good breadmaker?

We are new to the gluten free-casein free diet for our son. I am interested in braving making my own bread. I have picked up a couple cookbooks from the library but I am noticing that many use a breadmaker. Which might be easier with my busy lifestyle. I just a year ago gave away mine as it was used very little. So, I am wanting to purchase a used one as to save on cost and see how it works. Does anyone have any suggestions on what brand and/or features are helpful for gluten-free bread?

thanks

hi! when i first went gluten free and started making my own bread, I used a standard bread machine. I cannot tell you how many not-so-great loaves of bread I ended up making! Quite a lot!

 Then I stated making it by hand (and using my kitchen aid mixer) and and it was so much better! You do not have to punch dough gluten free yeast bread or knead it! It's super easy! A great starter recipe is Elizabeth Barbone's Sandwich bread:

Elizabeth Barbone's EASY GLUTEN-FREE SANDWICH BREAD RECIPE

Dry Ingredients

2 1/2 cups Brown Rice Flour

2/3 cup cornstarch

2/3 cup dry milk powder (you can soy milk powder in place of this for a casein free loaf!)

1 Tablespoon xanthan gum

1 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients

1 3/4 cups warm water

1 packet active dry yeast

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

2 large eggs

1. In a small bowl, combine water and yeast. Stir to combine.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.
3. Add yeast mixture, vegetable oil and eggs.
4. Using an electric mixer, mix dough for five minutes on medium-high speed.
5. Lightly grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan with vegetable spay.
6. Spread batter evenly into the pan.
7. Lightly grease a piece of plastic wrap and cover the pan.
8. Allow dough to rise for 1 hour.
9. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
10. Bake dough for 55 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 208°-211°F.
11. Remove bread from oven and allow it to cool in the pan for five minutes.
12. After five minutes, turn bread out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

BUT If you really want to use a bread machine (as I know it's hard to find time to really make a loaf, I would recommend using a "Breadman" brand machine that has a gluten free cycle. Like this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Breadman-TR875-2-Pound-Breadmaker-Stainless/dp/B000FZZ0VE

 If you make gluten free bread in a regular bread machine it will work, but the bread probably won't rise as much as would on a gluten free cycle (which does NOT punch down the dough for a second or third punch down and rise  -- since the dough does not have gluten proteins to support additional rises, you don't need them!)

I hope this helps! Elizabeth's bread is really good and it's very easy to make without a machine!

Sincerely,

Carrie @ www.gingerlemongirl.com

PS... Here is my post on her loaf:

http://gingerlemongirl.blogspot.com/2008/01/elizabeth-barbones-easy-gluten-free.html 

Thanks! I never thought to look for a breadmaker with a gluten-free setting. I will also try the recipe. It would be nice to have a good non-breadmachine recipe. Do you know if anyone has ever tried rice milk rather than soy and egg replacer rather than eggs? He has showed some sensitivies to both soy and eggs and we have eliminated them for a time period. I would like to try the recipe now, rather than wait until they have been re-introduced. Thanks, again!

 Hi Ksnewbie!

 I have not tried the above bread without eggs, most yeast breads especially need the eggs for texture, moisture, and leavening. Sally, at the blog Aprovchar did make a great bread without soy, milk of any kind, or eggs, and it is very good, but it's a bread that's best the first day it is made. You will need to freeze it after that as it dries out quickly because it doesn't have the eggs. It is a very good bread though! I've made it myself!

Here is the link to the recipe:

 http://aprovechar.danandsally.com/?p=228

Enjoy! I hope it works out for you!!

Sincerely,

Carrie @ www.gingerlemongirl.com