I can find Semolina flour at some local middle eastern grocery stores for a lot less than Red Mill brand. For the cost of bread flour and yeast:Sam's Club. Find a friend to give the second pound of yeast to. And for the 25 lb bag of flour: One in the flour canister and three filled gallon ziplock bags (which I reuse for flour five to seven times.) Some of you have seen my kitchen windows: They make for a cold kitchen in winter, so I really like the bread machine knead & heat cycles. It gives a far better rise than the room temperatures we get with a woodstove. I have the Cuisinart Convection Bread Machine (Sam's club last year). It has a dough option as well as an artisan dough option that is just extraordinary good. Now have you tried a Silpat/Exopat for bread baking (and a baking pizza stone?)

Pllog is correct. If you don't have a sugar source in the dough, rising will not go as well. I own the Zojirushi. It's wonderful, but getting breads out can be a chore if they are crusty. Also, NO bread machines handle 100% whole wheat loves well. For those, I use my KitchenAid mixer. If it's a sweet bread recipe, use Splenda to flavor it, but you still need about 2 tablespoons of sugar, honey, or molasses in a medium sized load in order to get the rise. The only exception is for cuban white bread. There is enough sugar in the all white flour to get good lift. But if you're making dense healthy whole grain loaves, sugar will be a must.

clueless, I bought the same cooker for my daughter, and my sister-n-law also bought the same one. We all have that cook book too...:D This cooker has a "Gabba Brown" setting on it if you're into super nutrient packed brown rice. This setting takes over three hours, and what it does is actually soak the rice at a specific temp before it cooks it. Here is a description that I pulled off the Zojirushi page: Q16. What is GABA brown rice? A16. This is not a new variety of brown rice, but a newly discovered way of cooking brown rice to "activate" it and increase natural occurring gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), an amino acid in brown rice believed to have health giving properties such as lowering blood pressure, improving kidney function and relieving stress. The brown rice is "activated" by soaking the rice at 104 degrees F for 2 hours before the actual cooking begins. This feature is available in select Induction Heating Rice Cookers (See How to Choose and Compare). I hear the new pressure cooker rice cooker Zo has is really something. Anyway you will love whichever brand you get. By the way, try this recipe from The Ultimate rice cooker cook book: (This is one of our favs-) http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/Recipes/Rice-Cooker-Recipes-258/Rice-Cooker-Recipe--Vegetable-Paella-859.aspx Have fun!! It takes a little time to learn how the machine operates with making more elaborate dishes, but you will figure it out!

I've used coconut flour a bit. Many of the coconut flour recipes I've seen use *a lot* of eggs. Not a problem for me but might be for others. The texture of the cupcakes I made was interesting - dense, but light. I need to do more experimenting, but it is a very expensive flour. Here is the *best* and easiest GF Bread recipe I have ever made. You would hardly know it is gluten free. Gluten Free Focaccia Ingredients: ● 1 1/2 tsp dry yeast ● 3/4 cup warm water ● 1 tsp sugar ● 1 cup brown rice flour ● 1/4 cup potato starch ● 1/4 cup tapioca flour ● 1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum ● 1 tsp unflavored gelatin powder ● 1 tsp dried rosemary ● 1/2 tsp gluten-free onion powder ● 3/4 tsp salt ● 2 large eggs ● 2 Tbs olive oil ● 1/2 tsp cider vinegar ● ● Topping ● 1 tsp seasoning (Italian, herb, whatever) ● 1/4 tsp salt ● 1 TBs olive oil Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 2. Dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast into water and stir until dissolved. Set aside to foam, about 5 minutes. 3. Combine flours, xanthan gum, gelatin powder, rosemary, onion powder, and salt in a small mixer bowl. 4. Whisk eggs, olive oil and vinegar into the dissolved yeast and stir the mixture into the flour. 5. Beat dough with mixer for 2 minutes, using a spatula to keep stirring down the dough on the mixer beaters. The dough will be soft and sticky. 6. Transfer dough to an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 inch non-stick pan coated with cooking spray and cornmeal. (I usually line pan bottom with parchment) 7. Brush top with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and season as you wish (I use thyme) 8. Cover and let rise in warm place for 40 minutes. 9. Bake for 15 minutes. Yum! Off topic - my fab Candied Ginger Gluten-free cookie. Ingredients: * 1 cup Unsalted Butter, slightly softened * 3/4 cup Brown Sugar * 1/3 cup White Sugar * 2 Eggs * 1 tsp Vanilla * 1 cup Sorghum Flour * 1 cup Brown Rice flour * 1/2 cup Tapioca Starch/Flour * 1/2 cup Potato Starch * 1/2 tsp Baking Soda * 1 tsp Baking Powder * 1 1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum * 1/2 tsp Salt * 3/4 cup Flaked Coconut, unsweetened * 2 - 4 Tbs Coarsely Chopped Candied Ginger (I used 4), plus extra * 1/2 cup Dried Cranberries Directions: Preheat oven to 325F degrees. Mix the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum together with a whisk and set aside. Using an electric mixer beat the butter until soft, and add the sugars, blending well. Add the eggs, one at a time, incorporating each well. Add the vanilla and blend. Add the dry ingredients until just blended Add the coconut, ginger, and cranberries and mix until just blended, about 10 seconds. Spoon a full tablespoon of dough (or use scoop) and press into a 2" circle (about 1/4" thick). Sprinkle additional chopped ginger on top of each cookie, to taste. Bake approximately 17 minutes (top of cookies won't brown much) Let cookies cool on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before moving to cooling rack. Makes 3 to 4 dozen cookies, depending on size.