Posted by glutenfr | Posted in New products, bread | Posted on 13-05-2010
Tags: bread, cookery
FG Roberts gluten free bread
One of my dearest gluten free wishes was granted this week. Fresh, soft, delicious bread that is perfect for sandwiches, and stays nice and bouncy in a lunch box.
This was the result of my most recent attempt at FG Roberts’ new bread mix which is headed to shops any minute now.
It’s taken me a couple attempts to nail it. The first time around my creaky old scales let me down when measuring out the dry mix which created a slightly stodgy though very edible loaf.
Older, wiser, and armed with some slick new scales I baked another Vienna style loaf for school lunches which resulted in a nice looking loaf. Then, armed with new confidence, I finished off the packet by baking a tasty thin baguette for a barbie last weekend.
Today was my first proper school-day trial of the sliced up Vienna loaf. I am very happy to say that only half a sandwich returned home in my son’s lunchbox – but more remarkably, this half had retained normal bendy bread-like qualities.
There are plenty of excellent gluten free breads – readymade and mixes – on the market and many of these are tasty and avoid ingredients likely to trigger food sensitivities like soy and yeast, both of which are found in FG Roberts mix.
The readymade loaves are okay as toast but in my view don’t have a soft enough texture to make a satisfying sandwich and many use preservatives as well.
The mixes do better on this score but can quickly lose their form. Many will toast up nicley, but may resemble rubber within two hours out of the freezer.
FG Roberts has somehow managed to stumble on a winning formula – and they say it only took 15 years of experimentation and 800 loaves.
But by jove I think they’ve cracked it.
LH
I have baked a few different brands but I must say that the Fg Roberts Cottage bread mix is fantastic. It REALLY tastes like bread, is not cakey like most of the breads are, is easy to make (I’m no cook), keeps very well and my fussy 4 year old will eat it. I am so impressed with the company itself. I have spoken to them about the bread mix and they are so knowledgeable and very helpful. I would highly recommend it.
P.S. It’s hard to buy in SW Sydney but company is more than happy to post it to you.
I agree with you – FG Roberts is a fantastic bread (especially for those not sensitive to soy). I asked them at the recent Sydney GF Expo why we couldnt buy it at the supermarkets – because many of their products are already stocked. Apparently the retailers say there are too many breads there already – which is a giant shame because they have worked for years to create this bread. Read our recent post on it.
Having been without bread which I would call edible for some considerable time, I was thrilled to discover the Roberts cottage mix and taste my first real bread in years!. This mix is easy to make, keeps well, freezes well and has the texture of ‘normal’ bread. My first few loaves were perfect, but I’m now having trouble with large cavities in every loaf. I still have to work out what’s happening there, but it’s obviously something I’m doing wrong! I’ll get it though – this stuff is too good to give up!
I’m sure others may have more specific experience – but I believe the cavities are linked to how much liquid you have in your mix. Perhaps experiment with your quantity of liquid a little – or check you are using really accurate measuring equipment.
Good luck!