First shot at a GF preferment

I am happy to give a few pointers to those who are interested in GF bread.

I use psyllium husk powder. I buy whole psyllium husk from the bulk section at my local grocery store which has a great natural foods department (better than some health food stores I've been to) and use a coffee grinder--one I bought specifically to use to make flax meal and the like, not coffee--to make it powder and mix it into my flour blend. I have not experimented with adding the psyllium at different points in the mixing process as I have seen discussed on this site [http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/28469/philosophy-bread-no-gluten] because I have had great success with my current method. Trying new binders and methods is on my bread to do list.

As for the bread, it seems a little under-cooked when you first cut it (I leave it overnight before I cut it. I have found that GF bread really needs to be left alone long after it has cooled before you can cut into it), but my current recipe is much less doughy after baking than previous recipes. It has been difficult to get that sweet-spot of not dry and crumbly, but not doughy and sticky. However, that all being said, even being a bit on the moist side, the bread is VERY pleasent to eat. I have fed it to lots of "normal" people that said it is much nicer than the dry, flavorless GF bread they had tried before; some have even gone so far as to say that the bread even measured up to any wheat bread that they had tried. It has flavor because I use seven different kinds of flours, six of which are whole grain. Another thing about this bread: It has substance to it. You have to chew it, not because it is chewey and sticky, but because it is a hearty slice of well-baked bread. It doesn't use all the saliva in your mouth to moisten it. You can chew and swallow like a normal piece of bread. It is especially good as toast. The crust is crisp (though still a bit thick for my taste) but not overly hard toasted or not.

I could go on, but I am also a bit partial to my bread probably because it is mine and because of the time and effort invested in it. My favorite part about it is that I know I can still make it better. I have not made it the same way twice for over a year now unless I am verifying that a change made the last time is repeatable and making it a part of the ever-changing recipe. It's so much fun! It was really frustrating at first, but for those of you who are working on GF baking, keep at it. It is totally rewarding, especially when you meet someone else who can't eat gluten and you get to see the look on their face when they try your bread... Makes it all worth it.

I haven't been brave enough to try that just yet. As it is, my experience with any starters, wheat or otherwise, is limited to the small peice my neighbor gave me of her WW sourdough starter (which is VERY wet, and much unlike most of the starters I have read about on here). Heretofore I have not yet decided on the best method to get a GF one up and going. Though when I do, I would probably use a combo of several flours to start and feed it, sorgum being one for sure. Oat flour revolutionized my GF baking and when I started using larger amounts of sorgum, these two became my star players in the GF drama with other flours playing a supporting role.

Going back to your question, I made a poolish style preferment for this bread. Very wet and only fermented 4 hours before it got mixed into the rest of the ingredients. I just used the same flour blend in the same proportions that went into the bread. I premix my flours after I find a blend I like, that way I can just get out the scale and start putting things together much more quickly than if I weigh all the ingerdients individually--which I do when I try a new flour blend (which happens often).

in my experiences with GF people. This lady couldn't do oats OR psyllium husk, and I have come accross one person that can't do flax seeds (back when I used flax instead of psyllium). So I have learned to be flexible. I can make an acceptable loaf with flax and chia, but it will not be as nice as with psyllium. I can also make a loaf without oat flour. I just prefer not to because 50-60% of my GF bread goes on my plate right now. I suppose if I plan to market my GF bread a little more, it may be worth my while to improve my recipe without oats. It would save a step since I grind my own oat flour in my Vitamix.

The psyllium does take the place of gums in my bread. I don't really bother with it in any other recipes, so I wouldn't quite say that it is a part of my flour blend. Cookies and pie crusts come out just fine without it. But a friend of mine says that it makes her GF cakes come out better.

I abandoned the gums because some people find that their systems don't process the gums very well, and I never liked the idea of using xanthan gum knowing how it is made. You can pretty much use psyllium 1:1 as a replacement for xanthan or guar gum in your recipes, but you will want to use it in powder form.

I use about 1.5 times how much xanthan the recipe calls for. (If it calls for 1 tsp of xanthan, I use 1 1/2 tsp of psyllium powder)

In my bread, however, I go by weight. Psyllium is 3.4% of my blend by weight, so if I were mixing up 1000g of flour, I'd add 34g of psyllium powder for a total of 1034g. The math gets more complicated than it needs to be if I try to hit exact figures.

Glad you like the bread.

I'm curious how it worked for cookies though. I can't say that I've ever been impressed with coconut flour. It's pretty much pure fiber and seems to make pastries chalky and bread heavy. Your blend might work to make bread, though you'd probably need to do some experimenting to find the right hydration (I'd guess you'd want it around 80-85% for that blend, possibly less).

The reason I have only 18% starch in my blend is because I am a stickler for using only whole grains as much as possible. If you don't mind using starches (most don't) then anywhere from 30-60% starch will make a lighter loaf if everything else is right. You'll need a binder (xanthan or guar gum, or psyllium husk) in your blend too.

Personally, if I were to make a flour blend with more starch, I'd use equal parts white rice flour, potato and tapioca starch (to avoid using GMO corn). I'd make the rest of my blend with grain flours (no nut flours). For the grains, I'd use about 50% sorgum, 25% oat, and any combo of amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat, millet, or bean flours you want to make up the rest of the grain partion of the blend. And again, be sure to add a binder; my favorite is psyllium. For a blend like this, the hydration of the dough will depend on how much starch you use. Higher starch=less water.

Happy baking.