What Setting Do I use on My Gluten-Free Bread Machine?

How to make gluten-free bread in a bread machine without a gluten-free setting

Many of our visitors assume that if a bread machine can make gluten-free bread, it’s because it has a gluten-free setting. So they buy a bread machine and get frustrated because they can’t find this setting in the instruction manual so they end up returning it. While there are a few bread machines that have a setting labeled “gluten-free” (i.e. Breadman brand), they are actually not the most recommended here. In our research we’ve found that the best gluten-free bread machines do not have a gluten-free setting.

Here’s the skinny: gluten-free bread only needs 1 kneading and 1 rising cycle. Traditional bread is made by kneading it, letting it rise for about 20 minutes and then kneading it again. This does not turn out well for gluten-free bread. So, you want to cut out the extra kneading and rising cycles altogether. And for the best gluten-free bread machines you can do this with programmable settings. Don’t worry, it isn’t hard at all to program most bread machines. Just refer to the user manual. Some can be programmed in as little as 3 steps.

Another feature to look for in a bread machine is something manufacturers call a quick bake, rapid bake or express bake function or some other variation of a speedy baking cycle. This essentially does the same thing as a gluten-free setting (refer to the owners manual). Some have more than 1 rapid bake cycle, so just refer to the user manual to find out which one you should use. Also, you want to refer to the specific recipe as well to be sure how long each cycle should last.

Bread Machine	Programmable	Rapid Bake**	Gluten-Free Setting	Dual Blade
Breadman TR520	Yes
Breadman TR875	Yes	Yes	Yes
Breadman TR2500BC	Yes		Yes
Breadman TR2700	Yes		Yes
Oster 5838	Yes	Yes
Panasonic SD-YD250	Yes	Yes
Sunbeam 5891	Yes	Yes
West Bend 41300		Yes	Yes	Yes
Zojirushi BB-CEC20		Yes		Yes
Zojirushi BB-HAC10	Yes	Yes
Zojirushi BBCCX20	Yes			Yes

**This can be Rapid Bake, Quick Bake or Express Bake in most major brands.

Some bread machines can be programmed and also have pre-programmed options. Only the Breadman bread machines have settings labeled "gluten-free", but all of the bread machines that have a "rapid bake" option have essentially the same thing. The best bread machines to use are programmable. We've also included an extra column to indicate if the bread machine has a 2 blades instead of 1, because we thought that this would still be useful information.

Ultimately, we highly recommend going with any bread machine that can be programmed.

Because there is a lot of tweaking involved with gluten-free bread recipes, you will want to be able to adjust the cycles. Also keep in mind that no 2 bags of ingredients are the same, even if it is from the same brand and manufacturer. Other external factors like humidity can play a role too and that can change by the day and even hour. So again, it is pretty important to be able to adjust your baking settings when using your bread machine. Some of you may not want to deal with the minor details and I’m with you on that, so if that’s the case, go for one that has pre-programmed settings.