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I like to add various different types of flour to bread when baking for sake of variety: Amaranth, Chickpea, Teff, Corn, Sorghum, etc. These all worked fine when I was using a bread machine.

Now I like to do everything by hand, and I'm encountering the following problem with Teff flour specifically (and none of the others so far!). Basically, the dough becomes extremely thin (like a liquid) even with just a small amount of Teff (even just 15% Teff and the rest wheat). Even when I use less water to maintain a reasonable consistency in the dough, I can't seem to form it into a loaf; the gluten just breaks down almost immediately. This is not just an issue about not having enough wheat flour: I can add easily 25% of other gluten-free flours such as chickpea flour without any problem. Does Teff flour destroy the gluten in some way? Is there any way around this other than baking in some sort of receptacle which creates the correct shape for the loaf?

John Pardon
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    Hmmm. King Arthur Flour seems to think that you can add up to 25% Teff with no changes. Certainly it doesn't destroy gluten, but I can't blame you for asking that. – FuzzyChef Aug 16 '18 at 14:01
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    See here: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/guides/baking-with-ancient-grains/teff-flour/ – FuzzyChef Aug 16 '18 at 14:03
  • **John Pardon:** If below does not answer your question and **@FuzzyChef** 's link is better, please let me know and I'll delete my answer as that's just a workaround, not a solution to your problem. – Fabby Aug 16 '18 at 14:49

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Teff is probably one of the oldest domesticated plants so doesn't lend itself well for modern processing:

  • Normally the seeds are boiled just like rice
  • If you insist on making bread with it, you can make Injera (an unleavened bread)
  • For baking a "standard loaf of bread", it's not really suitable for that due to its high protein and mineral content, but you can still generously dust your bread with teff as you're using a small % anyway
Fabby
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    This does not address the very specific question asked. – Lorel C. Aug 15 '18 at 16:18
  • I'd need access to a lab to answer the exact question **@LorelC**. If anyone else posts a solution to the issue, I'll delete my answer and upvote the other answer. My answer is just a workaround but **John Pardon** hasn't come back yet. – Fabby Aug 16 '18 at 14:48
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    No need to delete the answer even if someone else answers with a better one. It still contains valuable information relevant to the topic, so even if it does not end up being the top-voted answer, it is worth preserving. – JohnEye Oct 15 '18 at 15:34