour rise but I really can't get around it. As I'm driving home I visualize that the breads should stay nice and risen, hold their texture, be tall but when I come home they've fallen quite a bit. (someone just wrote about too short and too long rise times).

I bake them, they seem okay. I cut them open using a hacksaw (like someone just wrote about) Although they rose they're not fully cooked through on the top in the center of the loaf. (some wrote about that, too) I would have cooked them longer but they started to get a scorched smell.

A lot of it was usable, though, I cut off the uncooked pieces, hacksawed the rest into slices and froze them for the conference. I feel 99% sure they will be fine after thawing and toasting.
Luckily I also have some perfect loaves I made a few weeks ago.

I saved the uncooked parts and will see if they respond to double toasting. (more info for future questions)

So, All, if you thought I made perfect loaves all the time, you now know the truth. I'm still working with this fluid animal called Sourdough.
And Loving It.

The Lineage of my Gluten-free Sourdough Starter

When people think of sourdough starter lineages they often think of the famous San Francisco or Alaska starters originally brought over from Europe. I imagine the people who brought starters along with them were courageous people looking for a better life. I imagine they dehydrated their starters in the old country and carried small amounts of it in pouches or tiny clay pots carefully tucked into whatever belongings they could carry with them in the boats. When they got to the land of opportunity it is said their bread starters took on a new flavor, the flavor of their new locale. Hence the fame of the San Francisco or Alaska sourdough flavors.

I first learned to make sourdough using an old-fashioned 7-day rye bread recipe. It was a goopy, no-knead recipe that produced a rich, malty, dense loaf. The starter was built over seven days, yielding a giant bowl of sponge-like starter. When it was time to assemble the breads rye flour, water and salt were incorporated into the starter. This “goop” was then spooned into the loaf pans as this bread did not stand up by itself, it needed “walls” to hold it up. It was so sticky that the less handling involved, the better the finished product.

When I began to work with gluten-free starter possibilities I used this spongy, goopy technique as a guide and after a year of many failures, had great success while incorporating a few important changes through trial and error:

• extra daily feedings to prevent spoilage
• boosting and preserving it with a bit of an old fashioned fermented drink, water kefir.

I found the starters to be rather delicate and did not regularly store well. I found that I could easily begin a new starter so using it up was never a problem. In fact, I found the fresh starters resulted in breads having a consistently fresh taste while the stored refrigerated starters often carried some “off tastes” I associated with over-fermentation. The over-fermentation also seemed to result in less than satisfactory leavening.

This sponge-goop technique is very different than wheat sourdough techniques that benefit from extensive kneading and shaping. Unlike their rye counterparts traditional wheat breads also stand up, rise and bake without the support of the walls of a loaf pan.

Some seasoned wheat sourdough bakers have had poor success with my technique when they apply their years of experience with wheat sourdough to my rice starter. They expect to take a small amount of starter and knead large amounts of flour into it, shape it, let it rise and bake it. My technique, however, is the opposite. I grow a large amount of high-moisture starter by feeding it at least twice a day. I then stir in a small amount of flour and pour or spoon it into a loaf pan or muffin tin. From there I let it rise and then bake it.

I think the main reason the wheat technique doesn’t work for my recipes is that my technique was originally derived from the 7-day sourdough rye sponge-goop technique which is really quite different than the wheat technique.

One definition of lineage is “the descendants of one individual”. The descendants of the San Francisco and Alaska sourdough starters are available for sale and supposedly retain some of that “genetic” material referring to the local bacteria and yeasts that grow in the starter. When one purchases those starters they know the lineage of their starter.

I don’t sell starters, I sell a technique. I think about my technique as a “technical” lineage, much like a technique or practice handed down from teacher to student, or master to apprentice. My “technical lineage” is a descendent of the 7-Day Sourdough Rye Technique.

I am deeply grateful for the people willing to try my technique because in addition to feeding ourselves we are also keeping alive a technique that could easily be forgotten in these modern times. We keep it alive by learning it, practicing it, feeding our families with it and teaching it to others.

We successfully unite the past with the future when we reclaim an old-fashioned technique like 7-day rye sourdough and successfully, and palatably, use it to address the modern dietary challenges of gluten intolerance.

Happy Accident-25 lbs of Teff Flour-Part 2

After last week’s fabulous teff pancakes I continued building the starter even though I sorely needed a break from bread baking. I was busy and thought it would be a good opportunity to practice growing starter in the fridge as this would cut the feedings from 3 times a day to twice.

The starter grew beautifully with a mild aroma. I would take it out for about an hour in the morning, feed it, let it sit another hour or so and put it back in the fridge for 12 hours. I’d repeat the sequence at night before bed. I noticed some thickening and some small bubbles but nothing dramatic.

I had been thinking about creating bread that was mildly sweet without any sweetener beyond 1 teaspoon of stevia powder. I used small amounts of carob and maca (a malty flavored root) and used buckwheat flour for one loaf and shredded coconut for the other. I also used coconut oil for the fat. The batters were rich looking, like cake batter. The aroma in the kitchen was heavenly and the resulting breads were fabulous. Sweet without any added sugars, so no blood sugar spikes. The bread is satisfying and the taste is complex. I found the taste getting sweeter each day.

My daughter, who named Sourdough Bread #1 “Mommybread” said this Teff Carob bread was the best ever and I should make it exclusively. Forever.

Cooking Gluten Free on the Road

After many years of minimal traveling due to health problems and stringent food needs, my daughter and I took a road trip together. In the last few years I had traveled by car to Maine for weeklong vacations by the ocean. With practice I mastered the art of packing the car: Kombucha tea into its special box, loaves of home made bread, frozen Highly Digestible Beans, vegetables from the garden, water kefir, milk kefir, grains, nuts, dried fruit and olive oil. I had the packing pattern down pat.

This trip was going to be different, however, as we were traveling by plane. Some people, when faced with a flight across the country followed by an 8 day road trip ending with a family wedding, pack lots of clothes and shoes. I, on the other hand, pack lots of food and equipment. I packed an Elite Rice Cooker with steamer attachment, a small toaster and a few plastic containers for soaking and storage. In the suitcase I used clothes for cushioning around the equipment.

The day before we left I baked 3 loaves of gluten free sourdough chia bread and sliced it into 30 slices. My chia bread recipe is extremely long lived so I knew it would last the week. I packed it in a plastic container lined with wax paper. (My daughter is also allergic to gluten so I packed enough for her) I also packed dry rice and lentils, rice cakes, nuts and a homemade amaranth/teff mix for breakfast which is simply a 50/50 mix of whole grain amaranth and teff. I brought 2 Ziploc screw-on containers to soak the grains and lentils.

I also packed provisions for the full day of traveling:
I cooked extra bluefish the day before mixing the leftovers with olive oil, salt, lime juice and a Cajun pepper mix. I added some lightly steamed broccoli and layered it over bed of rice. I also packed a bag of fresh cut celery and carrots. For snacks I toasted 6 thick slices of bread right before leaving the house to have with Applegate Farm sliced chicken.

A few days before the trip I cooked a pot of Highly Digestible Beans putting some portions of it immediately into the freezer. One portion had rice so it was almost a complete meal. I also froze 2 portions of cooked amaranth/teff hot cereal. My plan was to have 24-36 hours of prepared food so I wouldn’t have to think about cooking until I had a good rest. The only thing I would have to do was soak nuts before bed.

When it was time to go I packed the frozen beans and amaranth/teff in the bottom of the lunch bag. These would defrost slowly keeping the fish, chicken and veggies cold.

The food worked better than I had hoped. The toasted bread was great for snacks and was even great without anything on it! My fish lunch was perfect. Satisfying and unusual. When we had a midday stopover in Detroit we bought nori rolls at a Sushi Restaurant in the airport for dinner later on the connecting flight. This worked perfectly with the cut veggies. We arrived a little weary but well fed.

In the hotel room I began unpacking and realized that I had a minor luggage malfunction. There was brown rice scattered all over everything. No big deal. It could wait till morning. The frozen food had defrosted but was still very cold. They went right into the mini refrigerator. I made up 2 portions of nuts to soak for the morning.

As we were wired from our trip and unable to sleep my daughter and I went out for a walk in the cool San Francisco evening around Fisherman’s Wharf and unexpectedly found some colorful plastic plates from the Rain Forest Café that we could use for our meals.

In the morning I dug out the rice cooker from the suitcase, pouring off the scattered rice. I heated water in it and reheated the cold amaranth/teff mixture. I mixed it with the soaked, drained nuts and had a normal breakfast minus flax oil and cinnamon but I was very happy with it.

We would spend one full day in San Francisco and move on. I soaked some lentils for the next day of traveling. I gathered some more of the scattered rice and soaked some of that, as well. I would cook later in the day, probably when I needed a rest from jet lag.

My regular diet includes beans nearly every day. They are an excellent source of protein and add variety to my meals. My Highly Digestible Beans cause me no intestinal distress whatsoever whereas if I eat beans without my usual preparation I have a lot of discomfort. I didn’t want to give up beans but I knew that the cooking time would be difficult in a hotel room so I decided on lentils because they soak and cook more quickly than other beans. Usually I add a fermented liquid to the soaking water and cook my beans with seaweed but I was able to cut those steps out without any intestinal distress.

Using the steamer I planned to steam veggies during the last part of the cook time. We could make a few meals and store them in the lunch bag with ice in a Ziplock screw top

With my lentils and rice happily soaking I began a bit of sightseeing. My daughter had already begun catching up with friends so I was on my own. I was concerned about having bouts of sudden jetlag fatigue. The last time I traveled to California, pre-gluten and food sensitivity diagnoses, it took seven days to recover from the jet lag. Huge blood sugar swings, huge fatigue, huge hunger. After I finally recovered I only had 3 days of vacation time left only to begin the jetlag process soon after arriving home. It is a testament to the power of a body to heal because on this trip I only had one hour of jetlag in both directions!

I began walking along Fisherman’s Wharf and saw an enormous seal lounging on a dock. Then I took a trolley to the Ferry Building which now houses unusually beautiful shops and artisanal food markets including an organic farm store where I bought some veggies for the big hotel room cooking experiment. There was also a push cart selling gluten free breads and treats by Mariposa. So beautiful!

After a few hours I felt the fatigue set in and headed back to the hotel. After a short rest I began my cooking adventure. The cooker has two settings, “cook” and “warm” which translate as really high and really low. I brought the lentils to a boil on cook and turned it down to warm. This probably works well for slow cooked rice but resulted in barely simmering lentils so I turned it up to cook again and kept my eye on it for about an hour, stirring often with a small wooden spoon. This worked well. Using my pocket knife I cut up the veggies from the organic farm store, swiss chard and turnip, and steamed them during the last 10-15 minutes of cooking. I realized I couldn’t cook the rice in time to eat dinner because the rice cooker was full of very hot lentils so I toasted a piece of multigrain bread and had that with the lentils. Dinner was really excellent. When they were cool I stored the leftovers in lunch containers and stored them right next to the little freezer in the mini fridge.

The next morning I cooked the rice and had it for breakfast. It was nice break from amaranth/teff and helped me continue rotating my food.

As we began our road trip down the coast we happily ate our leftovers for lunch. We had some meals out, carefully questioning our servers but by day five I wasn’t eating my own food any more and began to feel sluggish and spacey. I repeated the soaking and cooking routine again and got myself back on track, feeling much better.

After driving past many mountains and elephant seals we arrived at our family event, the wedding. I had already sent my food requests to the hostess who forwarded them to the caterers. Turns out the groom was gluten intolerant as were a handful of others! Our little gluten free club included some vegetarians, some sugar-frees and some dairy frees. The caterer did a fantastic job of accommodating us with beautiful food of great culinary height. There were gluten free challah rolls, (egg bread) that I hesitated to eat, being sensitive to eggs, but decided to take a chance after being off of eggs for 3 years. They were very nice and doughy. The “wedding cake” was a tower of gluten free cupcakes! I scraped off the sugary frosting after having a little taste of it. The cake part, which had walnuts in it, was a beautiful texture with very delicate spicing. It also probably had eggs in it so I got to test myself a little further. I did have a moderate reaction the next day and now feel sure that eggs should stay out of my regular diet.


It was a blessing to go to an event and receive such good care around our food needs. I also have tremendous gratitude for the many advances in alternative medicine and gluten free awareness which has made it possible for me to regain my health and travel again.