When shaping gluten-free bread that is bound with psyllium husk, I have an approach that is very similar to shaping of doughs with gluten. The main principle in place is to always keep a “floured” side and a sticky side. Firstly, lightly flour your counter and ease the dough onto it. Then, make sure the side of the dough touching the counter is not sticking. If it is sticking, add some more flour beneath the dough, lifting it slightly or pushing the flour beneath it with a dough scraper. The side of the dough facing up should be left un-dusted and sticky.
By keeping a sticky side, we will have a way to fold and shape the dough as we like, by sealing the seams thanks to the stickiness of the top side of the dough.
You can find my gluten-free bread techniques playlist on youtube.
Shaping the dough into a boule
To shape into a boule: gently press the dough down, to form a disk a couple of cm thick (that will de-gas it a bit). Always gently, pull one end of the dough upwards and fold it on the centre of the dough. Keep doing the same with the remaining edges, moving around the dough until all ends are gathered into the center. Gently flip the dough on the dusted counter. With your hand cupped and around the dough, rotate the boule to make it rounder. As you rotate it, try to pull the dough towards yourself, making it slide on the dusted counter and sealing the seam on its bottom by pushing the dough with your little finger. When satisfied, move the dough seam-side-up into a bowl lined with a clean tea towel or kitchen paper and dusted generously. Put the bowl into a large freezing bag and seal the bag well with a rubber band.
See video above.
Shaping the dough into a sandwich bread
To shape the dough into a sandwich bread: gently press down the dough into a rectangular or square shape. Fold one of the longer sides of the dough a bit less than halfway into the dough. Now fold the side opposite a bit less than halfway into the dough. If needed, rotate the dough so that the short sides face at 12 o’clock and at 6 o’clock (from where you are looking). Gently grab the top side and fold it a few centimetres into the dough. Now, roll the dough towards yourself with index and middle fingers, while using your thumbs to seal the dough as you roll it (by pushing the thumbs down and forward, to create tension). When done rolling, roll the dough to make it the right length for your sandwich loaf tin and make sure to seal the seams. Move the dough into the sandwich loaf tin seam side down and let proof.
See video below.
Shaping the dough into a pizza
When shaping the dough into pizza, start on a well-floured surface. Press down the dough with your fingers, pushing the dough away from the center (try not to deflate what will become the crust). Once the dough starts to become thinner and delicate, say at about 10cm/12cm diameter, move it gently onto a floured sheet of parchment paper. Keep pushing the dough away from its centre until it is as thin and wide as you want (on the Neapolitan-style pizza recipe, each pizza will have a diameter of 28cm to 30cm).
See video below.
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