Vital wheat gluten/gluten flour/seitan.

Tar.Aldarion

Hi, I'm trying to make seitan for the first time. It requires 'Vital wheat gluten/gluten flour'. I was wondering have many of you used this for cooking anything? I believe you can make it from normal flour by washing it and kneading it? Is it worth buying it premade or should I just make it myself as it would be cheaper? Is the quality much different? What other foods use it? Just mread that wants more 'elasticity'?

Thanks.

Magic Monkey

Vital wheat gluten is used by bakers to add extra gluten to doughs, you should be able to buy it either from a baker or in an Asian store. Strong flour has about 12-13% gluten, so you won't get a large gluten yield making it yourself, it would be more economical to buy the vital wheat gluten.

Parnassia

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Hi, I'm trying to make seitan for the first time. It requires 'Vital wheat gluten/gluten flour'. I was wondering have many of you used this for cooking anything? I believe you can make it from normal flour by washing it and kneading it? Is it worth buying it premade or should I just make it myself as it would be cheaper? Is the quality much different? What other foods use it? Just mread that wants more 'elasticity'?

Thanks.

I haven't been able to find it in Ireland; I've looked in Asian markets, health food shops etc. I asked the Hopsack in Ranelagh if they could order it in, they said no. I emailed Odlums to ask if they had it, they never replied.

I've ordered it online from the UK, but it's pretty expensive when you include postage. flourbin.co.uk is the site I used. There's another place, the low carb store I think, it may be cheaper.

Let me know if you locate it anywhere!

ETA - it's great stuff, you can make a fine seitan sausage with it, like peperoni, as well as burgers, cutlets etc. I've not had so much luck with the DIY version. It's much easier to flavour the gluten flour, you just mix it up with seasonings etc. and steam it.

Magic Monkey

Parnassia, what is the texture of it like - tofu, TVP, quorn?

Tar.Aldarion

Magic Monkey wrote: »

Vital wheat gluten is used by bakers to add extra gluten to doughs, you should be able to buy it either from a baker or in an Asian store. Strong flour has about 12-13% gluten, so you won't get a large gluten yield making it yourself, it would be more economical to buy the vital wheat gluten.

Parnassia wrote: »

I haven't been able to find it in Ireland; I've looked in Asian markets, health food shops etc. I asked the Hopsack in Ranelagh if they could order it in, they said no. I emailed Odlums to ask if they had it, they never replied.

I've ordered it online from the UK, but it's pretty expensive when you include postage. flourbin.co.uk is the site I used. There's another place, the low carb store I think, it may be cheaper.

Let me know if you locate it anywhere!

ETA - it's great stuff, you can make a fine seitan sausage with it, like peperoni, as well as burgers, cutlets etc. I've not had so much luck with the DIY version. It's much easier to flavour the gluten flour, you just mix it up with seasonings etc. and steam it.

Thanks for the info, maybe a health food store will order it for me if I can't find it in one.

Magic Monkey wrote: »

Parnassia, what is the texture of it like - tofu, TVP, quorn?

It's meaty like and varies, I had seitan in france that was very like steak(and was sold by wight like meat) whereas I had some that was more like quorn/tvp in another place.

hooplah

Hi,

I know this is an old thread but I came across it while looking for places to buy gluten flour so thought I'd update it once I managed to get some.

I got some on iherb.com. It costs $3.98 for a 454g pack and postage is $4 airmail to Ireland. That would be way too pricey for me but I used a referral code (worth up to $5 off your first order) and so just had to pay postage. At $4 I figured it was worth it just to try cooking receipes like this with it: Spicy Italian Sausage

If anyone else is interested you can use my referral code PAD844 and you'll also get the $5 discount. (I'll also get money off my next order if people use the code - if you don't want to you can easily find other people codes using google)

Tar.Aldarion

hooplah wrote: »

Hi,

I know this is an old thread but I came across it while looking for places to buy gluten flour so thought I'd update it once I managed to get some.

I got some on iherb.com. It costs $3.98 for a 454g pack and postage is $4 airmail to Ireland. That would be way too pricey for me but I used a referral code (worth up to $5 off your first order) and so just had to pay postage. At $4 I figured it was worth it just to try cooking receipes like this with it: Spicy Italian Sausage

If anyone else is interested you can use my referral code PAD844 and you'll also get the $5 discount. (I'll also get money off my next order if people use the code - if you don't want to you can easily find other people codes using google)

Thanks VERY much, I was just thinking about this again recently, |I really want to try and make some

hooplah

Just realised this isn't in the veggie forum. Would it be better to move it there?

Tar.Aldarion

Nope, I made it here because it's a general food query!

sarahspud

Thanks a mil for that info, just ordered a 623g bag for $5.59 incl delivery, using your code.

Im not a veggie but am interested in reducing my meat consumption while still consuming protein.

There are loads of seitan recipes at the sadly no-longer-updated vegan food blog eat air:
http://eatair.blogspot.com/search/label/seitan


it would be great if people reposted with their experiences of making seitan!

Good luck & thanks for the info,
Sarah

Tar.Aldarion

Oh I think I'll have to order that soon and see what i can make, will say. Love your name ha

Voltex

contact shamrock foods...they handle bulk gluten. Im sure they can at least direct you to a sub agent.

washing gluten out of dough would be far too inconsistant...and not very effective.

thedrowner

just wondering if you ever made the seitan, or do you know if it's possible to purchase already made seitan anywhere in ireland since this thread has been up. also-if your seitan is good, would you consider taking orders?! I am trying to get hold of some good seitan (beef like consistency) for my wedding!

grindie

Hi, I tried to get vital wheat gluten in several shops in Ireland, finally found something at Tesco (a big shop): Odlums Strong White Flour (2Kg). It says "consists of vital wheat gluten, wheat flour" on the package. (about 2,70 €) Then tried to make seitan like described here: http://vegetarian.about.com/od/cookingtipstools/ss/HowToSeitan.htm The result was almost like seitan, with a little flour taste. To get vital wheat gluten, you have to wash out the starch from the flour. This is how you can do it yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAHvXAJl8oA&feature=related Will post the result tomorrow.

Tar.Aldarion

very nice thanks

grindie

Hi, It worked! The only thing I had to do was to add more of the strong flour until I had a good dough, then I washed out the starch about 4 times, et voila, seitan. Cooked it in broth for 1 hour and this is how seitan should be like.

Colin4May

grindie wrote: »

Hi, It worked! The only thing I had to do was to add more of the strong flour until I had a good dough, then I washed out the starch about 4 times, et voila, seitan. Cooked it in broth for 1 hour and this is how seitan should be like.

Well done. I've been conditioned into thinking gluten is bad for you. Maybe it is? That's why I was attracted to making gluten-free bread and got myself a breadmaker- the SD 2500 WXC here http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/290123/module/general/compare/productsCategory.html

But I was wondering after reading this thread if I could/should add gluten to a bread mix in the breadmaker? Or will some kind of alarm go off and the Gluten-Brigade be called round to cart me off! Lol!

grindie

Wikipedia says: "Between 0.5 and 1.0 percent of people in the United States are sensitive to gluten due to Celiac disease". Apart from that, I could not see any gluten special ops teams crashing in your house.

Colin4May

grindie wrote: »

Wikipedia says: "Between 0.5 and 1.0 percent of people in the United States are sensitive to gluten due to Celiac disease". Apart from that, I could not see any gluten special ops teams crashing in your house.

They are sitting on my chest as I type.... Argh! Lol!

smeedyova

Has anybody succeeded in locating this flour in Dublin yet?

What about liquid smoke?

Thanks!

sarahfancy

hooplah, I used your code as well just now. Thanks again! I have a book of veggie burgers that uses vital wheat gluten, and have found it impossible to get.

Dongjun Li

vital wheat gluten could enhance the gluten content,increase the toughness and degree of gluten,increase the gluten network,further improving the performance of dough, and improve the internal organization of bread.
It could be used in the production of special flours,instant noodle flours. It could help to prevent the noodles from breaking when processed and make the noodles bouncy and smooth.
It could not only increase the elasticity of the bread but also keep the bread fresh,soft and extending the shelf periods.

Our company are producing the vital wheat gluten, but it is not suitable for the families using a little. Going to the supermaket maybe better.

TBRB

Hey,
I also tried the Flour Bin for wheat gluten and found their prices ridiculous. I have a cheaper route. €6.36 for 500 of El Granero wheat gluten bio from farmacia international. Postage €15. I ordered two packs to start with so I don' t know how many packs the €15 will get you. It's crazy to think that going further away for a product is actually cheaper than across the pond. The farmacia is in Barcelona from what I can work out.

Hope this is helpful.
TBRB

Faith

Please do not bump threads which are more than 6 months old. Thread locked.