I have found xanthan is great if a baked good needs

 

Honestly I seldom use gums anymore ... but I have not used guar gum a whole lot due to my son's sensitivity to it ... Typically I use gfcf yogurt in my muffins to make them moist and light ... by replacing the butter/oil requirement I find this is exceptionally healthy and far better end product for muffin baking. I add in extra baking powder and a tsp of lemon juice/vinegar to most of my baked goods to help them rise better and make them soo much moister and lighter in the end ...

Yes, I tend to use xanthum in things that like you said have something that needs suspended ... IE raisin/nut/dried fruit breads ...

No, I do not add the gums to the oil ... never tried it otherwise and not totally sure of their reasoning. I didn't see that in this article ... or I probably would have deleted it ..

I searched and searched articles when I first started baking gfcf because I was so desperate for replacement items for my son. As you know we had to initially remove 32 plus foods. I have extensive files saved on my hard drive ... I seriously need to go and delete many of them ... but ... sigh. I am too busy cooking ... :)

Thankfully as time has gone by and with my sons successful stem cell transplant this past June (yeah yeah yeah!!!!) he can eat just about anything now with the exception of gluten/casein and soy/coconut. We still limit several foods ... but not many... and its mostly has to do with me not wanting the higher sugar content for him ... I just never got use to guar gum in the beginning because its base root was questionable for Joshua. I did use it however for ice cream and continue to use it to this day for that.... Gums in ice cream help drastically reduce the ice crystallization forming...

I do make a lemon cake that also is very light though that I use to use xanthum in ... and never had issue with it so you are probably correct on that account ...

 Hi Melinda,

 Thanks very much for posting this. In all my years of baking GF I never

 saw this chart. It is very helpful especially for newcomers. I know you

 have many years of baking experience so I wanted to ask if you found

 several items in this article to be true. I never experienced that in my

 baking so I wanted to see if you had.

 1) I have found guar gum to work fine in citrus items especially in my

 lemon muffins. I think it is "lighter" and makes my muffins and cakes

 airer than xanthan. I have found xanthan is great if a baked good needs

 things suspended such as nuts, raisins or chips but if I want "tender

 and light" I tend to use guar gum. What is your take on the citrus?

 2) I have never added the gum to my oil. I have always added to the dry.

 What about you?

 Otherwise I find the article to be very good with amounts and adding how

 it is all "experimental" in the end!

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