Gluten-free flours and doughs

Why

In wheat dough the gluten network holds both gas and shape (see the Kneading and gluten card); rice, maize, buckwheat or millet flour and starches form no gluten, so without a substitute the dough does not rise, bread crumbles and a dumpling falls apart in the water. Binders imitate the network: psyllium (husk fibre from Plantago seeds), xanthan gum or egg form a thick gel with water; psyllium binds far more water than xanthan, so gluten-free dough needs more liquid, tends to be soft or even sticky, and its flours need time to absorb the water, otherwise the bread is gritty. Gluten-free bread is mostly starch, which firms up again after baking, so by the next day it is hard and it tastes best fresh or toasted. In coeliac disease even traces of gluten do harm: under EU Regulation 828/2014 a food labelled “gluten-free” may contain at most 20 mg of gluten per kg and any oats in it must be grown and processed separately, and a crumb from a chopping board, a shared toaster or oil used for breaded food can carry a similarly small amount into a dish.

How to do it

• Do not replace wheat flour 1:1 with a single gluten-free flour; use a blend of flour and starch with a binder, or a recipe written for gluten-free dough.
• Stir psyllium into the water first and let it gel; work the dough until soft or even sticky and shape it with wet hands, as stiff dough cracks and crumbles after baking.
• Let the dough rest for a while before baking or boiling so the flours absorb the water; long kneading does not help, as no gluten forms in it.
• Cook gluten-free pasta in plenty of water, start tasting earlier than the packet says and serve it at once; it sheds more starch, softens quickly when overcooked and sticks together as it stands.
• For a coeliac, cook the gluten-free dish first, in clean pans and water; keep a separate toaster or toaster bags, uncontaminated butter and spreads, and clean frying oil.
• Buy flours, flakes, starches and mixes labelled “gluten-free”; wheat, rye, barley and spelt contain gluten, ordinary oats are often contaminated, and a few coeliacs react even to gluten-free oats.

If it goes wrong

Bind crumbly dough with a spoonful of psyllium stirred into water or with an egg; thicken dough that is too runny with a little flour blend and let it rest again. If a dumpling falls apart in the water, steam it next time. Refresh bread that has gone hard by toasting it or warming it briefly in the oven, and next time freeze it sliced. A dish that wheat flour or breadcrumbs got into is no longer gluten-free for a coeliac, and removing the crumbs does not fix that.