There are soooooooo many good GF bread recipes to experiment with - sweet breads, pizza dough, etc., as well as mixes available now, and I think a Zojirushi Mini sounds like a good fit for you.

It WILL hold a recipe calling for 3-cups of flour, but for that much flour you will need to make DOUGH ONLY and bake outside the Zo. Three cups of flour generally will be used with a standard-size loaf pan (8-1/2x4-1/2-inches) and make a 1.5-pound loaf.

In the cookbook, "Bread Machine Baking For Better Health" by Maureen B. Keane and Daniella Chace, I counted 11 recipes that make a loaf small enough for the Zo Mini - the medium-size loaf and the small loaf.

"Bread Machines For Dummies" - by Glenna Vance and Tom Lacalamita -- 9 GF bread recipes, most could bake in the Zo Mini.

I'd suggest a trip to the library and check the Bread Machine Cookbooks for GF recipes. I have a huge stack of them, and nearly all have a section for GF recipes.

Recipes associated with the book, "Gluten-Free 101" by Carol Fenster, Ph.D. (which has good general information about using a bread machine in it for GF breads):

http://www.savorypalate.com/bread_recipes.aspx

I use my Zo for making all my breads and I store mine in a cabinet. I'd move that infrequently-used roaster or stock-pot with other infrequently-used items and store them elsewhere before I'd give up space for my Zo. I hate clutter on my counters, so it definitely wouldn't take up any counter space when not in use.

I have a small stand (15"x21"- purchased at Target) on rollers in my kitchen where I keep my FoodSaver and the things I need for using with it on the shelves below in a decorative basket, and a similar stand may work for your bread machine if you have a small nook you could put it in, or roll it into a mud or laundry room when not in use. I have a larger, heavy-duty rolling cart hubby made me for my grain mills and user-friendly amounts of various grains/seeds/beans I mill. Both of these rolling carts are located in my small kitchen.

-Grainlady

Thanks Grainlady. Here is my story--I don't see the doctor until 11-2 and I have conflicting test results regarding a firm diagnosis of celiac disease. I am following a GF diet with 100% compliance but I realize gluten lurks in so many foods, even the glue on stamps and envelopes, that I may still be taking in small amounts. So far, the diet has not made me fell any better. I own a hand mixer but no stand mixer and no bread machine. GF bread "dough" had to be mixed on a powerful mixer in order to get a bread that even closely resembles "real" bread in consistency. The cost of a stand mixer and/or a bread machine is substantial for me and my retirement bugget so while I really want to make my own bread now, if after the 11-2 appointment I decide not to follow the GF diet, I will regret spending the money. I am out of GF bread (the loaf I bought recently has mold) and I want to bake a packaged mix of white bread that is supposed to be decent. I may resort to asking a friend if I can borrow her stand mixer--if any friends actually own one.

Mudlady, for you it could be a grain issue..not just a gluten issue. There are several wonderful blogs that deal with grain free, and often gluten free cooking and baking and LIVING.

I have never been diagnosed with any grain allergies or gluten intolerances..however,,,I almost feel a "weight" lifted off my body when I forgo wheat within 24 hours.

And I can feel some maladies come back when I've overloaded wheat for my system too.

As I've researched and moved through this journey of how/what one eats, drinks and does affects many aspects of their lives...I have learned that 1) reducing and removing all forms of gluten, depending on ones "damage level" will not fix the problem overnight, within days, weeks or even months. 2) sometimes just removing then reintroducing foods and food products, will show you what works for your body..some times the cause and effects are immediate or obvious..sometimes they are small and compounding...sometimes it's a simple easy to think it's something else causing that problem or symptom.

Good luck with getting to a place where you feel whole and healthy!

I concur with Terri, my problem isn't gluten it's wheat and yeast. I feel absolutely awful after indulging in bread. I've found a frozen sourdough rye bread w/o yeast at Whole Foods. It keeps a long time in the fridge, in fact, it's never gone moldy. Its not soft bread, but toasted it's quite palatable.

The good news is that I've found my urge to eat wheat/yeast products has waned and when I take a bite or two, I'm usually disappointed. Luckily there are many things in Trader Joe's, Whole Foods and regular supermarkets that keep me satisfied. Most are made with rice flour, but I can still eat and be happy! Restaurants with hidden ingredients present a bigger challenge,but feeling better is a big reward. I went through allergy tests and found that wine, bananas, potatoes, sesame, tuna and plums presented reactions. I've eliminated them from my diet and feel much better. However I do admit that I miss a good bowl of pasta!

My genetic testing for celiac disease says I have inherrited the gene/s for "the worst possible" form of celiac disease. My blood allergy test is negative for an allergy to wheat. Celaic disease is a reaction to the body's formation to antibodies to the gluten in wheat, barley and rye. Following a strict gluten free diet is vey exacting and all medical advice I have read stresses that only a lifelong avoidence of all wheat, barley, rye-- and some authorities also include oats--is the treatment for celiac disease damage to the small intestine. No occasional slips from the diet are allowed. I am fortunate because I am willing to eat rice pasta. I hardly notice any difference in the pastas. Not so with GF bread--it is nasty stuff. I'm told that baking my own bread will be much more acceptable to me and I really want to try some. I am afraid that if I purchase a stand mixer or a bread machine and make my own GF bread, and then am told I really don't have to follow the diet, I will regret the cost of the machines. I am still looking for a friend who owns a stand mixer or a bread machine so I can make a test run before I spend some big bucks.

When Jim was on a GF diet for about 9 months (his was mis-disgnosed CD), I tried everything. The rults with my breadmaker, using the Bob's Red Mill mx were incredibly inconsistent. Plus, by the time you add 4 eggs and milk and whatever else to the mix, it's not a money saver. And I also tried my own, using good recipes, and spent a fortune on obscure recipe items!

Best I could do was to buy the expensive Whole Foods GF bread, which was very good, and we kept it in the freezer. It was a lot cheaper than having a whole loaf just fail in the breadmaker.

I never could figure out why my breadmaker results were so completely inconsistent. One load would be a brick, the next would be edible. So I have in and bought the $9 loaves at WF.

Mudlady, are you dead set on having bread, as in a sandwich?

I have not tried this recipe yet. But I trust a lot of Shauna's recipes..and reading it...you could very well do this by hand or at least start it with a hand mixer.

And another I've yet to try...but this requires a stand mixer.
Artisanal Bread

As for "sandwiches"..I use GF waffles I make myself, or rice paper wrappers or even cornbread muffins, using Pamela's Baking Mix.

Here is a link that might be useful: GF Sandwich Bread

I am having an extremely hard time accepting the fact that everything baked GF comes out tasting and feeling as if the baker made a mistake. I am 65 and have been a real foodie all my life. If I am forced to eat something that I don't think is great tasting, my belly may be filled but I am far from fulfilled. Food matters to me! As much as I care about taste, I also care about texture--the "mouth feel." I can and have always made wonderful GF food and I continue to do so. However, I must have bread or a pastry for breakfast--cereal will never do and eggs are OK occasionally, but hey--they go with toast. I need to be able to carry something as convenient as a sandwich whenever I leave the house if there is any possibility that I will stay out long enough to need a meal. I won't eat something like a very nice and healthful yogurt or health bar and call it a meal. Likewise, a bag of veggies and fruit does not constitute a meal for me. I am following the diet but I am miserable! As I said, food, done MY way, is very important to me. I may be on the diet and doing what is right for my body, but I am emotionally deprived and unable to ignore the real loss I feel in following the GF diet in regard to baked goods. Eating in a restaurant is a crap shoot. If the kitchen and serving staff haven't been thoroughly trained in how to keep food GF, and especially if the can't accept the fact that minute amounts of gluten can make a celiac patient very ill, the customer often gets "glutened", a coined term we use to indicate that we ate a food that was somehow contaminated with gluten. It can be as simple as using a spoon to stir a pot or dish up an item that previously came in contact with gluten. Celiac patients even have to have their own toasters because small crumbs containing gluten can make them sick.
There is a lot of excellent support by and for celiac patients available and I don't need to burden this group with information on how to eat GF. I am asking you great cooks about stand mixers and bread machines. Gluten free batter is nothing like regular bread dough. It can't be kneaded and it has to me mixed or beaten for a long time on a powerful mixer or made on the GF cycle of a good bread machine. Neither a good stand mixer or bread machine is inexpensive so I am researching all sources before I buy one or both.

I know I am a pathetic creature to be so hung up on food done my way, but it is the way I am. I may choose to eat GF to protect my health, but it does and will have a serious negative effect on the quality of my life. I would feel the same loss if I had to give up my dogs or cats. Im sure I am irritating some of you who are able to accept what life hands you. All I meant to do was ask for technical information on mixers and bread makers. I would rather deal with my stubbornness alone. Thanks!

Did you find the GF products at Whole Foods? Excellent quality, and will satisfy. If you don't have a WF near you, I'd take a road trip and stock up your freezer.

Has anyone been using coconut flour? It's an excellent low-carb. GF flour. I LOVE it for muffins and other bake goods and I wish it would have been available when I was doing GF baking for my mother.

I've used Bob's Red Mill Coconut Flour as well as Tropical Traditions. The link below has a lot of recipes. I also use the recipes in "Cooking with Coconut Flour" by Bruce Fife, N.D.

-Grainlady

The coconut flour sounds really good--I'll give it a try. I have a friend who bakes for special occasions and I have tasted some of her goodies. She is a great cook and when I asked if she had a stand mixer or a bread machine it turned out she had both, but they are old. The bread machine didn't have a GF cycle so I borrowed her huge mixer. The Gluten Free Pantry's Favorite Sandwich Bread mix had been recommended so I tried making that. It was an absolute hoot! I had never seen or touched GF dough and I wasn't prepared for the consistency. It is almost like taffy. I couldn't get it off the beater, out of the mixing bowl, off the spatula or off my fingers. It didn't pour out of the bowl and I had to scoop and slop it to get it off the spatula. Cleaning my hands was a big chore but I had to move on to getting the pan into the oven. It took quite a while for me to clean everything that had the dough on it and I didn't look at the baking bread for about 20 minutes. When I did look I was amazed because it had risen out of the pan by about 1/2 the height of the pan. I hadn't smoothed out all the plops of dough so the top was very lumpy. When the cooking time was up I thumped the top of the crust and it sounded done so I took it out. I was told to get it out of the pan and onto a cooling rack ASAP. It looked like no bread I had ever baked with its ridiculously domed top. When it was cool I sliced a thin piece and ate it with butter. It was much better than store bought GF bread and if it doesn't spoil before I use it all I will consider it a real success. I can't wait to try making GF bread from scratch as well as other mixes. If I buy a stand mixer it can be used for other types of cooking, but if I get a bread machine there will be only the bread pan and the mixer blade to clean. Time will tell-----

I understand your quest, and I think you've answered your own question..the mixer can be used for more things, than the bread machine.

I tried the GF Pantry's Sandwich Mix...It was okay...I used the rest of the bread to make bread pudding. LOL It was really good in that instance.

I haven't baked with Coconut Flour on it's own..I've used it as an added 1/2 c of flours in a recipe.

I think now that you have that mixer on loan, to try both those recipes I linked to, a few posts up. I trust Shauna's recipes. She's a true foodie too...and what her and her Chef hubby come up with are amazing things!

I too will give them a try. I bought 5lbs of sorghum flour just because of the artisanal recipe...but it went right in the freezer and I forgot all about it until this thread.

I'll report back by the end of the weekend.

oh and I have a delish mocha cookie recipe that is GF. My guys ate them up..and never once asked if they were GF..usually they can tell by the texture...

I eat gluten free, but it has made such a huge difference in how I feel that it is easier--I can imagine that for you it feels like a huge loss.

I think you answered your question too--the stand mixer is what you need. I make gluten free bread frequently, and don't see any need at all for a bread machine.

Try Pamela's gluten free bread mix as well--it is quite good. And the Pamela's pancake and waffle mix makes good waffles that I use for panini.

I also have used a recipe off the web for a gluten free sandwich wrap that I like. I'll find it if you are interested.

I make a loaf of gluten free bread, slice it and then freeze it, as I don't eat it very quickly. The quality stays quite good when it is frozen.

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.

1. Mix the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum together with a whisk and set aside.
2. Using an electric mixer beat the butter until soft, and add the sugars, blending well.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time, incorporating each well.
4. Add the vanilla and blend.
5. Add the dry ingredients until just blended
6. Add the coconut, ginger, and cranberries and mix until just blended, about 10 seconds.
7. Spoon a full tablespoon of dough (or use scoop) and press into a 2" circle (about 1/4" thick).
8. Sprinkle additional chopped ginger on top of each cookie, to taste.
9. Bake approximately 17 minutes (top of cookies won't brown much)
10. Let cookies cool on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before moving to cooling rack.

Makes 3 to 4 dozen cookies, depending on size.

mudlady, you may want to check your local CraigsList for a stand mixer or bread machine. Mine has them frequently. If I decide to get a bread machine, I'll definitely check there first.

The Hodgson Mills gluten free bread mix isn't bad, nor the Bob's Red Mill cinnamon raisin bread. I suspect the latter could be done without a stand mixer, as the instructions are just to mix until combined, if I remember correctly. I bake two loaves at once, then slice most of each loaf. I place 2 slices in a sandwich bag and close with as much air as possible zipped out. Then I put all my small bags into a large freezer bag. I put a 2 slice bag in the fridge to thaw overnight, and put on the counter in the morning. The result is far fresher than g-f bread that has been out for a few days.