I've recently decided to bring my bread machine out of mothballs. Several of the recipes I have for different types of breads call for gluten. No place in the area sells it.....the nearest I know of is a health food store 60 miles away. That's a long way to go for that! Is there anything I can use as a substitute that is more readily available??

Gluten added to the recipes for bread helps it to rise better (not replacing the yeast, just used in addition to) and add to the texture of the bread. Have you looked in your bakery isle? It isn't in a package like flour, you'd find it in a box - called "Vital Wheat Gluten". I've made bread, following recipes that have called for it and didn't use it - - the bread came out a little more dense than when I do add it, but it doesn't make a huge difference.

If you can't find it, I'd suggest that you purchase Bread Machine Flour instead of regular All Purpose Flour. There are alot of recipes out there that don't include the gluten as well. I have a great book with lots of recipes for bread machine...if you want some - just post in the recipe forum (there are a bunch of bread machine recipes there now too!).

Thanks for your reply, Lydia I was pretty certain gluten was used for texture and not really vital in making bread.

I'll have to try some of your recipes sometime, when I learn a little self-control. I made a 1 1/2 pound loaf of white bread and practically ate the whole thing in one sitting. Not an ideal practice for someone who's trying to lose weight!

Yes, gluten is basically the stuff that holds bread together, and without it bread will come out a bit dense. As Lydia said, bread flour has more gluten than regular flour already, so using it may be enough. Two more things you can do when working with low-gluten flour: (1)let the dough soak (before adding the yeast) for some extra time (2) makes sure it is well-kneaded.

You may want to try searching for recipes and including the word "celiac" (people who cannot process gluten), but you may find that those recipes call for other hard to find ingredients.

The more you knead the more gluten will be made.

http://www.sfo.com/~parvin/bread.html May be helpful.

In short it explains Gluten and how Gluten is called for for bread machines:

So you don't have to make an extra click: In recipes the word "gluten" in used in different ways, which is very confusing. If a recipe calls for "x" cups of "high gluten flour" or "strong gluten flour" this means a high protein bread wheat flour. If it specifies only "y" tsps or Tbsps of "gluten," "wheat gluten," "vital gluten," or even "gluten flour," it means the gluten component of wheat that has been extracted, dried, and milled into a powder that looks like gray flour. Note that "gluten flour" can mean a mixture of gluten powder and wheat flour resulting in product that may only be about 50% protein. If you want to buy vital wheat gluten and the only thing available is called "gluten flour," don't buy it unless it is labeled to have 75% or more protein.

You get another link to http://www.kingarthurflour.com/cgibin/start/ahome/main.html Which also has a catalog where you can order Vital Wheat Gluten by the pound: At $3.95 per pound plus shipping and handling.

Or you can get the Gluten Flower For $3.25 per 5 pounds plus shipping and handling - However, remember shipping by the pound is expensive, so any savings you get on shipping the flour over the gluten will be eaten in shipping.

There is another option, going to a Co-Op kind of Bulk/organic food retailer. We had these in Kentucky, they would sell bulk foods and if you donated an hour of time you got a price reduction. One thing I remember about this "Nature Nuts store" Was along with the carob, the whole wheat honey "Organic" things they had a bulk bin of Wheat Gluten. It too was Organic and used by the Nature lovers in their whole wheat products to make them comparable to Wonder Bread - That Light as a Feather Wonder which supplies all of your dietary needs and is highly recommended by Doctors just like Pall Mall where particular People Congregate (1950's product sales was so interesting).

I know another long post by David. And I'm still not finished...

quote:

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Originally posted by Jelp01:
....when I learn a little self-control. I made a 1 1/2 pound loaf of white bread and practically ate the whole thing in one sitting. Not an ideal practice for someone who's trying to lose weight!

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This comment I would like to focus on for a moment:

It is a "Little Vulture Comment". "Little Vultures" are comments and thoughts which circle over our heads swooping down out of the blue and tearing off a piece of our self esteem when ever we make a derogatory remark about or on ourself. Vultures are creations of the individuals mind and are solely controlled by the individual. They start off as childhood eggs of criticism wrought on us by Parents, Teachers, Media, our peers, well the sources are many. They hatch around about Puberty - sometimes later when a specific event takes place, such as getting extra padding around the middle, and they have a very long life span. A single Vulture can eat at your Self Esteem for Years. Some Vultures never die. The Damage done by vultures is a horror, they take away self esteem, self worth, love, trust, and dreams. Little Vultures have caused many deaths - Each suicide that takes place is most likely caused in the hands of a Flock of Vultures - sometimes all it takes is a single vulture.

This particular Vulture caught my eye simply because I think it got several pieces here. First it lowered your expectation of "diet" second it lowered your self worth when it came to trying new things - And maybe it even did a bit of damage to your enthusiasm for bread making. - The addition of "Self Control" issues had the Vulture carry away an extra meal or two of your self esteem - you basically said you do not possess self control. Not only that it went public, which in itself is able to render you (its victim) helpless before the public world.

I want for you to consider this, though you ate nearly a whole loaf of home made bread, Did you also eat three meals that day? Or did the bread become a meal? I'm willing to place dollars that the bread became a whole meal in and of itself.

Second, are you in the habit of eating whole loaves of bread everyday? Even if you did, would you also be eating three big meals and just adding a loaf of bread to your daily diet? Even if you did, why is it so bad that you feel that it is a self control issue and not an issue that you have your head on straight and know and understand the joy of Home Made bread?

There is a Rule of Thumb to Home Made Bread. You bake at least one loaf per person present along with an additional loaf per person for the remaining week.

Why? Because of all of our wonders of the Information Age we still all fall for the smell, texture and taste of fresh, warm homemade bread. The power of Home Made Bread is such that many real-estate agents will add to their "selling" list - "Bake a loaf of bread" - The smell alone can sell a house much more than the large yard, the swimming pool, the fresh paint, new carpet - et al. No one has "self control" when it comes to fresh homemade bread - If they do they are not human and should never be trusted.

Let this Vulture go, set it free and be happy that you enjoyed fresh baked bread. Enjoying a loaf of fresh baked bread is one of the simpler pleasures in life - it doesn't get much simpler than that and it is one of the few pleasures that all of us can enjoy together.

Thanks for the additional information, Methos and David. It gives me more things to ponder.

And, David, thanks too for the "Little Vulture Comment". You are of course absolutely right. I've had flocks of vultures circling around my head for as long as I can remember. Time for them to go find something else to do. Thanks again!