SUE'S GLUTEN FREE BAKING @ HOME
Sue's Baking Favourites
Baguette Pans
When I make gluten free baguettes, these are the pans I use. It's important that you use pans that will support the dough as it rises. There are pans available with tiny mesh holes, but they don't work for gluten free dough. When preparing the pans for dough, oil with a spray or brush with oil. I usually then dust with corn meal, to get a crunchier bottom on the bread. Once you start using the pan, there is no need to wash it clean afterwards. If you brush it clean and leave the oily film, it will build up and make the pan non-stick over time. I couldn't make baguettes without these pans.
Hamburger Bun Rings
To make hamburger buns with gluten free bread dough, you'll need ring forms that will support the dough to rise. These ones work very well. You will use approximately 3 1/2 oz of dough per ring. I use a #10 food scoop, which you can see below. I suggest you spray or oil the rings and place on parchment paper to rise and bake. Once you remove the baked buns, simply wipe the rings, so they can become non-stick over time. These rings are the perfect size for hamburger buns.
Pastry Roller
Our pastry or cracker dough is normally much softer and stickier than that made with wheat or gluten. I cover or encase my pastry and dough with heavy plastic film and use this roller to flatten it evenly. I find this roller very durable and easy to use. I wouldn't do without it. You can see how I make my pie pastry and how I use this roller by clicking this link to YouTube.
Pastry Tamper
This is a very handy tool for pastry, particularly gluten free pastry. When I make tart shells, I measure out pastry, usually by weight in grams, roll it into a ball and place it in the tart tins. I then place a small piece of heavy duty plastic wrap over it and use this tamper to press firmly to extrude the pastry up the sides of the tart tin to form the tart shell. This tamper has 2 sizes for regular and mini tarts. A very useful tool, you'll never roll out pastry for tarts again!
Bread Pan
Gluten free bread dough is much softer and wetter than wheat or gluten dough and does not normally rise higher than the sides of the pan. Using a typical loaf pan results in small loaves that don't make very good sandwiches or toast. In the bakery we only used these pans for our bread. The pans are what is used in a steam tray in a commercial kitchen or buffet. There is a very handy ridge part way down. We used this line to measure when the bread had risen enough to go in the oven. Once it reached that ridge, it went into the oven to finish rising during baking. When using these pans, spray or oil them, and place a cut piece of parchment paper in the bottom before adding the dough. The bread will come out nicely. After that just wipe the pans. Over time the oil will build up to give a non-stick surface. Gluten free bread should be nice large pieces, and that's what you'll get with these pans.
Large Scoop
This scoop is just the right size to use with the Hamburger Bun rings above. It makes it so much easier to measure out the same amount of dough for each bun.
Small Scoop
This scoop is just the right size to use for cookies and dinner rolls. When you make the cookies or rolls the same size they will bake off more consistently, so they can all come out perfect. When I make muffins, I usually put 2 scoops per muffin cup and they come out great.
While operating the Bakery, I learned that a few unique tools can make Gluten Free baking easier and more successful.