Calling all gluten-free readers! Tomorrow is your last day to take advantage of this coupon code for gluten-free matzoh from the Lakewood Matzoh Bakery.
I know that Pesach presents a unique challenge for finding affordable gluten-free matzoh — particularly for the seder.
Through April 7th, the Lakewood Matzoh Bakery has offered a very generous 5% discount exclusively for KOAB readers.
Just use the code koab14 when you check out.
Shipping from the Lakewood Matzoh Bakery is $12 for orders up to $200 — and FREE for all orders over $200. (So you may want to find another friend or two in your town to split an order with.)
I had the opportunity to briefly talk to the Lakewood Matzoh Bakery about their baking processes, gluten-free certification and the cost of their matzoh. Here’s what I learned:
How long has the Lakewood Matzoh Bakery been baking matzohs? When did you start making gluten-free matzoh?
The LMB opened 19 years ago. Five years ago, in 2009, a growing number of consumers began asking for a gluten-free matzoh option. The factory set out to provide this option – which today is one of our most popular lines.
Today we sell regular wheat matzoh, whole wheat matzoh, organic spelt matzoh and gluten free oat matzoh — all of which come either as round (hand-made in our Lakewood factory) or square (machine-made in Israel under our supervision).
What is the biggest challenge in making gluten-free matzoh?
The biggest challenge in making a matzoh with GF oats is the lack of gluten. Gluten is a natural substance that holds the dough together as you working with it – it adds that stretchiness. Without it, the dough pretty much falls apart and is all crumbs.
Another big challenge is obtaining gluten free oats to make shemurah matzoh from. Both our hand and machine matzoh is shemurah – which means that from the time the grain is harvested until it’s made into matzoh it’s always either under rabbinical supervision or under lock and key.
While the wheat and spelt are primarily obtained from the East Coast, where it is easy to send a rabbi, the oats come from the Midwest where a rabbi has to be flown out to supervise the cutting and then again the dehulling.
Why does gluten-free matzoh cost so much more than regular matzoh?
This is one of the most commonly asked questions. Especially since there is another option on the market, which costs much less. It’s important that people realize, however, that while this other product is Kosher for Passover, it may not to be used for the seder. You can not make hamotzi on it.
Lakewood Matzoh Bakery’s gluten-free matzoh contains only oat flour and water — so it is completely permissible to use for the seder and throughout the chag.
That said, there are several factors that go into the cost of our gluten-free matzoh:1.) The cost of the gluten free oats. These are not typical oats you can get from any farm, these are a specific GF strain which we get from certified GF oat farms. Obviously the cost for that is much greater than standard wheat. This type of GF oat is also not produced on the East Coast, which means it has to be shipped thousands of miles to our bakery.
2.) The cost of Rabbinical supervision. Our bakery is built on and has always had top notch kosher standards and it’s no different with the oat matzoh. A rabbi has to fly out to the field when they cut the oats and then again during the dehulling process.
3.) Since these oats are being used for shemurah matzoh, it can not be raining during harvest and the oats have to be a certain level of dryness in order to be acceptable for Passover use. If the Rabbi flies there only to determine that the oats are not ok for Passover use, a new farm has to be found and the rabbi must fly out a second time.
4.) There is also the risk of loss of dough during production. GFoats contain very little gluten, which means it’s a huge challenge to turn that dough into a matzoh.
5.) The cost of GF certification is also quite high.
Thanks so much for checking us out. And please be in touch if you have any questions or if we can help you in any way!
This posts is sponsored by Lakewood Matzoh Baker. Learn more about sponsored posts in my Disclosure Statement.
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