Gluten free pastry issues

Morning Glory

Morning Glory

Obsessive cook
Staff member
Joined
19 Apr 2015
Local time
3:44 PM
Messages
48,580
Location
Maidstone, Kent, UK
I was motivated to try out gluten free pastry because @Herbie had posted about it and seemed to have success. Here is my first effort. I used the recipe on the Dove's farm gluten free flour packet plus a teaspoon of xanthum powder (for structure). Here is what I made... looks good doesn't it? Scroll down...

20171209_151907.jpg


Not good at all! Photos can lie (as we all know). The fat was a struggle to mix in. The pastry dough had the consistency of play dough. The final result was curiously both hard and chewy. Very unpleasant. I ended up scooping out the filling and making normal pie pastry!

So what went wrong?
 
Don't know what went wrong, but I find that pre-prepared (i.e. supermarket) gluten free breads and pastries are really chewy and taste awful, so it's obviously just not you.
 
They look beautiful however, I have never had gluten free anything as I am not gluten intolerant .. So, I have no knowledge as to texture or taste profile differences ..
 
I do not get the whole gluten free craze. Yes - a small percentage of the population is gluten intolerant. They need the gluten free products. Glad that gluten free is available. As for the rest of the population - a fad fronted by food producers to encourage people to spend premium $$$ on products they really have no need for.

We have a friend who really is gluten intolerant. I have tasted some of the products she buys - :sick:. Glad we do not have those issues. I am certainly not going to pursue gluten free food. Another marketing ploy.

Sorry - I do not like being told what I should and should not eat - especially when it comes at a ridiculous price. I have enough issues maintaining G's post bariatric surgery dietary restrictions.

I apologize - my rant.
 
ElizabethB said:
I do not get the whole gluten free craze. Yes - a small percentage of the population is gluten intolerant. They need the gluten free products. Glad that gluten free is available. As for the rest of the population - a fad fronted by food producers to encourage people to spend premium $$$ on products they really have no need for.

We have a friend who really is gluten intolerant. I have tasted some of the products she buys - :sick:. Glad we do not have those issues. I am certainly not going to pursue gluten free food. Another marketing ploy.

Sorry - I do not like being told what I should and should not eat - especially when it comes at a ridiculous price. I have enough issues maintaining G's post bariatric surgery dietary restrictions.

I apologize - my rant.
Click to expand...

I absolutely agree - I was simply curious about how gluten free flour would work, so tried it out. As you say, there are, of course some people who are really gluten intolerant. I know that apples to @Herbie 's husband. I would like to persist as I have a whole bag of gluten free flour to use up! But...
 
Hello :wave:

Well done for trying @morning glory Gf flour does not like being handled so possibly you worked it too much? Having low expectations works well too :thumbsup: It really does not work well. The ready-made jus-rol is awful! (hard, thin and tasteless). The best GF pastry I have made was tasty but crumbly so could not be picked up like a sausage roll.

I agree with @ElizabethB that the gluten free fad is unnecessary, and also very unhelpful to those who do have an allergy or are coeliac. The fad makes it difficult because people assume you 'just leave out the bread' but don't realise that a roast dinner is fine but hold the Yorkshire pud and the gravy thickened with wheat flour (someone with a gf fad may leave the yorkie but not think about the gravy), or chips are fine but not if cooked in the same oil as battered fish. Products are very expensive and full of sugar, but I think this is similar to all ready-made food. I tend to cook everything myself, but my breadmaking is not that great and I don't have room for a bread-maker (a friend has one and is coeliac so is experimenting for us both!). We can't use gluten free oats (see below) but do buy tamari instead of soy sauce and I buy gf flour and baking powder (and check dried yeast as some contain wheat flour). Stock is another thing I need to check if buying, though I find there are brands that are GF and a lot cheaper than the GF branded versions.

My husband is not coeliac but has an allergy. Foods classed as gluten free have fewer than 20 parts per million. This is useful for those who are coeliac but is too much gluten for someone with an allergy.

My husband has conditions called trigeminal neuralgia and temporomandibular jaw syndrome. He has typical and atypical which means he is in constant pain but also gets short term extreme pain that is often called 'suicide syndrome' (because people do!). Gluten causes swelling that pressures the nerves and joints in his face, so this means we can control, to a point, this issue.

I can no longer have gluten in the house. Even if I sneak in a bread roll, the crumbs and loose flour will affect him. If I want to cook with gluten I have to go to my parents.

Give it another go @morning glory If you do give up then use the flour to make a crumble , pancake or cake as the GF flour works well with those where the 'holdability' is not required.
 
Herbie said:
Hello :wave:

Well done for trying @morning glory Gf flour does not like being handled so possibly you worked it too much? Having low expectations works well too :thumbsup: It really does not work well. The ready-made jus-rol is awful! (hard, thin and tasteless). The best GF pastry I have made was tasty but crumbly so could not be picked up like a sausage roll.

I agree with @ElizabethB that the gluten free fad is unnecessary, and also very unhelpful to those who do have an allergy or are coeliac. The fad makes it difficult because people assume you 'just leave out the bread' but don't realise that a roast dinner is fine but hold the Yorkshire pud and the gravy thickened with wheat flour (someone with a gf fad may leave the yorkie but not think about the gravy), or chips are fine but not if cooked in the same oil as battered fish. Products are very expensive and full of sugar, but I think this is similar to all ready-made food. I tend to cook everything myself, but my breadmaking is not that great and I don't have room for a bread-maker (a friend has one and is coeliac so is experimenting for us both!). We can't use gluten free oats (see below) but do buy tamari instead of soy sauce and I buy gf flour and baking powder (and check dried yeast as some contain wheat flour). Stock is another thing I need to check if buying, though I find there are brands that are GF and a lot cheaper than the GF branded versions.

My husband is not coeliac but has an allergy. Foods classed as gluten free have fewer than 20 parts per million. This is useful for those who are coeliac but is too much gluten for someone with an allergy.

My husband has conditions called trigeminal neuralgia and temporomandibular jaw syndrome. He has typical and atypical which means he is in constant pain but also gets short term extreme pain that is often called 'suicide syndrome' (because people do!). Gluten causes swelling that pressures the nerves and joints in his face, so this means we can control, to a point, this issue.

I can no longer have gluten in the house. Even if I sneak in a bread roll, the crumbs and loose flour will affect him. If I want to cook with gluten I have to go to my parents.

Give it another go @morning glory If you do give up then use the flour to make a crumble , pancake or cake as the GF flour works well with those where the 'holdability' is not required.
Click to expand...

I was thinking perhaps pancakes or tuiles too. I am experimenting with tuiles at the moment. I know that some dosas are made with rice flour.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom