Seitan help!!!!!!

[dbh2ppa]

Hi ^^
I've recently become a vegetarian (Transitioning to vegan soon)... I've been trying to make seitan, and have used just about every recipe I've found on the web... but it always comes out with a raw-chicken-ish texture (kind of like a goo on the inside, chewy, had to spit it out every time). Flavour's not that bad, but the texture makes it totally worthless...
What am I doing wrong? It the texture supposed to be like that? (Never tried seitan, haven't found a single place that sells it in Costa Rica) I really wanna learn how to make this, because it looks like a fun ingredient to work with.


HELP!

[ColleenRae]

I've had pretty decent success with making bbq seitan.  I buy a couple pounds of high-gluten flour, mix in a cup and a half of water.  Mix it up into a stiff dough ball (not too wet) and let it rest for an hour or so.  I then plant myself in front of my sink and rinse, rinse, rinse again, knead underwater, rinse (you get it, eh?) until all of the starch and germ is washed away and I'm left with some spongy, rubbery gluten.  You can save some of the starchy water and use it to thicken soups, etc.  I've also saved and dried some of the bran to use.  It's kind of a pain.  The most important part to getting a texture that isn't gross is not to skimp on the rinsing.  The water should be absoloutly clear.   Then I usually let the gluten rest again for a few minutes.  I knead in some nutritional yeast flakes, veggie "beef" or "chicken" broth powder, garlic, onion flakes, salt, and cayenne.  You can alter this however you want to change the flavour.  Then I stretch and fold the seitan over itself many times (creating layers is a mega texture improver).  Most recipes call for you to boil the seitan, but I just cut it into strips and put it in the oven for a while (30 minutes at 375).  I baste with barbecue sauce twice during this time.  After it's been baked, I let it cool until it's not too hot to touch.  Then I shred it with my fingers into a big bowl and coat with more bbq sauce.  Serve on a toasted bun with some pickles and onions.  Good luck!

[octipii]

Seitan should have a texture similar to beef. I like it much better than tofu so, i hope the bbq worked out for you.

[starblossom]

Are you boiling your seitan or baking it?

I use this recipe http://www.postpunkkitchen.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=15959

I find it turns out much better than the recipes I used that involved boiling.

[dbh2ppa]

Thanks for the answers ^^ After two terrible failures, I think I finally managed to get a decent feel and taste to it. I know I can improve it tho, gonna take a while I think
Thank you!

[simonJester]

I have seen wheat Gluten for sale by itsself, would using that cut down on the rinsing?

[rhell]

Vital wheat gluten has been my savior!
I used to use the rinse method.  Not only did it take forever, use tons of water, but the texture always came out mushy.

Here's my favorite way to make seiten.  I recently made it for a party and it went over well.  This is the recipe I used (it served about 75 people) so you may want to cut down at the proportions.  You can also substitute the barbque sauce for any sauce of your choosing or not use any sauce at all.

1.  In a bowl combine 4oz vital wheat gluten with enough vegetable stock to give it the texture a little drier than pizza dough.
2.  Knead for 5 minutes.
3. Cut into cubes about the size of ping pong balls.
4. Put into a pot of boiling water.
5.  Turn down the heat to medium and cook for 1-2 hours or until the chunks have doubled in size.
6.  Put in strainer with a weight on top and press out water (the way you would press tofu) for about 1 hour
7. Cover in barbecue sauce.
8. Cook as you would chicken.  If you have a grill going, that would be great.  I usual cook it over a medium heat on a cast iron skillet for about 8 minutes per side.

[jennibalism]

I can't get vital wheat gluten where I live, but can get high gluten flour.  I have tried making seitan based on this but have gotten generally horrific results.  I really don't want to wash it continuously under water as we are experiencing a quite severe drought at the moment.  Any other suggestions or should I abandon  my interest in seitan (hehe) altogether?

[ultraviolet]

My bf makes seitan from the recipe in Vegan with a Vengeance. It doesn't always come out the same - the texture varies depending on how long you knead the dough. We recently got a Kitchen Aid mixer, so there has been much experimentation!