Best breadmaker for gluten free?

[Pelvicflooragogo]

Hi all - my daughter has just been diagnosed coeliac yesterday and I'd be keen to get a breadmaker as it seems from posts that making your own can lead to less disgusting bread . Any top tips? And is it worth joining coeliac society?

Cheers.

I wouldn't bother with a breadmaker. Gluten free bread you make yourself is more like a paste than a dough. I find mixing it in my food processer thingie and scraping it out into the bread tins works very well. Very soft and springy.

Mind you, the bread you get on prescription - my boys have juvela - is good. It's also soft and springy.

Supermarket gluten free bread is vile.

oh, and the coeliac society do a wonderful book that lists all the gluten free stuff. That's worth getting.

Thanks maybe we'll try supermarket first. I'm just trying to think of ways of regaining control and to get her better asap really. Still in that kind of grieving phase TBH.

Pelvicflooragogo I know how you feel as I have just had my 2 little boys diagnosed with it and it is heartbreaking. Every time I go to school/nursery I look at all these healthy children and wonder "why mine" but I am sure that it is very normal to feel that way. The good news and what I keep repeating to myself is that the prognosis on a GF diet is very good, they will be healthy from eating better and less processed food and all will be well xxxx hugs xxxx

We've got that Panasonic 255 breadmaker - loads of people seem to have it and praise it highly. Haven't used it yet, will hopefully get to grips with it this weekend. Also got a newly diagnosed 4yo.

Definitely worth joining coeliac society IMO. Also, it's free for the first six months so why not join and make up your own mind before you need to pay.

Good luck. I don't grieve about it, as I have a very different and much more life-limiting condition, so am very happy that my child (probably children, DS2 is being tested for it at the moment) have something far more controllable. But I agree it is an enormous change, and I am still getting to grips with it in terms of food purchase and preparation - seems to take vast amounts of my time at themoment!

Thanks for the info and support. So comforting to know how many are in a similar position. I wonder if we should set up a new diagnosis thread for support and tip swapping for GF life? What do you reckon?

Have filled an online trolley just raring to go for it. Seeing consultant Tuesday so not sure if DD will need a biopsy or not. Fingers and toes crossed!

Depends on the consultant but most insist on doing a biopsy as this is still considered the 'gold standard' for coeliac diagnosis in the UK. Make sure your daughter keeps eating gluten until she's seem the consultant because if she does have to have a biopsy she will need to be eating gluten regularly for the test to be accurate. And yes, I would definitely recommend joining Coeliac UK. They offer fantastic help and advice as well as the food 'bible' that no coeliac should be without. You should also get a referral to a dietician who will be able to offer advice on what she can and can't eat plus how to make sure her diet is well-balanced.
I recommend Dietary Specials ciabatta rolls, available in white or brown from most supermarkets in the freefrom section. These are the closest thing to 'normal' bread according to my kids. You can get the brown ones on prescription too, they're called Glutafin gluten & wheat free fibre rolls (Glutafin & Dietary Specials are the same just different packaging).

Personally, I like 'Genius' bread which I buy from the supermarket. If you are coeliac I think you can get it on prescription (as well as biscuits and stuff). I'm not, so have to buy it myself and it gets a bit expensive. We have a Kenwood bread maker9recommended by Which) but found it a bit of a phaff and our results were mixed. It could just be the recipe, but I don't think so, because my husband's bread always comes out much better than mine. If you want to make gf flour, Dove's organic do a bread flour.
The good news is there's heaps of online support for gluten problems - just get Googling!