Apparently I’m one of those people for whom guar gum makes them sick. Guar gum is a laxative, you see, which is good for thems that can handle it, but not me.

Definitely definitely not me.

Now, I’m likely fine with xanthum gum, which GF baking usually includes.

Unfortunately, GF Homemade Wonderful Bread Mix also has guar gum in it alongside the xanthum gum.

And extra unfortunately, so does the GF Cinnamon Raisin Bread Mix.

Otherwise the bread was pretty nice; when it was in my stomach and upper intestine, I was fine. It was when it was in my lower intestine ((TMI?)) that it wasn’t. Guar gum is thus an unfortunate extra allergy for me.

Fortunately, however, the GF All-Purpose Baking Flour does not contain guar gum! (Or xanthum gum, but I can easily add that.) Its recipe resembles the Four Flour Bean Mix recipe that runs many of the recipes in The Gluten-Free Gourment Bakes Bread (ETA: apart from replacing cornstarch with potato starch, which is interesting), and so I have great faith in it! We’ll see over the weekend, since I don’t have the individual flours on hand—although perhaps I want to experiment with the All-Purpose Baking Flour first. We’ll see.

Checking the GF mixes from Bob’s Red Mill, here’s the rundown:

No Guar Gum:

• GF Biscuit & Baking Mix
• GF Brownie Mix
• GF Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix
• GF Cornbread Mix
• GF Pancake Mix

Guar Gum:

• GF Hearty Whole Grain Bread Mix
• GF Homemade Wonderful Bread Mix
• GF Cinnamon Raisin Bread Mix
• GF Pizza Crust Mix

So basically, anything that requires the serious rising of a yeast wheat bread has guar gum in it. In contrast, none of the flour mixes or bread mixes in the The Gluten-Free Gourment Bakes Bread has guar gum, I believe primarily because of the laxative effect.

It’s thus likely that I’ll be pulling from the book for GF breads rather than Bob’s Red Mill. I wish I could have seen how the Bob’s Red Mill breads compared, but I’m not baking bread I can’t personally eat (unless it’s a gift to someone).

An extra note on guar gum: it’s popular in diets because it expands greatly and makes you feel full. I’m not into that kind of thing, and apparently neither is my body. For once we’re in agreement.

Damn, if this all goes pear-shaped (or flat-shaped) I’m going back to wheat breads and cleaning out my tonsil crypts daily. Sigh. For now, I continue in hope. And am definitely going to try making the Four Flour Bread Mix, which is different from the Four Flour Bean mix (it has additional ingredients).

For the record, for people who want to try out the book and also have some ingredients on the side ready for the Four Flour Bread Mix, you’ll need:

• Garfava bean flour (or garbanzo bean flour and fava bean flour)
• Sorghum flour
• Tapioca flour
• Cornstarch
• Xanthum gum (not a flour but useful)
• Egg replacer, like Ener-G (not a flour but useful even in recipes that also have eggs)
• Unflavored gelatin (optional, but apparently useful, I think I’ll try without, and then with if I’m not happy)
• I figure you have salt and sugar around

Bob’s Red Mill actually has Garbanzo Fava Flour, so you don’t have to have Authentic Foods’ version. Bob’s Red Mill (apart from the guar gum) has never gone wrong for me for all their other products.

I live in hope.