Successful Gluten free sourdough - Help!

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I've just made my first sourdough loaf with my own starter ( donated by a friend).But it's leaden and hasn't risen at all but does taste OK .Do I have to add yeast as well?I used GF bread flour and put a extra spoon of Xanthan gum in as well.Maybe that was the wrong thing to do.

It's likely you added too much liquid which will make the loaf collapse and sink.

Have a look on 'Doves website' for GF baking tips.

I have never had much success baking with GF flour. It always comes out heavy with a cake-like texture and an aftertaste of bicarbonate of soda.

Have you tried using buckwheat flour?

I haven't tried gluten free with my sourdough, but I've recently been adding some wholemeal buckwheat to my sourdough starter and it's come out even lighter.

I've thought of trying a loaf with all buckwheat flour. However my starter is fed with half white bread flour and half wholemeal rye flour, so therefore not gluten free.

What are you feeding the starter with?

I have never sucessfully made any bread with GF bread flour. It always comes out with a cakey texture so i've just given up.

How old was the starter? Maybe it needed reactivating?

Hi,thank you for the tips.The starter is pretty active with the Gluten containing flours but not so much with the Gf flours.I'm going to try making 2 batches - the gf will have yeast added and see how they differ.Yes,buckwheat flour sounds a brilliant idea.