Ep 196 The UnBun Story

Let’s start the blog with the show notes for this Episode –

On this episode I speak with a man who identified a void in the gluten free marketplace – that of a healthy, good tasting hamburger bun.  Gus Klemos tells us his why, and more importantly his how he came up with a completely newly formulated gluten free bread that he named UnBun.  Gus is from Toronto and in a few short years from very humble beginnings, with a great deal of work, UnBun is now selling across both Canada and the US.  Gus discusses what makes his bread products different, and it makes us think about what benefits we are all looking for from our bread.  You can likely find UnBun products in not only your supermarket, but as staples in your fast food outlets.

Find out more at https://unbunfoods.com/

Sue’s Websites and Social Media –

Podcast https://acanadianceliacpodcast.libsyn.com

Podcast Blog – https://www.acanadianceliacblog.com

Email – acdnceliacpodcast@gmail.com

Celiac Kid Stuff – https://www.celiackidstuff.com

Baking Website – https://www.suesglutenfreebaking.com

Instagram – @suesgfbaking

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUVGfpD4eJwwSc_YjkGagza06yYe3ApzL

Email – sue@suesglutenfreebaking.com

Other Podcast – Gluten Free Weigh In – https://glutenfreeweighin.libsyn.com

My Thoughts –

As I was talking to Gus, memories of hours spent developing recipes in my bakery came flooding back.  This is a topic I plan to discuss with some of my food blogger friends in the future, but for now he’s how I approach coming up with a new recipe.

Except for what Gus did at UnBun, there are generally two ways to develop a new gluten free recipe –

• Start with a similar recipe already written for gluten free and alter it, make an apple and raisin muffin, from a plain oatmeal muffin recipe.  For this method, I look at each of the ingredients and decide if I want to replace them, or change the amounts.  For the example of altering a plain oatmeal muffin, I might decrease the sugar since I’m adding raisins, and decide what form of apples I want to use, applesauce (sweetened or not) or apple chunks.  I look at any spices that might be added for flavour and adjust those.  In this case, I might want to add a sprinkle of cinnamon or nutmeg.  Then I look back at the original recipe – how does the amount of liquid compare to the original – might I need to take some other liquid away, or maybe add more flour ingredients.  Should the leavening be the same – if the batter is heavier, maybe I need more leavening or maybe an extra egg white.  Lastly, approach this process as an experiment, and make notes of the alterations you make.
• The second type of recipe development is one most of us have fallen into out of necessity.  We want to replicate our Grandmother’s jam cookie recipe, but don’t know where to start.  Here’s my approach to that – First, decide on a flour blend that will, for the most part replace the wheat flour.  I recommend you reference the chart prepared by Cinde Little, The Everyday Gluten Free Gourmet https://everydayglutenfreegourmet.ca/2020/05/29/11-gluten-free-flour-recipes/ showing many different blends.  Cinde also has a video series that talks about the different flours and their best uses.  Both Cinde and I approach a recipe conversion the same way by using a simple 2 or 3 ingredient flour blend for our first attempt.  You may choose to use your favourite store-bought blend to begin with.  The procedure is pretty simple, at first just substitute the flour 1 to 1 and be aware of the difference in the dough – try and resist adding extra flour to get the same consistency as the original wheat recipe, but if you find the dough getting too thick, add some form of liquid or moisture.  You may have to handle the dough differently, or it might surprise you and be very similar.  Baking may take more or less time, so watch the oven carefully.  After your first attempt, decide if there’s anything that you can improve on.  From my years of gluten free baking, I know that we have to be aware of the protein content in our recipes (gluten is a protein, so we have to make up for that), so you may want to add an extra egg white, or some Greek yogurt, or a small amount of gelatin, or milk powder.  If the dough is thinner than what you want, try a small amount of guar or xanthan gum, but just make small adjustments.  Don’t forget as per our first approach, this is an experiment, so good note taking will allow you to replicate or better the outcome next time.

Before gluten free, it wouldn’t have occurred to me to formulate a new recipe.  I thought that was done in labs, by professionals.  You may also have other allergies or sensitivities that lead you to recipe alteration.  Nowadays, with the variety of gluten free flours and some new methods for working with dough unique to gluten free, anyone can come up with a new successful recipe to take pride in.