Gluten & Fibro Free

I have yet to see the Udi’s Gluten-Free Hamburger buns show up in my local Krogers, however I have found some online grocers selling them. I’m itching to get my hands on the new buns, so it is tempting to place an order and have them shipped to my house. When following Udi’s on Twitter or Facebook, I thought that I had read that they should be in local stores by May, just in time for BBQ season.

From Udi’s, “Grilling in the backyard has never tasted so good – and it’s gluten free! Our soft, golden buns accompany your much-loved ingredients, be it a classic burger or a savory deli sandwich.”

Nutrition Facts:
Serving Size: 1 bun (77g)
Servings per Container: 4
Calories: 190
Total Fat: 5g
Saturated Fat: .5g
Trans Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 310mg
Total Carbohydrate: 34g
Dietary Fiber: 4g
Sugars: 4g
Protein: 5g

Ingredients: filtered water, tapioca starch, brown rice flour, sunflower oil, egg whites, resistant corn starch, cane syrup, tapioca maltodextrin, potato flour, evaporated cane juice, tapioca syrup, yeast (yeast, potato starch), sugarcane fiber, salt, gum (xanthan gum, sodium alginate, guar gum), mold inhibitor (cultured corn syrup citric acid), xanthan gum, enzyme (calcium sulfate, enzymes).

Contains: Eggs

Gluten free, dairy free, soy free, nut free.

Kosher ¹

I am so happy to see that they are soy free! If you are like me and you can’t wait for these to show up in your local stores, you could purchase from an online vendor below:

Gluten Free Palace
Linda’s Diet Delights

By the Case:
NEW Udi’s Gluten Free Classic Hotdog Buns 12.9 oz. – case of 8
NEW Udi’s Gluten Free Hamburger Buns 10.4 oz. – case of 6

1. LindasDietDelights.com [↩]

Products bread, Buns, Gluten-Free, Hamburger Buns, Udi

The Easter bunny will be making his visit soon, leaving all kinds of sweet treats. To find out what candy is safe for us gluten intolerant individuals, please visit MyGlutenFacts.com for an updated list. Items on the list are marked with the indicators below:

Cleaned Production Line (CL)
These products do not contain any gluten but are made using the same equipment as products that do. The manufacturer assures us that they consider gluten a top allergen and therefore clean the equipment between runs to ensure that these products are safe from cross-contamination.

Dedicated Production Line (DL)
These products do not contain gluten and are made with machinery that only processes foods without gluten. The manufacturer assures us that they consider gluten a top allergen and therefore take the necessary steps to ensure that these products are safe from cross-contamination.

Dedicated Facility (DF)
These products do not contain gluten and are made in a building where there is no gluten in any other product.

I’m glad to see that one of my favorites, marshmallow peeps are still gluten-free, even the chocolate dipped chicks. Yummy! As always, please be sure to read the ingredients on the package. For example, some companies outsource the production of their candy and so the special run Easter candy may be safe while the regularly sold candy is not (or vice versa). Also some of the Cadbury eggs are safe, and some are not because they have been manufactured in different facilities. So just keep an eye on those ingredients before indulging. I hope you all have a safe and Happy Easter!

Products, Resources Candy, Easter, holiday

As someone that has multiple food intolerances, I was delighted to find out about Shabtai Gourmet. They specialize in providing sweet treats to individuals following restricted diets that must exclude gluten, lactose, soy, casein, peanuts and dairy. The pictures on their website look very enticing and I was excited to sample their products.

Shabtai Gourmet Bon Bons

The first product that I sampled was the Shabtai Gourmet Bon Bons. The box that the bon bons came in was cute, and they were shrink wrapped in plastic to preserve freshness. The chocolate was rich with a creamy marshmallow filling. What I didn’t expect was the crunchy cookie center. I think I expected more of a soft cake center than the crunchy cookie. The creamy filling combined with the smooth chocolate contrasts too much with the crunchy cookie, in my opinion. One of these was enough to feed my chocolate craving for the week. They are good, but oh so decadent.

Shabtai Gourmet Bon Bons

I thought that these bon bons would be great to serve up at a party. They truly are a gourmet dessert; however the smooth chocolate seemed to stick to the Styrofoam tray they arrived on inside the box. I had a terrible time plating these treats, but I thoroughly enjoyed scraping the chocolate off of the Styrofoam tray. I had some of my co-workers sample the bon bons, and everyone agreed that the creamy filling was delicious. Although a handful said that the cookie center was too crunchy, one person thought that was the best part. I bet those that were hoping for more of a cake would prefer the ring tings instead.

Shabtai Gourmet Swiss Cake Roll

Although the bon bons were good, my personal favorite so far has been Shabtai Gourmet’s Swiss cake roll. What a sinfully delightful treat that reminds me so much of my youth. My grandma always had a brown paper bag in her pantry full of Little Debbie snack cakes, and in that bag I would always grab a swiss cake roll. So reminiscent of the comfort food from my youth, this gourmet chocolate cake with a cream filling has been rolled and dipped in chocolate. I can see myself serving this up at Christmas time, but I think that they would sell better if they looked more like the snack cakes from my youth. Call it comfort food, or call it junk food – people with allergies like to enjoy their favorites too!

I also think the swiss cake roll might sell better as a snack cake because of a problem I encountered when slicing into the cake. The smooth, rich chocolate kept crumbling and falling off the cake when I went to cut a slice. I found this somewhat annoying, but enjoyed eating the bits of broken chocolate anyway. When I would eat those Little Debbie Snack Cakes growing up, I would bite the chocolate off first anyway before I bit into the cake itself. So this isn’t really a big deal, unless you are serving this cake up to impress someone.

Due to a suspected almond allergy, I will not purchase the bon bons again. However I plan to order some ring tings and another Swiss cake roll in the near future. Shabtai Gourmet has some great treats for those of us with multiple allergies. We definitely benefit the most from their mission to provide gourmet treats to people with multiple allergies, but no one would ever know that these products are without allergens.  My husband and coworkers also enjoyed these products and the only thing that gave away that they were gluten-free was that I was eating them.

NOTE: Shabtai Gourmet provided samples for these reviews.

UPDATE (4/17/11): Shabtai Gourmet is now selling Baby Swiss Rolls, AKA “Devils Stix”. I imagine they get their name from tasting so sinfully delicious. I can’t wait to order a bunch on pay day.

Products, Review Desserts, Food, Gluten-Free, Review, Shabtai Gourmet

Our winter warm-up this past week made me realize that spring is just around the corner. Soon grilling season will commence in full force and I don’t want to suffer through another summer season eating hamburgers and hot dogs sans bun because the alternative, gluten-free buns, taste worse than eating sawdust. Over the past year I have tried a variety of gluten-free buns, and many a time I have pulled the meat off and pitched the bun in the trash bin because they are often that gross.

Does this look anything like the picture?

I recently tried Chebe Sandwich Buns, which I think their bread dough might make good calzones, but it isn’t ideal for a hamburger bun. I’m not sure if I was suppose to let the bun completely cool, but I ended up eating a stringy cheesy gooey mess. It didn’t exactly taste bad, but the texture just wasn’t right for a hamburger bun.

Kinnikinnick has some decent products, and they were amongst the first buns I taste tested when I first went gluten-free. I found their buns to always be dry, crumbly and hard, even when lightly toasted or grilled with butter. The taste could be compared to cardboard. I think that recently they have attempted to improve their recipe, but I don’t think I will ever go back to eating their buns.

Another bun I used for a while is made by Against the Grain, the makers of one of my favorite pizza crusts. They also make a french style baguette that makes a great chicken Parmesan sandwich. Up until recently they made my favorite hamburger bun. Their bread products have a tendency to get too crunchy because of the cheese, which is fine for a french style baguette, but not so great when you are craving a soft hamburger bun.

Katz Hamburger Bun Grilled to Perfection!

Thanks to Katz Gluten-Free I won’t have to suffer another summer without a tasty bun for my burgers. I lightly toasted my Katz Gluten-Free hamburger bun in my toaster oven, then sliced it open. I lightly buttered the bun then popped it back in my toaster oven. I wanted a slightly golden bun, and the toaster oven wasn’t cooperating so I ended up putting my bun down in a frying pan for a minute just to slightly brown the inside. This bun was so delicious and soft, slightly sweet, with no after taste. I felt like I was eating a real hamburger again. I thoroughly enjoyed every bite. The only downside to this bun is that it tastes so good I might be tempted to go back to eating more hamburgers! That would be bad for my waistline and my arteries.

The Ultimate Gluten Free Burger on Katz Hamburger Buns

Your guests to your backyard cookouts this summer will not even know these buns are gluten free, so you might as well stock up now. To promote their new buns, Katz Gluten Free is running a deal, buy 3 packs of buns, get one free. Use Coupon Code BBQ. They are so sure that you will love their buns, that they are offering a 100% money back guarantee. So what do you have to lose?

Now if Mrs. Katz could only help me with my hot dog problem. Since Kinnikinnick is the only baker of hot dog buns available for purchase in my area, and I’ve already established how horrible those taste, I’ve resorted to eating my hot dogs on Udi’s slices of bread. I’ve tried following the suggestion on The Gluten Free Survivor’s blog about using an Udi’s bagel, but I find it too messy. Katz Gluten Free should be releasing what they are calling their “Frank Buns” sometime in the near future. I can hardly wait!

NOTE: Katz Gluten Free provided samples for review purposes.

UPDATE (04/17/11): Udi’s should be releasing their gluten-free buns sometime in May. I can hardly wait for them to be in stores. Some online vendors are selling them:
Gluten Free Palace
Linda’s Diet Delights

By the Case:
NEW Udi’s Gluten Free Classic Hotdog Buns 12.9 oz. – case of 8
NEW Udi’s Gluten Free Hamburger Buns 10.4 oz. – case of 6

Products, Review Against the Grain, Chebe, Food, Gluten-Free, Hamburger Buns, Katz, Kinnikinnick, Review, Udi