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Apart from the nutritional value of a good loaf of bread, there are other factors which make up the true enjoyment of our most basic and versatile food. Here is our take on our own success with regard to how our mix stands up against a good white wheat based loaf, and some competitors whose mixes and loaves we have trialed here in Australia to the end of 2009.
Each trial loaf was scored out of a possible 10 for each of the 10 criteria, making 100 the highest score possible. The exception was Loaf C, which being a pre-cooked loaf was scored out of a maximum of 80 because the first two criteria were not applicable.
A = Wheat loaf equivalent.
B = FG Roberts Cottage Loaf Mix.
C = A large commercial bread company's pre-made loaf.
D = Best pre-mix we could find after sampling five well known brand mixes.
Gluten free pre-mixes
We chose what we considered the best from these five well known products:
The Real Bread Mix by Springhill Farm
Easy Bake Bread Mix by Orgran
Easy Bakers Mix by Laucke Flour
Bread Mix by Basco
Instant Bread Mix by Well and Good
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Explanation of Test Criteria
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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 because it is a batter. Therefore it must rely on the shape of the tin it is placed in. Batter is 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... until now.
We are delighted to have discovered a combination of gluten-free ingredients in a formulation which can almost perfectly mimic a gluten based dough and therefore result in almost perfect gluten-free breads of all shapes and sizes.
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. For information on use of Bread Making Machines click here.
A simple process with minimum equipment, effort and time, able to be made almost anywhere there is an oven (home, caravans, even a camp oven) and easy non-messy cleanup, has been our aim here. You need just a bowl, a sturdy spoon, and something to bake it on or in, and as the mix is dough based and dissolves in water, clean-up is a breeze. You don’t even need to wash dough off your hands! If you have poor dish washing facilities available, you can even let the remnants soak and then give a quick rinse clean. Our mix takes just 3 to 5 minutes to hand mix and mould enough dough for a single loaf (or 5 to 6 rolls), ready for a single rise (30 to 50 minutes) and bake (25 to 50 minutes).
Wheat bread = 8 versus FG Roberts Cottage Bread Mix = 10.
Loaf Height/Volume/Value for Money
This 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.
Wheat bread = 10 versus FG Roberts Cottage Bread Mix = 9
Aroma
Each flour and ingredient combination has its own particular aroma. Our aim here was to prevent any chemical, milk powder, eggy or artificial smell from the mix. Of course it must have yeast to give it a bread-like aroma and taste but numerous other ingredients we tried ended up overpowering the blandish savoury aroma we wanted both during and after baking...and the day after also. We are very satisfied with our score here.
Wheat bread = 10 versus FG Roberts Cottage Bread Mix = 10
Texture
Here we 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.
Wheat bread = 10 versus FG Roberts Cottage Bread Mix = 9
Taste (closely related to aroma)
Regardless of its looks, cost, ease of use etc. if a bread does not taste like 'bread' it is not going to be used as the 'staff of life' ...as the basic energy unit of our western daily lives.
All we need to say on this is to repeat the comment of one of our regular non-coeliac testers over the years, when he recently ate some of our latest bread exclusively for his lunch... “I can’t believe this is not wheat!”
The test of a great gluten-free bread is not whether coeliacs enjoy it, but whether non-coeliacs would quite happily choose it.
Wheat bread = 10 versus FG Roberts Cottage Bread Mix = 10
Crust Colour and Shape
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 so it does not tear your gums. We have achieved a high score in these areas.
Wheat bread = 10 versus FG Roberts Cottage Bread Mix = 8.5
Toast
Gluten-free breads have been difficult to toast well. Because most gluten-free bread mixes and recipes have required a lot of water compared to wheat based loaves. The extra moisture in a loaf makes toasting take much longer and the crust often burns before the centre is toasted. Many mixes have also had extra sugar, milk powder and other “browning” ingredients to try to overcome this and to make the loaf produce a golden brown crust.
We have worked at making sure our bread toasts well although it usually takes a little longer. It doesn’t stay too soft nor go soggy, is not hard and brittle, and the crust does not burn too early in the toasting cycle. We have not added extra sugars or fats to do this.
Wheat bread = 10 versus FG Roberts Cottage Bread Mix = 8
Fresh Keeping
Bread freshness has always been an arguable thing. What is fresh to one person can seem not so by another. 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, 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 enjoyable eating (as a sandwich) on baking day and the day after it is baked, without the need for ‘refreshing’ or ‘reforming’. 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). 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.
Wheat bread = 10 versus FG Roberts Cottage Bread Mix = 8.5
Freezing and Reforming
If you want to bake a number of loaves at once, you can successfully freeze the cooled loaves for several weeks. They should defrost well either on the bench or in a microwave (on defrost) or wrapped in foil in a normal oven on 200°C for about half an hour.
To refresh rolls or slices which have not been frozen, simply place them on a paper towel in the microwave on high for 15-20 seconds per slice or roll and allow them to cool. This refreshing restores the softness and flex of the bread for the remainder of the day if kept wrapped once cooled.
Wheat bread = 10 versus FG Roberts Cottage Bread Mix = 10
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