I have been doing lots of internet research trying to understand how GF breads work. I figure that the more I understand what each ingredient is doing the better I can modify recipes to get the results I desire for any particular product. Here are some things I have come across that I wanted to pass along.

In a university study, the researchers used sorgum flour (a popular wheat alternative for non-gluten bread) and varied the ratio of starch to protien. They discovered that when they increased the ratio of starch the volume (fluff) of the bread increase. The more protein that the bread had the heavier that it was.

Now lightness is an incredible gift if you have ever tried to create a wheat bread-like texture in a flour that doesn't contain gluten. The disadvantage with going for that starchy lightness though would be a bread with less nutritional value. Many commercial non-gluten bread sources have been grinding up various beans to add to the flour to improve its nutrition (protein). Sunflour Baking Company makes delicious cookies with pinto bean flour as the only flour source. They have a secret way to do the beans so that the green flavor that typically is associated with beans is eliminated. I want to play around with beans and my grain mill to see if I can figure that one out. I bet the greenness comes from the beans jacket. If I can get rid of that, maybe it will taste more nuetral and give a good protein source that will not weight the bread.

Staling. Staling is a word bakers use to describe what happens to bread after it has stood for a while - on counter or refrigeration. One thing that you will notice with non-gluten flour is that the texture changes by the next day. What comes out of the oven all soft and springy will seem significantly more dense and firm next day. This happens with wheat products too, but GF ones do so at a much faster rate. From what I have been able to figure out so far, the flour that has the best capability of retaining the texture is potata flour. On a molecular level, the molecules involved are somewhat curly in shape. When warm the curls are relaxed giving the softer yet 'elastic-like' spring. When the bread cools, these molecules get tighter curls which makes the texture denser. Rewarming the bread will make the curls relax again. We have found that warming the bread covered with a well squeezed out wet cloth for 10 seconds (depending on the amount of bread being warmed) will bring back most of the texture. For the extreme gluten sensitive individual, make sure that you are using laundry detergent that is GF in the cloth that you use for reheating this way.