Sour Dough, Gluten-Free Pizza from Scratch (without a recipe)
This is a personal triumph! A pizza so good that Rick likes it as well as regular-people pizza–and that I can eat without thinking twice. I’m kinda getting the hang of this whole baking gluten-free bread products thing.
tworockchronicles 
Cooking is love.
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I agree. So is experimenting—especially when it works.
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Good for you – especially for a pizza! I was checked for the gluten allergies for a variety of reasons, using the genetic marker tests, and it all came back as no allergies, so! I researched gluten free cooking and there is a lot of good stuff out there. I came across an absolutely delicious chocolate chip cookie recipe made with cream cheese on the blog “My Gluten-Free Kitchen.” If you love those kinds of cookies, check it out; if you are watching the sugar (my drug of choice), you may not.
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I have been baking gluten-free for years, with some added challenges for other allergies and intolerances. But I hadn’t ventured into bread products until the pandemic sour dough craze. I’m pretty inventive–Rick says cookbooks are wasted on me…since I won’t follow them anyway. The book I want, and I don’t think it exists, is a tome on the comparative qualities of various flours. Mostly, books/labels say vague things…”slightly nutty flavor, good for baking.” Rubbish. I want real information with ratings on elasticity, tensile strength, browning, loft, protein levels, etc. (In wheat flours, high protein “hard” wheats are used for bread, low protein wheats are used for pastry flours.) That’s a fairly slim guide on use, but there is not even that on the alternative grains. Too many gulten free recipes (and cup for cup flours) rely too heavily on rice flours–which provide good structural heft, but tend towards brittleness–and white rice flours often yield a product that is excessively dry. For example, this pizza dough used a primarily rice based sour dough started (with some millet and sorghum) and then, in thirds, mixed with a cup for cup (mostly rice blend), sorghum and oat flour. I used sweet white rice flour for dusting and forming. I’m not ready yet–lots left to learn, but I may have to write the book I want.
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I love this kind of inventiveness. Do you use xanthan gum? It helps with texture in baked goods. I like the experimental approach to cooking / baking, so I love to hear what you have accomplished. Always cracks me up when people say “what is your recipe?” Very seldom do I think a recipe need be followed exactly, but I do have one that is best with prescribed amounts.
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Yes to xanthin. I am tempted to try ground psyllium husk as an alternative, but haven’t yet found it locally.
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Does Plantain grow in your area? (Also a mucilaginous seed; ) and highly useful Plant… https://pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?LatinName=Plantago+major
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Shockingly, very little plantain grows in our immediate area. I figure it must either be alkaline soil, or just very poor dune soils. Who knew, we’re too barren for quality weeds. I’ve had one little plant that sprouted the last two years in the garden, and I use the leaves for bug bites and bee stings. Certainly, not enough to harvest seeds. But thanks for the thought.
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Was it clear cut at some time – the land where you live? Sorry, “Why?” is often a recurring thought for me…
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Absolutely (this is Michigan!) The zoning on this property is “Timber Cut-over.” It’s a glacial dune whose highest and best use is trees.
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As an aside, many people have gastro-intestinal issues test negative for gluten sensitivities, and yet feel better on a gluten-free diet. My theory is that there is a twofold problem–first, wheat varieties are being selectively bred for “non-food” traits–like shelf-life, which makes them less digestible; and many flour grains are treated with glysophates–not for weed resistance but to ‘accelerate’ a synchronous harvest. These residues, applied just before harvest, are notorious for triggering intestinal problems (even in bees!) So one solution, after the testing says no allergies or intolerances, is to switch to all organics, and to mix in some ancient grain varieties. Obviously, this is something to which I’ve given a lot of thought. I think that the American consumers have been sold a bill of goods on the food issue and the various contaminants and poisons that Agribusiness has decided are necessary and profitable to their bottom line, without addressing proper health and safety concerns…oh, don’t get me started.
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I am complete agreement with you there. I like to put my money where I put my ideas as much as possible – food, small business, etc. 😉
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Yes, they call it ‘dessication’ (using glyphosate to ‘ripen’ a field of grain:/)
I have friends who are supposedly ‘intolerant’ and went to Italy a few years back… Ate all sorts of pasta & bread from dusk ‘til dawn with no trouble; then came home and had their blood checked… Zero sign of any allergic reaction in either of them. Gluten is the Fall Guy.
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I have a couple of ‘gluten-free’ friends who eat bread and croissants while in Paris…without trouble. I think we can identify the real culprit. I wouldn’t try it, because my intolerance is the real thing–runs in the family.
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Well, that is a crying shame! But congrats on figuring out pizza crust!: )
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Fascinating discussion! the pfaf.org site is useful – thanks Deb.
The stories on “gluten” intolerance going away in glyphosate-free Europe is new to me but I’m not surprised. Please share any sources if possible. Thanks!
I’m starting research on future posts on agriculture and Bayer/Monsanto
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jkaybay, I was involved in the glyphosate labeling movement when in California. The Millions Against Monsanto group (and site) was loaded with scientific articles and studies on the research (and litigation) on the issue.
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