Here's the simplest bread, and perhaps the best bread, I've ever tried. That is, if one likes a chewy bread with a hard crisp crust. One can find no knead bread on Youtube, etc. But I've "perfected it" to the utmost simplicity. Here's how I do it. I've been making a loaf, about every other day, since November. This is a major part of what I carry to work for break time and lunch. I can whip this bread up in moments, though, it then sits for about 18 hours before I do anything else with it. More often than not, I substitute a tablespoon of sourdough starter and 1/3 teaspoon of baking soda, for the yeast. It always comes out great. 1) To a nonmetal bowl add 1 1/2 cups of water: temperature is unimportant. 2) To this, add 1/4 teaspoon of dry active yeast and 1 teaspoon of salt. 3) Now, with a rubber spatula, mix in approximately 3 cups of flour. I often use 1/2 cup of corn meal or even one cup of rye, in place of some of the white flour.. 4) Mix until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. It will be too sticky to knead, even if you wanted to. But it should be "dough," not "batter." 5) Put a lid on this and let sit for 12 to 24 hours. I was originally told 18 hours. But 12 to 24 seems to be exact enough. After this waiting period: 1) Flour your counter and scrape this dough onto the counter. 2) Flour your hands and fold this blob of dough by thirds. 3) Lightly flour the bowl, from which the dough was taken. 4) Quickly (or it will really stick to your hands) plop it back into the bowl. 5) Cover and let sit for 1 1/2 hours. At end of 1 1/2 hour wait: 1) Place a covered glass casserole dish in the oven, set at 500 F., for 15 minutes. 2) Carefully remove the dish and plop your dough into it. Replace the cover and put the whole thing in the oven. 3) Wait 40-45 minutes 4) Remove the lid from the casserole dish, decrease the temperature in the oven, to 400 F. 5) Wait 15 minutes more and remove from the oven. You can let it cool in the dish, though I usually get it out before it's cold. This bread is HEAVENLY when sliced hot and eaten with butter. But it does make good toast and sandwiches. \ Give it a try and enjoy! George

The link below is for a quick and easy gluten-free, low-carb, sugar-free alternative that may help you out. It works best toasted or used as a toasted or grilled sandwich or as French toast. I generally cut the muffin into three slices when I make them. It has an eggy flavor, but if you spread peanut butter or another strong flavor (mustard) on it it's not as noticeable. I've been making this little "bread" for a friend when she dines with us because she's diabetic and very carb sensitive. My mother was gluten-intolerant and she made wheat-free cornbread as her bread-of-choice. She would bake it thin, cut into bread-size slices and slice them in half. Because there wasn't nearly as much information and GF ingredients available then as there is now, I think you have an advantage. There is even a GF Bisquick and GF flour mixtures and mixes available in all grocery stores, not just health-food stores or special order, now than there were a few years ago. Even Wal-Mart has a large selection of GF foods. I wish I would have known about arepas when my mother was alive. She would have really enjoyed those for a wheat-free bread. If you can locate a bag of P.A.N. Pre-cooked White Maize Meal you can easily make wheat-free arepas and keep them in the freezer. I make them about once a month just because we like them. They are something different for us on sandwich night. There are also great baked goods you can make with coconut flour and almond flour that will fill that wheat void. I use both coconut flour (Tropical Traditions) and almond flour (Honeyville Grain) to make muffins because they are low-glycemic alternatives to wheat. My favorite cookbooks using these alternative flours are: -The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook - by Elana Amsterdam You will find a lot of her recipes on-line - www.elanaspantry.com -Cooking with Coconut Flour - by Bruce Fife, N.D. and a lot of those recipes are available on-line. Now that I've been making almond milk I have used the moist almond pulp remaining after I blend the nuts and water for making crackers and drying the pulp in my dehydrator and using it in recipes that call for almond flour. Almond pulp (or almond flour) is a good substitute for breading mixes with some shredded cheese like a mixture of Parmesan/Asiago/Romano/Provolone. Great on baked chicken breasts. Do a search on - paleo bread recipes - and you'll find a number of recipes that may work for you. The people eating a paleo diet don't use grains. I sure wouldn't pay $7.95 for a wheat-free loaf of bread!!! There are things you can inexpensively make at home once you find the recipes and ingredients you need. Check King Arthur Flour and Bob's Red Mill web sites for GF flours and recipes. I made Gluten-Free Banana Muffins from King Arthur Flour web site this weekend (used my own homemade GF flour blend). You can do it!!!! :-) -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: One Minute Muffin

Both Morton's kosher salt and Diamond Crystal kosher salt have bigger grains than regular salt, and therefore weigh less per volume. A cup of table salt weighs about 10 1/2 ounces, a cup of Morton's about 8 3/4 oz, and a cup of Diamond Crystal about 4 3/4 oz. To substitute regular salt for kosher, use about 1/2 the amount by volume. Here is a link that might be useful: weight of different salts per volume.

Fats play several rolls....including tenderizing. Not only how much and what kind of fat you add, but also WHEN the fat is added to the dough will affect the finished product. When fat is added early in the mixture along with the flour, it coats the gluten and then the gluten develops in short strands for a compact crumb (almost cake-like if it's a fairly large amount of fat) and you will end up with a shorter loaf. Use the same recipe and wait to add the fat after mixing - just before kneading - or you can add the fat during kneading by coating your hands with it so the dough doesn't stick to them, and you will find you get a more open crumb and a higher-rising loaf than if it is added early. When a small amount of fat is added after mixing and before kneading, the fat increases the gas-holding ability of dough. So those are the three different times you can add the fat. Actually, less is more when adding fat to yeast breads. If you want soft dinner rolls choose all-purpose flour over bread flour. Use high-gluten bread flour for making hard rolls. The gluten is also a factor for a soft crumb, not just the fat. By increasing the fat you have essentially "shortened" the gluten strands via fat, and also increased the calories. You can do the same thing by using a lower-gluten flour. Fat also helps keep bread fresher longer. Lean doughs will stale much quicker (within a day) than an enriched bread recipe. This is especially true if you use coconut oil because it is also helps prevent mold development. Butter, as we all know, adds flavor. In doughs, like a brioche, that have high amounts of butter, you may need to refrigerate it to keep the high amount of butter from melting during fermentation. These recipes are best handled while they are cold. -Grainlady